How far were economic factors to blame for the Pilgrimage of Grace? Ess

Sparked in Lincolnshire in October 1536 and expanding rapidly through Yorkshire and the far north, the Pilgrimage of Grace was a popular rising that presented a â€Å"major armed challenge to the Henrician Reformation† . Historians have argued endlessly about the true causes of the Pilgrimage. But, it is fair to say that the rising incorporated a mixture of political, religious, social and economic issues. Therefore, economic factors were only partly to blame for the Pilgrimage of Grace. Firstly, politics was partly to blame for the Pilgrimage of Grace. By early 1527 King Henry VIII sought a divorce from Catherine of Aragon. Though, it is hard to pinpoint exactly why, the most plausible explanation is his belief that â€Å"his marriage was barren because of its illegality† . This is because Henry argued that it was blasphemous of him to marry his brother’s widow. Understandably, any hopes of the divorce being granted were dashed because Henry was a Roman Catholic and the head of this church was the Pope based in Rome. More importantly, the Roman Catholic faith believed marriage was permanent; therefore, only widowers could remarry. Accordingly, a change in strategy intended to â€Å"separate the English church from the larger Catholic Church† in order to get the divorce without any right of appeal to the Pope. In effect, the foundations began with the Pardon of the Clergy in January 1531, carried on with the Submission of the Clergy in May 1532, and accomplished with the declaration of the royal supremacy in 1534. However, by far the most important was the Act in Restraint of Appeals ratified in April 1533, which allowed the divorce to be granted by the Archbishop of Cranmer. As a result, anger ar... ...tting the downfall of the Cromwellian regime. As a result, it is fair to say that once the rebellion began, Robert Aske and Lord Darcy, â€Å"for their own reasons: self-advancement, principle, fear-dabbled in treason† . But, Elton’s argument is useful in the sense that it gives a helpful view on popular attitudes during this period. Works Cited C. S. L. Davies, ‘Popular Religion and the Pilgrimage of Grace’ in Order and Disorder in Early Modern England, eds. Anthony Fletcher and John Stevenson Ethan H. Shagan, Popular Politics and the English Reformation Michael Bush, ‘Up for the Commonwealth’: the significance of tax grievances in the English rebellions of 1536, English Historical Review Barrett L. Beer, Rebellion and Riot: Popular Disorder in England during the reign of Edward VI R. W. Hoyle, The Pilgrimage of Grace and the Politics of the 1530s

Essay --

In 2006, Felipe Calderà ³n- former president of Mexico launched a joint operation with the United States in an effort to massively crackdown against drug trafficking and their organizations. According to the LA Times, upwards of forty thousand people have been killed in drug-related violence as of June 2011 since it’s meager beginnings in 2006. While the United States has supplied funding and labor in order to support Mexico in undertaking the war on drug trafficking, their primary focus has been more closely focused on increase border patrolling. For decades and decades drug trafficking organizations, henceforth known as cartels, have been using their strong and dangerous influence in order to transform Mexico’s tight-knit government and groups of citizens into a state of country-wide corruption that has ensured protection for cartels doing illegal practices. Since the time President Calderà ³n took his oath for office in 2006 with a pledge to eliminate these traffic king institutions, drug violence has rose quickly and it is moving extremely aggressively, but Calderà ³n and his administration worked quickly in order to promote laws that were part of a strategy made specific in order to handle the situation. This trafficking from Mexico to the United States is starting to become a major player in the role that drugs are playing in America. Mexico is one of the prime contributors of heroin to the U.S. market, and undoubtedly the largest foreign supplier of methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana. Mexican production of all three of these drugs have increased alarmingly since 2005, proportionately with the total of all drugs seized at the border between both countries, according to a 2011 report from the U.S. Department of Justice. While ma... ...s number is growing as territories expand across the world and as the success of the drug trafficking means better money to many of the citizens the poverty-stricken Mexican towns who make the bare minimum (if that) wages. Usually those that are electing to participate in these trafficking jobs are young men with hardly any education, most are drop-outs that come from under privileged economic backgrounds with an average age of eighteen with higher social and monetary aspirations than they can satisfy by working legally and morally. Drug trafficking creates an annual revenue of four hundred billion, and in turn represents eight percent of the world's trade. With a problem so massive that it affects two continents and billions of people, it comes as no surprise that coming to a place of peace and understanding is one of the most difficult things about this situation. Essay -- In 2006, Felipe Calderà ³n- former president of Mexico launched a joint operation with the United States in an effort to massively crackdown against drug trafficking and their organizations. According to the LA Times, upwards of forty thousand people have been killed in drug-related violence as of June 2011 since it’s meager beginnings in 2006. While the United States has supplied funding and labor in order to support Mexico in undertaking the war on drug trafficking, their primary focus has been more closely focused on increase border patrolling. For decades and decades drug trafficking organizations, henceforth known as cartels, have been using their strong and dangerous influence in order to transform Mexico’s tight-knit government and groups of citizens into a state of country-wide corruption that has ensured protection for cartels doing illegal practices. Since the time President Calderà ³n took his oath for office in 2006 with a pledge to eliminate these traffic king institutions, drug violence has rose quickly and it is moving extremely aggressively, but Calderà ³n and his administration worked quickly in order to promote laws that were part of a strategy made specific in order to handle the situation. This trafficking from Mexico to the United States is starting to become a major player in the role that drugs are playing in America. Mexico is one of the prime contributors of heroin to the U.S. market, and undoubtedly the largest foreign supplier of methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana. Mexican production of all three of these drugs have increased alarmingly since 2005, proportionately with the total of all drugs seized at the border between both countries, according to a 2011 report from the U.S. Department of Justice. While ma... ...s number is growing as territories expand across the world and as the success of the drug trafficking means better money to many of the citizens the poverty-stricken Mexican towns who make the bare minimum (if that) wages. Usually those that are electing to participate in these trafficking jobs are young men with hardly any education, most are drop-outs that come from under privileged economic backgrounds with an average age of eighteen with higher social and monetary aspirations than they can satisfy by working legally and morally. Drug trafficking creates an annual revenue of four hundred billion, and in turn represents eight percent of the world's trade. With a problem so massive that it affects two continents and billions of people, it comes as no surprise that coming to a place of peace and understanding is one of the most difficult things about this situation.

Trader Joe’s Case Brief Essay

There are several key sources of Trader Joe’s competitive advantage, including offering great bargains on products that are not typically found at other supermarkets. Trader Joe’s also chose to sell natural and organic foods aimed at well-educated, sophisticated consumers. Trader Joe’s also believed strongly in paying its employees a good wage, leading to higher employee satisfaction and a better quality of service within each store. In addition, the company embraced an everyday low pricing philosophy. More than 80% of Trader Joe’s products are private label (including their well-known private label wines). Also, they are able to reduce costs by purchasing directly from the manufacturers (as opposed to the distributors). Their marketing campaigns rely heavily on word of mouth and fan pages created by loyal customers. Given my answer to question #2, TJ’s business model would be difficult for competitors to imitate given a variety of reasons. First, employee commitment is extremely high due to high wages and increased employee benefits, which generates a very engaging experience for the customers. In addition, the company has thousands of vendor relationships all over the world and this takes time and skills to develop. The company’s model also relies on small stores with an intimate feel, a limited but unique selection of products that are free of preservatives, have no artificial color, and contain no genetically modified content, a highly motivated and well-paid work force, and excellent customer service. The great customer service offered by TJ leads to higher customer retention and loyalty, making it difficult for other firms to steal these customers away.

Common Biases and Errors in Decision-Making Process

COMMON BIASES AND ERRORS IN DECISION-MAKING PROCESS In addition to engaging in bounded rationality, an accumulating body of research tells us that decision makers allow systematic biases and errors to creep into their judgments. These come out of attempts to shortcut the decision process. To minimize effort and avoid difficult trade-offs, people tend to rely too heavily on experience, impulses, gut feelings, and convenient aâ‚ ¬? rules of thumb. aâ‚ ¬? In many instances, these shortcuts are helpful. However, they can lead to severe distortions from rationality.The following highlights the most common distortions. Overconfidence Bias:  Itaâ‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s been said that aâ‚ ¬? no problem in judgment and decision making is more prevalent and more potentially catastrophic than overconfidence. aâ‚ ¬? When weaâ‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢re given factual questions and asked to judge the probability that our answers are correct, we tend to be far too optimistic. For instance, studies have fo und that, when people say theyaâ‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢re 65 to 70% confident that theyaâ‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢re right, they were actually correct only about 50% of the time. And when they say theyaâ‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢re 100% sure, they tended to be 70 to 85% correct.From an organizational standpoint, one of the more interesting findings related to overconfidence is that those individuals whose intellectual and interpersonal abilities are weakest are most likely to overestimate their performance and ability. So as mangers and employees become more knowledgeable about an issue, the less likely they are to display overconfidence. Overconfidence is most likely to surface when organizational members are considering issues or problems that are outside their area of expertise. Anchoring Bias:  The anchoring bias is a tendency to fixate on initial information as a starting point.Once set, we then fail to adequately adjust for subsequent information. The anchoring bias occurs because our mind appears to give a d isproportionate amount of emphasis to the first information it receives. So initial impressions, ideas, process, and estimates carry undue weight relative to information received later. Anchors are widely used by professional people such as advertising writers, managers, politicians, real estate agents, and lawyersaâ‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬ where persuasion skills are important For instance, in a mock jury trial, one set of jurors was asked by the plaintiffaâ‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s attorney to make an award in the range of Rs. million to Rs. 25 million. Another set of jurors was asked for an award in the range of Rs. 25 million to 75 million. Consistent with the anchoring bias, the median awards were Rs. 5 million versus Rs. 25 million in the two conditions. Consider the role of anchoring in negotiations and interviews. Any time a negotiation takes place, so does anchoring. As soon as someone states a number, your ability to objectively ignore that number has been compromised. For instance, when a prosp ective employer asks how much you were making in your prior job, your answer typically anchors the employeraâ‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s offer.Most of us understand this and upwardly aâ‚ ¬? adjustaâ‚ ¬? our previous salary in the hope that it will encourage our employer to offer us more. Anchoring can distort employment interviews. The initial information you might get interviewing a job candidate is likely to anchor your assessment of the applicant and unduly influence how you interpret information that you obtain later. Confirmation Bias:  The rational decision-making process assumes that we objectively gather information. But we donaâ‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t. We selectively gather information.The information bias represents a specific case of selective perception. We seek out information that reaffirms our past choices, and we discount information that contradicts past judgments. We also tend to accept information at face value that confirms our preconceived views, while being critical and skep tical of information that challenges these views. The information we gather is typically biased toward supporting views we already hold. This confirmation bias influences where we go to collect evidence because we tend to seek out places that are more likely to tell us what we want to hear.It also leads us to give too much weight to supporting information and too little to contradictory information. Availability Bias:  Many more people suffer from fear of flying than fear of driving in a car. The reason is that many people think flying is more dangerous. If flying on a commercial airline was as dangerous as driving, the equivalent of two 747s filled to capacity would have to crash every week, killing all aboard, to match the risk of being killed in a car accident.But the media give a lot more attention to air accidents, so we tend to overstate the risk of flying and understate the risk of driving. This illustrates an example of the availability bias, which is the tendency for peop le to base their judgments on information that is readily available to them. Events that evoke emotions, that are particularly vivid, or that have occurred more recently tend to be more available in our memory. As a result, we tend to be prone to overestimating unlikely events like an airplane crash.The availability bias can also explain why managers, when doing annual performance appraisals, tend to give more weight to recent behaviors of an employee than those behaviors of six or nine months ago. Escalation of Commitment Error:  Another distortion that creeps into decisions in practice is a tendency to escalate commitment when a decision stream represents a series of decisions. Escalation of commitment refers to staying with a decision even when there is clear evidence that itaâ‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s wrong.An example of this is of my friend, who has been dating a woman for about four years. He admitted that things werenaâ‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t going too well in their relationship; he informed m e that he was going to marry the woman. A bit surprised by his decision, I asked him why. He responded: aâ‚ ¬? I have a lot invested in the relationship! aâ‚ ¬? It has been well documented that individuals escalate commitment to a failing course of action when they view themselves as a responsible for the failure. That is they aâ‚ ¬? throw good money after badaâ‚ ¬? o demonstrate that their initial decision wasnaâ‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t wrong and to avoid having to admit they made a mistake. Escalation of commitment is also congruent with evidence that people try to appear consistent in what they say and do. Increasing commitment to previous actions conveys consistency. Escalation of commitment has obvious implications for managerial decisions. Many an organization has suffered large losses because a manager was determined to prove his or her original decision was right by continuing to commit resources to what was a lost cause from the beginning.In addition, consistency is a cha racteristic often associated with effective leaders. So managers, in an effort to appear effective, may be motivated to be consistent when switching to another course of action. In reality, effective managers are those who are able to differentiate between situations in which persistence will pay off and situations in which it will not. http://www. citeman. com/384-common-biases-and-errors-in-decision-making-process. html

Critically Evaluate the Case for Social Partnership Between Unions and Employers

Critically evaluate the case for social partnership between unions and employers The concept of social partnership originates from the Rhenish model of industrial relations. It has passed in to the British lexicon through the European Union. At a European level the social partners are trade unions and employers federations. However in the UK the employers peak federation the CBI has indicated that it is unwilling to fulfil such a role at a national level. Instead the Anglo-Saxon model of social partnership operates a company and workplace level. This essay will investigate the arguments for and against social partnership on the Anglo-Saxon model from the perspective of the employer and trade union. It will recognise that the criteria for judging the efficacy of social partnership differ between employers and unions. The case for social partnership from the employer perspective is ambiguous and will be contingent on management attitudes and business strategy. It will argue that while social partnership undoubtedly presents problems for trade unions it is by far the lesser of two evils when compared with individualised employee involvement and human resource management policies. Trade unions should promote partnership as an alternative ideology to capital driven unitarism. If implemented in the context of collective bargaining mutual gains principals offer a model for company level social partnership. Proponents of the mutual gains enterprise are quite clear that it is not a universally applicable prescription. To be made to work it requires high levels of investment in human resources, employees cannot be treated as just another cost, to be trimmed where possible. However companies willing to pursue ‘mutual gains’ policies benefit from increased productivity and creativity, and consequently higher profitability. Companies that are trying to compete purely on the basis of lowest cost would not be able to implement the principles. Kochan and Osterman marshal considerable case study evidence to support their theory. However at the moment the empirical research to validate it does not exist . Freidman (1977) has proposed that employer strategies towards the workforce are contingent on the economic cycle. When factors are favourable employers are more likely to emphasise policies with elements of employee involvement and greater trust that are likely to win loyalty and support of the workforce. While in times of recession, declining profitability and an unfavourable labour market positionemployers are more likely to fall back on authoritarian policies, cutting back wages and increasing supervision. This may provide a framework for understanding the conditions in which employers are prepared to enter into social partnership agreements. Kochan and Osterman offer the further hypothesis that mutual gains theory will work better if the enterprise recognises independent trade unions. They argue that union based voice mechanisms are more effective than the alternatives because they recognise that the interests of the workforce and the company will not always be in unison. Where conflicts do arise union voice mechanisms allow them to be negotiated and resolved without compromising the climate of co-operation and trust. This is not a view shared by everyone. Nestle provide an example of a company introducing HRM practices to achieve mutual gains objectives in parallel with traditional collective bargaining. In the long run Nestle management expect traditional industrial relations to wither away, replaced by individual relationships between the company and its employees. (Taylor, 1994:131). Given that there are conditions in which employers are more likely to pursue employee involvement policies I would offer the hypothesis that the union attitude is an important factor influencing the way in which an employer introduces HRM and employee involvement strategies. If the union is not prepared to work in partnership the employer may proceed with policies that would have the effect of de-collectivising the workforce and marginalising the union. If the union side are prepared to engage in partnership at a strategic level then the form of partnership may be considerably more favourable to unions and there members. There is currently no data available to test this hypothesis rigorously, however case studies may shed some light on the area.

Memo- Gazprom and Itera Essay

In the case study of Gazprom and Itera, we see how different companies and governmental organizations can potentially be able to exploit a large company such as Gazprom for a large profit. Gazprom is a large gas and oil company that is valued very cheaply compared to other large oil and gas companies (such as Exxon Mobil). Browder is a shareholder of Gazprom that identifies several questionable transactions that were done by Gazprom and other organizations that have relationships with Gazprom. He is questioning why the undervaluation could have occurred based on the business being conducted by the oil giant. The problem that exists for Gazprom is that the market perceives the company to have lost 99 percent of its assets, completely devaluing the price of its goods. In reality, only 10 percent of its assets were stolen, and the market is slowly trying to catch up to that truth. Browder is attempting to identify the transactions in order to solve the large problem at hand. These transactions include organizations that work with Gazprom such as Itera (a gas trading company) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (their internal auditor) devaluing the gas and oil Gazprom held in certain situations and reselling it for a profit. In one example, Itera bought gas valued at $35 a barrel from Turkmen gas and resold it to Gazprom for $45 a barrel. PwC thought this difference was acceptable due to transportation costs, even though those were already taken care of separately. In general, the lack of transparency and accountability being administered by management in Gazprom and its partner companies was a fail ure to its stockholders. Browder’s recommendations to the Russian government are vital, mainly due to the fact that it has a 38% controlling stake in Gazprom. Because the vast majority of the operations conducted by Gazprom occur within Russia’s boundaries, it is up to the government to set the correct standards and close loopholes so that organizations and individuals will not exploit such situations. Browder’s recommendations to the U.S. and to the Board of Directors of Gazprom could be essential for enacting change within the  corporate environment to prevent such scrupulous transactions. Though these changes could prove helpful in the reorganization of the company in the long run, the international political environment does not provide Gazprom with the best situation. The fact that Russia’s governmental body has so much stake in the company can greatly complicate things due to the personal influence of those running the government. Several members of the Russian government could fulfill a personal agenda using the government’s stake in the company as leverage (this could have been the case potentially with these transactions). This is also the case with PwC and Itera, both with a lot of power to take advantage of loopholes and other lucrative situations when it comes to Gazprom. There are several things Browder can do to combat this situation, but I think his strategy will be a difficult one to execute alone. He would need to collect more shareholder power before he steps forward with the resolutions. Involving the U.S. and Russian government will be difficult due to the lethargic manner in which these situations can be resolved. Taking care of the company from within should be he first move, but only with the appropriate number of people backing his plan.

A Brief Biography of Ted Bundy

In the 1970s, terrorist incidents shocked the United States. More and more girls students suddenly disappeared. While searching for a serial killer, the agent does not seem to be able to find a link to those who carry out all these terrible acts. The similarity of the victims shows that some people are wisely supporting these events. But when he got caught, the United States learned that not all serial killers fit a particular image. Ted Bundy, which is said to be very smart and interesting by many people, spreads his fears throughout America by targeting and killing young women; his future behavior Ted Bundy's biography Ted Bundy is one of the worst continuous killers ever. His antisocial personality and spiritual illness made him feel scared all over the country. After all, Ted left a series of bloody killings including the deaths of 36 young women and crossed the four states. The biggest problem in the hearts of many people is that if people like Bondi are very smart, very clever and praised, he will do such a thing. - Terrorist attacks shocked the United States in the 1970s. More and more girls students suddenly disappeared. While searching for a serial killer, the agent does not seem to be able to find a link to those who carry out all these terrible acts. The similarity of the victims shows that some people are wisely supporting these events. But when he was caught, the United States learned that not all serial killers are consistent with a particular image. Through the history of Tide Bondi, criminal investigators encountered various forms of serial killers. One of the many famous serial killers of the 20th century was Theodore Robert Bundy (Ted Bundy). Ted Bundy is responsible for killing more than Chi Omega. When people think about continuous killers they imagine people who are dirty, crazy, personal and outstanding from others. In the case of Ted, this is not the case. Ted Bondi is a very intelligent person who attended college. Ted Bundy 2 Ted Bundy: Personality comparison between Rollo May and Albert Bandura's theory The purpose of this case study is to test the personality of Ted Bundy, one of the most notorious serial killers of modern history. It is said that Ted Bundy insulted and tortured and killed at least 50 women. The possibilities are higher, but real numbers will never be known. Because Ted Bondi refused to keep the real number of his victims and inform the authorities about the exact things.