Corporate Ethics And Social Responsibility - 1528 Words

Corporate Ethics and Social Responsibility Amanda Rabius PHL/320 10/9/17 Hank Reeves Corporate Ethics and Social Responsibility Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility in the corporate world are very important. By understanding business ethics and socially responsibility, companies can develop and implement a socially responsible plan. Organizations are no doubt an assembly line of different networks that are both complex and dynamic in nature which face various conflicts. With this, a qualitative paradigm needs to be used in order to ensure in-depth knowledge and understanding of the issues and challenges among business practices and how they can be handled. The influence of leadership and management decision making in an†¦show more content†¦In correlation, a recent business decision my employer made was to host, and honor, an Annual Partners in Business Ethics Conference for a second year to integrate corporate social responsibility into the university (UT - McCombs School of Business, 2017). This decision implies that there is a concern that being socially responsible is important to their org anization and the individuals it serves - employees, patients, students or other abiding citizens. Furthermore, other businesses have become aware of unethical behavior of their employees. Research reveals a majority of managers have no tactic nor did they know about CSR or that it maintains a good reputation for the company (Bakos, 2013). Although, the initial obligation of a manager is to generate profits while making ethical business decisions - companies need to contribute CSR objectives by integrating the strategy into the core of business practices, management tools and processes. However, regardless of the opportunities, there are a few implications such as concerns about the environment, health and new technologies. While some people affirm the decisions in regard to business ethics and social responsibility should not be that problematic, the implications and results take weight in the decision-making process that may have a huge impact on local consumers, communities, and even global ramifications. CriticsShow MoreRelatedCorporate Social Responsibility And Corporate Ethics1468 Words   |  6 Pagesfact that your business exists in the environment, the responsibility of this depends on many stakeholders, such as local communities, customers, employees and suppliers. On the other hand the way the products are produced and manufactured has a significant impact on the environment. In this context the concept of corporate social responsibility has great relevance for the survival of any business. In corporate terms, social responsibilities promote companies to maintain a closer relationship withRead MoreEthics And Corporate Social Responsibility1637 Words   |  7 Pagescontributed to Managing Sustainability: Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility in the post-bureaucratic era. â€Å"Leadership is the process of directing, controlling, motivating and inspiring staff toward the realization of stated organizational goals† (Clegg, S.R. Kornberger, M. Pitsis. 2011, p.126.) Leadership in the post-bureaucratic era is essential for the success of a company, and also plays part into the Sustainability of Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility for an enterprise. In this essayRead MoreCorporate Social Responsibility And Corporate Ethics Essay1485 Words   |  6 PagesCorporate social responsibility has become a major issue in the recent past to the extent in which there are watchdog organizations that monitor actions of corporations and file a report indicating companies that aren’t socially responsible. Such organizations are known as sustainability auditing firms (Gallagher, 2012). This has made most of the companies that are growing to issue corporate social responsibility reports alongside their annual business reports. Citigroup is a financia l service companyRead MoreThe Ethics Of Corporate Social Responsibility2955 Words   |  12 Pagesmanufactured and process. This has been deemed an important indicator of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and business ethics. The ethics of corporate social responsibility disclosure have historically been some of the most difficult to reconcile with earnings expectations and activist demands (Browne and Haas, 1974; Filios, 1984, 1986; Gelb and Strawser, 2001; Robertson and Nicholson, 1996). As a result, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is considered as key for the survival of organizations. ARead MoreEthics And Corporate Social Responsibility1820 Words   |  8 PagesRachael Pritchard MGT 465 Debate # 1 Not in favor of CSR Corporate Social Responsibility Corporate Social Responsibility is essentially the idea that corporations should and have the responsibility to act outside of their own interest of profits and interest of shareholders. That a majority of the responsibility to fix economic, environmental, and social issues somehow weighs more heavily on corporations shoulders than our own. I am not in favor of this notion for several reasons to which I willRead MoreEthics, Corporate Social Responsibility And Fiduciary Responsibilities Essay1695 Words   |  7 Pagesbusiness ethic terms and look for examples in the business fields that have an ethical or unethical reputation, this will give the opportunity for the business leaders to steer their employees into a healthy environment for their business to go the right direction. The definition of business ethics is the study of proper business policies and practices regarding potentially controversial issues. These issues include the global codes of ethics, corporate governance, corporate social responsibility andRead MoreBusiness Ethics And Corporate Social Responsibility Essay1382 Words   |  6 PagesSOLUTION Business Ethics Business ethics are moral principles that guide the way a business behaves. The same principles that determine an individual’s actions also apply to business. Acting in an ethical way involves distinguishing between â€Å"right† and â€Å"wrong† and then making the â€Å"right† choice. It is relatively easy to identify unethical business practices. For example, companies should not use child labor. They should not unlawfully use copyrighted materials and processes. They should not engageRead MoreCorporate Social Responsibility And Business Ethics8391 Words   |  34 Pages CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND BUSINESS ETHICS Final Project Report for Legal Aspects of Management Submitted To Prof. Dr. D.S. Sengar Professor, IIM Lucknow Submitted By Group 9 Abhinav Bansal, PGP31186 Chheda Adarsh Jayesh, PGP31199 Manideep Akarapu, PGP31213 Ritika Srivastava, PGP31226 Surbhi Aggarwal, PGP31239 â€Æ' Table of Contents Executive Summary 3 Acknowledgement 4 Business Ethics 5 Corporate Social Responsibilty 7 CSR Law 7 Crisis Management CSR 10 Read MoreCorporate Social Responsibility And Ethics Report Essay2174 Words   |  9 PagesDaniel Schwartz Corporate Social Responsibility and Ethics Report Introduction Raymond James is a financial service holding company with subsidiaries specializing in investment banking, financial planning, investments, and asset management. The company was founded in 1962, has been public since 1983, and was founded in St. Petersburg, Florida. In June 2016, Raymond James joined the Fortune 500 list for the first time. This paper will address the corporate social responsibility and ethics of this financialRead MoreBusiness Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility756 Words   |  4 PagesBusiness Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility April Duhon DeVry University The United States has several laws that are intended to further fair, balanced, and competitive business practices. Do you think that such laws are effective? If so, why? If not, why not? The effectiveness of the laws that the United States have that are intended to further fair, balanced, and competitive business practices depends on how ethical a business is. Below I will explain why I do not believe these

Holistic Development and Wellbeing of the Child

Question: Discuss about the Report for Holistic Development and Wellbeing of the Child. Answer: 1: In case of Tamryn who is just 9 months old, it is seen that both of her parents are working six days per week. That is the reason that they are unable to look after their child and have appointed a caregiver named Kim. Therefore, all her interests are centered to Kim. She has developed skills and abilities that helps her to call for Kim when she is not present in the room. She is so much depended on Kim that she does not even respond to other educators. From the case study of Kim, it is clear that she is experiencing a troubled childhood as her parents are separated. Therefore, she lives in shared care between her mother and father. In each of these places, the environment is different as in her mothers house she lives with her mother only and in her parents house she lives with people who are totally unknown to her. This change in living environment has put frustration into her, which is quite visible when she takes her breakfast. She was also often found shouting and even biting or pushing others, which clearly shows her unstable mental condition. As she is also living with unknown children, aged between 6-16 years it can be assumed that she is facing harassment. The reason behind this assumption is developed from her reaction she gives while someone approaches to her when she is playing with dolls. She is found happy only when playing with dolls; however, she is also found to hide the dolls when someone approaches. In the case of James, it is clearly seen that he possesses a unique skill of leadership that helps him to lead other children in the education center. He and his family is actively connected with sports such as football, basketball and swimming therefore, he has has good knowledge on how sports activates must be lined with each other. As result of joining training sessions, he is also physically strong. Another important skill that is shown in him is his willingness to hel others. 2: In case of Tamryn, not much emotional and psychological development is seen because of age. However, one thing is noticeable that she is too much dependent on Kim, which might cause problems for her parents in the future. From the case of Mia, it is found that she is mentally disturbed and is undergoing a state of frustration and disappointment. Her emotional state is also not acceptable as most of the she is found shouting on others. It is also assumed that she is experiencing some sort of harassment in her fathers house, which has injected a fear in her mind that people will take away her things from her. James is boy who possesses a huge amount of positive energy and leadership qualities in him. He leads the group of other children in the educational enters while ding any activity by providing relevant suggestions. As he is getting regular training with his parents and brothers in training venues he is also physically superior than other children. 3: The best two ways to implement self-help skills and independence among the children are, Self-feeding: According to Orth (2012), children must be encouraged to practice feeding themselves from childhood on. Allow the children to be as free as possible at the time of meals. Put the required tools nearby so that they can help themselves. The tools must be colorful and attractive which will allure the children to use them. However, with encouraging, proper support and guidance is also required. Free dressing and grooming: Another process of increasing self-help skills is to allow the children to dress and groom by themselves. Parents will provide minimum assistance by teaching them to pull socks on and off, pull up pants after diapering and help put their arms through sleeves (Viljaranta et al. 2015). 4: It is highly important to develop self-esteem among the three children mentioned in the case studies. However, in the case of James, he is already becoming a person who will be capable of leading a team with immense success. However, for Tmryn and especially Mia it is important to follow the below steps so that she can gain self-esteem, It is important to show love and acceptance to these children by spending some time with them. This must come from the parents or family members (Baroody and Dowker 2013). It is important to become a role model to show the children the meaning of loving yourself. It is also necessary to teach them the benefits of trying new things and accepting challenges (Hetherington and Arasteh 2014). Encourage the children to help family members in different activities and show them that the family members are feeling happy after receiving the help. Allow the children to solve their problems by implementing different styles. This will help them to understand that they are responsible for their own lives. 5: The learning and development plan for the children plays a great role in respect of cognitive development of any individual. According to the Early Years Foundations Stage the childrens learning and development plan has several major areas. The prime three of these areas are development in relation with personal, social, emotional, physical, communication and language (Hedegaard 2012). The specific four of these areas are development of literacy, mathematical skills as well as arts and designs. In order to manage the learning and development plan of the children the educator must follow all the above areas in a sequential order. The educator must consider the early experiences in order to approach the learning and development plan of any children (Lillard et al. 2013). It is also the prime focus of learning and development plan to maintain the secure relationships. The educator must approach in a flexible manner as the children tend to learn in different ways. 6: The communication is the most important part of any human being. Therefore, the educator must focus on the developing eagerness to communicate within the children by providing positive and safe environment (McDonald et al. 2013). In order to develop the environment it is necessary to foster a sense of belonging to the children of the case study. Generating the positive self esteem to the children will effectively assist them to communicate freely. In addition, the educator must keep in mind to provide the suitable opportunity for the interaction. The educators must create an open-ended period for three children of the case study (McManis and Gunnewig 2012). The daily routine of play time also helps the children to be comfortable to express themselves. The less intervention of the adults in the play time will also enhance the environment. In addition to that, the educators must encourage the case studys children to work in their own accord which will in turn increases the confidence a nd allow them to express more freely. 7: The Early Years Learning Framework suggests several outcomes which strongly link with my experiences as well as practices. James has exhibited a strong sense of confidence as well as wellbeing. Moreover, he is extremely well communicator in respect of relaying the experiences of the weekend training program. James has also expressed extreme leadership quality at the time of playing time (Pugh and Duffy 2013). In addition to that, James has been observed that he is quite well connected with the world. The most encouraging practices which have been used with James are encouraging him to communicate with other children. Moreover, he is allowed to take his own path in respect of learning and development context. Therefore, the identified outcomes are James has strong sense of identity James is well connected with the world James is confident and involved learner James is effective communicator 8: There are several major quality standards which are highly linked with the experiences as well as practices. These quality standards are Ensuring the safety, wellbeing as well as health of children Focusing on achieving outcomes for children Distinguishing the service quality through families understanding According to the experience the children of the case study are nurtured with utmost care to provide the necessary sense of safety and care. These practices are also entailed to ensure the wellbeing and health of the children. The educator is highly focused for protecting the children from injury, harm as well as infection (Harms et al. 2014). The high quality education program is also vital factor for the achievement of outcome. The education program is generally based on the stimulated, engaged as well as enhanced learning as well as development framework of three children of the case study. Reference List: Baroody, A.J. and Dowker, A. eds., 2013.The development of arithmetic concepts and skills: Constructive adaptive expertise. Routledge. Abington. Harms, T., Clifford, R.M. and Cryer, D., 2014.Early childhood environment rating scale. Teachers College Press. Hedegaard, M., 2012. Analyzing children's learning and development in everyday settings from a cultural-historical wholeness approach.Mind, Culture, and Activity,19(2), pp.127-138. Hetherington, E.M. and Arasteh, J.D., 2014.Impact of Divorce, Single Parenting and Stepparenting on Children: A Case Study of Visual Agnosia. Psychology Press. Abington. Lillard, A.S., Lerner, M.D., Hopkins, E.J., Dore, R.A., Smith, E.D. and Palmquist, C.M., 2013. The impact of pretend play on children's development: A review of the evidence.Psychological bulletin,139(1), p.1. McDonald, M., Kazemi, E. and Kavanagh, S.S., 2013. Core practices and pedagogies of teacher education a call for a common language and collective activity.Journal of Teacher Education,64(5), pp.378-386. McManis, L.D. and Gunnewig, S.B., 2012. Finding the education in educational technology with early learners.YC Young Children,67(3), p.14. Orth, U., Robins, R.W. and Widaman, K.F., 2012. Life-span development of self-esteem and its effects on important life outcomes.Journal of personality and social psychology,102(6), p.1271. Pugh, G. and Duffy, B. eds., 2013.Contemporary issues in the early years. Sage. Viljaranta, J., Aunola, K., Mullola, S., Virkkala, J., Hirvonen, R., Pakarinen, E. and Nurmi, J.E., 2015. Children's temperament and academic skill development during first grade: teachers' interaction styles as mediators.Child development,86(4), pp.1191-1209.

Intellectual Property Rights and Student Plagiarism free essay sample

Google search of the words â€Å"write my essay for me† provides the searcher with over sixty-eight million results. Sixty-eight million options for a student to not have to write their paper. Sixty-eight millions options for a student to essentially pay their way through an essay. If those numbers aren’t scary enough, many people do not realize the extent of copyright laws and so those students or individuals who are just â€Å"borrowing† sentences and expressed ideas from other authors are inherently plagiarizing. The world has changed a lot in the last 20 years, to the extent where we now have a global interface that can tell us stories, facts, show us movies, television shows, music, and introduce us to ideas and thoughts in literally the blink of an eye. The internet has been one of the most important and influential ideas, inventions, revolutions, whatever someone choose to call it etc, of human kind’s history. We will write a custom essay sample on Intellectual Property Rights and Student Plagiarism or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page It can also be one of the most dangerous and destructive inventions of recent years, especially in how parents raise their children. In today’s world, where everything the Internet rules over everything, especially in the lives of the younger generations, what are the new implications of intellectual property rights, of plagiarism, and how do we protect authors’ works and prevent plagiarism from happening? We must first go into the root of the problem: the tricky definitions of the ideas of the 21st century. One of the most important ideas, whether it be philosophy, economical or simply ethics, is the idea of intellectual property rights, which in the encompassing term for copyright, patent, trademark laws, and trade secrets. Essentially, intellectual properties are the intangible rights that every human can possible create, such as music, art, film, ideas, written and spoken, inventions and discoveries to name a few. It is actually a relatively new idea, only coming into existence in the late 18th century and only being named â€Å"intellectual property rights† in the 19th century. Even then, the idea did not become mainstream until the mid 20th Century. It is also part of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and as author Ayn Rand has stated about the importance of these rights, she simply states that the human mind is a giant source of wealth and ideas and to ignore intellectual property rights is just as problematic as ignoring other property rights. And thus, the argument over whether intellectual property is the same as physical property still rages on. In the pre-internet world, plagiarism was actually fairly simple. If an individual, specifically a student, were to write an essay and take a few passages out of a book they were reading and use those passages in their essay, without citing the source, that is plagiarism, plain and simple. Unfortunately, in today’s internet world, plagiarism is not as simple as it used to be. Of course, there is still the one side of plagiarism, where someone takes parts of another author’s work and presents it as their own, however, how do you distinguish what is a truly original written piece on the internet to begin with? This is the age of blogs, where people can simply write their opinions and maybe some facts in a post and then â€Å"publish† that on their blog. Does that count fully as a written work that is completely protected by the United States’ copyright laws? Does the incredibly popular â€Å"memebase† site have copyright over the commentating pictures users create? Does a Facebook status or a tweet count as a written work? The difficulty of trying to rationalize protection of every single post of the internet as original work under the United States’ copyright laws, is that it is impossible. The internet is too huge to try to protect everything; and before people start claiming this as â€Å"too cynical†, why not just try to protect the most important written aspects of the internet? Protect the online books and journals, the scientific and literary articles, written by professionals, scientists, and newspaper reporters. However, that brings up an entirely new question: how do we determine what has actual literary, scientific, artistic and ideal value? It turns into a giant subjective maze of peoples’ opinions and â€Å"facts†, that may or may not even be protected under normal copyright law. Gone are the obvious choices in the real world to protect, where the blog world has made it so that we cannot truly determine what has value and what does not. Take the Huffington Post, for example. What started as a simple blog turned into one of the most influential political sites online. No one eight years ago would have predicted its influence nor could they. That is the next important piece of the puzzle: the internet is an incredible new technology, and like all technology, it changes rapidly. Furthermore, new technologies are also usually not completely understood and therefore, we cannot fathom how much more advanced it will become or how much of a tool it will be used as. Which brings me to my next point, the internet as a tool. The internet can be a wonderful technology in the classroom. Students can look up random information very quickly, teachers can show their students an important video that relates to the class and students can use articles online to copy into their paper. Unfortunately, students have became lazier in recent years, and a new trend, that coincides with the advent of myspace and facebook, shows that students’ writing skills are getting poorer and poorer. And NPR has stated recent trends show that the internet has returned humans to a â€Å"natural state of distractedness†. And, with classroom and school expectations getting higher and higher, the motive for plagiarizing becomes more and more concrete. However, teachers can help their students keep away from plagiarizing and hopefully, help those students to become better writers. First of all, teachers can try to have as much in-class writing sessions as possible and when writing outside essays, keep the topics more specific to what is going on in the classroom. Teachers give essays with very broad topics because they want to students to have more freedom with their essays. With a little compromise, teachers can achieve freedom for their students but also cut down on the plagiarizing. Teachers can also use the internet as a tool against plagiarizing, as well. There are sites that teachers can use to determine if the text from a certain essay has been copied. Most important of all, is the fact that we also need to simply educate students more and more about what plagiarism is and help out those students who tend to fall to it. Cyberspace has become a tool to make cheating easier and easier but it can also be a tool to stop it. It falls upon all of our shoulders to prevent plagiarism. And hopefully, with a little help and education, we can reduce, if not even eliminate the epidemic.

Women and war Essay Example

Women and war Essay Example Women and war Essay Women and war Essay Currently, there are about 14% to 15% of women serving in the US armed forces. Some of whom are participating in flying helicopter gunships, assisting in propelling nuclear-powered warships, gathering intelligence, communications and signals, ordinance, engineering and myriads of logistic works (Skiba, 2001). Back in 1970, only 1.4 percent of women were serving in the military forces. Five years later the percentage tripled to 4.6 percent, doubling to 8.3 percent during the 1980’s and had steadily risen to 10 percent by 1985. By 1990, records showed that the number of women working the military has already reached to 11 percent and the statistics is continuously increasing year after year (Government executive, 1994 cited in Willens, 996). Although the history of women in combat could be traced during the time of Joan of Arch, who at the age of 17 led the French squad to battle the troops of the English, the professional military status of women was not fully recognized until 1948. It was President Truman who put in effect the â€Å"Women’s Armed Services Integration Act† which allowed women to become a part of a force dominated by males. Although women were able to penetrate the all-male forces, they were still prohibited to fly combat aircrafts and naval combat vessels (Spring, 1994 cited in Willens, 1996). However, the rules that prevented women from taking part in flying combat aircrafts and participating in combat vessels drastically changed in the early 90’s right after the Persian Gulf War. The Congress enacted the National Defense Authorization Act of 1992-1993 which invalidated the laws concerning female combat exemption. The Administration of President Clinton reinforced the said act when they opened combat positions that were once prohibited to women (GAO report, 1996 cited in Willens, 1996). By October 1, 1994 a policy was issued by the Department of Defense which abolished the â€Å"risk rule† where women’s specialties were measured. The policy set by the Defense Department was strongly supported by the department’s secretary, Les Aspin by putting forward an extension of the changes on April 1993 that allowed women to participate in flying aviations which include attack helicopters. The policy also stipulates that no other jobs in the military will be closed to women just because the said jobs were dangerous. However, the policy was not able to address a direct policy for women to participate in other military specialties such as the Special Forces Units or ground combat fighters. At present, women are still excluded from ground combat based from the official policy of the Marine and Army Corps (GAO report, 1996 cited in Willens, 1996). Likew ise, the Navy barred women from penetrating coastal patrol crafts and submarines due to the privacy reasons of the crews. As such, they are also prohibited to become a part of the SEALS, a team specializing in warfare (Skiba, 2001). Despite these limitations, women became an important part of the military, demonstrating that they could perform various missions in any circumstances and the military has become reliant on the vital role played by women during missions (Abbott cited in Skiba, 2001). Granting women to be a part of the military forces and be able to participate in critical missions became an important factor in the retaliation set by President George Bush against terrorism. Right after the September 11, 2001 attack, despite the law governing the standard that women are not permitted to be on ground combat units, women could now be compared to male units that are in the war frontlines and are very close to becoming a part of the combat support. Women managed to be in the positions such as intelligence analysts, crewmembers of the gunships, bombers and fighter pilots, soldiers for psychological operations, supply officers, honor guards and some even rise to the ranks that are especially assigned to men (Stone, 2002). Prior to becoming a faction of the military, women had undergone series of issues that raised arguments whether the military should still maintain women in the forces and whether to put them in the frontlines of wars. One of the major issues faced by women during service is the idea of becoming prisoners of war. In a greater scale, the probability of becoming victims of sexual molestation and rape is much higher among women than men if they were placed in the frontlines. One event that catapulted people to question the presence of women in service is the case of Private Jessica Lynch. Lynch was a part of the 507th Ordinance Maintenance Co. which was ambushed by Iraqi’s during the height of war against terrorism. The event caused the death of 11 of 33 soldiers. Seven of them were held captives while nine were injured. Medical records of Lynch showed that the soldier had broken bones and was â€Å"a victim of anal assault† (Gibbs, 2003 n.p.). Together with Private Lynch d uring the ambush was her colleague Spc. Soshana Johnson who was also held as a captive at a different location. Barely an hour before Johnson was held captive by the Iraqi insurgents; she was shot in both ankles and was later on videotaped for an interrogation which was broadcasted worldwide. Johnson and the others were held captive for 22 days until the Marines were able to rescue them (CNN, 2005). Due to these events many people who were already skeptical about putting women in the frontlines continues raising questions whether women should be subjected for such combats. Yet, despite of what had happened many still argues that women who are pursuing to become a part of the military are already aware of the consequences long before they have finally decided to enlist themselves (Minerva, 1994 cited in Willens). Given all of the odds, many women are still striving to fight for their rights to be in the frontlines, and as for the case of Lynch and Johnson both became heroes and inspi ration for many women who wanted to pursue their duty and their dreams. Another argument put forward by the opposition against women in combat is their physical strength and endurance. Along with this is the question whether women would be able to respond well on the gravitational forces of handling an aircraft. It is a fact that being in the military requires an individual to be physically fit because of the physical demands of the job. Undeterred by this argument, many experts proved that some women have the physical strength and endurance to be on the service (Army Times, 1996 cited in Willen, 1996). As for the case of combat aviation, there were no evidences that women cannot handle such action. In fact in the present war against terrorism, public affair officers who were ones promoting stories about how women struggle in the military are now discouraged to isolate women anymore (Stone, 2002). Until 1967 women were not subject to any promotion higher the colonel rank. Yet President Lyndon Johnson was the one to finally abolish the promotion restrictions by putting in effect the â€Å"Public law 90-130† stipulating that women were free to be promoted in all ranks. From then on many women in the military have risen in the ranks which proved that they are on the same level as men in the task of defending America (Waychoff, 2004 n.p.). This was true in the case of Lt. Gen. Claudia Kennedy; a three-star general in 1997 and was known as the army’s highest ranking woman and author of â€Å"Generally speaking.† Given the consideration that majority of the military p opulation is still comprised of males, women are now almost doing the same jobs as their male counterparts. More women are now poised near the combat zones (CNN, 2001). According to Senior Airman Madelyn Waychoff (2004), every year the number of female fighter pilots is increasing. In 2004 alone, sixty women have been flying fighter jets across the boarders of the enemies and they make up 1.9 percent of all the active-duty fighter pilots during that time. Records indicate that there are more women flying every year. In line with this, there are also several women who took the same risks as that of men during the upheaval of war against terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some military analyst claimed that the shortage in the troops deployed in the said areas were the very reason why despite of the prohibitions of women taking part in the ground combat, many women engaged themselves in direct offensive action against their enemies. To quote the former congressional Rep. Pat Schroeder (2005): â€Å"These rule no longer make sense because no place is safe in Iraq, the whole place is literally a frontline† (Schroeder, 2005 cited in Ginty, 2005 n.p.). Since the September 11, 2001 attack in the USA, 98 women have already been killed during the time of their service in defending America (CMR, 2008) while others acquired permanent injuries and have sustained wounds from combat. These statistics have surpassed the previous records during the Gulf War where 216, 000 women were enlisted and only 16 were killed (Ginty, 2005). Thus, these records points out that the physical strength of women as well as their endurance should not be undermined by their gender. Another issue faced by women in the military is evident in the impact of their jobs among their families and among the women themselves. According to Amy Blaidorn (2007), an active Navy Lieutenant, the greatest sacrifice that a woman in service does is the time spent away from the family during deployments. Yet she still continued to pursue her work be cause according to her she wanted to make a difference in the lives of other people and that she voluntarily enlisted for the military. Just like Blaidorn, many other women are actively participating in the military, most of whom are wives and mothers. According to a recent army report, the second stressor among female active service members is the separation from family. The multiple deployments became a concern for the whole military force and although there is a continuous means of addressing such issue, the repeated deployment during the heightened time of war continuously impact the family of the service members in a negative way (McChrystal, 2007 cited in Military and Veterans affairs chaplains, 2007). There are many cases that when the service member returns home after a long deployment, she would have to face another battle concerning her marriage and family (Waddell, 2007 cited in Military and Veterans affairs chaplains, 2007). The main problem comes from post-traumatic stress disorder that affects both the families and the service members. After long time of being away from the family, the most notable change that could be seen among the service members is that they are never the same person anymore. Likewise the family she left is not the same family in every aspect. Thus, these changes become a complex issue within the family (McChrystal, 2007 cited Military and Veterans affairs chaplains, 2007). In addition to this, deployments also post a challenge on the authority at home because during the time that the women are away, the male gets used to making all the decision by himself (Kay, 2007 cited Military and Veterans affairs chaplains, 2007). Infidelity and the pervasiveness in the use of pornography have become rampant in times of separation. According to documents, during the time of active deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq in 2001 to 2004, the rate of divorce among active service members drastically increased. Meanwhile for unmarried women in the military, the duty oftentimes serves as an impediment for building relationships (Military and Veterans affairs chaplains, 2007). Despite the family conflicts caused by multiple deployments in the war against terror, the commitment level of women to serve in the military shows higher proportion. Based from the survey findings presented by Penny Pierce and Lisa Lewandowski in an APA convention, surveys concluded that 51 percent of the military women were â€Å"very likely† or â€Å"extremely likely† to continue their service in the Air force while 18 percent of the participants were â€Å"likely† to re-enlist themselves in the service. According to the researchers the intentions of the women to re-enlist in the military depended on the attitudes of their significant others (Pierce and Lewandoski, 2007 cited in Nauert, 2007 n.p.). Based from the findings presented in the study, it is apparent that women have become participative in the military right after the prohibitions against their participation were lifted in some ways. Due to this, women played a vital role in the war against terrorism. They managed to penetrate the once all-male force and were able to ascend in positions that were once assigned to men. However, due to the heightened war in Iraq and Afghanistan which require them to be deployed in critical missions, several issues were faced by these silent warriors. Although there are still governing bodies that limit women to totally engage themselves in ground combat placing them in the sidelines, these areas that are considered to be unsafe does not apply the laws anymore. The battleground for the war against terrorism has become a place that literally became the frontline exposing the lives of women in jeopardy. Likewise, they became subjects of war captivity that inflicted them permanent injuries that may not be physical at times but are more likely to affect them emotionally. Furthermore, the issue within their families is another factor that should not be disregarded when speaking about the women in service. The pain they acquired from war is incomparable to the pain that they have to endure during the times that they have to return home and eventually see the changes that the war had brought on their families and after a short period of stay they would then have to leave again in order to defend the country. Still, despite of all these challenges they have managed to pull their responsibilities together for their country and for their families. They are dying, losing their vital parts, firing their weapons, piloting jets and in a greater sense they are true American soldiers that have served the country with pride and honor.

Marketing communication Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Marketing communication - Assignment Example Channels evolving offline marketing will include the use of billboards, public relation tactics, radio & television media, mail orders and use of traditional print channels, such as newspapers and magazines. With the use of all the elements of marketing mix (i.e. product, price, place, promotion & packaging), a company is able to develop the IMC (Kotler, 2000). In this paper, the intention is to suggest IMC strategies for McWendy’s, a local restaurant serving fast food to the community, to launch its products successfully. In fast food retail chain businesses, where markets are growing to maturity and opposition is becoming increasingly fierce, one might perceive of limited opportunities. However, with lower entry and exit barriers, it is possible to do well with a new product launch, capturing the immense scope of innovation and competitive advantages. It has been a noteworthy concern in this context that innovation helps in providing an outline for systematizing the improvement procedure (OECD, 2014). McWendy’s might look into indifferently at the poor indulgence value proposition. Furthermore, the chain’s differentiated capabilities in developing a variety of products and managing its superior quality rudiments could put this segment under McWendy’s reach. Consumers of pure extravagance may represent a usual new objective, a group that McWendy’s can reach with a bit more enthusiasm in its innovativeness, which is again replicated through the launch of the new product. To succeed, McWendy’s might have to rethink about enhancing the store experience and fulfilling the need of its consumers, obtainable through superior taste, service quality maintenance and proper concern to sustainability issues (Antonsson & et. al., 2011). The interest in healthy foodstuffs has increased significantly in the past few decades, which has created a new opportunity for McWendy’s. McWendy’s

A Research On Earthquake Resistant Building Construction Term Paper

A Research On Earthquake Resistant Building Construction - Term Paper Example The big question that remains begging for answers, therefore, is as to why Haiti had so many casualties as compared to San Francisco. Joyce (2010) of NPR news agency observed that â€Å"most buildings hardly met engineering standards and were significantly fragile to withstand an earthquake of such a magnitude.† Then why did the Haitians, and more so their government, allowed such buildings to be constructed? The answer is simple; most Haitian and low-income earners and can barely afford to build similar to those found in San Francisco or New York, for instance. Effective architectural design, proper choice of structural components, and adherence to construction code of ethics guarantee the development of affordable earthquake resistant buildings that are less affected by earthquakes.Earthquakes refer to sudden movements or shaking of the earth surface. It could be man-made, for instance, those caused by heavy machinery, or natural that are often caused by geological process o ccurring from within the earth surface. When it occurs, weak structures end up being destroyed. There are several reasons that cause building to fail in the event of an earthquake. For example, at the instance that an earthquake strikes, the vertical and horizontal movements cause the building to shift from its position of rest. However, due to forces of inertia, the building's weight somehow changes and, hence, causing failure of the building. Also, the material used in the construction of the building contributes to this failure.

Stackelberg Leader Follower Models For Strategic Decision Making Engineering Essay

Stackelberg Leader Follower Models For Strategic Decision Making Engineering Essay This paper reviews some Stackelberg Leader-Follower models used for strategic decision making. The simple Stackelberg duopoly is looked at first, and a generalisation of the Stackelberg duopoly problem is given. By studying the models by Murphy et al. (1983) and Smeers and Wolf (1997), the paper reviews Stackelberg model from its classical form to the recent stochastic versions. The paper looks at the mathematical formulation of both a nonlinear mathematical programming model and a nonlinear stochastic programming model. Towards the end of this paper, a simple numeric example is given and practical applications of Stackelberg Leader-Follower models are discussed. Chapter 1: Introduction In economics, an oligopoly is considered to be the most interesting and complex market structure (amongst other structures like monopolies and perfect competition). Most industries in the UK and world- from retailing to fast food, mobile phone networks to professional services- are oligopolistic. Given the current financial climate, it is imperative for firms to be sure that they make decisions accurately, maximising not only their profit, but also their chances of remaining competitive. Many mathematicians and economists have attempted to model the decision making process and profit maximizing strategies of oligopolistic firms. For example, A. A. Cournot was one of the first mathematicians to model the behaviours of monopolies and duopolies in 1838. In Cournots model both firms choose their output simultaneously assuming that the other firm does not alter its output (Gibbons, 1992). Later, in 1934, H. V. Stackelberg proposed a different model where one of the duopoly firms makes its output decision first and the other firm observes this decision and sets its output level (Stackelberg, 1934). The classical Stackelberg model has been extended to model a variety of strategic decision making. For example, Murphy et al. (1983) model the output decision making process in an oligopoly. Later works by Smeers and Wolf (1997) extend this model to include a stochastic element. More interestingly, in a model by He et al. (2009), the Stackelberg theory is used to model the interaction between a manufacturer and a retailer when making decisions about cooperative advertising policies and wholesale prices. The objective of this paper is to review the Stackelberg models from its classic form to the more recent stochastic versions. In chapter 2, the simple Stackelberg duopoly is reviewed and a generalisation of the Stackelberg duopoly problem is given. In chapter 3, more complicated and recent models are reviewed. The mathematical formulation of Murphy et al.s (1983) and Smeers and Wolfs (1997) model is given. At the end of chapter 3, a numerical example is applied to Smeers and Wolfs (1997) model. In chapter 4, practical applications of Stackelberg leader-follower models are discussed. Chapter 4 also looks at the drawbacks of and possible extensions to Stackelberg models. Appendix 1 explains the Oligopoly market structure and economics involved in profit maximisation. Chapter 2: Classical Stackelberg Leader-Follower Model 2.1 Duopoly Behaviour Stackelberg (1934) discussed price formation under oligopoly by looking at the special case of a duopoly. He argued that firms in a duopoly can behave either as dependent on or independent of the rival firms behaviour: Referring to the two firms as firm 1 and firm 2, respectively, firm 1s behaviour can be generalised as follows: Firm 1 views the behaviour of firm 2 as being independent of firm 1s behaviour. Firm 1 would regard firm 2s supply as a given variable and adapts itself to this supply. Thus, the behaviour of firm 1 is dependent on that of firm 2 (Stackelberg, 1934). Firm 1 can view the behaviour of firm 2 as being dependent on firm 1s behaviour. Thus, firm 2 always adapts itself to the formers behaviour (firm 2 views firm 1s behaviour as a given situation) (Stackelberg, 1934). However, according to Stackelberg (1934), there is a difference in the firms actual positions; each of the firms could adapt to either of these two positions, making price formation imperfect. Stackelberg (1934) describes three cases that arise from this situation: Bowler (1924) first described a situation when both firms in the duopoly strive for market dominance. According to Bowler (1924), for this to happen the first firm supplies the quantity it would if it dominated the market with the second firm as a follower. This supply is referred to as the independent supply. By supplying this output level the first firm tries to convince the second firm to view its behaviour as a given variable. However, the second firm also supplies the independent supply since it is also striving for market dominance. This duopoly is referred to as the Bowler duopoly with total supply of the duopoly equalling the sum of two independent supply. According to Stackelberg (1934), the price formation under the Bowler duopoly is unstable because neither of the firms tries to maximise profit under the given circumstance. The second case described by Stackelberg (1934) is a situation where both firms favour being dependent on the other firms behaviour. The first firm would have to match (in a profit maximising manner) its output level to the each output in the second firms feasible set of output. The second firm does the same and both firms are thus followers. This is a Cournot duopoly, first described by A. A Cournot in 1838. According to Stackelberg 1934, the price formation here is unstable because neither of the firms tries to achieve the largest profit under the given circumstance. The third case is a situation where one firm strives for independence and the other favour being dependent. In this case both firms are better off doing what the other firm would like. Both firms adapt their behaviour to maximising profit under the given circumstance. This situation is referred to as the asymmetric duopoly or more commonly as the Stackelberg duopoly. The price formation is more stable in this case because, according to Stackelberg (1934), no one has an interest in modifying the actual price formation. The Stackelberg model is based on the third case of a Stackelberg duopoly. 2.2 The Model In the Stackelberg duopoly the leader (Stackelberg firm) moves first and the follower moves second. As opposed to other models like the Bertrand model and Cournot model where firms make decisions about price or output simultaneously, firms in the Stackelberg duopoly make decisions sequentially. The Stackelberg equilibrium is determined using backwards induction (first determine the follower firms best response to an arbitrary output level by the Stackelberg firm). According to Gibbons (1992), information is an important element of the model. The information in question is the Stackelberg firms level of output (or price, Dastidar (2004) looks at Stackelberg equilibrium in price). The follower firm would know this output once the Stackelberg firm moves first and, as importantly, the Stackelberg firm knows that the follower firm will know the output level and respond to it accordingly. Inspired by the work of Gibbons (1992), Murphy et al. (1983) and Dastidar (2004), a general solution to the Stackelberg game (duopoly) is derived in the parts that follow. 2.2.1 Price function, cost functions, and profit functions Suppose that two firms in a duopoly supply a homogeneous product. Denote the demand function of this market as, where is the total level of output supplied by the duopoly (is the Stackelberg firms output level and is the follower firms output level). The price function can be re-written as. Denote the cost functions (Appendix 1) as for the Stackelberg firm, and for the follower firm. The profit function of the Stackelberg firm is given by: Similarly, the profit function of the follower firm is given by: 2.2.2 Backward induction to derive the best response functions and Stackelberg equilibrium According to Gibbons (1992), the best response for the follower will be one that maximises its profit given the output decision of the Stackelberg firm. The followers profit maximisation problem can be written as: This can be solved by differentiating the objective function and equating the differential to zero (as seen in Appendix 1). Using chain rule to differentiate equation [2] and setting the differential to zero, the following result is obtained: Note that this is a partial differentiation of the profit function since the function depends on the demand function which depends on two variables. Equation [4] gives the followers best response function. For a given the best response quantity satisfies equation [4]. As a result, the Stackelberg firms profit maximisation problem becomes: By differentiating the objective function in equation [5] and equating the differential to zero, the following result which maximises the Stackelberg firms profit is obtained: By solving equation [6] with the follower firms best response profit maximising output, is obtained by the Stackelberg firm given the followers best response. Gibbons (1992) describes as the Stackelberg equilibrium (or the Nash equilibrium of the Stackelberg game). 2.2.3 Example Gibbons (1992) considers a simple duopoly selling homogeneous products. He assumes that both firms are identical and the marginal cost of production is constant at. He also assumes that the market faces a linear downward sloping demand curve. The profit function of the firms is given by: where, with representing the Stackelberg firm and representing the follower firm. Using backward induction, the follower firms best response function is calculated: Solving equation [8]: The Stackelberg firm anticipates that its output will be met by the followers response. Thus the Stackelberg firm maximises profit by setting output to: Solving equation [10]: Substituting this in equation [9]: Equations [11] and [12] give the Stackelberg equilibrium. The total output in this Stackelberg duopoly is. Note: Gibbons (1992) worked out the total output in a Cournot duopoly to be (using this example) which is less than the output in the Stackelberg duopoly; the market price is higher in the Cournot duopoly and lower in the Stackelberg duopoly. Each firm in the Cournot duopoly produces; the follower is worse off in the Stackelberg model than in the Cournot model because it would supply a lower quantity at a lower market price. Clear, there exists a first mover advantage in this case. In general, according to Dastidar (2004), first advantage is possible if firms are identical and if the demand is concave and costs are convex. Gal-or (1985) showed that first mover advantage exists if the firms are identical and have identical downward sloping best response functions. Chapter 3: Recent Stackelberg Leader-Follower Models The classical Stackelberg model has been an inspiration for many economists and mathematicians. Murphy et al. (1983) extend the Stackelberg model to an oligopoly. Later, Smeers and Wolf (1997) extended Murphy et al.s model to a stochastic version where demand is unknown when the Stackelberg firm makes its decision. In a more recent report by DeMiguel and Xu (2009) the Stackelberg problem is extended to an oligopoly with multi-leaders. In this section the models proposed by Murphy et al. (1983) and Smeers and Wolf (1997) are reviewed. 3.1 A Nonlinear Mathematical Programming Version The model proposed by Murphy et al (1983), is a nonlinear mathematical programming version of the Stackelberg model. In their model, they consider the supply side of an oligopoly that supplies homogeneous product. The model is designed to model output decisions in a non-cooperative oligopoly. There are followers in this market who are referred to as Cournot firms (note that from now onwards the follower firms are referred to as Cournot firm as opposed to just follower firms) and leader who is referred to as the Stackelberg firm (as before). The Stackelberg firm considers the reaction of the Cournot firms in its output decision and sets its output level in a profit maximising manner. The Cournot firms, on the other hand, observe the Stackelberg firms decision and maximise their individual profits by setting output under the Cournot assumption of zero conjectural variations (Carlton and Perloff, 2005, define conjectural variation are expectations made by firms in an oligopolistic market about reactions of the other firm). It is assumed that all the firms have complete knowledge about the other firms. 3.1.1 Notations and assumptions For each Cournot firm, let represent the output level. For the Stackelberg firm, let represent the output level (note that is used here instead of, as seen earlier, to distinguish the Stackelberg firm from the Cournot firms). is the total cost function of level of output by Cournot firms and is the total cost function of level of output by the Stackelberg firm. Let represents the inverse market demand curve (that is, is the price at which consumers are willing and able to purchase units of output). In addition to the Cournot assumption and assumption of complete knowledge, Murphy et al. (1983) make the following assumption: and are both convex and twice differentiable. is a strictly decreasing function and twice differentiable which satisfies the following inequality, There exists a quantity (the maximum level of output any firm is willing to supply) such that, For referencing, these set of assumption will be referred to as Assumption A. Assumption 2 implies that the industrys marginal revenue (Appendix 1) decreases as industry supply increases. A proof of this statement can be found in the report by Murphy et al. (1983). Assumption 3 implies that at output levels the marginal cost is greater than the price. 3.1.2 Stackelberg-Nash-Cournot (SCN) equilibrium The Stackelberg-Nash-Cournot (SCN) equilibrium is derived at in a similar way to the Stackelberg equilibrium seen in chapter 2. Using backward induction, Murphy et al. (1983) first maximise the Cournot firms profit under the assumption of zero conjectural variation and for a given. For each Cournot firm let the set of output levels be such that, for a given and assuming are fixed, solves the following Cournot problem: According to Murphy et al. (1983), the objective function in equation [15] is a strictly convex profit function over the closed, convex and compact interval. This implies that a unique optimum exists. The functions can be referred to as the joint reaction functions of the Cournot firms. Murphy et al. (1983) define the aggregate reaction curve as: The Stackelberg problem can be written as: If solves, then the set of output levels is the SNC equilibrium with To get this equilibrium, the output levels need to be determined. Murphy et al. (1983) use the Equilibrating program (a family of mathematical programs designed to reconcile the supply-side and demand-side of a market to equilibrium) to determine: Let the Lagrange multiplier associated with the maximisation problem [19] be. Murphy et al.s (1983) approach here is to determine for which the optimal. The following result, obtained from Murphy et al. (1983), defines the optimal solution to problem [19]: Theorem 1: For a fixed, consider Problem suppose that satisfy Assumption A. Denote by the unique optimal solution to and let be the corresponding optimal Lagrange Multiplier associated with problem [19]. (In case since alternative optimal multipliers associated with problem [19] exist, let be the minimum non-negative optimal Lagrange Multiplier.) Then, is a continuous function of for. is a continuous, strictly decreasing function of. Moreover, there exist output levels and such that and . A set of output levels optimal to Problem, where, satisfy the Cournot Problem [15] if and only if, whence, for. (This theorem is taken from Murphy et al. (1983) with a few alterations to the notation) The proof of this result can be found in the report by Murphy et al. (1983). This theorem provides an efficient way of finding for each fixed. For example, one can simple conduct a univariate bisection search to find the unique root of. 3.1.3 Properties of and Murphy et al. (1983) describes the aggregate Cournot reaction curve as follows: is a continuous, strictly decreasing function of. If the right hand derivative of with respect to is denoted as (the rate of increase of with an increase in ), then for each : The proof to these two properties can be found in the report by Murphy et al. (1983). Murphy et al. (1983) state that if solves the Stackelberg problem [17], then the profit made by the Stackelberg firm is greater than or equal to the profit it would have made as a Cournot firm. Suppose that is a Nash-Cournot equilibrium for the firm oligopoly. is the output the Stackelberg firm would supply if it was a Cournot firm. solves: But since solves the Stackelberg problem [17], the following must hold: In fact, is the lower bound of. The proof to this can be found in Murphy et al. (1983) From assumption 3 in Assumption A, it is clear that. Thus, it is clear that is an upper bound. However, according to Murphy et al. (1983) another upper bound exists. In a paper by Sherali et al. (1980) on the Interaction between Oligopolistic firms and Competitive Fringe (a price taking firm in an oligopoly that competes with dominant firms) a different follower-follower model is discussed. In this model, the competitive fringe is content at equilibrium to have adjusted its output to the level for which marginal cost equals price. Murphy et al. (1983) summarise this model as follows: For fixed and suppose is a set of output levels such that for each firm solves: and For the Stackelberg firm, let satisfy: In addition to Assumption A, if is strictly convex, then a unique solution exists and satisfies conditions [23] and [24]. The Equilibrating Program with a fringe becomes: Theorem 1 holds for with and which implies that. In fact, if is strictly convex, is the upper bound of. Collectively, is bounded as follows: 3.1.4 Existence and uniqueness of the Stackelberg-Nash-Cournot equilibrium Murphy et al. (1983) prove the existence and uniqueness of the Stackelberg-Nash-Cournot (SCN) equilibrium. Their approach to the proof is summarised below: Existence For the SNC equilibrium to exist, and for should satisfy Assumption A. Since is bounded and is continuous (as is continuous), the Stackelberg problem [17] involves the maximisation of a continuous objective function over the compact set. This implies that an optimal solution exists. From Theorem 1 it is seen that a unique set of output levels, which simultaneously solves the Cournot problem [15], exists. As a result the SNC equilibrium exists. Uniqueness If is convex, then the equilibrium is unique. Since is convex, the objective function of the Stackelberg problem [17] becomes strictly concave on. This has been proven by Murphy et al. (1983) and the proof can be found in their report. This implies the equilibrium is unique. 3.1.5 Algorithm to solve the Stackelberg problem Murphy et al. (1983) provide an algorithm in their report to solve the Stackelberg problem. This algorithm is summarised as follows: To start with the Stackelberg firm needs the following information about the market and the Cournot firms: Cost functions of the Cournot firms, satisfying Assumption A. The upper bound as per Assumption A. The inverse demand function for the industry, which also satisfies Assumption A. With this information, the Stackelberg firm need to determine the lower bound and split the interval into grid points with, where and (from [26]). A piecewise linear approximation of is made as follows: Here, is an approximation to and from equation [20] it follows that: Note that at each grid point the approximation agrees with. The Stackelberg problem [17], thus, becomes: can be re-written as: Where and Thus problem [30] becomes: The objective function is strictly concave and solvable. Let be the objective function of the Stackelberg problem [17] and the objective function of the piecewise Stackelberg problem [32], then: Suppose is the optimum level of output. First, suppose that is an endpoint of the interval, then. Now suppose that, that is, . Then needs to be evaluated in order to determine. Theorem 1 can be used here. Recall that is a continuous, decreasing function of. To find the point where (part iii of Theorem 1), the following method is suggested by Murphy et al. (1983): Figure : Method for determining Source: Smeers and Wolf (1997) (alterations made to the notation) First determine using the bounds. Next, determine using the bounds. Then determine using the bounds.Next, determine using the bounds and so on. If then evaluate using the bounds. Having evaluated for some grid points, the game can either be terminated with the best of these grid points as an optimal solution or the grid can be redefined at an appropriate region to improve accuracy. Murphy et al. (1983) go on to determine the maximum error from the estimated optimal Stackelberg solution. This is summarised below: Let be the derivative of with respect to , then: Let be the marginal profit made by the Stackelberg firm for supplying units of output, Let be the actual optimal objective function value in the interval with the estimate being . Then the error of this estimate is defined as: satisfies the following: This concludes the review of Murphy et al.s (1983) nonlinear mathematical programing model of the Stackelberg problem in an oligopoly. 3.2 A Stochastic Version Smeers and Wolf (1997) provide an extension to the nonlinear mathematical programming version of the Stackelberg model by Murphy et al. (1983) discussed in subsection 3.1. In the same way as Murphy et al.s (1983) model, the Stackelberg game in this version is played in two stages. In the first stage, the Stackelberg firm makes a decision about its output level. In the second stage, the Cournot firms, having observed the Stackelberg firms decision, react according to the Cournot assumption of zero conjectural variation. However, Smeers and Wolf (1997) add the element of uncertainty to this process. When the Stackelberg firm makes its decision the market demand is uncertain, but demand is known when the Cournot firms make their decision. This makes the Smeers and Wolfs (1997) version of the Stackelberg model stochastic. Smeers and Wolf (1997) assume that this uncertainty can be modelled my demand scenarios. 3.2.1 Notations and Assumption For the costs functions, the same notations are used. is the total cost function of level of output by Cournot firms and is the total cost function of level of output by the Stackelberg firm. The demand function is changed slightly to take into account the uncertainty. is a set of demand scenarios with corresponding probabilities of occurrence As such, is the price at which customers are willing and able to purchase units of output in demand scenario . has a probability of occurrence. The same Assumption set A discussed in subsection 3.1.1 apply here with alterations made to conditions [13] and [14]. Assumption set A can be re-written as: and are both convex and twice differentiable, as before. is a strictly decreasing function and twice differentiable which satisfies the following inequality, There exists a quantity (the maximum level of output any firm is willing to supply in each demand scenario) such that, For referencing, these set of assumption will be referred to as Assumption B. 3.2.2 Stochastic Stackelberg-Nash-Cournot (SSNC) equilibrium Smeers and Wolf (1997) use the same approach seen before to derive the SSNC equilibrium. The Cournot problem [15]can be re-written as follows: For each Cournot firm and each demand scenario, let the set of output levels be such that, for a given and assuming are fixed, solves the following Cournot problem: Note that is the output level of Cournot firm when the demand scenario is . For each, according to Murphy et al. (1983), the objective function in equation [40] is a strictly convex profit function over the closed, convex and compact interval. The functions can be referred to as the joint reaction functions of the Cournot firms for a demand scenario. The aggregate reaction curve becomes: The Stackelberg problem with demand uncertainty can be written as: Note the Stackelberg problem defined problem [42] differs from that defined in [17]. This is because of the element of uncertainty. The Cournot problem [40] is similar to the Cournot problem [15] because the demand is known when the Cournot firms make their decision. In the Stackelberg problem [42] note the element. This is the estimated mean price, that is, the Stackelberg firm considers the reaction of the Cournot firm under each demand scenario and works out the market price in each scenario, and it then multiplies it by the probability of each scenario. The summation of this represents the estimated mean price. If solves the stochastic, then the set of output levels is the SSNC equilibrium for demand scenario. To get this equilibrium, the output levels need to be determined. Smeers and Wolf (1997) use the same approach as Murphy et al. (1983) in doing so. The Equilibrating program is the same as that in [19], with changes made to the Cournot output and demand function: For each demand scenario , Theorem 1 lays out a foundation on how to solve the Equilibrating program in problem [19] and can also be used to solve [44]. Smeers and Wolf (1997) Summarise Theorem 1 as follows: Theorem 2: For each fixed, An optimal solution for the problem satisfies the Cournot problem [40] if and only if the Lagrange multiplier,, associated with the Equilibrating program [44], is equal to zero. This multiplier is a continuous, strictly decreasing function of . Moreover, there exists and such that: (This theorem is taken from Smeers and Wolf (1997), with a few alteration to the notations) The properties of are the same as those discussed in subsection 3.1.3. The existence and uniqueness of the SSNC equilibrium is shown in the same ways as the SNC equilibrium of Murphy et al.s (1983) model discussed in subsection 3.1.4. 3.2.3 Algorithm to solve the Stackelberg problem The Stackelberg problem here is solved in the same way Murphy et al. (1983) proposed (discussed in subsection 3.1.5). In their report, Smeers and Wolf (1997) do not specify the upper and lower bound of, thus, it is assumed that is bounded by.The interval can be split into grid points with, where and . The piecewise linear approximation of in [27] can be re-written as follows: Here, has the same properties as [29]. The Stackelberg problem [42], thus, becomes: Hereafter, the algorithm summarised in subsection 3.1.5 can be used to solve this problem. 3.3 Numerical Example In Murphy et al.s (1983) report a simple example of the Stackelberg model is given. They consider the case of a linear demand curve and quadratic cost functions: It is assumed that the Stackelberg firm and Cournot firms are identical. The Cournot problem [15] becomes as follow, with as the optimal solution: Solving this problem yields: Note the upper bound of is found by setting. The working to get equation [51] is shown in Appendix 2. The aggregate reaction curve can be written as: Using this information, this example is now extended to Smeers and Wolfs (1997) model with numerical values. Note that the functions listed in equations [49], [50], [51] and [52] satisfy Assumptions A B and other properties discussed in previous sections. Suppose and. And suppose demand is unknown when the Stackelberg firm makes its decision. The cost functions of the firms will be as follows: Figure : Different Demand Scenarios The tables below describe the possible demand scenarios, probability of each scenario occurring, the joint reaction curve and aggregate reaction curve for, and: Scenario, Demand, Probability, = Demand falls, = Demand remains unchanged, = Demand Increases, Scenario, Joint reaction curve, Aggregate reaction curve, Using this information, the Stackelberg problem [42] can be solved. First, the estimated price element can be calculated as follows: Substituting this result back into the Stackelberg problem [42] gives: This problem can easily be solved by differentiating the objective function and finding the value of for which the differential is equal to zero. The working to obtain the following optimal solution is shown in Appendix 2. Using this result, the following result is obtained for each demand scenario: Figure : Optimal Output, Price and Profit 1 260.870 98.02 652.96 147.04 2 260.870 134.39 798.42 201.58 3 260.870 170.75 943.87 256.13 Stackelberg firm Profit, Cournot firm Profit, Industry Profit, 1 21,243.87 12,010.81 69,387.12 2 35,573.12 22,574.95 125,872.92 3 49,802.37 36,444.87 195,581.87 The tables in figure 3 state the SSNC equilibriums for each scenario, and the profits made by each firm in this oligopoly and the total industry profit in each scenario. Note that since is strictly convex, the equilibrium obtained for each scenario is unique. Also note that in all three scenarios, the Stackelberg Output and profit is greater than that of the Cournot firms, illustrating the first mover advantage. Chapter 4: Discussion In this section, the practical applications, drawbacks and possible extensions to Stackelberg models are discussed. 4.1 Practical Applications of Stackelberg models Stackelberg models are widely used by firms to aid decision making. Some examples include: Manufacturer-Retailer Supply Chain He et al. (2009) present a stochastic Stackelberg problem to model the interaction between a manufacturer and a retailer. The manufacturer would announce its cooperative advertising policy (percentage of retailers advertising expenses it will cover-participation rate) and the wholesale price. The retailer, in response, chooses its optimal advertising and pricing policies. When the retailers advertising and pricing is an importan