The Graying Shades Of Media A Corrupt Conundrum Media Essay

The Graying Shades Of Media A Corrupt Conundrum Media Essay Since the days of the freedom movement Indian media has been recognised as patriotic and nationalist tool to provide unbiased news and build positive public debates. Mahatma Gandhi, The father of the Indian nation juggled his movement with the moral power of active journalism. Today, India with its over a billion population supports nearly 70,000 registered newspapers and over 450 Television channels. In the sphere of journalism, there are eminent Journalists in the country who are honoured and accepted as the moral guide in the Indian society. While the newspapers in Europe and America are losing their readership annually, the Indian print media is still going from strength to strength with huge circulations and greater marketing opportunities. The media is still considered to be the fourth important pillar after the judiciary, parliament and bureaucratic set-up in democratic India. Media is considered to be a repository of public trust for conveying information to public honestly. With the advent of technology the new dimension of internet has changed the way the news is shared and views are exchanged. The speed of travel of information has grown logarithmically and media has become more powerful than any time before to shape the minds and generation of opinions of the masses. Social media is developing as a pervasive tool to connect the society laterally which is affecting marketing strategies of the business houses and structuring political influences by the people in power or seeking power. Historically media has always taken the flak for favoring the more influential sections of society and has also been blamed to shade the news and views to suit the economic viability of the publishing houses. Political leanings and corporate influences on the editorials and selectivity in coverage of news is not hidden from the public but in recent years, malpractices in the Indian media has gone way beyond the corruption of individual journalists and media organizations. Unfortunately the information is planted and views are on sale for favors received in cash or kind in institutionalized and organized forms of corruption. Newspapers publishers and television channels owners do not shy away from receiving funds for publishing or broadcasting information in favor of particular individuals or corporate entities that is disguised as news. The plague of unethical commercial activities and market interests of media institutions disfigure the role they play in the shaping of public opinio n and in upholding principles and norms of democracy. II Understanding certain terms related to media Paid media is the most traditional advertising in which a company pays for space or for a third party to promote its products. This form is thriving with emergence of more targeted cable TV, online-display placement, and other channels options for marketers expanding exponentially .Online video and search marketing is attracting greater interest .Paid media has too much of clutter with declining response rates and declining credibility. Owned Media Owned media, consists of catalogues, web sites, retail stores, alert programs and e-mail notifications of special offers etc on properties or channels owned by the company that uses them for marketing purposes. Owned Media do not offer guarantees and consumers have limited trust in this media. Earned Media Earned media (or free media) refers to favorable publicity gained through promotional efforts other than advertising, as opposed to paid media, which refers to publicity gained through advertising.[1] Earned media often refers specifically to publicity gained through editorial influence, whereas social media refers to publicity gained through grassroots action, particularly on the Internet. The media may include any mass media outlets, such as newspaper, television, radio, and the Internet, and may include a variety of formats, such as news articles or shows, letters to the editor, editorials, and polls on television and the Internet.  [1]  Earned media is an old PR term that essentially meant getting your brand into free media rather than having to pay for it through advertising. Social media Social media employ web- and mobile-based technologies to support interactive dialogue and introduce substantial and pervasive changes to communication between organizations, communities, and individuals. [1] Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological multi faceted and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content.[2] I.e. Social media are social software which mediates human communication. When the technologies are in place, social media is ubiquitously accessible, and enabled by scalable communication techniques. In the year 2012, social media became one of the most powerful sources for news updates through platforms like Twitter and Face book.  [2]   Sold Media Paid and owned media are controlled by marketers touting their own products. For earned media, such marketers act as the initial catalyst for users responses. But in some cases, one marketers owned media become another marketers paid media-for instance, when an e-commerce retailer sells ad space on its Web site. This is termed as sold media on an owned media whose traffic is so strong that other organizations place their content or e-commerce engines within that environment.  [3]  This is gaining more popularity as a promotional media on the web based sites as it gives eye ball attention to the interested clientele only as it is projected on the related web pages which the potential client of the product is visiting. Hijacked Media The same dramatic technological changes that have provided marketers with more (and more diverse) communications choices have also increased the risk that passionate consumers will voice their opinions in quicker, more visible, and much more damaging ways. Such hijacked media are the opposite of earned media: an asset or campaign becomes hostage to consumers, other stakeholders, or activists who make negative allegations about a brand or product e.g. a prank online video of two employees contaminating sandwiches in Dominos Pizza kitchen appeared on YouTube. Advertorial An advertorial is an advertisement in the form of an editorial. The term advertorial is a portmanteau of advertisement and editorial. Merriam-Webster dates the origin of the word to 1946.[1]In printed publications, the advertisement is usually written in the form of an objective article and designed to look like a legitimate and independent news story. In television, the advertisement is similar to a short infomercial presentation of products or services. These can either be in the form of a television commercial or as a segment on a talk show or variety show. In radio, these can take the form of a radio commercial or a discussion between the announcer and representative.  [4]   Paid News Paid news or paid content are those articles in newspapers, magazines and the electronic media, which indicate favourable conditions for the institution that has paid for it. The news is much like an advertisement, but without the ad tag. This kind of news has been considered a serious malpractice since it deceives the citizens, not letting them know that the news is, in fact an advertisement. Secondly, the payment modes usually violate tax laws and election spending laws. More seriously, it has raised electoral concerns because the media has a direct influence on voters.  [5]   The dynamic media jargon has its vocabulary changing every moment which in turn is not only changing the way consumers perceive and absorb marketing messages but will also force marketers to change their thinking about the way they allocate spending and organize operations. Different kinds of media are becoming more integrated. The sold media can catapult a marketer into a stream of contacts with users and members through owned-media hubs, where marketing companies can offer a more engaging experience, get consumers interested in products. New publishing models are finding their way in modern media as marketers are leaning on media providers for help by partnering with media publishers to create deeper marketing experiences for consumers and to obtain content and ad sales support. Computer maker Dell and automobile manufacturer Nissan, for example, worked with the Sundance Channel in United States to create a television talk show hosted by Elvis Costello to attract their target demog raphic with ads that seamlessly blended into the shows content. Applications created on mobile phones are initiating tools that provide useful information. For example, eBays Red Laser generates a list of prices for products by merely scanning the barcode on mobile phone. Twitter and other blogging platforms are social media platforms to promote new products and promotions by leveraging its huge fan base. III Accountability and responsibility in journalism Good journalism flourishes where society respects and enforces the rule of law. International standards supply guarantees of free expression. But these standards also typically acknowledge certain legitimate grounds for the states restriction of free expression.  [6]  The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948, pronounces in Article 19 that: Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek,receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. Article 29 then qualifies this right as: In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedom of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society .  [7]   The right to free expression often goes loggerheads with other competing interests. Sometimes there is no legal remedy for types of journalistic misconduct that can disappoint readers and viewers. A courtroom is often not the best place to resolve disputes about balance, fairness, and accuracy and there is always the risk that harsh judicial remedies, even those imposed when the underlying case involves journalistic misconduct, will inhibit the future free and open publication of controversial views. In such a scenario self-regulatory mechanisms offer a valuable alternative.  [8]  Most associations of journalists, and many individual news organizations, have adopted codes of ethics. Terms vary. Some codes are binding, and violation of a provision can lead to dismissal by an employer or expulsion from a professional journalism society. But most codes of ethics, instead, offer voluntary guidelines to help journalists make morally and professionally sound decisions. Codes thus encou rage greater accountability to readers and viewers. A good example is the Code of Ethics for the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ)  [9]  , the largest voluntary association of U.S. news reporters and editors. Its code encourages journalists to abide by four core principles: Seek truth and report it: Journalists should be honest, fair and courageous in gathering, reporting and interpreting information. Minimize harm: Ethical journalists treat sources, subjects and colleagues as human beings deserving of respect. Act independently: Journalists should be free of obligation to any interest other than the publics right to know Be accountable: Journalists are accountable to their readers, listeners, viewers and each other. By its own terms, the SPJ code is a voluntary guide to ethical behavior. It states:The code is intended not as a set of rules but as a guide for ethical decision-making.  [10]  Similarly the Press Council of India, an autonomous body was set up under the Press Council Act, 1978. The Press Council of India has developed norms of journalistic conduct that cover the principles and ethics regarding journalism. The Press Council of India has also laid down guidelines on reporting of specific issues of public and national importance. In 1996, it drew up a set of guidelines that are particularly applicable to financial journalism. The Press Council of India has also issued guidelines on reporting of elections.  [11]  Mint  [12]  has laid down a code of journalistic conduct for guiding its journalists in so much of details that these can be expanded in scope to be followed by the entire media to safeguard and uphold the values of journalism in the country. Journalists have to be honest fair and courageous in gathering, reporting and interpreting information; ensuring accuracy, objectivity, balance and fairness. A Journalist should be free of any obligations, whether political or corporate. Speaking of corporations, there is no denying that Journalism and reporting like most other professions need significant capital inputs and sound business sense to survive. But, this is a profession where the stakes are much higher because it is a profession which has the power to create opinions and to shape a nations present and its future. Journalists must maintain dignity in expression and be sensitive while reporting on critical issues. IV Mass media bias: Can it be avoided? Media bias is the bias of journalists and news producers within the mass media in the selection of events and stories that are reported and how they are covered. The term media bias implies a pervasive or widespread bias contravening the standards of journalism, rather than the perspective of an individual journalist or article. The direction and degree of media bias in various countries is widely disputed.  [13]  The phenomenon of political bias has been founded in the media along with the invention of printing press and historically media has always favored the more powerful social groups. Like newspapers, the broadcast media (radio and television) have been used as a mechanism for propaganda from their earliest days, a tendency made more pronounced by the initial ownership of broadcast spectrum by national governments. Although a process of media deregulation has placed the majority of the broadcast media in private hands, there still exists a strong government presence, or ev en monopoly, in the broadcast media of many countries across the globe. At the same time, the concentration of media in private hands, and frequently amongst a comparatively small number of individuals, has also led to accusations of media bias.  [14]   There are primarily three categories of bias in reporting of a news viz. gate keeping bias which stops a news from appearing at all, coverage bias which gives the various degrees of prominence to the news and statement bias which gives color to a news through opinionated coverage.  [15]  The following are the most commonly talked about biases:- Support or attack a particular political party, candidate, or ideology. Advertising bias, when stories are selected or slanted to please advertisers. Corporate bias, when stories are selected or slanted to please corporate owners of media. Mainstream bias, a tendency to report what everyone else is reporting, and to avoid stories that will offend anyone. Sensationalism, bias in favor of the exceptional over the ordinary, giving the impression that rare events, such as airplane crashes, are more common than common events, such as automobile crashes. Favors or attacks on a particular race, religion, gender, age, sexual orientation, or ethnic group.  [16]   The bias of the mass media may be sited due to its economic structural views which get a leaning to a political view and in turn takes the form of propaganda. The corporate ownership of media houses is bound to have biases in the areas where their profitability is affected. There is another demand-driven theory of mass media bias. If readers and viewers have prior views on the current state of affairs and are uncertain about the quality of the information about it being provided by media outlets, then the latter have an incentive to slant stories towards their customers prior beliefs, in order to build and keep a reputation for high-quality journalism. The reason for this is that rational agents would tend to believe that pieces of information that go against their prior beliefs in fact originate from low-quality news providers. According to a a behavioral model which is built around the assumption that readers and viewers hold beliefs that they would like to see confirmed by news pr oviders. When news customers share common beliefs, profit-maximizing media outlets find it optimal to select and/or frame stories in order to pander to those beliefs.  [17]  In another model media bias arises because the media cannot tell the whole truth but are restricted to simple messages, such as political endorsements. In this setting, media bias arises because biased media are more informative; people with a certain political bias prefer media with a similar bias because they can more trust their advice on what actions to take.  [18]   Not all accusations of bias are political. Science writers accuse the entertainment media of anti-science bias. Television programs such as The X-Files promote superstition.  [19]  In contrast, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, which is funded by businesses, accuses the media of being biased in favor of science and against business interests, and of credulously reporting science that purports to show that greenhouse gasses cause global warming.  [20]   There has been a number of suggestions and efforts to straighten the biases during media coverage. A technique used to avoid bias is the point/counterpoint or round table, an adversarial format in which representatives of opposing views comment on an issue. This approach theoretically allows diverse views to appear in the media. However, the person organizing the report still has the responsibility to choose people who really represent the breadth of opinion, to ask them non-prejudicial questions, and to edit or arbitrate their comments fairly.  [21]   Another technique used to avoid bias is disclosure of affiliations that may be considered a possible conflict of interest. This is especially apparent when a news organization is reporting a story with some relevancy to the news organization itself or to its ownership individuals or conglomerate. Often this disclosure is mandated by the laws or regulations pertaining to stocks and securities. Commentators on news stories involving stocks are often required to disclose any ownership interest in those corporations or in its competitors. Same holds good during reporting of run up to elections when media covers stories and opinions through news columns and editorials as well publish advertisements related to contesting candidates and propaganda of the political parties. V Paid news: Pernicious dimension of media Media bias has always been a detrimental phenomenon affecting all forms of media that plagues society due to financial selfishness and vested interests of the journalists and the corporate houses controlling the strings of various sections of media. But in the recent years this bias is falling in the vicious trap of corruption whereby the news has started to have a price tag and advertorials are passed as news to unsuspecting readers and viewers. It has become pervasive, structured and highly organized and in the process, is undermining democracy in India. Media has moral responsibility to keep the news objective, fair and neutral. A clear distinction between information and opinion from advertisements that are paid for by corporate entities, governments, organizations or individuals has to be maintained at all times. The reader should be able to distinguish between news reports and advertisements/advertorials and the boundary between the two should never blur. But recently the paid news is becoming a deep-seated ailment which has become organized and is not restricted to only journalists, managers and owners of media companies but also involve advertising agencies and public relations firms. Owners and editors of media companies ideally should erect a firewall between journalists or content creators/producers, on the one hand, and buyers and sellers of advertising space, on the other but in some newspapers, magazines and television channels, this wall has too many convenient orifices which leads to the most common problem of making an attempt to manipulate public debate through the purchase of favorable editorial space and the purchase of advertising space .Owners of media organizations compel themselves to give favorable information about certain advertisers and block unfavorable information against them due to their financial relationships, including share-holdings, with them. An outgoing chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Board of India, in his farewell speech, referred to the existence of the anchor investor. Therefore, this problem, in a different sense, though it cannot be termed as paid news, also existed in the sphere of business journalism. Such trends have been discernible in sections of the Indian media for some years now in spite of press council of India having drawn a set of guidelines in 1996 which are particularly applicable to financial journalists on the behest of the regulator of the countrys capital markets, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).Disclosure of private treaties between media companies and other corporate entities need to be mandatory to safeguard the interests of investors. This practice(paid news) has started in media after India adopted free-economy policy. Corporates and media came closer and marketing managers became stronger than the editor of a media establishment. ..Media (the only hope for the common man) is supposed to be advocating for the deprived sections of society. But media itself has become an integral part of consumerism and corporate system.  [22]  The explosive growth in the media in the country had highlighted the fact that the Fourth Estate is the only one among the pillars of democracy that has an identifiable commercial and explicitly for-profit persona. While the primary professional duty of media organizations is to their readership to keep them informed and appraised with news, views and ideas, the commercial logic brings in a new set of stakeholders in the form of the shareholders of these companies.  [23]   The paid news has proliferated more due to diminution of the role and the status of editors in media organizations and the reduced freedom of journalists under the Working Journalists Act. Senior journalists prefer to work with their employers under fixed term contracts which erode their protection otherwise accorded to them under the provisions of the Act. Until the 1970s and the 1980s, many editors would not brook any interference from the management of the company they would be employed by the number of such editors started dwindling as more and more senior journalists started acceding to every whim of their managers and employers instead of their editors. With managers playing a more influential role in the selection and presentation of news, it was not surprising that the importance of the news started getting determined by the revenues that would be generated for the media company.  [24]  The journalist faces an ethical dilemma which begins with the inherent conflict betwe en the individuals role as a journalist providing independent information to the public and his or her employers quest for profit. The poor wages of journalists especially those who work in non-urban areas also force them to double up as advertising agents working on commissions to earn their livelihood. The paid news acquires a completely new complexity of staggering proportion with the corporatization of media houses and large media houses not only own print media but also own electronic media and radio waves. These media houses offer packages for the projection of certain individuals in all the forms of media that they own and control. This distorts parliamentary democracy in multiple ways: (a) (the) media ceases to be objective and, therefore, distorts public perception; (b) it distorts the electoral political choices of the people by providing undue advantage to those candidates/political parties who are able to afford these packages, (c) it manipulates democracy, negating it completely by denying or by not providing equal access to those who cannot afford to indulge in such malpractices thereby breaching the provisions of the Constitution of India, and (d) it demeans the idea and essence of journalism itself.  [25]   Paid news phenomenon represents a fatal combination of three Ms, namely, the media, money and mafia that has subverted free and fair elections. He said that earlier, politicians used to hire musclemen with huge amounts of money and train them in booth rigging. Nowà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦candidates are training media pens instead of mafia guns to rig the minds of people with constant opinion bombarding.  [26]  The new aspect of this phenomenon of paid newsas seen in parliament elections in 2009 is that there was widespread participation by political parties in this process. The integration and assimilation of leading political parties and corporate public relations bodies in this racket is also unique to the elections of 2009.  [27]  The Election Commission noted during the election process that the more disturbing phenomenon recently emerging and which is causing serious concern to the commission is the latest complaint to the Commission that some of the newspapers have even offered p ackages at hefty sums, offering three types of services one, projecting the image of a political party or a candidate in a positive manner; two, giving negative publicity to the rival party or candidate. The rates of such packages vary, depending upon the standing and circulation of the newspaper in the area covered by the constituency.The regional media councils have been rising to address the problem by repeatedly urging the journalists to desist from the temptation of We strongly believe that the practice of putting out advertising as news is a grave journalistic malpractice. Moreover the trend threatens the foundation of journalism by eroding public faith in the credibility and impartiality of news reporting. It also vitiated the poll process and prevented a fair election, since richer candidates who could pay for their publicity had a clear advantage.  [28]  A prominent journalist took a poke shot on vernacular press, The vernacular media may be feeling cocky, having pulle d themselves out of physical poverty under their own steam, but they have yet to learn how to deal firmly and decisively with another kind of poverty that of the professional, ethical kind  [29]  . The society has woken up to the media malpractices and the reflection is seen in the films and documentaries. Film director Shri Ram Gopal Verma made a movie in Feb 2010 named Rann dealing with the topic of corruption in the media. Even a documentary titled Advertorial: Selling News or Products? was produced by an eminent media critic and academic Paranjoy Guha Thakurta for Indias national broadcaster, Doordarshan.Even in a survey conducted by the Readers Digest in March 2010, called the Trust Survey, 750 Indians were asked to rank the short-listed individuals belonging to different professions. Journalists were ranked 30 out of the 40 professionals listed and were placed next only to barbers and bus drivers.  [30]  Edelman, an independent public relations firm, in its 2010 Trust Barometer Survey (conducted in 22 countries worldwide, including India and six other countries in the Asia-Pacific region) stated that the Indian media has been losing its credibility and trust among the people. The study, which sampled 1,575 people in the 25-64 age group and 200 opinion leaders in India, noticed a sharp drop in trust over the past two years in television news in India. However, newspapers are ranked higher than other media in terms of credible news with people trusting newspapers more than any other medium: 38 per cent of the Indians polled trusted radio and television, while

Comm/215 Case Study

Case Study Analysis Amanda Lee February 25, 2013 Case Study Analysis INTRODUCTION: Carl Robins is faced with very serious problems as the new campus recruiter for ABC, Inc. This case study analysis will show the many problems that evolved when he attempted to recruit new employees to work for Monica Carroll. After reviewing the issues at hand, we will discuss the possible solutions available for Carl to rectify the situation and the proposed solution that he should take. Carl Robins is a competent employee of ABC, Inc. As with any new position a person is involved in, he will face challenges.However, it is not impossible to overcome these challenges. BACKGROUND: In early April, Carl recruited fifteen new hires to work for Monica who is the Operations Supervisor. After recruiting them, he scheduled orientation to take place in June. This was in the hopes that the new employees would be able to start working by July. Approximately one month before orientation, Monica contacted Carl to check on the new hire process for the fifteen recruits. Once Monica was assured by Carl that everything was under control, Carl decided to check on things himself.At this point, Carl is unaware of the problems that he will be facing once he gets into the project. KEY PROBLEMS: The first problem that arises for Carl is when he checks on the new trainee files and realizes that the files are not complete. All new employees went through the interview process and filled out paperwork. Unfortunately, the paperwork is not completely filled out for their applications. To make matters worse, the files should have transcripts to go with them, but they are missing. The problems just get worse when he checks deeper into their files and realizes none of the trainees had drug screening on file.Once he is done looking at the new trainee files Carl checks the orientation manuals and realizes that there are only three copies of the manual. Carl is supposed to have at least fifteen copies of the manu al so that each new hire can have a copy for their own. As he goes through the orientation manual he also realizes that the three copies of the orientation manual that he has is missing several pages from each one. It seems that the problems with the new employee orientation just keep piling up for Carl. The next problem to arise is just as frustrating as the previous problems.Carl checks on the training room that he is planning on using for orientation. When he walks into the room he sees Joe, from technology, setting up computers all around the room. He finds out quickly that the training room has been reserved for both himself and Joe for the month of June so that Joe can train employees on a new software. It has been a very stressful day for Carl and after all of the issues he has found concerning the new trainee orientation, Carl panics. Many of the problems that Carl has found concerning the new employee orientation could have been avoided.Carl is a recently hired employee him self. He should have kept up with the progress of the new employee orientation and checked on the files for the applicants. ABC, Inc. should also have made sure that their new employee was capable of doing his job efficiently. If Carl had stayed on top of his project, the problems that he faced would not have occurred. PROPOSED SOLUTIONS: There are several problems that Carl is facing with his new employee orientation. The first problem is that the new trainees do not have complete applications on file and are missing their transcripts.To fix this problem Carl has more than one possible solution. For the incomplete applications, Carl could have the new hires finish them on the first day of orientation. If this solution does not work, he could mail the applications to the new hires, have them complete the paperwork, and then mail or fax it back to him. To correct the issue of the missing transcripts, Carl can contact the new employees and ask each of them to bring copies with them wh en they report to orientation. After dealing with the issue of the incomplete applications and missing transcripts, Carl still has to deal with the next problem.None of the new employees have been to the drug testing clinic for their mandatory drug screens. This problem can be fixed with minimal effort on Carl’s part. All he would have to do is call the new hires, let them know where the clinic is located, and give them a date for their drug screen to be completed. Once he has spoken with each new hire, this problem will be solved and Carl can focus on the next issue with the new employee orientation. The next difficulty that Carl faces is the problem with the orientation manuals.Carl only has three copies of the manual, which are each missing pages, and he has fifteen new employees that need their own copy. It will take some effort on Carl’s part to rectify this problem, but there is a solution. Carl should take one of the copies of the manual that he already has and find out what pages are missing from it. Then, once he knows what pages he needs, he should get those pages from the other two manuals and add them to the first copy. This will make a full copy of the orientation manual, which he can then use to make fifteen copies of for the new hires.The last problem that Carl faces is probably the most crucial of all of them. Carl has found out that the training room for the new hire orientation has been double booked and will also be used by Joe for computer training. There are two options Carl may choose to try and fix this issue. Carl could go to scheduling and find out who booked the room first. If Carl originally booked the room for orientation, he could force the technology department to vacate the room during his allocated time so that he could still use the room for the new hire orientation on the 15th.Another way Carl could fix this issue would be to talk with scheduling and find out if there is another room that he could possibly use fo r the orientation. If there is another room available, Carl can book the orientation for that place and will not have to push technology out of the original room. This solution will also avoid any possible confrontation between Carl and Joe from Technology services, which is great for work place drama. No one likes a stressful work environment. RECOMMENDATIONS: In order to ensure that these problems do not arise in the future, new procedures should be put into place when hiring new employees.When hiring a new employee, the applicant should have all paperwork completely filled out at the interview. This will save time and difficulties in the future. Transcripts should be collected at the second interview and put in the file with the application. When a new applicant is hired, the new employee should be given 72 hours to report to the clinic for drug screening. Drug screening is mandatory for each applicant. In the future, applicants will be given deadlines. This creates organization in the company and will assist recruiters in the future when hiring new employees.There should be a master copy of the new hire orientation manual on file at all times as a back-up for copies when there is an orientation. When scheduling orientation in the training room, there should be a second room also reserved in case of an emergency. These new procedures should be typed up and filed in the new hire orientation file. These proposed procedures will help ensure the success of new employees throughout the company. In any career path there is responsibility. Many times we face problems in our jobs.No matter what we have to do to overcome these obstacles, there is always a sense of accomplishment when we finish a task. Carl faced many obstacles when he attempted his first recruitment for ABC, Inc. These problems have solutions and Carl should be able to salvage the orientation without too much effort on his part. The incomplete applications can be completed and transcripts attached. Drug testing can be administered. Orientation manuals can be copied for the new employees and the training room can be salvaged. These solutions are manageable.

Legal Business Consideration - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 5 Words: 1383 Downloads: 5 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Business Essay Type Analytical essay Level High school Tags: Organization Essay Did you like this example? What form of business organization will best protect you when you start your ice cream store and why? Based on the in-depth reading of the relevant case, the best form of business organization which will be able to protect me for starting an ice cream store is Limited Liability Companies. LLCs is the best choice because of limited liabilities, flexible and lower taxations, flexible ownership structure and ability to end the company. First of all, unlike other business forms, members of LLCs do not have personal liability for the companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s debts and obligations. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Legal Business Consideration" essay for you Create order In other words, members are just liable for the debts, obligations and liabilities of the company only to the extent of their capital contributions. For example, Roberto copied the logo on a cheese package, so someone in that cheese company might sue us because of the violation of the intellectual property protections. If I lose the case, they cannot take my personal assets for Robertoà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s liability because my business is LLCs with limited liability. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“an LLC is not a separate tax entity, so business itself is not taxed.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  This means that the income or losses of the company will flow through to membersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ individual tax returns, and then they are to pay it through the personal income tax. Furthermore, Roberto and I also can elect how the company is taxed either as a corporation or as a corporation. This illustrates that our company is still able to avoid double taxat ions. In term of the flexible ownership structure, our LLC can be either a member-managed LLC or a manager-managed LLC. However, it does not matter what type of the structure of the company is. Roberto and I still have a say in management without losing our limited liability. Each member will have equal rights to manage the company. According to the website www.nolo.com à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" a website composed by many legal lawyers, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“under the laws of many states, unless your operating agreement says otherwise, when one member wants to leave the LLC, the company dissolves.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  This means that if I have some troubles with Roberto or do not want to continue operating the company, I will be able to leave the company. No one can prevent me from doing that unless the operating agreement between Roberto and I says so. Are there any intellectual property protections you should take for your business name and logo? What are they and why? How do you know if you can use this name and logo? I should take Trademark for my business name and logo because it allows me to get legal protection for the name and logo of the company. According to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“a trademark is a word, phrase, symbol or design, or a combination thereof, that identifies and distinguishes the source of the goods of one party from those of others.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  This means that I will have a legal presumption that our business is the owner of the mark and has the exclusive right to use this mark nationwide with our goods and services by registering a Trademark. To know whether I can use this name and logo, I will file an application with the PTO in Washington, DC wherein I designate the name and logo of the company that I am requesting to be registered. If our mark does not violate any existing marks, and other requirements for registering the mark have been met, the PTO will register that mark. Otherwise, we might use the Trademark Electroni c Search System (TESS) on the website of PTO to check the mark existed or not based on the USPTOà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s database. This is the link: https://tmsearch.uspto.gov . As a result, we can use them for the company. Are there any food laws must you comply with regarding the manufacture of ice cream in the US? What are they? ( summarize in two- three paragraphs please ) According to the Code of Federal Regulation Title 21, Volume 2 (CFR), ice cream is defined as a particular dairy products which have a certain percentage of milkfat and nonfat milk solid with a required minimum weight a gallon. The codified standards for the ice cream industry involves ingredient composition, optional ingredients, nomenclature and labeling. For ingredient composition, ice cream must contain certain minimum percent of milkfat and nonfat milk solids in the finished food (at least 10 percent milkfat, and not less than 20 percent total solids). Some certain bulky ingredientsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ weight used in making ice cream must be multiplied by 2.5 or 1.4 depending on whether they are fruit, nuts, chocolate or cocoa solids. Milk as mentioned must be cowà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s milk. The à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“total solidsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  mentioned are a variety of different components, such as protein, sugar, fat and other ingredients. A certain amount of optional dairy ingredi ents, caseinates and hydrolyzed milk protein must be generally recognized as safe with the maximum amount of included whey and the specific allowable levels of acidity by FDA. Additionally, the fat content will be determined by using the method designated under à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Fat, Roese-Gottlieb Method à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Offical Final Action.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  The name of the food must be ice cream if the content of the egg yolk solids does not exceed the specific amount for ice cream. The name of the ice cream on the container is also distinguished by natural flavorings, artificial flavoring or the combination of natural and artificial flavorings. According to FDA, Congress passed the statute called the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act (NLEA) which required food manufacturers and processors to disclose the nutrition information on food labels, including the amount of saturated fat, calories, saturated fat, cholesterol, and other substances contained in the food. So the manufac ture of ice cream is not an exception. Each of the ingredients must be disclosed on the label as required by the applicable sections of parts 101 and 130. However, the manufacturers of ice cream do not need to declare the artificial color except as required. Company Description The Laughing Cow Creamery Being fall in love with tasty creamy flavors, two best-friends Thuy and Roberto shared a dream to create a new ice cream store named Laughing Cow Creamery. After their graduation, the first Laughing Cow Creamery store was found as the Limited Liability Company on December 2013 in Georgia. Our store desire to bring over 50 tasty cool flavors with the highest quality throughout the year by operating the fully automatic systems. No matter who one is or where one lives, Laughing Cow Creamery will try to provide you the finest ingredients in the ice cream industry. Laughing Cow Creamery target all individual costumers of mostly all ages. College students and kids are very welcome to our store to get up to 50 percent discounts. With over 50 tasty cool flavors, Laughing Cow Creamery are able to provide our consumers year-round flavors, seasonal flavors, sherbet flavors, no sugar added or low fat flavors throughout the year. If the business grows as expec ted in a long term, we are planning to expand over 500 stores in the United States. Our friendly personnel will be pleasant to serve customers seven days per week from 7:00 AM to 9:00 PM. Works Cited 21 CFR 135.110 Ice Cream and Frozen Custard. LII / Legal Information Institute. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Sept. 2014. lt;https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/21/135.110gt;. CFR Code of Federal Regulations Title 21.CFR Code of Federal Regulations Title 21. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Sept. 2014. lt;https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?fr=135.110gt;. Cheeseman, Henry R. Chapter 8: Intellectual Property and Cyber Piracy.The Legal Environment of Business and Online Commerce: Business Ethics, E-commerce, Regulatory, and International Issues. 7th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2013. 167-74. Print. Limited Liability Company (LLC) | The U.S. Small Business Administration | SBA.gov.Limited Liability Company (LLC) | The U.S. Small Business A dministration | SBA.gov. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Sept. 2014. lt;https://www.sba.gov/content/limited-liability-company-llcgt;. LLC Basics. Limited Liability Company Business Structure | Nolo.com.Nolo.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Sept. 2014. lt;https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/llc-basics-30163.htmlgt;. Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS).Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS). N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Sept. 2014. lt;https://tmsearch.uspto.gov/gt;.

How Is Socialist Feminism Different from Other Types of Feminism

Socialist feminism, which connected the oppression of women to other oppressions in society, became increasingly important in the feminist theory that crystallized into academic feminist thought during the 1970s. How was socialist feminism different from other kinds of feminism? Socialist Feminism vs. Cultural Feminism Socialist feminism was often contrasted with cultural feminism, which focused on the unique nature of women and highlighted the need for woman-affirming culture. Cultural feminism was seen as essentialist: it recognized an essential nature of women that was unique to the female sex. Cultural feminists were sometimes criticized for being separatist if they tried to keep womens music, womens art, and womens studies apart from mainstream culture. The theory of socialist feminism, on the other hand, sought to avoid separating feminism from the rest of society. Socialist feminists in the 1970s preferred to integrate their struggle against womens oppression with the struggle against other injustice based on race, class, or economic status. Socialist feminists wanted to work with men to correct the inequities between men and women. Socialist Feminism vs. Liberal Feminism However, socialist feminism was also distinct from liberal feminism, such as that of the National Organization for Women (NOW). The perception of the term liberal has changed over the years, but the liberal feminism of the womens liberation movement sought equality for women in all institutions of society, including government, law, and education. Socialist feminists critiqued the idea that true equality was possible in a society built on inequality whose structure was fundamentally flawed. This criticism was similar to the feminist theory of radical feminists. Socialist Feminism vs. Radical Feminism However, socialist feminism was also distinct from radical feminism because socialist feminists rejected the radical feminist notion that the sex discrimination women faced was the source of all of their oppression. Radical feminists, by definition, sought to get at the root of oppression in society in order to drastically change things. In a male-dominated patriarchal society, they saw that root as the oppression of women. Socialist feminists were more likely to describe oppression based on gender as one piece of the struggle. Socialist Feminism vs. Socialism or Marxism The critique of Marxism and conventional socialism by socialist feminists is that Marxism and socialism largely reduce womens inequality to something incidental and created by economic inequality or the class system.  Because the oppression of women predates the development of capitalism, socialist feminists argue that womens oppression cannot be created by class division.  Socialist feminists also argue that without dismantling womens oppression, the capitalist hierarchical system cannot be dismantled.  Socialism and Marxism are primarily about liberation in the public realm, especially the economic realm of life, and socialist feminism acknowledges a psychological and personal dimension to liberation that is not always present in Marxism and socialism. Simone de Beauvoir, for example, had argued that womens liberation would come primarily through economic equality. Further Analysis Of course, this is just a basic overview of how socialist feminism differed from other kinds of feminism. Feminist writers and theorists have provided in-depth analysis of the underlying beliefs of feminist theory. In her book Tidal Wave: How Women Changed America at Centurys End (compare prices), Sara M. Evans explains how socialist feminism and other branches of feminism developed as part of the womens liberation movement. Further Reading: Socialist Feminism, The First Decade, 1966-1976 by Gloria Martin  Capitalist Patriarchy and the Case for Socialist Feminism edited by Zillah Eisenstein  The Socialist Feminist Project: A Contemporary Reader in Theory and Politics edited by Nancy Holmstrom