Report on Tesco Essays

Report on Tesco Essays Report on Tesco Essay Report on Tesco Essay All corporations have to work at expanding themselves within the region as well as internationally. They have to work at framing and adapting different strategies in order to reach optimum success. This report analyzes the external environment and scans it thoroughly so that strategies can be implemented and adopted later on. Company Background Tests is a company that originated from the ELK, but has now expanded globally. Starting from Worcestershire, it is now operating within Asia, Europe as well as USA. Back in the year 201 2, Tests had 2975 stores within the United Kingdom which brought in a revenue of 64. 5 billion pounds per annum. By 2014, these stores have expanded within 14 countries with 6531 stores. Tests also offers other services like insurance, online shopping and banking. Vision and Core Values The vision of the organization is the addition of an important position in the minds of the clients they serve, community altogether, keen and steadfast staff and the shareholders. The organizations visions is to develop and change themselves into a creative and present day association through applying their aptitudes all internationally. The core value of Tests is to expand its retail organization which would help to convey the organizations core purpose. In addition, the organization lives up to expectations devotedly to win clients faithfulness and to make brand value. 2. 0 Strategic Position With a large number of stores, Tests ranks amongst the global giants. The principle of strategy of Tests and their strategic position is the design of the shareholder value with the help of focus and innovation upon the customer satisfaction. Their strategic position is based on their seven principle theory which includes: Nurturing business primarily within the entire United Kingdom Achieving strengths in all departments Retailing all over the world successfully Serving the society with premium advantages Defining values and purposes with the help of team work Becoming the founder of new brands Expanding internationally and globally 2. 1 Passionately Political Factors The political system of every country Tests expands within has an effect on the company. Tests is also bound to the European legal system There will be multiple employment regulations Economic Factors Tests has the effect of exchange rates on all its revenue Any decline in European market could cause damage to Tests Socio-cultural Factors Bulk shopping Trend of eating out Increase in aging population Increase in female workers Technological Factors Enhanced operations Enhanced communications Strong online presence Saving of time and money Environmental Factors Increased pressure on environmental awareness Organic food provisions Legislative Factors Tests is bound to legal policies Competition creates price wars There is a strong need for product differentiation 2. 2 Porters Five Forces Michel E. Porter has created five powers through which the organization can recognize its position in the business and figure out if the position of the organization is more aggressive than the others. He has recommended that the appeal of the business sector can be measured through the long haul degree of profitability of the firm. The significant five strengths of the model are discussed as below. 2. 2. 1 Threat of Substitute Product and Services In the retail business, the danger for the substitute items is typically low for the food items and medium for the non-food items. However if there should be an occurrence of the food items the risk of substitute items is high with respect to the non-food things there are little chains of comfort stores. Be that as it may these accommodation stores, off permit and natural shops are not considered as the real danger for the general store like Tests. Then again, to face these issues Tests is opening more stores in the remote region to offer the helpful transportation framework for the clients. 2. 2. 2 Threat of New Entrants To come in the sustenance retail industry, Tests needs gigantic measure of UAPITA interests so as to be aggressive and to make a solid brand name. Thus, the risk of new participants in the nourishment retail industry is moderately low. The greater part of the brands that have effectively caught the sustenance retail showcase in UK are Tests, Kingsbury, SAD and Morrison comprising of more than 80% of all shopping in the ELK. This is likewise backed by the string brand picture of the current organizations who as of now have caught a great deal of devoted clients through their prevalent strategies and methodologies. 2. 2. Competition among the Existing Companies The power Of the opposition among the current organizations in the retail business in UK is to a great degree high as there are a ton of organizations with high capital venture and solid approaches. These contenders like Waitress, Morrison, Kingsbury and SAD are continually attempting to switch clients from one another over value, items and advancements irregularly. As the major contenders like aforementioned brands have picked up the development of their business impart however the general business sector development is moderate. This shows that this enormous player in the retail business is catching the clients bringing them from different contenders, so the opposition gets more serious. Then again, a few organizations like Laid and Lid are likewise offering generally low value items who need to catch the clients amid the monetary down turn and they picked up a development of 25% amid the financial retreat of 2008. 2. 2. 4 Bargaining Power of Buyers As there are a considerable measure of rivals in the business, the clients have the choices with zero exchanging expense to move from one organization to others. In this way, the position of the clients is unequivocally high in the event of dealing force. On the off chance that the clients find that the cost of the results of an organization is generally modest contrasted with different organizations that offer the same quality then the clients will move to that organization. Here, in the retail business, the clients need both the lower cost and quality items. Along these lines, all the organizations in the retail business need to accentuate on keeping the cost moderately judicious keeping the quality high. 2. 2. 5 Bargaining Power of the Suppliers In the retail business in UK, the suppliers position is not all that solid. This is on account of the top general store organizations like SAD, Tests and Sunbursts have contract with the suppliers and suppliers dread losing the agreement with these huge organizations. Therefore the suppliers dont have a solid position if there should arise an occurrence of the bartering force. Notwithstanding this, the suppliers consider giving the supplies to the top general store as one Of the opportunities for the business development. 2. 3 SOOT Analysis 2. 3. 1 Strengths Tests has a strong financial position. Tests operates globally (Retail Business Review, 201 2) The sales of Tests are more than its competitors Brand image of Tests is coupled with reliability and superior quality Tests has the largest online supermarket within UK The market share of Tests is up to 13% 2. 3. 2 weaknesses The company is dependent upon the I-J The company is not enough diversified geographically The prices at Tests are higher as compared to other multinational organizations Transportation costs are also higher as compared to other resources 2. 3. 3 Opportunities Entry into the Asian market can lead to greater diversification The online community is growing, bringing in more sales for Tests Multiple business strategic alliances can help Tests grow stronger 2. 3. 4 Threats Financial crisis within Europe Heavily competitive retail market Decline in income and increase in unemployment Presence of Walter and Careful 2. 4 Strategic Capabilities There are two strategic capabilities of Tests: 1. Resources 2. Competence Base Any superior performance needs to be evaluated in the way by which the resources of the company are used for creating competence within the activities of an organization. Competence within Tests includes processes or activities that have the power of effectively underpinning the competitive advantage of the company. Tests therefore has the capability of recognizing its competitive rivals, achieve market power and position, and thus ultimately focus on advantage. 2. 5 Conclusion of Strategic Strategy Overall it can be concluded that Tests has a great influence within the European market, but it needs to look into global expansion more seriously in order to avoid being cut off from the bottom if in case economic crisis strikes thin Europe.

Lockerbie Blast Culprit Freed Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Lockerbie Blast Culprit Freed - Assignment Example The Scottish government made a unilateral decision to release Megrahi, who was received with immense jubilation and festivity in Libya. Mr. Gaddafi, the Libyan president, received him personally.   John F. Kerry said Merahi’s release â€Å"turned the word ‘compassion’ on its head† (Adam, 2009).A lot of distaste and anger over Mr. Megrahi’s unprecedented release was exhibited across the geographical divide, but great fury was observed in the US, which has regarded as outrageous and disgusting the frenzy with which the bomber convict was received in Libya. In a special report to The Washington Post, Adam reported how the family members of the victims reacted towards this eventuality. A case in point among many is that of Glenn Johnson, the father of Beth Ann, who died on her way home from London where she was studying, said in an interview that he was just devastated as a person who killed 270 people and had no compassion for them, could be given com passion. He termed it as ‘another tragedy’ that families had to suffer. A 57-year-old Libyan Abdel Basset Ali-Megrahi who was convicted for this terrorist attack and sentenced to serve 27 years of a life sentence was released on grounds of compassion that he is dying from prostate cancer.ConclusionThe Scotland government, through her justice secretary MacAskill, subverted justice by releasing Abdel Basset Ali-Magrahi back to Libya and considering that this was a heinous crime, in fact, first class terrorism, the embittered parties has express right to vie an appeal.

How are tourism businesses using ICT to improve the tourist experience Essay

How are tourism businesses using ICT to improve the tourist experience - Essay Example 109). This implies that the application of an array of communications- and computer-assisted, and electronic technologies are being used to a greater extent to improve the performance and implementation of business operations in the tourism industry, and to enhance tourist experience. One of the primary functions of ICTs is the processing and speeding up of information flow to and from the customers. In addition to the World Wide Web, other technology devices, such as smartphone and GPS, have boosted the tourist experience (Mamaghani, 2009; Cantoni, Kalbaska, & Inversini, 2009). Homogenisation of communication technologies allows global reception of mobile phones. Tourists use GPS to quickly and conveniently acquire directions and information about present locations. The combination of standard technologies and systems also has given suppliers the opportunity to lessen costs, and enhance the tourist experience. For instance, airline businesses launched mobile check-in by combining th e check-in procedure with the newest mobile phone technologies (Frew, 2000; Kourtit et al., 2011). Customers gain from further ease or convenience and the tourism sector gains from cost efficiency by supplanting employees with kiosks. Other technologies that the tourism sector can use nowadays in order to enhance the tourist experience are the QR Code, augmented reality, MP3 guide, and geolocation marketing. Quick Response (QR) Codes are a kind of barcode that can be seen through QR reading gadgets such as smartphones. QR Code can be used by tourists to access addresses, maps, and locations through their mobile phones (Hall & Williams, 2008). Augmented reality is a latest technology that erases the line separating what is unreal and what is real by improving people’s senses. This technology is guiding tourists and gives them a surreal experience of magnificent tourist destinations (Conrady, 2010, p. 248). MP3 guide provides tourists access to maps, from historic destinations to the most popular attractions. This technology eliminates the need for tour guides, and makes the tourist experience convenient and trouble-free (Conrady, 2010). Geolocation is a process of detecting a physical location using a wireless device. It can detect a person’s longitude and latitude coordinates to identify his/her precise position. The tourism sector may use geolocation marketing to enhance its services by making local information available to its customers. Tourism businesses may concentrate its marketing efforts and advertise to local populations (Yunker, 2010, p. 76). Geolocation marketing is giving the tourism sector the opportunity to show services that are offered in specific locations. ICTs in Tourism Much of the progress in the tourism industry is rooted in technology processes and facilities that businesses buy for their standard activities. Recently, ICT systems have produced numerous process innovations. Processing of accounts, checking in of guests, and bookings has become considerably downsized, and additional facilities for maintenance made operations more versatile and flexible (Zhou, 2004; Ruiz-Molina, Gil-Saura, & Moliner-Velasquez, 2010). Cooper and colleagues (1998 as cited in Page & Connell, 2006, p. 44) have observed that these ICTs are

Annotated Bibliography Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 12

Annotated Bibliography Example The findings revealed five criteria that define the concept of professional practice. They include: Technical and legal concerns was identified as the most important concern that the students felt should be incorporated in their studies. The results of the study seem to support the effectiveness of the theory of case based learning. Many students feel that they are not being effectively prepared for professional practice. The lack of experience and connection with the professional world are some of the concerns raised by the students. A section of the students felt that creative design is sufficient to prepare them for their field of work. In conclusion, the study identifies the different concerns regarding preparation of students for professional practice. Communication abilities should be part of the higher education program to help students communicate effectively in their professional field. The study recommends further research to determine the effectives of the strategies like case study learning methods. Incorporation of the communication skills and case study learning meth od is likely to equip students with skills needed in professional

Content-based Image Retrieval (CBIR) System

Content-based Image Retrieval (CBIR) System Chapter 1. Introduction Nowadays, in the most of areas it is necessary to work with large amounts of growing visual and multimedia data, at the same time, the number of image and video files on the web is quite big and is still rising very rapidly. Searching through this data is absolutely vital. So, there is a high demand on the tools for image retrieving, which are based on visual information, rather than simple text-based queries. Content-based Image Retrieval (CBIR) consists of retrieving the most visually similar images to a given query image from a database or group of image files. It is a quite useful thing in a lot of areas such as Photography which may involve image search from the large digital photo galleries; Medicine it is used to assist in diagnosis. In most of diseases, their visual characteristics carry diagnostic information and visually similar images correspond to the same disease category. The output of a CBIR system can help to make a decision (Tahmoush, 2007); Military detection of e nemy soldiers or vehicles from screen photographs; Crime prevention it helps police in suspicious peoples identification from large image databases and in image retrieval of crime scene photos (Wen, 2005); Geography frequently used in Geographical information systems (GIS) (Hafiane, 2006) and many others. CBIR has been a subject of intense research over the last 15 years. It is one of the most difficult research areas in multimedia computing and information retrieval. During the research history many different image matching, indexing and retrieval algorithms have been tried. Practice shows that user queries described by visual information are more effective and more precisely meet user needs, than standard text search queries. It is because visual information is closer to the humans perception of the world. 1.1 CBIR Systems Many CBIR systems and tools have been developed to make queries based on visual content. During the 90-ies several notable commercial systems were introduced. IBM developed Query By Image Content (QBIC) system, which lets user to make queries of large image databases based on visual image content properties such as Example images; User-constructed sketches and drawings; Selected color and texture patterns. (Flickner, 1995) Soon after that â€Å"Virage Image Search Engine† of Virage Inc. was developed, which provides an open framework for building systems that explicitly manages image assets by directly representing their visual attributes. (Bach, 1996) Several online content-based web search engines can also be mentioned. â€Å"WebSEEk† developed by Image and Advanced Television Lab, Columbia University. It allows making queries by example and by desired color composition. â€Å"Chabot†, Developed by Department of Computer Science, University of California, which allows to search by colors, but offers limited options such as choosing one dominant color. (Veltkamp, 2002) Global Memory Net (GMNet) was launched for public access in late June 2006. It is a digital library of cultural, historical, and heritage image collections. Among other text-based searching types this web library has a possibility to search by image content. It has two basic options for content based searching. Search by example image, based on its color and shape and by user drawing. For CBIR, GMNet uses SIMPLIcity developed by Prof. James Z. Wang of Penn State University. (Chen 2006) Different CBIR systems use different types of user queries. Typically tools for the content-based image retrieval consist of query statement and a result presentation; this query can be done by providing an example image a sketch, or by choosing desired colors for the image. Results are presented by the top several similar images based on the similarity measure. 1.2 Research Questions Despite the large number of CBIR systems developed, there are still a lot of challenging problems in this area. The important sides that still need to be improved are speed of retrieving, when working with the large databases, accuracy and effectiveness of the retrieved results. So the researchers from multiple disciplines are deeply concerned with these aspects. Comparisons by image content are much more complicated task than by textual data. Generally, content-based image retrievals are based on comparison of image content descriptors that represent visual features of the image. Different features can be used to obtain the image descriptor. To meet specific user needs and in various cases some of them are more effective than others. Sometimes the implementation simplicity is as important as retrieval accuracy and effectiveness. Based on the previous discussion, research questions are the following: What are the basic retrieval techniques? What kind of features are usually used? How the features are obtained from the image? How these features are matched? How the retrieval results are presented to the user? How accurate can be the algorithms, which are relatively easy to implement? 1.3 Objectives The CBIR research often involves two areas computer vision and database systems. The database systems part studies database indexing, searching and retrieval techniques and computer vision part is about image processing, obtaining the image descriptors and image matching. In order to answer the research questions this dissertation focuses on a computer vision part. Image processing and image transformations are used by CBIR systems in order to extract image descriptors. CBIR systems are based on different image features descriptors matching. Some of these systems perform image comparison by multiple features at the same time and some of them use only one feature. In this dissertation we are going to investigate what are the basic techniques used in CBIR systems, which are based on different feature descriptors. We will make a detailed overview of these basic methods. We are also going to implement one of the most effective algorithms in the CBIR field. This is Scale Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT) algorithm (Lowe, 2004) and see how effective and accurate it can be. Chapter 2. Literature Survey 2.1 CBIR systems typical architecture Typical CBIR system has two main functionalities. This is Data insertion and query processing. Data insertion procedures are performed independent of user interaction.   They are applied to all the data. The purpose of this process is to extract visual features from the images in the database. These features are obviously smaller than the actual image and they are then stored for easy comparison reasons, as a characterizers of each image. Query processing starts with user specific request. Request can be done in several ways: By an example image, by giving desired pattern or object, color distribution and etc. Query processing module obtains the visual features from the given request, metric is defined. Then similarity is measured based on the chosen metric and some set of the most similar images are . Features extraction itself involves, selecting the features that have to be extracted, it depends on the type of user query. The feature extracting algorithm is chosen to create the feature vector from the selected features. Eventually, image descriptor is formed which are then used to compare the images. (Torres, 2006) 2.2 Semantic Gap Basically, similarity searching between the images is based on low-level and higher-levels of queries. (Eakins, 1996) Low-Level Similarity in this case visual features to describe the image are primitives such as color, texture and shape. Higher-Levels, Semantic Similarity at higher levels, similarity searching is not based on a simple features. In this case images are described by higher level of semantic attributes. This involves identification of the object types depicted in the image. These two levels of queries form the problem called semantic gap. Semantic gap can be defined in the following way: â€Å"The semantic gap is the lack of coincidence between the information that one can extract from the visual data and the interpretation that the same data has for a user in a given situation.† (Datta, 2008) In another words, images with high low-level feature similarities may still be different in terms of user perception. So similarity by low-level features, not always mean semantic similarity of these images. 2.3 Content Comparison Techniques This dissertation is concerned with low-level similarity features extraction .CBIR for low-level similarity queries needs techniques which can be used to obtain the image content descriptors to compare images based on their color, texture and shape. Color Image content comparison by color is based on matching images by their color distribution. In this case image feature identifies the proportion of pixels of specific color or colors within an image. So one can make color searches by indicating desired concentration of colors or by an example image with desired color distribution and get similar images. Color histograms are widely used to extract the color distribution descriptors from the image. It is a statistic of the color of pixels in the image. First color distribution is represented by appropriate color histogram, and then color vector is formed from that histogram. Lets discuss several color feature extraction histograms. Conventional Color Histogram (CCH) This histogram consists of occurrences of each color in the image. Each pixel is associated to only one its own histogram bin only on the basis of its own color. This color histogram uses the probability mass function of the image pixel intensities. (Suhasini, 2009) Fuzzy Color Histogram (FCH) as an opposite to CCH, in FCH each pixel is associated to all bins of histogram with different degrees of membership depending on color similarity of the pixel. This is done by fuzzy-set membership function. (ferone, 2008) Color Correlogram (CC) color correlogram of an image is a table which is indexed by color pairs, where the d-th entry of (i,j) cell shows the probability of finding the color j at a distance of d from a pixel of color i in the image extracting. Such a feature from the image is tolerant to the changes in appearance of the same scene which can be caused by changing the viewing positions, but color correlogram is more difficult to compute than color histograms. (Huang, 1997) Texture Retrieval by image texture in a similar to color-based feature extraction, but it looks for visual patterns in images rather than colors. So it looks at homogeneity that is not a result of a single color presence or intensity of a pixel value. Sometimes it also provides more spatial information. The most basic method used to extract the texture descriptor from the image is based on Fourier Transform. The initial image is transformed by the Fourier function. As the method works on digital images, Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) is used. DFT converts images from the spatial domain into the frequency domain, where all the spatial frequencies of the original image are represented. In another words this transformed image shows intensity variations over a number of pixels. Transformed data is grouped to obtain several measures from it. Then descriptor is formed of these measures and is used for comparison. (Nixon, 2007) Shape Shape-based image retrieval comparison looks at shapes of regions within an image and searches for the shapes similar to given as in a query image. Edge and blob detections are important parts for the shape feature extraction. These edges and blobs are points or regions in the image that are either brighter or darker than the surrounding. Several methods are used for shape-based image retrieval, which involve different kind of image filtering and image transformations. One of the most effective algorithms for shape-based image retrieval is Scale Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT) algorithm, which was first developed by David Lowe in 1999, at the University of British Colombia. It takes a single image as an input and returns a set of detected image features. In SIFT algorithm image filtering is based on Gaussian function. After image filtering SIFT uses Difference of Gaussian (DoG) pyramid for blob (keypoint) detection. The image feature descriptor, which is called keypoint descriptor is 128 element feature vector and formed of gradient magnitudes and orientations computed for the area around the identified keypoints. (Lowe, 2004) Chapter 3. Research Method 3.1 Research approach Mathematical methods play key role in the most of CBIR algorithms. Often mathematical solution of the problem is difficult or impossible to implement practically, therefore it is important to assess the method in practice. Thats why Experimental approach will be used in this dissertation. This method of primary research forces to experience and overcome all the difficulties that can appear during the practical implementation of theory. It requires focusing on the details of algorithm and clearly shows advantages and disadvantages of the particular algorithm. It also gives possibility to assess the instruments used in experiment, which are not less important than algorithm itself. In this dissertation, one of the CBIR algorithms for shape-based image retrieval will be implemented for a number of images and the results will be assessed 3.2 Tools and Technologies used This study focuses on the algorithm which involves image processing. It will be implemented under the Microsoft .net framework platform and using GDI+ and C# programming language. .Net framework provides managed interface for GDI+; therefore its relatively easy to process images using this platform. Microsoft Visual Studio .Net will be used as an IDE. This experiment will also show how useful can be .net framework library and C# language for image processing purpose. References: Bach J., Fuler C., Gupta A., Hampapur A., Horowitz B., Humphrey R., Jain R., Shu C., (1996) The virage image search engine: An open framework for image management SPIE Conference on Storage and Retrieval for Image and Video Databases; Chen Ch. Ch. (2006),Using Tomorrows Retrieval Technology to Explore the Heritage: Bonding Past and Future in the Case of Global Memory Net; available at: http://ifla.queenslibrary.org/IV/ifla72/papers/097-Chen-en.pdf last accessed on 24th September 2009 Datta R., Joshi D., Li J. and Wang J. Z. (2008) Image Retrieval: Ideas, Influences, and Trends of the New Age. Eakins J.P. (1996) Automatic image content retrieval are we getting anywhere?Department of Computing, University of Northumbria at Newcastle, available at: http://www.cs.uu.nl/docs/vakken/mir/materials/literature/eakins.pdf last accessed on 24th September 2009 Ferone A., Maddalena L., Petrosino A., (2008) The Enhanced Color Histogram: a way for dealing with uncertainty in CBIR systems, University of Naples Parthenope, Department of Applied Science; Flickner M., Sawhney H., Niblack W., Ashley J., Huang Q., Dom B., Gorkani M., Hafher J., Lee D., Petkovie D., Steele D. and Yanker P.(1995) Query by Image and Video Content: The QBIC System, IBM Almaden Research Center; available at: http://www2.cs.ucy.ac.cy/~nicolast/courses/cs422/ReadingProjects/qbic.pdf last accessed on 24th September 2009; Hafiane A., Chaudhuri S., Seetharaman G., Zavidovique B. (2006) Region-based CBIR in GIS with local space filling curves to spatial representation Huang J., Kumar S. R., Mitra M., Zhu W. J., Zabih R. (1997) Image Indexing Using Color Correlograms, Cornell University; Lowe D. G. (2004), Distinctive Image Features from Scale-Invariant Keypoints, Computer Science Department University of British Columbia; available at: http://people.cs.ubc.ca/~lowe/papers/ijcv04.pdf last accessed on 24th September 2009 Nixon M. S., Aguado A. S. (2007) Feature Extraction and Image Processing, Academic Press; Suhasini P.S., Dr. K. Sri Rama Krishna, Dr. I. V. Murali Krishna (2009) CBIR Using Color Histogram Processing; VR Siddhartha Engineering College; available at: http://www.jatit.org/volumes/research-papers/Vol6No1/13Vol6No1.pdf last accessed on 24th September 2009; Tahmoush D.   Hanan S. (2007)A Web Collaboration System for Content-Based Image Retrieval of Medical imag;available at:http://www.cs.umd.edu/~hjs/pubs/medicalimagepapers/TahmoushSPIE07a.pdf last accessed on 24th September 2009; Torres R. S., Falcà £o A. X. (2006)Content-Based Image Retrieval: Theory and Applications; available at: http://www.dcc.unicamp.br/~rtorres/artigos/journal/torres06rita.pdf last accessed on 24th September 2009; Veltkamp R. C., Tanase M. (2002) Content-Based Image Retrieval Systems: A Survey; Department of Computing Science, Utrecht University; available at: http://give-lab.cs.uu.nl/cbirsurvey/cbir-survey.pdf last accessed on 24th September 2009; Wang J. Z. (2001) SIMPLIcity: Semantics-Sensitive Integrated Matching for Picture Libraries; available at: http://infolab.stanford.edu/~wangz/project/imsearch/SIMPLIcity/TPAMI/wang2.pdf last accessed on 24th September 2009; Wen Ch. Y, Yu Ch. Y., (2005) Image Retrieval of Digital Crime Scene Images, Forensic Science Journal; available at: http://fsjournal.cpu.edu.tw/content/vol4.no.1/06-95-04.pdf last accessed on 24th September 2009.

Homosexual Marriages Must be Permitted Essay -- essays research papers

Homosexual Marriages Must be Permitted   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Marriage is traditionally viewed as the legal union of a man and woman as husband and wife. However, what happens when those two people are two men or two women? This topic of gay marriage has been a major issue in the United States over the past few years. It has raised several political debates as well as other minor arguments throughout the United States and around the world. Until recently, homosexual couples in the United States were allowed to marry. Recently, a series of events change the standing of homosexual marriages in the United States. The Supreme Court's ruling in Lawrence v. Texas repealed a Texas law that made sodomy a crime in order to affirm the privacy rights of homosexuals. In November 2003, the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that the state cannot deny marriage licenses to homosexual couples. Following the Massachusetts decision, more gay marriages occurred publicly across the nation from San Francisco to New York. President George W. Bush responded to these activities by urging Congress to pass a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriages. On May 17, 2004, Massachusetts became the first state to grant legalized same-sex marriages.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Opponents of same-sex marriage argue that marriage is a union between a man and a woman and they view anything else as morally wrong. They claim that homosexual marriage is unconstitutional and would destroy the sanctity of marriage. I believe that gays and les...

Public administration Essay

‘Ethics’ is a difficult term to define. The meaning, nature and scope of ethics have expanded in the course of time. ‘Ethics’ is integral to public administration. In public administration, ethics focuses on how the public administrator should question and reflect in order to be able to act responsibly. We cannot simply bifurcate the two by saying that ethics deals with morals and values, while public administration is about actions and decisions. Administering accountability and ethics is a difficult task. The 1 levels of ethics in governance are dependent on the social, economic, political, cultural, legal-judicial and historical contexts of the country. These specific factors influence ethics in public administrative systems. This Unit will discuss the meaning, evolution, foci and concerns of ethics. It will bring out the different dimensions of ethics and their relevance for public administration. The significance of an ethical code for administrators will be analysed and the nature of work ethics will be discussed. This Unit will also examine the obstacles to ethical accountability. 21. 2 ETHICS: MEANING AND RELEVANCE ‘Ethics’ is a system of accepted beliefs, mores and values, which influence human behaviour. More specifically, it is a system based on morals. Thus, ethics is the study of what is morally right, and what is not. The Latin origin of the word ‘ethics’ is ethicus that means character. Since the early 17th century, ‘ethics’ has been accepted as the â€Å"Science of morals; the rules of conduct, the science of human duty. † Hence, in common parlance, ethics is treated as moral principles that govern a person’s or a group’s behaviour. It includes both the science of the good and the nature of the right. The ethical concerns of governance have been underscored widely in Indian scriptures and other treatises such as Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bhagvad Gita, Buddha Charita, Arthashastra, Panchatantra, Manusmriti, Kural, Shukra Niti, Kadambari, Raja Tarangani, and Hitopadesh. At the same time, one cannot ignore the maxims on ethical governance provided by the Chinese philosophers such as Lao Tse, Confucius and Mencius. In the Western philosophy, there are three eminent schools of ethics. The first, inspired by Aristotle, holds that virtues (such as justice, charity and generosity) are dispositions to act in ways that benefit the possessor of these virtues and the society of which he is a part. The second, subscribed to mainly by Immanual Kant, makes the concept of duty central to morality: human beings are bound, from a knowledge of their duty as rational beings, to obey the categorical imperative to respect other rational beings with whom they interact. The third is the Utilitarian viewpoint that asserts that the guiding principle of conduct should be the greatest happiness (or benefit) of the greatest number (Hobson, 2002). The Western thought is full of ethical guidelines to rulers, whether in a monarchy or a democracy. These concerns are found in the writings of Plato, Aristotle, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Penn, John Stuart Mill, Edmund Burke, and others. Rawl’s theory of justice revolves around the adaptation of two fundamental principles of justice, which would, in turn, guarantee a just and morally acceptable society. The first principle guarantees the right of each person to have the most extensive basic liberty compatible with liberty of others. The second principle states that social and economic positions are to be: (a) To everyone’s advantage, and (b) Open to all. A key issue for Rawls is to show how such principles would be universally adopted, and over here his work borders on general ethical issues. He introduces a theoretical ‘veil of ignorance’ in which all ‘players’ in the social game would be placed in a situation, which is called the ‘original position’. Having only a general knowledge about the facts of ‘life and society’ each player is to make a ‘rationally’ prudential choice concerning the kind of social institution they would enter into contract with. By denying the players any specific information about themselves it forces them to adopt a generalised point of view that bears a strong resemblance to the moral point of view. This view point revolves around moral conclusions can be reached without abandoning the prudential standpoint and posting a moral outlook merely by pursuing one’s own prudential reasoning under certain procedural bargaining. 2 The gist of wisdom on administrative ethics is that the public administrators are the â€Å"guardians† of the Administrative State. Hence, they are expected to honour public trust and not violate it. Two crucial questions raised in this context are â€Å"why should guardians be guarded? And â€Å"Who guards the guardian? † (Rosenbloom and Kravchuk, 2005). The administrators need to be guarded against their tendency to misconceive public interest, promote self-interest, indulge in corruption and cause subversion of national interest. And they need to be guarded by the external institutions such as the judiciary, legislature, political executive, media and civil society organisations. These various modes of control become instruments of accountability. 21. 3 EVOLUTION OF ETHICAL CONCERNS IN ADMINISTRATION It is essential to recognise that the discipline of Public Administration has been broadly influenced in the initial stages of its growth, by Political Science and the science of Management. While the philosophical premises of Public Administration were influenced primarily by Political Science, its technological facet was designed by Management Sciences. The early Political Science was taught as Moral Philosophy and Political Economy, while its current curriculum is the product of secular, practical, empirical and scientific tendencies of the past century. The American students of Political Science, in the early years of the last century, were dismayed at the inadequacies of the ethical approach in the Gilded Age. As a result of their interaction with the German universities and the influence on their thinking by scholars such as J. N Burgess, E. J. James, A. B Hart, A. L Lovell, and F. J Goodnow, they sought to recreate Political Science as a true science. They became increasingly interested in observing and analysing ‘actual governments’. Natural and Social Sciences substantially influenced their ideas and approaches. Later, Logical Positivism of the Austrian School influenced scholars such as Herbert Simon and thus there emerged a booming faith in developing a Science of Politics and a Science of Administration that would be able to `predict and control’ political and administrative life. As Dwight Waldo comments, the old belief that good government was the government of moral men was thus replaced by a morality that was irrelevant and that proper institutions and expert personnel were the determining factors in shaping good government. `The new amorality became almost a request for professional respect’. The eminence of Behaviouralism until the mid-1960s further marginalised the ethical issues in the study of Political Science and Public Administration. It was only after the advent of Post-behaviouralism in Political Science and of the accent on New Public Administration in Public Administration that the scientific methods of Behaviouralim and humanistic (read `ethical’) values struck a homogenous chord with administration and the dispute between facts and values was resolved substantially. The current discipline of public administration accords primacy to the `values’ of equity, justice, humanism, human rights, gender equality and compassion. The movement of Good Governance, initiated by the World Bank in 1992, lays stress, inter alia, on the ethical and moral conduct of administrators. While the New Public Management movement is more concerned with administrative effectiveness, the New Public Administration focuses on administrative ethics in its broader manifestation. Both the movements are complementary to each other. This complementarity of foci 3 is as truer today as it was a hundred years ago when the industrial world was experiencing the rise of Scientific Management amidst a strong acceptance of the notion of administrative responsibility. John Kennedy, during his Presidency (19611963) had averred: â€Å"No responsibility of government is more fundamental than the responsibility of maintaining the higher standards of ethical behaviour. The ideal-type construction of bureaucracy, propounded by Max Weber also highlighted an ethical imperative of bureaucratic behaviour. Weber (1947) observed: In the rational type, it is a matter of principle that the members of the administrative staff should be completely separated from ownership of the means of production and administration. Officials, employees and workers attached to the administrative staff do not themselves own the non-human means of production and administration†¦. These exists, furthermore, in principle complete separation of property belonging to the organisation, which is controlled within the sphere of office, and the personal property of the official, which is available for his own private uses†. Weber’s analysis underscores the need to prevent the misuse of an official position for personal gains. Although his ideal-type construct on bureaucracy is not empirical, yet it has an empirical flavour, for it appears to have taken into account the existential reality of bureaucratic behaviour. From a normative angle – knowing that Weber was not normative in his ideal type constructs – also, the message is clear: Don’t misuse official property for personal benefit. Most critics of real-world bureaucracies, including Harold Laski, Carl Friedrich, Victor Thompson and Warren Bennis, have criticised bureaucrats for violating the prescribed norms of moral conduct. Even Fred Riggs, while discussing the traits of a prismatic society like `formalism’ and ‘nepotism’ points out the yawning gap between the `ideal’ and the `real’ in administrative behaviour. The deviations from the norms and mores have been too glaring to be ignored. Immoral behaviour thus has become an integral component of `bureaupathology’ 21. 4 CONTEXT OF ETHICS AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE FOR PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION Ethics, whether in an entire society, or in a social sub-system, evolves over a long period of time and is influenced, during its nurturance and growth, by a variety of environmental factors. Administrative ethics is no different. It is the product of several contextual structures and it never ceases to grow and change. Let us now look at some of these contextual factors that influence ethics in the public administrative systems: The Historical Context The history of a country marks a great influence on the ethical character of the governance system. The Spoils System in the USA during the initial phase of the American nation vitiated the ethical milieu of the American Public Administration. â€Å"To victor belong the spoils† asserted American President Jackson. Things would have continued the same way had not a disgruntled job seeker assassinated President Garfield in 1881. Garfield’s assassination spurred the process of civil service reforms in the USA, and the setting up of the US. Civil Service Commission in 1883 was the first major step in this direction. India has witnessed a long history of unethical practices in the governance system. Kautilya’s Arthashastra mentions a variety of corrupt practices in which the administrators of those times indulged themselves. The Mughal Empire and the Indian princely rule were also afflicted with the corrupt practices of the courtiers and 4 administrative functionaries, with ‘bakashish’ being one of the accepted means of selling and buying favours. The East India Company too had its share of employees who were criticised even by the British parliamentarians for being corrupt. The forces of probity and immorality co-exist in all phases of human history. Which forces are stronger depends upon the support these get from the prime actors of politico-administrative system. What is disturbing is that a long legacy of unethical practices in governance is likely to enhance the tolerance level for administrative immorality. In most developing nations having a colonial history, the chasm between the people and the government continues to be wide. In the colonial era, the legitimacy of the governance was not accepted willingly by a majority of population and therefore, true loyalty to the rulers was a rare phenomenon. Although the distance between the governing elite and the citizens has been reduced substantially in the transformed democratic regimes, yet the affinity and trust between the two has not been total even in the new dispensation. Unfortunately, even the ruling elite does not seem to have imbibed the spirit of emotional unity with the citizens. The legacy of competitive collaboration between the people and the administrators continues to exist. The nature of this relationship has an adverse impact on ‘administrative ethics’. The Socio-cultural Context Values that permeate the social order in a society determine the nature of governance system. The Indian society today seems to prefer wealth to any other value. And in the process of generating wealth, the means-ends debate has been sidelined. Unfortunately, ends have gained supremacy and the means do not command an equal respect. A quest for wealth in itself is not bad. In fact, it is a mark of civilisational progress. What is important is the means employed while being engaged in this quest. We seem to be living in an economic or commercial society, where uni-dimensional growth of individuals seem to be accepted and even valued, where ends have been subdued by means, and ideals have been submerged under the weight of more practical concerns of economic progress. Can we change this social order? Mahatma Gandhi very much wanted to transform the priority-order of the Indian society, but there were hardly any takers or backers of his radical thinking that was steeped in a strong moral order. To put it bluntly, ever since Gandhi passed away, there has been not a single strong voice in independent India challenging the supremacy of ‘teleology and unidimensionalism’. Neither have our family values questioned this unilinear growth of society nor has our educational system made serious efforts to inject morality into the impressionable minds of our youth. We have starkly failed on these fronts. The need is to evolve fresh perspectives on what kind of the Indians we wish to evolve and how? Till then, efforts will have to be focused on the non-social fronts. The issues of morality may or may not be rooted in the religious ethos of a society. Indian religious scriptures do not favour pursuit of wealth through foul means. Interestingly, Thiru Valluvar’s Kural, written two thousand years ago in Tamil Nadu, emphasises that earning wealth brings fame, respect and an opportunity to help and serve others, but it should be earned through right means only. Can this dictum form the basis of our socio-moral orientation? The level of integrity among Protestants and Parsees is believed by some to be relatively higher when compared to other religions and one can find the roots of such integrity in the well-ingrained mores of these religions. Nevertheless, it is only one point of view, as there are several other religious and secular groups, which are known for their high moral conduct. The cultural system of a country, including its religious orientation, appears to have played a significant role in influencing the work ethics of its people. For instance, the stress on hard work, so characteristic of the Protestant ethics, has helped several Christian societies to enhance their per capita 5 productivity. While Judaism has valued performance of physical labour by its followers, the Hindu and Islamic societies, on the other hand, have generally considered physical labour to be of lower rank than the mental work. Work ethics may or may not be linked with religious moorings. These are subjective issues but make for an interesting study. The family system and the educational system are influential instruments of socialisation and training of the mind in its impressionable years. If the values inculcated through the family and the school have underscored honesty and ethics, the impact on the mind-set of citizens is likely to be highly positive and powerful. Legal-judicial Context The legal system of a country determines considerably the efficacy of the ethical concerns in governance system. A neatly formulated law, with a clear stress on the norms of fair conduct and honesty, is likely to distinguish chaff from grain in the ethical universe. Conversely, nebulous laws, with confusing definition of corruption and its explanations, will only promote corruption for it would not be able to instill the fear of God or fear of law among those violating the laws of the land and mores of the society. Besides, an efficient and effective judiciary with fast-track justice system will prove a roadblock to immorality in public affairs. Conversely, a slow-moving judiciary, with a concern for letter rather than the spirit of the law, will dither and delay and even help the perpetrators of crimes by giving them leeway through prolonged trials and benefits of doubt. Likewise, the anti-corruption machinery of the government, with its tangled web of complex procedures, unintendedly grants relief to the accused who are indirectly assisted by dilatory and knotty procedures. In India, there is hardly any effective anticorruption institution. As we have read in Unit 7 earlier on in this Course, the Lok Pal is yet to be established, Lok Ayuktas are feeble and toothless agencies, while the state vigilance bodies are low-key actors. The consequences are too obvious to warrant any explanation. The Political Context The political leadership, whether in power or outside the power-domain, is perhaps the single most potent influence on the mores and values of citizens. The rulers do rule the minds, but in a democracy particularly, all political parties, pressure groups and the media also influence the orientation and attitudes on moral questions. If politicians act as authentic examples of integrity, as happens in the Scandinavian countries, or as examples of gross self-interest, as found in most South Asian countries, the administrative system cannot remain immune to the levels of political morality. The election system in India is considered to be the biggest propeller to political corruption. Spending millions on the elections `compels’ a candidate to reimburse his expenses through fair or foul means – more foul than fair. While fair has limits, foul has none. It is generally argued that the administrative class – comprising civil servants at higher, middle as well as lower levels – emerges from the society itself. Naturally, therefore, the mores, values and behavioural patterns prevalent in the society are likely to be reflected in the conduct of administrators. To expect that the administrators will be insulated from the orientations and norms evidenced the in society would be grossly unrealistic. The argument, propounded here, has a convincing logic, yet there can be a counterpoint that the rulers are expected to possess stronger moral fibre than the subjects. Since there are hardly any instrumentalities to protect and nurture administrative 6 morality vis-a-vis the general social morality, such an expectation remains at the most an elusive ideal. Hence, there is an obvious need to go deeper into the problem. The behaviour of politicians has a demonstration effect on civil servants. Besides, the capacity of the less honest political masters to control civil servants is immense. It is ironical that the moral environment in a country like India is designed more by its politicians than by any other social group. The primacy of the political over the rest of systems is too obvious to be ignored. If the media is objective and fearless, its role in preventing corruption can be effective. It can even act as a catalyst to the promotion of ethical behaviour among administrators. Hence, those who own and manage the media should understand their wider social and moral responsibilities. The trend in this direction is visible now with many television channels regularly airing their ‘expose’ on malpractices in the system. This role of the media is important if performed with intent of social responsibility rather than sensationalism. The Economic Context The level of economic development of a country is likely to have a positive correlation with the level of ethics in the governance system. Even when a causal relation between the two is not envisaged, a correlation cannot be ruled out. A lower level of economic development, when accompanied with inequalities in the economic order, is likely to create a chasm among social classes and groups. The less privileged or more deprived sections of society may get tempted to forsake principles of honest conduct while fulfilling their basic needs of existence and security. Not that the rich will necessarily be more honest (though they can afford to be so), yet what is apprehended is that the poor, while making a living, may find it a compelling necessity to compromise with the principles of integrity. It is interesting to note that with the advent of liberalising economic regime in developing nations, there is a growing concern about following the norms of integrity in industry, trade, management and the governance system on account of the international pressures for higher level of integrity in the WTO regime. This is what Fred Riggs would call `exogenous’ inducements to administrative change. 21. 5 ISSUE OF ETHICS: FOCI AND CONCERNS An important question arises in connection with the moral obligation of an administrative system. Is the administrative system confined to acting morally in its conduct or does it also share the responsibility of protecting and promoting an ethical order in the larger society? While most of the focus on administrative morality is on the aspect of probity within the administrative system, there is a need to consider the issue of the responsibility of the governance system (of which the administrative system is an integral part) to create and sustain an ethical ambience in the socioeconomic system that would nurture and protect the basic moral values. Moral political philosophy assumes that the rulers will not only be moral themselves, but would also be the guardians of morality in a society. Truly, being moral is a prerequisite to being a guardian of wider morality. Both the obligations are intertwined. It is a truism that the crux of administrative morality is ethical decision-making. The questions of facts and values cannot be separated from ethical decision-making. Thus, the science of administration gets integrated with the ethics of administration. And in this integrated regime, only that empirical concern is valued, which respects the normative concerns in the delivery of administrative services. 7 Which are the essential concerns in regard to administrative ethics? There can be a long list of values that are considered desirable in an administrative action. However, in being selective, one has to focus on the most crucial values. Let us now concentrate on the values of justice, fairness and objectivity. Woodrow Wilson, â€Å"The Study of Administration† (1887), in his inaugural address averred that justice was more important than sympathy. Thus, he placed justice at the top of value-hierarchy in a governance system. Paradoxically, there has been a lot of discussion on the formallegal aspects of administrative law since then, but very little analysis has been made of the philosophical dimension of administrative justice. The other two issues of ethical decision-making, viz. fairness and objectivity are, in fact, integral components of administrative justice. When administrators are true to their profession, they are expected to be impartial and fair and not get influenced by nepotism, favoritism and greed while making decisions of governance. Objectivity should not be misconstrued as a mechanical and rigid adherence to laws and rules. From the decision-making angle, it has undoubtedly wider ramifications encompassing a set of positive orientations. Currently, the notion of ethics has expanded itself to involve all major realms of human existence. Let us attempt to outline certain salient aspects of ethics in public administration. Broadly, they could be summarised as following maxims: †¢ Maxim of Legality and Rationality: An administrator will follow the law and rules that are framed to govern and guide various categories of policies and decisions. Maxim of Responsibility and Accountability: An administrator would not hesitate to accept responsibility for his decision and actions. He would hold himself morally responsible for his actions and for the use of his discretion while making decisions. Moreover, he would be willing to be held accountable to higher authorities of governance and even to the people who are the ultimate beneficiaries of his decisions and actions. Maxim of Work Commitment: An administrator would be committed to his duties and perform his work with involvement, intelligence and dexterity. As Swami Vivekananda observed: â€Å"Every duty is holy and devotion to duty is the highest form of worship. † This would also entail a respect for time, punctuality and fulfillment of promises made. Work is considered not as a burden but as an opportunity to serve and constructively contribute to society. Maxim of Excellence: An administrator would ensure the highest standards of quality in administrative decisions and action and would not compromise with standards because of convenience or complacency. In a competitive international environment, an administrative system should faithfully adhere to the requisites of Total Quality Management. Maxim of Fusion: An administrator would rationally bring about a fusion of individual, organisational and social goals to help evolve unison of ideals and imbibe in his behaviour a commitment to such a fusion. In situation of conflicting goals, a concern for ethics should govern the choices made. Maxim of Responsiveness and Resilience: An administrator would respond effectively to the demands and challenges from the external as well as internal environment. He would adapt to environmental transformation and yet sustain the ethical norms of conduct. In situations of deviation from the prescribed ethical norms, the administrative system would show resilience and bounce back into the accepted ethical mould at the earliest opportunity. 8 †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Maxim of Utilitarianism: While making and implementing policies and decisions, an administrator will ensure that these lead to the greatest good (happiness, benefits) of the greatest number. Maxim of Compassion: An administrator, without violating the prescribed laws and rules, would demonstrate compassion for the poor, the disabled and the weak while using his discretion in making decisions. At least, he would not grant any benefits to the stronger section of society only because they are strong and would not deny the due consideration to the weak, despite their weakness. Maxim of National Interest: Though universalistic in orientation and liberal in outlook, a civil servant, while performing his duties, would keep in view the impact of his action on his nation’s strength and prestige. The Japanese, the Koreans, the Germans and the Chinese citizens (including civil servants), while performing their official roles, have at the back of their mind a concern and respect for their nation. This automatically raises the level of service rendered and the products delivered. Maxim of Justice: Those responsible for formulation and execution of policies and decisions of governance would ensure that respect is shown to the principles of equality, equity, fairness, impartiality and objectivity and no special favours are doled out on the criteria of status, position, power, gender, class, caste or wealth. Maxim of Transparency: An administrator will make decisions and implement them in a transparent manner so that those affected by the decisions and those who wish to evaluate their rationale, will be able to understand the reasons behind such decisions and the sources of information on which these decisions were made. Maxim of Integrity: An administrator would undertake an administrative action on the basis of honesty and not use his power, position and discretion to serve his personal interest and the illegitimate interests of other individuals or groups. †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ There could be many more tenets added to the above catalogue of maxims of morality in administration. However, the overall objective is to ensure ‘Good Governance’ with a prime concern for ethical principles, practices, orientations and behaviour. There are no dogmas involved in defining administrative ethics. The chief concern while doing so is the positive consequence of administrative action and not just ostensibly rational modes of administrative processes. In the following Section, a few of the salient concerns and foci of ethics are being dealt with briefly. 21. 6 PERTINENCE OF CODE OF ADMINISTRATIVE ETHICS. The concept of ethics has been a latecomer in the realm of public administration. For too long, doing one’s duty well was considered to be an equivalent of bureaucratic ethics. Interestingly, in the United States, the original city managers’ and federal code of ethics placed notable stress on efficiency as ethical concept. In the early 20th century, the perspective began to change. In 1924, the International City/Country Management Association adopted the public sector’s first code of ethics that reflected anti-corruption and anti-politics facets of the municipal reforms movement. 9. In 1958, the US Congress imposed a code of ethics on the Federal Government and in 1978, founded the Office of Government Ethics as an upshot of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978. In 1992, the Office of Government Ethics released the Federal Government’s first comprehensive set of standards of ethical conduct, comprising standards pertaining to gifts, conflicts of financial interest, impartiality, misuse of office, seeking outside employment, and outside activities. Almost all the American states have also promulgated their respective codes of ethics, though compared to the federal initiative, they are less comprehensive. Today, codes of ethics, ethics boards, and ethics training have been accepted as integral aspects of public administration in the U. S. Moreover, ethics education has also permeated the discipline of public administration. The National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Public Administration has made ethics education a required component of a Public Administration Programme for its accreditation and has prescribed that all introductory text-books in public administration should include a discussion on ethics (Browman, Berman and West, 2001). Eminent professional associations of public administration also offer training programmes on ethical conduct for public managers. In India, there are a few training programmes on administrative ethics offered by the Indian Institute of Public Administration and other institutions for civil servants, but there is hardly any similar initiative taken up in the realm of education in Public Administration. The American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) had adopted in 1984 a Code of Ethics for its members (comprising intellectuals as well as practicing administrators). It was revised in 1994. Certain salient points of the ASPA’s Code of Ethics are as follows: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Exercise of discretionary authority to promote public interest Recognition and support to the public’s right to know the public business Exercise of compassion, benevolence, fairness and optimism Prevention of all forms of mismanagement of public funds by establishing and maintaining strong fiscal and management controls, by supporting audits and investigative activities Protection of Constitutional principles of equality, fairness, representativeness, responsiveness and due process in protecting citizens’ rights Maintenance of truthfulness and honesty and not to compromise them for advancement, honour, or personal gain Guarding zealously against conflict of interest or its appearance: e. g. nepotism, improper ou.