The great inflation of the 1920s Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The great inflation of the 1920s - Essay Example In the initial stages of the great inflation, German citizens did not experience its effects partly due to the stability of German’s economy before World War I. At the end of 1923, the effects of the great inflation started being felt by the German citizens. The great inflation reached its peak at the last half of 1923 when the prices of basic commodities had increased by more than five hundred times. The price continued to increase steadily putting German’s economy at the risk of collapse. Although the inflation resulted from economic factors, it was related to German’s governance. This essay will investigate the great inflation, and its impacts on Germany and the German people. Like most other inflations, the great inflation had its source in poor monetary policies and governance issues. Germany’s involvement in World War I is believed to have been the source of its monetary crisis. At the height of World War I, the German government exhausted its moneta ry reserves forcing it to turn to money printing press as a quick intervention measure. The German government needed money to pay its soldiers and officers serving in the war. The government also needed money to purchase military equipment that was required during the war. The government considered the act of printing extra money as a quick intervention strategy of winning the battle. ... This measure was meant increase the amount of liquid money under government’s control. This measure could not however, guarantee the government adequate money to pay its military personnel. To contribute to the government’s efforts of increasing the amount of money in the treasury, the parliament passed policies that allowed the government to offer war bonds. The Reich bank was to respond to this offer by printing extra money to balance the amount of money in government’s position with that in circulation. From 1914 to 1918, the amount paper money printed for both the government and private sector spending had reached 33.12 billion marks. This was a significant increase since before the war the German government and the private sector spending accounted for nearly 2.37 billion marks. Before the war, one US dollar traded for approximately 4.12 marks. At the end of World War I, the exchange rates had changed significantly since one US dollar traded for 8.32 marks. This was however, the initial stages of the inflation. Although the effects of this inflation were not sufficient to cause an economic breakdown, they greatly influenced German’s economy. The worst phase of the monetary crisis was experienced during the first five years that followed the war. At the first quarter of 1919, the supply of paper money had reached 50.16 billion marks. This figures changed constantly to reach 1,310.56 billion marks at the close of 1922. On the other hand, 192.3 marks traded for one US dollar at the beginning of 1919. The exchange rate increased dramatically and reached 7,589.37 in 1922 and, the worst situation occurred in November 1923 when one US dollar traded for 4,200,000,000.00 marks. This figure is absurd and it implied great

Social Darwinism and Business Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Social Darwinism and Business Ethics - Essay Example Apart from the practical issues in business ethics like corporate social responsibility, corporate governance, stakeholder concept etc there area also philosophical issues conflicting with the nature of business. One of the most important issues among them is 'Social Darwinism'. The encyclopedia Britannica defines Social Darwinism as "the theory that persons, groups, and races are subject to the same laws of natural selection as Charles Darwin had perceived in plants and animals in nature". The essential similarity between Social Darwinism and the nature of business is the term 'competition'. It is competition that drives progress. The alleged propounder of Social Darwinism, the late Victorian English philosopher Herbert Spencer coined the term 'survival of the fittest' to society, inspired by the scientific support from Darwin's work. This led to the belief that the weak exist solely for exploitation by the strong. Critics think Social Darwinism is to be blamed for issues like the eugenic programs of nineteenth century, the Nazi holocaust, imperialism, racism etc. The eighteenth century philosopher Kant had a viewpoint quite similar to the social Darwinists, but much more superior. He argued that the theory of evolution was actually a step backwards in theoretical analysis of the species and illogical.

Military Sciences 4 Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Military Sciences 4 Questions - Essay Example On the other side, the interim government in Afghanistan was helpless because it was facing a number of internal and external problems like corruption, illegal trade of opium, underdeveloped economy and security breach. At the same time, Taliban was seeking cooperation with al-Qaida and to subdue the interim government in Afghanistan. In National Defense Strategy document, the defense secretary (2008) makes clear that â€Å"Violent extremist movements such as al-Qaeda and its associates comprise a complex and urgent challenge† (p.2). As the Middle East (say, especially Afghanistan) is considered as the core of international terrorist plots, the national interest of the United States is at risk in this area. To be specific, the 9/11 incident proves that al-Qaida in Afghanistan is behind the global spread of terrorism. So, the U.S. government must deal with the grass root level reason behind the global spread of terrorism. Almost all the world nations face the problem of terrori sm and religious fundamentalism. In addition, the problem of terrorism can be dealt with military involvement because other ways prove ineffective. Our military involvement supports the vital national interest because the ultimate aim of the US forces in Afghanistan is to interrupt and dismantle the international terrorist groups which operate from Afghanistan. ... So, one can easily identify that the situation in Afghanistan is worse and US security is at risk. Besides, military involvement in this area aims to keep pressure upon the terrorist groups like Taliban and al-Qaida. In short, military involvement in Afghanistan is unavoidable because it supports the vital national interest of the United States. 2. The Department of Defense (DoD)’s tendency to focus on conventional conflicts is based upon the Cold War strategy. One can easily identify that this strategy is not practical and is impossible to implement in irregular wars. For instance, the international terrorist groups make use of irregular warfare and conventional warfare based upon military power cannot withstand the same. So, the 2008 National Defense Strategy (NDS) is vital to counterbalance DoD’s tendency to focus on conventional conflicts. Within this context, NDS aims to implement a number of measures. One can see that the NDS provides ample importance to long-term effort by confronting the challenges faced by conventional warfare, which proved to be ineffective. From a different angle of view, NDS’s aim to adopt innovation into the context of contingency planning, development of different forces, and intelligence work are utmost important to amalgamate innovation into DoD. In National Defense Strategy document, the defense secretary (2008) makes clear that â€Å"We must tailor deterrence to fit particular actors, situations, and forms of warfare† (p.12). Besides, the NDS is aware of the importance of irregular warfare in Iraq and Afghanistan. For instance, irregular warfare tactics and partnership can be helpful to win wars in the Middle Eastern regions. One can see that NDS put forth innovative ideas to equip the security

The great inflation of the 1920s Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The great inflation of the 1920s - Essay Example In the initial stages of the great inflation, German citizens did not experience its effects partly due to the stability of German’s economy before World War I. At the end of 1923, the effects of the great inflation started being felt by the German citizens. The great inflation reached its peak at the last half of 1923 when the prices of basic commodities had increased by more than five hundred times. The price continued to increase steadily putting German’s economy at the risk of collapse. Although the inflation resulted from economic factors, it was related to German’s governance. This essay will investigate the great inflation, and its impacts on Germany and the German people. Like most other inflations, the great inflation had its source in poor monetary policies and governance issues. Germany’s involvement in World War I is believed to have been the source of its monetary crisis. At the height of World War I, the German government exhausted its moneta ry reserves forcing it to turn to money printing press as a quick intervention measure. The German government needed money to pay its soldiers and officers serving in the war. The government also needed money to purchase military equipment that was required during the war. The government considered the act of printing extra money as a quick intervention strategy of winning the battle. ... This measure was meant increase the amount of liquid money under government’s control. This measure could not however, guarantee the government adequate money to pay its military personnel. To contribute to the government’s efforts of increasing the amount of money in the treasury, the parliament passed policies that allowed the government to offer war bonds. The Reich bank was to respond to this offer by printing extra money to balance the amount of money in government’s position with that in circulation. From 1914 to 1918, the amount paper money printed for both the government and private sector spending had reached 33.12 billion marks. This was a significant increase since before the war the German government and the private sector spending accounted for nearly 2.37 billion marks. Before the war, one US dollar traded for approximately 4.12 marks. At the end of World War I, the exchange rates had changed significantly since one US dollar traded for 8.32 marks. This was however, the initial stages of the inflation. Although the effects of this inflation were not sufficient to cause an economic breakdown, they greatly influenced German’s economy. The worst phase of the monetary crisis was experienced during the first five years that followed the war. At the first quarter of 1919, the supply of paper money had reached 50.16 billion marks. This figures changed constantly to reach 1,310.56 billion marks at the close of 1922. On the other hand, 192.3 marks traded for one US dollar at the beginning of 1919. The exchange rate increased dramatically and reached 7,589.37 in 1922 and, the worst situation occurred in November 1923 when one US dollar traded for 4,200,000,000.00 marks. This figure is absurd and it implied great

Military Sciences 4 Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Military Sciences 4 Questions - Essay Example On the other side, the interim government in Afghanistan was helpless because it was facing a number of internal and external problems like corruption, illegal trade of opium, underdeveloped economy and security breach. At the same time, Taliban was seeking cooperation with al-Qaida and to subdue the interim government in Afghanistan. In National Defense Strategy document, the defense secretary (2008) makes clear that â€Å"Violent extremist movements such as al-Qaeda and its associates comprise a complex and urgent challenge† (p.2). As the Middle East (say, especially Afghanistan) is considered as the core of international terrorist plots, the national interest of the United States is at risk in this area. To be specific, the 9/11 incident proves that al-Qaida in Afghanistan is behind the global spread of terrorism. So, the U.S. government must deal with the grass root level reason behind the global spread of terrorism. Almost all the world nations face the problem of terrori sm and religious fundamentalism. In addition, the problem of terrorism can be dealt with military involvement because other ways prove ineffective. Our military involvement supports the vital national interest because the ultimate aim of the US forces in Afghanistan is to interrupt and dismantle the international terrorist groups which operate from Afghanistan. ... So, one can easily identify that the situation in Afghanistan is worse and US security is at risk. Besides, military involvement in this area aims to keep pressure upon the terrorist groups like Taliban and al-Qaida. In short, military involvement in Afghanistan is unavoidable because it supports the vital national interest of the United States. 2. The Department of Defense (DoD)’s tendency to focus on conventional conflicts is based upon the Cold War strategy. One can easily identify that this strategy is not practical and is impossible to implement in irregular wars. For instance, the international terrorist groups make use of irregular warfare and conventional warfare based upon military power cannot withstand the same. So, the 2008 National Defense Strategy (NDS) is vital to counterbalance DoD’s tendency to focus on conventional conflicts. Within this context, NDS aims to implement a number of measures. One can see that the NDS provides ample importance to long-term effort by confronting the challenges faced by conventional warfare, which proved to be ineffective. From a different angle of view, NDS’s aim to adopt innovation into the context of contingency planning, development of different forces, and intelligence work are utmost important to amalgamate innovation into DoD. In National Defense Strategy document, the defense secretary (2008) makes clear that â€Å"We must tailor deterrence to fit particular actors, situations, and forms of warfare† (p.12). Besides, the NDS is aware of the importance of irregular warfare in Iraq and Afghanistan. For instance, irregular warfare tactics and partnership can be helpful to win wars in the Middle Eastern regions. One can see that NDS put forth innovative ideas to equip the security

Globalization and its Effects Essay Example for Free

Globalization and its Effects Essay Research revelations in (Lardy, 2002, pp. 87-103) hold it that those countries which embraced globalization experienced an average of 5% growth, while those that shunned the concept experienced varied degrees of decline. Regardless of its positive impacts, Globalization if mishandled in one way or another can spell doom to a nation; this is due to the powerful economic vulnerable position that it puts a country on. As the economy grows, and international boarders linked, so does the non-traditional threats of terrorism, heightened rate of the spread of infectious diseases (SARS and HIV/AIDS) and other cross-boarder security issues. Globalization is an irreversible move and every nation has just to content with its effects, there is no short cut out of it; the best way to approach it therefore is to counter its effects and use them to the advantage of a national economy. Upon realizing this fact, the Chinese government went down into reconfiguring their economy to counter any negative outcome of globalization, for instance, it has affected reforms in the domestic banking and created diplomacy in defining international trade to at least protect Chinese interests (Susumu, 1999, p. ). Since globalization rolls the whole world into a single tiny village, the Chinese political big wigs have seen it necessary to consider the diverse effects that have in the past been not prioritized at all like; unregulated capital flows, cybercrime, epidemics, weapon proliferation and international terrorism. Top seed Chinese thinkers even believe that through the international institutions, globalization can be used to democratize t he United States and reduce their unilateralist political power. And if this concept is exploited well, China will grow into a rich and powerful nation, stable enough to shape the New World Order (Susumu, 1999, pp. 5-11). The Chinese economy stands to gain a lot in the current global direction that the nation is set on. With the current financial crisis, it does call for active international coordination to stay afloat and reduce incidences of worker lay offs. It will have mutual benefits for those who dare to fully participate in its drive. By getting to know the measures that other countries have put in place to counter biting effects, China has found a compromise point and forge a way forward through the current economic hard times. If the nation fine tunes its capital market and effects banking reforms, then it will help the world emerge out of the current economic crisis and even those of the future (http://www. unu. edu/unupress/unupbooks/uu11ee/uu11ee0p. htm). Globalization has helped China to gain a significant economic growth through breaking cultural bondage and establishing policies that lead to liberalization in this modern world. With the positivity that the nation has had on globalization, their current economic ranking rose to 7th from 32nd in the world, thanks to the integration with the world economy. The growth is attributed to increased corporate governance and human resource optimization. The positive effects of globalization as given in (Lardy, 2002, pp. 160-219) to the Chinese economy therefore include; strengthening interdependence in all nations, opening opportunities to bring into maximum use foreign capital and technology, promoting free trade that increase export trade. Lardy also gives highlights of the negative impacts presented by globalization, which he says are the following, but not limited to; difficulties in maintaining economic sovereignty especially for the developing nations and widening the rifts between the well industrialized economies and the marginalized ones. Globalization brings into play varied practices hence leading to cultural mix up; this is worse in a society which values originality like the Chinese. Besides these, it also results to an intensified competition for limited resources and higher scale of interdependence. To this effect, each and every person must acquire a way of coping up with the new development and adapt the new practices in the competitive environment. Traditional practices are most likely to be dropped in favor of new rules as individuals cooperate and coordinate with one another. To the Chinese government, they are currently down on what can be referred to as â€Å"system maintenance†. The nation has sought to have a stable relationship with its allies and foes a like as it feels that is the only way to rise above all the odds in the international system. To this effect, it has improved the level of democracy, which has in turn boosted its relationship with former foes like Germany, Russia, E. U and France (Susumu, 1999, pp. 11-15). Such a move will help China to actively participate in multinational institutions and transnational economic structures which will put it in a good position to counter future financial challenges with ease. For whichever government in place, it must strive to establish significant policies that can speed up development in all sectors of the economy. Even though globalization can cause a lot of hardships to the poor, it also opens opportunities to this group of individuals who dare to take advantage and turn the ills to their benefit. Poor people in this context refer to the recipients of public services, simple workers and those who frequently use common property resources to survive. With increased competition, the poor may find it hard to match high quality market standards hence falling out f business as production cost shoots or as the market price fluctuates. Social protection is therefore mandatory to be effected by every state that intends to go the global way, and China is not left out (Bardhan, 2004, pp. 271-278). Globalization affects poverty directly and indirectly, the government in place should get down on programs for instance investing on public facilities like health, education, training and other economic and social infrastructure that will cushion the public from the negative effects of globalization. These steps will go along way in reducing discrimination and market fragmentation in the society. Whilst the quality of life of many people will change for the better, some individuals will definitely lose it out. Globalization will present opportunities for everyone to grab and those who sleep on the idea and strive to maintain the status quo will be on the losing end. Resources drawn from every corner of the world will be made available; the same applies to technological advancement which makes things to be done much faster and easier. But one negative outcome of this is that the introduction of too much mechanization from the outside world will drive people out of employment as companies strive to achieve efficiency and reduce the production cost. But despite the negative effects, if properly affected, globalization stands a chance in ensuring that the nationals have a quality life worth living (Bardhan, 2004, p. 284). The advent of globalization presented so much challenge to the CCP (China Communist Party). People were getting more and more enlightened, especially with issues concerning their civil rights. Revolutions and a little bit isolated cases of political disability were therefore unavoidable and characterized the period. Labor standards became a thorny issue, as workers pushed to have their conditions be the same as those in the U. S. when labor barriers were eliminated production operations shifted directions to the U. S. The strain was not only felt in the labor market, the same was witnessed in the education, political, social and professional sectors which responded to accommodate the changes. All these under the CCP had to be addressed as they developed a force which needed political direction (Ding Lu, 2003, pp. 23-37). But all these moves were out of a good cause as it has helped the country to stay afloat above surging challenges. The future of the move seems to be no different as the party will have to employ the same tactics of changing with the changes. And more complex will be the future non traditional issues on security like; having to deal with separatists, drug traffickers, smugglers, cross-boarder criminal acts, ecological and environmental issues. Conclusion Globalization has been reported to be the force behind the robust economic growth in China as industrialization also took a centre stage in the country. But it is the imbalance in the international systems and national economies that are causing negative effects of the force. The financial crisis is not attributed to globalization and neither will it be the last straw to hit globalization, the government of China and all other world leaders should come up with mechanisms to coordinate the world market to strengthen their resistance to crises. Globalization tries to act like blanket of neutrality over the international capital flow and power relations. The successes that the nation is enjoying now area as a result of ancient liberalization and the move should never be dropped, for it is the only way to keep China and the rest of the world abreast as they ward off economic pitfalls. The programs which are meant to reduce the pathetic situation of the disadvantaged in the society should not only be meant to accelerate economic growth, but also help these individuals.

Analysing the history of human relations movement

Analysing the history of human relations movement This assignment will analyse the human relations movement from when and how it was formed to its importance in management structure today. It will include relevant information about classical and scientific management providing an example of an organisation today. It will conclude with whether classical and scientific management has been eradicated by the human relations movement. To begin with the human relations movement focuses on the environment and conditions in which employees are expected to work; the attitude and behaviour within the workplace; the social relations between employees and managers and how satisfied the employee is in the workplace. All these factors can be motivators for employees to improve their job performance. The human relations movement according to Mullins (2002, p903) can be defined as A management approach based on the consideration of and attention to the social factors at work and the behaviour of employees within an organisation and the satisfaction of individuals needs through groups at work. Elton Mayo was the founder of the human relations movement which occurred during the 1920s and 1930s. The idea for the human relations movement came from conducting a series of experiments which became known famously as the Hawthorne studies, this was created as a result of these experiments and their findings. As a Harvard professor, Elton Mayo was employed by the Hawthorne plant of the American Western Electric Company in Chicago because of the low productivity of workers which took place between 1927 and 1932. There were four stages to the Hawthorne experiments; the illumination experiments, the relay assembly test room, the interviewing programme and the bank wiring observation room. During the illumination experiment stage lighting was used as a factor to analyse the productivity of the staff. The employees were arranged into two groups one of which was a control group and the other an experimental group. The control group had the same amount of lighting throughout whereas the experimental group had lighting constantly changing. In both groups productivity increased even when lighting conditions became poor. As the results were inconclusive other experiments were arranged on factors other than the changes in working conditions. The relay assembly test room was the next stage in which s ix women workers were assessed. Here they changed working hours, lunch times and rests. Their observer was also using a friendly approach, listening to the employees and their complaints. The production increased again and this is when Mayo recognised that it was the fact that they were given attention and noticed by management that the productivity increased. A crucial part in the Hawthorne experiments was the interviewing programme which assessed how the workers felt towards their supervisors. They used a non-directive approach and interviewers would listen in a friendly non-judgemental manner. This found out more about the employees feelings and attitudes with more specific information about the management, supervision, company, working relations and even the workers lives and views. These results showed that relationships with people have an effect on the workers attitudes which in turn affects the productivity. The bank wiring observation room was another experiment that took p lace, where fourteen men were chosen to work in an observation room with working conditions that changed slightly over six months or more. The group began to form their own organisation and rules with their own informal social relations. Mayos conclusion was that the changes had been made in consultation with the employees, and that this factor had been the determining influence on productivity, together with the fact that the employees had a good working relationship with their supervisors. (Sutherland Canwell, 2004, p202-203) An example of an organisation that uses the human relations movement today is Google. They avoid bureaucracy with their employees and allow them to use their own initiative. The managers work with the employees to create ideas which they find relevant and work on projects which they think are of importance. They employ people who want to succeed and therefore will work to the best of their ability to make Google a success allowing them the choice to make their own changes in order to feel more motivated. The employees look forward to the social aspects of the job and sharing ideas, they also get the benefit of good quality food and services such as massages. The human relations movement conflicted with Frederick Winslow Taylors scientific management theory since Mayo believed that there must be other ways to motivate workers other than strict working procedures, financial incentives and scientifically timed tasks. There was a breakthrough in scientific management in 1911within the peak of the industrial revolution when Taylor published The Principles of scientific management which described the four principles of Taylors theory. These were that jobs should be broken down into different parts; workers should be trained and scientifically selected; management should co-operate with employees to make sure the method is reinforced and there should be equal division of work between both managers and employees. The principle object of management should be to secure the maximum prosperity for the employer (the development of every branch of the business to its highest state of excellence), coupled with the maximum prosperity for each employee (Taylor, as quoted in Boddy Paton, 1998, p48) The main reason for scientific management was to introduce a sense of control and order within the working environment. Productivity took longer because parts were being produced individually. This also meant that unskilled workers had the ability to do jobs when trained correctly by managers. Taylor believed that employees were lazy and the only way to motivate them was through financial incentives. This theory was followed by three more theorists; Frank and Lilian Gilbreth along with Henry Gantt. This is still alive today and is used as a management structure in some industries. An example of where scientific management is used today is in call centres. The employees are regularly checked up on by their supervisors in order to motivate them to give a good standard of service. They record and listen to their employees conversations in order to keep them under control. The employees are also given a basic wage and commission on every sale they make; they get bonuses for meeting daily or weekly targets. Classical management is another earlier theory that was developed by Henri Fayol who was known as the father of modern management. Fayol, (as quoted in G.A. Cole, 1996, P12) defined management as to forecast and plan, to organise, to command, to coordinate and to control. His theory consisted of 14 principles which were division of work so that employees knew their duties, authority and responsibility to give clear and reasonable instructions; discipline to show authority and be firm with employees when necessary; unity of command so that employees know their job; unity of direction so companies have an understandable strategy; subordination so that the employees put their job responsibilities first; remuneration so that employees get paid a fair wage; centralisation so that the organisation has a main control area; scalar chain meaning employees know their job positions; order so that the company is organised; equity to provide equal opportunities; stability of personnel to provide employees with job security; initiative so that employees dont constantly need to be told what to do by management and espirit de corps where employees work as a team to show company spirit. An example of where classical management is used today is Costco, a wholesale warehouse chain selling merchandise at lower prices for purchase by businesses. The CEO Jim Sinegal works on the retail floor with the employees, running the business and paying employees 50 percent more than competitors; contributing even more for health benefits. The businesses earnings grow at a faster pace than its top competitors showing that classical management is still effective. Even though the human relations movement is the management structure most common in todays industries it has not eradicated classical and scientific management as there are some world famous companies which use them today and have become successful in doing so.