Triple Bottom Line Essay Example for Free

Triple Bottom Line Essay Introduction: ‘Triple Bottom Line’ is increasingly attaining popularity as a conceptual framework for the purpose of measuring the level of business performance. The term was being coined by John Elkington, in his book entitled â€Å"Cannibals with Forks: The Triple Bottom Line of 21st Century Business†. John Elkington has been the co-founder of the business consultancy SustainAbility. ‘Triple Bottom Line’ could be understood in a broad sense, as the range of values which companies need to uphold such as social, environmental and economic. In mere practical terms, the concept of triple bottom line intends to take into account the social and environmental performance of the company along with its financial performance. (The triple bottom line Business and Sustainable Development: A Global guide) The ‘triple bottom line’ indicates the point at which the corporate interests meet the societal interests. It is a novel method of measuring the bottom line, wherein profits tend to move along with the social as well as environmental performance and a method of understanding the concept of sustainability which is being considered to be often-fuzzy. (The Triple Bottom Line: How today’s Best-Run Companies are Achieving Economic, Social, and Environmental Success And How You Can Too) Summary Article: 1 Wayne Norman and Chris MacDonald in their article â€Å"Getting to the Bottom of Triple Bottom Line† state that by dedicating themselves to the concept of â€Å"Triple Bottom Line† it shows as if corporations are forming a more concrete as well as verifiable dedication to environment and society. But in reality, it allows the companies to virtually make no commitment at all. As a result of no real bottom lines for calculation relating to society or environment, companies do not have to be bothered about having these â€Å"bottom lines† in comparison to other firms which are within or without of their sector; nor is there any definite worry pertaining to the firm being considered to have reducing environmental as well as societal â€Å"bottom lines† over the various years or under the leadership of the present Chief Executive Officer of the company. Without a complete reliable collection of these reports along with the handy filing system, comparability over a period of time for one firm would be difficult as well as time-consuming. The company could also alter the indicating factors it would choose in order to report on over time. The authors emphasize further that on the one hand, the fact that the firms have created a social report or that of a code of ethics gives us less information with regard to a firm’s real dedication towards the principles being presented in the documents. It is also considered to be relatively of less cost in order to produce these documents, and particularly if they are vague, they do not usually bring any serious risks pertaining for a company. On the other hand, both the kinds of documents could play an important part in a company’s serious technique in order to improve upon its ethical as well as societal performance along with trying to integrate this objective into its boundary of corporate culture. The authors conclude that it is their understanding that clear as well as meaningful principles are the most likely to cater to companies of the latter kind; and that vague as well as literally less meaningful principles like those intended by the Triple Bottom Line are best suited only for promoting hypocrisy. (Getting to the Bottom of â€Å"Triple Bottom Line†) Article: 2 The author Steven F. Hayward in their article â€Å"The Triple Bottom Line: Authentic New Model or Tripartite Nonsense?† states that to the bottom level of profit-and-loss is being included two more groups which have their own balance sheets and these are environmental quality as well as social justice and it is what is being considered as the ‘triple bottom line’. However the author states that by including the term â€Å"social† to the concept of justice does not realistically include the values of justice. In real terms social justice is a disingenuous effort to turn justice by relating legitimacy in relation to a redistributive agenda. Further, with regard to environmental quality, most of the companies, particularly manufacturing companies, have emissions as well as resource-use profiles that could be brought up for measurement and improved by several methods. To add to it, most of the large corporations now tend to create annual environmental reports along with annual financial reports, mentioning the developments made by the firm on the environmental aspect. However most of these gains are considered to be just ‘efficiency gains’ which could be considered to be profitable in several cases, but a single-dimensional attention on efficiency gains removes taking into account both the opportunity cost of the working capital as well as the trained personnel in order to attain such efficiency gains against other tasks as well as any consideration with regard to the internal rate of return IRR on the company’s capital. A more general initiative has tended to elevate the concept of triple bottom line to that of a board level issue. However some of the environmentalists are not wasting their time for the purpose of serious conceptual efforts and have really started to warn the investors that firms that do not listen to the call of the triple bottom line will actually witness their market value to decline in the years to come. Steven F. Hayward provides several examples in this article of how environmentalists are trying to pressurize corporations to adopt social justice and environmental policies as part of their company policy. However examples of Enron’s bankruptcy shows that environmentalists are making their efforts to make corporations into social service units following a statist agenda. But this is something which market-oriented companies are not supposed to follow. (The Triple Bottom Line: Authentic New Model or Tripartite Nonsense?) Article: 3 The author Chris MacDonald in his article on â€Å"Ethics, jargon, and the triple bottom line† states that the supporters of the concept of ‘triple bottom line’ are not satisfied with the concept being just another form of a metaphor and they have made all efforts to make it into a full-fledged management concept and it is now one of the dominant as well as the progressive management concepts of the present day world. And the popularity of the concept tends to be skyrocketing. The author states that that the efforts of conscientious business managers in order to attend to the societal as well as the environmental implications of their business dealings are not at all out of importance. Knowledgeable and far-sighted managers had understood that such activities would tend to have the dual advantages of being right from both an ethical as well as the financial side. However it is not clear still that the concept of ‘triple bottom line’ adds anything valuable as to what the conscientious managers are already been doing. Further as it does not give any concrete and reliable measures to analyze the performance, the concept of ‘triple bottom line’ could even lead to a type of smoke and mirrors that will obscure the efforts of the less progressive firms. The author further asks as to what is the bottom line on the triple bottom line? He states that in their efforts to bring about ethical behavior, like that in anything else that they tend to do, firms should look carefully before they involve in buying. Another point to be noted is that, there should be careful reflection with regard to the best techniques as well as the tools for managers in order to ensure of their efforts to emphasize upon the ethical cultures in their companies. Ethics, whether it is in business or whether in the field of health care or politics, is really about thinking in a clear manner and understanding as to what our obligations really are and agreeing upon the principles that really make value and then abiding by those principles whenever times tend to get tough. (Ethics, jargon, and the triple bottom line) III. Compare/Contrast All the three articles show that even though the concept of Triple bottom line has become a popular approach to functioning of social and environmental commitments of the corporations, most of the companies tend to make less or even virtually no commitment at all towards the concepts of societal and environmental responsibility. As a result of the absence of any real bottom lines pertaining to societal or environmental performance for calculation, the comparability of firms is considered to be difficult and not worth-while. The authors agree that even though most large corporations now tend to create annual environmental reports along with their annual financial reports, mentioning the growth of the company with regard to several environmental benchmarks, a majority of these gains are considered to be only mere efficiency gains, which could be even profitable in several of the cases. Because the triple bottom line gives no concrete reliable methods to measure the performance levels, the concept could account to a type of smoke and mirrors that could obscure the actions of the less progressive firms. The authors of the three articles thus argue that Triple Bottom Line are best only for the purpose of promoting hypocrisy as companies are only interested in making profits and by adding the commitment towards environment and society in their company policy, they however do not make any concerted efforts towards improving the environment or society. In short, the three articles agree that because of its inbound emptiness as well as vagueness, the triple bottom line concept enables it easy for a cynical company to appear to be dedicated towards societal and environmental sustainability. 1V. Critical Evaluation: Even though the authors of the three articles state that the concept of Triple bottom line has not been made use of in the right direction, businesses are being forced upon in order to react to the societal, environmental and economic changes that are occurring in the world around them. Just as we understand that the global warming is basically changing the commercial as well as the regulatory landscape for the energy as well as the auto companies, similarly the occurrence of HIV/AIDS, SARS as well as contagious malaria is altering the fundamental business models for the pharmaceutical companies. In the ever-changing modern world, the real sustainable company would tend to have no requirement of writing checks for the purpose of charity or to provide back to the local society, as the firm’s daily functions would not tend to deprive the society, but would on the reverse tend to enrich it. (The Triple Bottom Line: How today’s Best-Run Companies are Achieving Economic, Social, and Environmental Success And How You Can Too) Conclusion To conclude, it can be said that there should be concerted efforts and research done to make triple bottom line as the model of the future and up-coming corporate firms. There should be strong regulated efforts made to create the awareness required that business firms even when contributing towards the societal and environmental concerns can tend to be financially successful. By giving equal importance for the society and environment, companies can tend to have a situation of ‘win-win’ on all sides. References Hayward, Steven F. The Triple Bottom Line: Authentic New Model or Tripartite Nonsense? Sept-Oct, 2002. Vol:12; No; 5. Religion and Liberty. http://www.acton.org/publicat/randl/article.php?id=437 MacDonald, Chris. Ethics, jargon, and the triple bottom line. The Chronicle Herald.   March 3, 2005. http://www.herald.ca/external/sobeys/march05.html Norman, Wayne; MacDonald, Chris. Getting to the Bottom of â€Å"Triple Bottom Line†. Business Ethics Quarterly, April 2004. http://www.businessethics.ca/3bl/triple_bottom_line_abstract.html Savitz, Andrew W; Weber, Karl. The Triple Bottom Line: How Today’s Best-Run Companies are Achieving Economic, Social, and Environmental Success And How You Can Too. Jossey-Bass/Wiley. September 2006. http://www.thetriplebottomline.net/ The triple bottom line. Business and Sustainable Development: A Global guide. 2007. http://www.bsdglobal.com/tools/principles_triple.asp

Capital Punishment Essays - For the Common Good :: Argumentative Persuasive Essays

Capital Punishment Essays - For the Common Good      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Putting to death people judged to have committed certain extremely terrible crimes is a practice of ancient standing, but in the United States in the second half of the twentieth century, it has become a very controversial issue.   Changing views on this difficult issue led the Supreme Court to abolish capital punishment in 1972 but later upheld it in 1977.   Although capital punishment is what the people want, there are many voices raised against it.   People all over the country debate this issue quite frequently.   They question the deterrent effect, morality, executions of innocents, and many more.   I have heard a lot about the death penalty and feel that the arguments against it are not at all convincing.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Some people argue that capital punishment is morally wrong.   They feel that killing some one for their crime is murder.   In any dictionary it states that murder is the unlawful act of killing.   Since capitol punishment is within the law it is not murder.   Also if executions   is murder then prison is kidnapping and charging taxes is extortion.   There is a difference between crime and punishment.   Are police officers wrong for speeding to enforce the speeding laws?   No.   They also say that we should value all human life.   Even the most despicable.   It is because we value human life so much that we put such a terrible consequence for taking it.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One argument states that the death penalty does not deter people from murdering.   To abolish capital punishment on this basis would be way off base.   You would also have to get rid of prisons because they do not keep people from committing crimes also.   Texas A&M University collected data and the results are horrifying.   In 1960 there were 56 executions and 9,140 murders.   In 1964 there were 15 executions and 9, 250 murders.   In 1969 there were no executions and 14,590 murders.   Seven more years without executions and there was 20,510 murders.   As you can see the deterrent effect is there and works very well.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As you can see the death penalty is for the common good and it saves lives.   People out there say that the death penalty is wrong, but

Our Emotions Diary

Identifying and measuring our emotions is difficult because it is not easy to objectively assess what we are feeling at that specific situation for emotions are subjective experiences. To accurately identify the range of our emotions and to classify it correctly takes greater control and self-awareness that I could not possibly muster. I have tried to identify the emotions based on the situations that triggered it. The James-Lange theory of emotion said that we first have physiological responses to a situation and only then will we interpret those experiences to determine the present emotion (Zajonc & McIntosh, 1992).Which is actually how most of us respond to an situation, like when I knew I felt anxious because I was feeling uneasy by getting late for class. On the other hand, I also felt confused on whether I got it mixed up; whether I experienced the situation and then the physiological arousal together with the emotion occurred at the same time, the Cannon-Bard theory supports t his explanation although they did not give much importance to the thoughts that occur during that experience (Stein, Trabasso & Liwag, 1993).Although, we get to experience a myriad of emotions and in varying degrees, some emotions are easier to identify like happiness and anger, while differentiating being upset from being sad is difficult. I could categorize it according to whether it is positive or negative and when I smiled I knew that I was happy at that time. Facial feedback theory says that the facial changes that occur in response to an event cues our brain and then define what kind of emotion we feel at that moment (Strongman, 1996).I also observed that we tend to respond to facial expressions, like when a person burst into tears we know that she is sad or afraid. With this activity, I learned that emotions, physical arousal, cognitive thoughts, and our brain interact together to produce different emotions. As to how all these element interact remains to be discovered, which I think will always be an aspect that will remain a mystery. References Stein, N., Trabasso, T. & Liwag, M. (1993). The representation and organization of emotional experience: Unfolding the emotion episode. In M. Lewis & J. M. Haviland (Eds.), Handbook of Emotions (pp. 279-300). New York: Guilford. Strongman, K. (1996). The Psychology of Emotion: Theories of Emotion in Perspective, 4th ed. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Zajonc, R. & McIntosh, D. (1992). Emotions research: Some promising questions and some questionable promises. Psychological Science, 3, 70-74.

Performance and Stage Directions - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 3 Words: 946 Downloads: 7 Date added: 2017/09/16 Category Technology Essay Type Argumentative essay Tags: Development Essay Did you like this example? 1. Dramatic techniques * Stage directions * Stage directions are used by Nowra to reveal the personality of the characters. The overconfidence and untrustworthy personality of Nick is highlighted in the first scene when they are travelling in the dark and Nick and Nowra accidently touch Lucy and are enjoying this. * Stage directions are also used to reveal the feelings of characters in certain situations. When Lucy and Nick leave, Lewis is left alone with Roy and the reader is told that Lewis feels betrayed. This is an effective technique because it reveals Lewis’s nervousness and lack of confidence as a director. Stage directions are also used to reveal the humour and action on the on stage performance. At the end of act one scene two, the audience is informed by Doug that there is a fire. Nowra uses stage directions to capture the chaos as the characters run of the stage trying to stop the fire and Cherry attacks Doug by throwing herself on him, her hands on his thro at, choking him. * Foreshadowing * Foreshadowing is used by Nowra to create suspense in the play. When Lewis is told by Justin to keep a close eye on Doug, the audience anticipates that some complications may be caused in the play. However the audience is not disappointed because Doug eventually lights a fire in the toilet and burns down the theatre. * Nowra also foreshadows Lucy’s infidelity. When Lewis and Doug are discussing Nick, and the moratorium when Lewis tells Doug that Nick lives with him and Lucy, Doug asks â€Å"do you share her? † Lewis is offended. At this point Nowra engages the audience as the think that Lucy is unfaithful, clearly foreshadowing her affair with Nick. * Humour * A great deal of humour comes in the play in the form of insults towards the directors. For example when Lewis defensively asserts Justin that â€Å"I am not a ward, I am director†. This creates a sense of humour because the educated audience would think that there is no difference between a director and a mad person. * Humour is created through the inappropriate comments and observations made by Doug. Doug criticises Roy’s decision to cast Henry in the play, â€Å"a hero who suffers from verbal diarrhoea†. The humour is created here because the audience has just witnessed Henry’s refusal to talk. * Characterisation 2. Key themes * Self growth and identity * The play not only focuses on the need for development of Lewis, but also suggests the need for personal growth of the other patients. This is evident in the scene where Henry continually asks what the purpose of the play is and is responded to by being told, â€Å"The point of this play is to bring people like Henry, out of their shells†. * In the earlier scenes Lewis is seen incapable of asserting himself amongst a group of people. It is Cherry who interferes between the fight of Dough and Roy and tells Lewis that â€Å"you have to be firm with them†. A t the end of act one scene two Lewis comments on his own failings: â€Å"why can’t I ever say No? They are mad, its madness†. However Lewis learns how to assert himself amongst group of people and ensure that his vision is realised. Lewis transformation is complete when he tells Doug to â€Å"go burn a cat†. * Lewis’s perspective on the world, himself and others alters with his experience in directing the play. As he is separated from the outside world he starts to question his values and beliefs. This is evident is his shifting attitude towards the Vietnam War and the student protest movement. Early in the play Lewis shows support for Nick’s moratorium and offers to help on the day. But the audience sees this support vanish in act one, scene two, when Lewis is more interested in hearing dough talk than Nick’s interview. He admits to dough that Nick is a friend but he only has one problem that he likes the sound of his own voice. At th e end of the play Lewis feels life is more meaningful and feels more in control of his life. * Lewis protects Doug in the future of the play when he agrees with Cherry that she started the fire. In the manner he shows trust and commitment towards these people which was not evident in the beginning of the play. * The nature of madness * Lucy is the first character to reveal her feelings about mental illness. The first scene when Roy tells Lewis that he is not a social worker but a patient, immediately after listening to this Lucy tells Lewis â€Å"I have to go†. This brief comment indicates to the reader that Lucy is not comfortable around mental patients. * Nowra suggests that mental illness does not mean that individuals need to me detached from the society. This is evident when Justin tells Lewis that â€Å"the first thing you’ll notice is that they are normal people†. This idea is further portrayed in a positive manner when Justin says â€Å"they are peop le who have done extraordinary things, thought extraordinary thoughts†. Justin uses an ambiguous illusion to describe madness, which initially confuses the reader and Lewis. â€Å"A madman is one who turns up at a fancy party dresses up in the Emperor’s clothes†. It is only at the end of the play when both Lewis and the reader understand Justin’s definition. The world is full of sane people who shroud themselves in illusion whether it be their clothes, profession or attitudes and beliefs and insane people are those who are actually free from this illusion and pretence. * Love and creativity in a war dominated world * Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Performance and Stage Directions" essay for you Create order