Cultural Determinants of Terrorism Essay Example for Free

Cultural Determinants of Terrorism Essay Orchestrated objectives within well-organized terrorist groups suggest that principles of organizational psychology apply to terrorist organizations, under the cultural influence of each one (Borum, 2004). There is much cause for optimism in understanding terrorist organizations, for as Alder and Gunderson (2008) write, â€Å"Luckily, we have learned that global complexity is neither unpredictable nor random† (p. v). The call for research has never been more pressing. Introduction â€Å"Terrorism is an elusive subject, evading precise political, jurisprudential, and cultural definition† (Oliveri, 2008, p. 49). It depends upon the definition of ‘terrorism’. â€Å"With over 100 definitions, this is not an easy task; there is no common understanding of what constitutes ‘terrorism’; no clear and universally acknowledged definition actually exists† (Franks, 2007, p. 2). The definition Munger (2006) proposes that is used for this paper is, â€Å"Culture is defined as the set of ‘inherited’ beliefs, attitudes, and moral strictures that a people use to distinguish outsiders, to understand themselves and to communicate with each other† (p. 131). The distinguishing characteristic of ‘them’ and ‘us’ is perhaps the fundamental belief generated within cultures that makes terrorism towards others possible. Whether viewed in terms of extremist Muslim culture or right-wing American culture, cultural identity supports the conflict of ideologies. Ward (2008) says, â€Å"Terrorism has taken the academic world by storm† (p. 248). The Psychology of Terrorism only became a legitimate academic study in 1982; â€Å"terrorism is far from a new phenomenon, traceable to the French Revolution and the Nihilists of 19th Century Russia† (Franks, 2007, p. ). Undoubtedly, it goes much further into the annals of history than the 19th Century, â€Å"the concept of terrorism had no meaning in history until the modern era† (Bratkowski, 2005, p. 764). Prior to modernity, terrorism was so much a part of daily culture it was normal behavior, without a specific word for it. In fact, for most of Christendom, â €Å"humankind has always provided a justification for killing and instilling terror in fellow humans† (p. 764). It is only recently that most cultures have placed a label of immorality on selective murder to achieve political or cultural ends. Our species has a protracted history and prehistory of terrorism. One might wonder why terrorism has â€Å"taken the academic world by storm†. Insights from Psychology â€Å"Terrorist violence most often is deliberate (not impulsive), strategic, and instrumental; it is linked to and justified by ideological (e. g. , political, religious) objectives and usually involves a group or multiple actors/supporters (Borum, 2004, p. 17). Since terrorist objectives originate within multinational organizations, principles of organizational psychology apply to all terrorist organizations, under the cultural milieu of the organization in question. What is now certain is that terrorism is not a psychopathological aberration, as was originally thought in psychoanalytical circles (Crenshaw, 1992). Terrorist organizations are composed of clear-headed individuals, often with advanced university degrees. Merari (1991) collected empirical data on suicide bombers, and found that psychopathology is almost never a factor in a terrorist’s profile. In fact, â€Å"prevalence of mental illness among samples of incarcerated terrorists is as low as or lower than in the general population† (Borum, 2004, p. 34). This is a clear indicator that we are dealing with psychologies of organization, and not groups of crazed sociopaths. Survival of the organization, a tenet of organizational psychology, has clear implications for the terrorist mindset (Post, 1989), even though â€Å"research on the psychology of terrorism largely lacks substance and rigor. While cultural factors are important, much study remains. â€Å"Future research should be operationally-informed; maintain a behavior based focus; and derive interpretations from analyses of incident-related behaviors† (Borum, 2004, p. 3). The main problem with such a venture might be that terrorists are not giving interviews or taking surveys. Borum points out that â€Å"there is a broad spectrum of terrorist groups and organizations, each of which has a different psychology, motivation and decision making structure† (p. 5). This further underscores the need to be on guard against the ‘stereotypical terrorist organization’: there is none. In a terrorist organization, â€Å"two key narcissistic dynamics are a grandiose sense of self and ‘idealized parental imago’. If one can’t be perfect, at least one can be in a relationship with something perfect† (Borum, 2004, p. 9). Association with a world figure such as Bin Laden satisfies this need; this can lead us back to US culture: promulgation and amplifying worldwide terrorism, via the news media. Bin Laden often makes the evening news, and every time he does, his ‘world stature’ is elevated, especially in the min ds of his followers. It the name Bin Laden was unknown, how much less effective would al-Qaeda become? Media has some degree of culpability, if not complicity in promulgating terrorism worldwide by providing free publicity to organizations and their cause. According to Paul Marsden (CPM, 2001, p. 1), â€Å"the amount of media coverage devoted to these events, by television networks and newspapers, correlates positively with the rise in subsequent `copycat events. This is darkly consistent with the substantial body of evidence for suicide contagion the idea that suicides beget suicide. † If distraught teenagers copy Columbine style shootings, how much more are suicide attacks from terrorist cells encouraged by watching the evening news? Unintentionally but effectively eulogizing angry teens and terrorists alike hold moral implications for the major news media, which need addressing by society. Organizational Psychology provides some insight: if a culture perceives it is losing its ability to contribute its share to the world stage, conflict will result (Rahim, 1986; Katz ; Kahn, 1978). Considering that entire cultures may feel they are losing their ability to contribute because of intervention of external cultures upon their own culture is likely one requisite to the creation of worldwide terror organization formation. Cultural factors of extremist Muslim society While many in the West view extremist Muslim terrorism as irrational behavior by deranged individuals, â€Å"it is perfectly possible to understand terrorism as a rational decision problem, if we accept the premise that culture matters† (Munger, 2006, p. 132). â€Å"Islamic societies, not exclusively, but perhaps to a greater extent than most other nations, are committed to an idea of the perfectibility of humans in societies, through moral education and imposition and enforcement of moral law (Sharia) based on the Quran† (p. 142). This religious adherence adds a great deal of resistance to compromise from outside cultures, and bolsters the extremist elements within Islamic society. Much of the cultural foundation of extremist Muslim culture is their unique interpretation of the Quran: â€Å"The contemporary terrorist mentality and culture, which are rooted in absolutist, either-or, good-and-evil world views, resist efforts to negotiate. Accommodation, bargaining, and mutually acceptable compromise are not envisioned as possibilities within many terrorists’ mental framework† (Smelser ; Mitchell, 2002, p. 1). It appears that once a terrorist organization is established, the only ways to eliminate it is either when they accomplish their objectives, to destroy them, or to take away their reason to exist, which will allow Skinnerian extinction to follow over time. The ‘destroy’ method is problematic and costly: how does one destroy an ideology? Islamic terrorists are well-connected using technology; their geographic locality is literally everywhere and nowhere. Culturally-attuned uses of information technology† are a major source of cross-cultural influences in the creation and sustaining of terrorist organizations (Bailey ; Grimaila, 2006, p. 534). Terrorist organizations are expert in spreading and sustaining their ideology around the world. Once indoctrinated into a group, people will generally follow orders, no matter how extreme or violent, as long as the individual perceives that the order was issued from the appropriate authority (Milgram, 1965). Cultural influences caused normal students at Stanford to transform into ‘merciless prison guards’; once given the role and the authority, al-Qaeda recruits mold easily to orders from Bin Laden. Not only do they have a physical authority, which relieves their individual conscience from objecting, but also they further believe that Allah Himself sanctions Bin Laden and themselves in their efforts to establish Sharia law throughout the world (Bailey ; Grimaila, 2006). There is substantial agreement that the psychology of terrorism cannot be considered apart from political, historical, familial, group dynamic, organic, and even purely accidental, coincidental factors† (Borum, 2004, p. 22). Borum also states, â€Å"Significant differences [exist] both in, 1) the nature and level of aggression in different cultures, and 2) aggression can be environmentally manipulated; both findings that argue against a universal human instinct [of violence]† (p. 12). Diamond (20 04) argues that environmental influences are paramount in understanding why cultures are the way they are. The Fertile Crescent, once the cornerstone of agriculture, became radically altered once all the forests were clear-cut, leaving mostly a barren desert environment. It is interesting to note that the foundation cultures which harbored the seeds of al-Qaeda all come from this former environmental paradise. Therefore, while culture probably has the most influence on the creation of terrorist organizations in the short term today, environment certainly has a large degree of impact over the long term, and might have a large impact in the short term via militaristic or political manipulation. For many critics, global or ‘hyper’ terrorism has become an ultimate expression of acutely depressed geopolitical chaos† (Ward, 2008, p. 252). Geopolitical chaos produces environments ripe with opportunity for recruiters toward the cause of terrorism. Without addressing and rectifying the chaotic areas of the world, it is highly doubtful, that global terrorism will end. Cultures th at feel oppressed or depraved on the world stage may rise in rebellion against the oppressing culture(s), with or without religious dictate. Muslim culture is producing the lion’s share of high-visibility terrorists in the world today (Borum, 2004). One way to understand Muslim culture as it relates to the creation of terrorism is to look at Hofstede’s dimensions. Generally, Islamic countries have large inequalities of status, forming a small ruling group, and a large ruled group with limited power. Hofstede (2001) shows, those Arab cultures have large Power Distance (PDI) (80) and Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI) (68). When these two Dimensions are combined, it creates a situation where leaders have virtually ultimate power and authority. It is not unusual for new leadership to arise from armed insurrection – the ultimate power, rather than from diplomatic or democratic change† (Borum, 2004, p. 44). Virtually the only method available for the downtrodden in Arab society to express their need for change is by armed insurrection. This is a valuable insight into the cultural creation of Arab-based terr orism, possibly the most important one. Naturally, from the ‘terrorists’ point of view they are not terrorists at all but â€Å"freedom fighters†, fighting with their only available means to enact positive change. Does this mean efforts at establishing democracy in Muslim states are likely to fail? Cultural roots run deep, and are resistant to change by outside cultures (Weiten, 2004), so the question of democracy introduced and established by Westerners is a highly speculative venture. Finally, take the case of a female suicide bomber. It was originally assumed that the young woman who committed this act was â€Å"innocent, ignorant, and of questionable morality† (Brunner, 2007, p. 961). It is difficult for Westerners to imagine otherwise. Subsequent interviews revealed that she was educated, showed no signs of emotional disturbance, and was â€Å"as highly intelligent and more independent than other girls in her society, but still fully within the range of normal† (p. 961). The key point is that she was â€Å"fully within the range of normal†, according to the culture that she grew up within. By not understanding her culture, Western culture had labeled her â€Å"innocent, ignorant, and immoral†, overlooking key factors with which to fully understand why a mentally stable young woman would commit such an act, and more importantly, to be able to deal realistically with the rise of extremist terrorism through a lack of cultural understanding. Cultural factors of the United States There is a cultural precedence of powerful nations to label other nations as ‘evil’: a threat to ‘civilization’ (Ivie, 2005). In the U. S. , â€Å"this is a very old cultural theme, deeply ingrained into the political psyche† (p. 56). This cross-cultural mindset of powerful nations is one part in the creation of terrorists in weaker cultures, a type of self-fulfilling prophecy: the call to destroy the ‘barbarians that threaten democracy’ is an ancient one; Greece and Rome had similar ongoing open-ended campaigns against terrorists, as does the U. S. today (p. 55). The main trouble with an open-ended campaign is that it never ends†¦ another cultural perception that needs adjustment on the world stage in order to arrive at peace in the world. Looking at the cultural history of the US, the ‘savage’ has always been the object of distain and genocide, in order to ‘make way for civilization’ (Ivie, 2005). The genocide of indigenous peoples of the North American continent is well documented, even using biological terrorist tactics of germ warfare; giving ‘gifts’ of small-pox laden blankets to Indians without acquired immunity against devastating disease (Diamond, 1997). Oliverio (2008) writes, â€Å"It was also a matter of common sense that the Aryan race was superior. This taken-for-granted reality of Aryan superiority led to the extermination of millions of American Indians, millions of African slaves bound for America, and countless indigenous cultures throughout the world† (p. 21). Powerful cultures that label weaker cultures as savages are a powerful impetus to the creation of terrorism. It is a recent habit of the American Right to wage war against abstractions (Comaroff, 2007, p. 381). The line between metaphorical and real war, blurred beyond recognition, gives rise to such cultural terms as ‘the war against drugs’, ‘the war against poverty’, ‘the war against illegal immigration’ (Sherry, 1995), and has become the standard of cultural mind-set in America today. Again, the US has a â€Å"militarized world-view extended to declaring metaphorical wars on disease, crime, engaging in ‘trade wars’ with foreign competitors, and fighting ‘culture wars’ with one another† (p. 58). â€Å"Culture wars† is the main point in question: how can peace ever prevail if acts of war against culture prevail? Even the Olympic Games that followed 9/11 became a forum for the core Bush Doctrine (Falcous ; Silk, 2005). How does the reduction of civil liberties fare with the response to terrorism? Not allowing college professors to speak out against governmental policies associated with the war on terror (Crowson ; DeBacker, 2008, p. 296) is one form of right-wing authoritarianism that many Americans think needs implementation. A disturbing trend of loss of personal freedoms that some associate with fascism. Taken as a whole, US domestic and foreign policy regarding oil consumption, and support for oppressive regimes, is set aside in deference to critical scrutiny of individual behavior and the forms of ‘moral lassitude’ associated with a culture of dependency† (Hay ; Andrejevic, 2006, p. 344). So at least part of the U. S. cultural mindset is about securing its own economic interests at the expense of decency and fairness on the world stage. Many people think that the U. S. would never have bothered with Iraq if they had no strategic oil supplies, especially in the Middle East and Europe. This belief can only inflame world tensions further. Understanding cross-cultural inter-dependencies A surprising interdependency, regards the Bush Administration itself. According to Kellner (2004), not only Jihadists are responsible for ‘spectacular acts of terror’, but also both Bush administrations. They deployed â€Å"Manichean discourses of good and evil which themselves fit into dominant media codes of popular culture; that both deploy fundamentalist and absolutist discourses† (p. 41). This is extremely similar to the â€Å"contemporary terrorist mentality and culture, which are rooted in absolutist, either-or, good-and-evil world views, resist efforts to negotiate† (Smelser ; Mitchell, 2002, p. 1). The Bush administration openly declares its refusal to communicate with terrorist organizations or states, which is absolutist. We know that incentives flourish within such organizations (Munger, 2006). Incentives usually take two forms: 1) recruit members that are prone to obey and please within a cultural setting (e. g. collectivist rather than individualist cultures), and 2) â€Å"Create a set of incentives that reward loyalty, by giving access to excludable near-public (â€Å"club†) goods† (p. 131). Mohammed Atta reportedly was â€Å"at a strip club spending a lot of money, shouting anti-American slogans, and left a copy of the Quran before he left† (USA TODAY, 2001, p. 1). This incident seems to have fallen under ‘club goods’ instead of operational funds, because it was the night before the hijackings, and such excessive cash was no longer needed. This says nothing of the influence U. S. culture had on Atta, a devout Muslim going to a strip club, one day before he â€Å"meets Allah†. There is no such thing as a ‘terrorist state’, in the absolute sense. Triandis, Bontempo, Villareal, Asai, and Lucca (1988) have shown that national cultures never equate to individual or subgroup cultures, so while a totalitarian governing body may indeed be a terrorist organization, the general populace can in no way be held accountable for the actions of a few. It is a stereotypical mistake to label an entire country as terrorist. It is important to realize that â€Å"both differences and similarities in behavior occur across and within cultures; psychological processes are characterized by both cultural variance and invariance† (Weiten, 2006, p24). Regrettably, â€Å"quite a few nations are culturally reasonably homogeneous† (Hofstede, 1998, p180), and this may mean that a few nations may be mostly extremist in their outlook. Discourses from the Bush administrations paralleled closely to speeches given by Hitler, Pope Urban II, and others: â€Å"an appeal to a legitimate power source external to the speaker; an appeal to the importance of the national culture under attack; the construction of an evil enemy; and an appeal for unification† (Graham, Keenan, ; Dowd, 2004, p. 213). Kellner (2004) feels that â€Å"the disparity between the vast amount of information freely available to all through multimedia sources, and the narrow vision presented on the major news media via television is a travesty†, and a major cultural factor responsible for the deployments of the Bush administrations’ controlled mass media (p. 61). While arguments that ‘freely available news sources from uncontrolled sources’ might suggest this no longer to be a cultural factor, culture by nature takes time to change, and most Americans probably place more credence in the evening news than the newer Internet sources (Kellner, 2003). Another example of how cross-cultural misunderstandings regularly occur between nations: â€Å"when one cultural message sender transmits information to another culture, chances of accurate transmission are reduced† (Alder ; Gunderson, 2008, p. 72), and when nations or organizations refuse to send information between cultures as both the Bush administration and the al-Qaeda organization currently do, virtually no chance of accurate transmission occurs. Stalemate results and wars go on, indefinitely; clear contributors to terrorism. Perhaps nowhere is the question of terrorism more complex than in the European Union: â€Å"European counterterrorism culture is a difficult concept due to the fact that the regional level of analysis encapsulates a range of different national cultures. Europe has always been a rich mixture of various cultures, and ‘terrorism’ is a culturally charged term† (Rees, 2007, p. 220), hence the difficulty in consensus. Conversely, in China, we could expect to find a unified definition of terrorism under the centralized government (Diamond, 1997). While China is suspect of â€Å"using the post-9/11 discourse of counterterrorism to cloak their own domestic priorities† (Rees, 2007, p. 224), most of their counterterrorism efforts are likely to gain support with the Chinese public as being in the accord of the countries best interest: China being a collectivistic nation. â€Å"Terrorists focus their recruitment where sentiments about perceived deprivation are deepest and most pervasive† (Borum, 2004). This helps us to understand why American involvement in Iraq actually helps create recruitment opportunities for al-Qaeda. Destroyed economies, infrastructure, and family support (via killed family members), create extreme deprivation, desperation to right cultural wrongs, and enrage cultural dictates for retribution (Borum, 2004). It even gives insight into where al-Qaeda might be concentrating recruitment efforts in America. For youth torn between two cultures in a foreign land, identity crisis may result from exposure to the foreign culture, and the chiasm between their parent’s cultures: â€Å"radicalism offers simple answers to the big questions they are grappling with† (Ongering, 2007, p. ). The human tendency to stereotype will easily adapt to simple answers rather than grapple with difficult questions (Weiten, 2004). Extrapolated, it may be easier to recruit a terrorist, than to prevent a person from taking up the cause in the first place. Does cultural pressure on a subgroup help to create violent extremists? Muslim communities in America, â€Å"Not only had their religion being p resented incorrectly, but its adherents were being equated with terrorists† (Baker, 2006, p. 302). Considering the degree that Muslim communities in the Western world are subject to intensified scrutiny, and even unwarranted acts of violence against them by US citizenry (Ward, 2008), a good assumption is that many young Muslims will adapt an extremist ideology in response to cultural threat (Sirin ; Fine, 2007), and some of those extremists will turn terrorist. It seems to be a never-ending spiral escalation of one cultural assault upon the other: the ‘Crusades’ continue†¦ It is a real ‘Which came first, the chicken or the egg? ’ question. Which side began this milieu of cultural attack and counterattack? Perceptions run the gamut: â€Å"The terrorist presents a story of heroism and necessary sacrifice. The counter-terrorist presents a counter-narrative of defiance and vengeance, replacing the image of the martyr with that of inhumanity, even bestiality† (Ward, 2008, p. 254). We reminded again of weaker cultures as ‘savage’, and as we have come to see, cross-culturally, nothing could be further from the truth from both extreme perspectives. Another cultural misunderstanding that may have helped to escalate tensions is the perception that the Muslim community in America did not stand up in unison and denounce the acts of 9/11 as atrocious. This initial silent response interpreted by many Americans as tantamount to condoning such acts of terrorism (Munro, 2006). Paradoxically, this lack of public outcry may have been the result of Muslim culture itself, with the majority of Muslims feeling that it was obvious that they had nothing to do with the attacks, and therefore no reason to take a public stand (Munro, 2006). A form of ‘vigilante counter-terrorism’ develops in American culture, which gives rise to anti-Muslim sentiment and acts of violence (Johnson, 2003). One probable contributing factor is termed: â€Å"Sudden Jihad Syndrome† (Pipes, 2006). The perpetrator, â€Å"for all outward appearances, a young Muslim man, well adjusted to Western society, considered friendly; one day, without warning, he acted out an independent Jihad, which injured nine students† (Pipes, 2006). Such unforeseeable and unpredictable behavior influences non-Muslims to stereotype many Muslims as having the same potential toward â€Å"Sudden Jihad Syndrome†. This of course creates an atmosphere of suspicion and mistrust between cultures: how can you tell who the enemy is just by looking at them? Discussion There is no cultural ‘quick fix’ to this pervasive problem confronting the modern world. â€Å"The general policy approach has to be adaptive, opportunistic, and multisided. The conventional problem-solving logic so attractive in American culture—find a problem and then fix it—is of limited utility, and a longer term, more contextualized approach is necessary† (Smelser et al. , 2002, p. 4). For instance, the Global War on Terror (GWOT) as espoused by the Bush Doctrine includes toppling ‘rogue nations’ as part of the effort to thwart terrorism (Borum, 2004). Focusing on ‘nation rebuilding’ of states, that are otherwise subject to deterrent, rather than on organizations that transcend geographic localities and are not subject to deterrent, is a lack of proper cultural understanding of the issues, and will lead to further cultural misunderstandings. It makes sense that if powerful cultures do not make accusations against weaker cultures not understood, or interfere in the sovereign rights of weaker nations, that a large amount of terrorism will fail to manifest by lack of unwanted cultural impetus from foreign powers. One of the biggest troubles seems to be, that powerful countries can arouse their masses which are â€Å"easily pressed into service to rally the nation, quell dissent and effectively inoculate the public against any alternative perspective† (Ivie, 2005, p. 56), the main point being to limit any alternative cultural perspectives as being legitimate relative to one’s own ‘superior’ cultural perspective. This is error. â€Å"An increasingly militarized culture of fear† (p. 9), such as is dominant in the US today, and which has been developing over many decades, cannot reduce the threat of terrorism in the world. Indeed, Muslim culture dictates that retribution be demanded when a family member is taken. Each errant US bomb inevitably creates more ‘terrorists’ (Borum, 2004), cultural ‘deviants’ are created that never would have existed otherwise. Rumors and hundreds of websites have sprung up claiming that FEMA has erected hundr eds of internment camps on American soil is a disturbing part of the changing culture in America today. A Google search of ‘American internment camps’ will pull up hundreds of unsubstantiated claims of such camps, including specific locations; further highlighting the cultural atmosphere of increasing paranoia. Finally, what can help prevent Muslim youth in the U. S. from taking a violent path? According to Sirin and Fine (2007)â€Å"Research that the successful integration of both one’s own culture and the dominant culture, leads to more positive developmental outcomes†¦whereas marginalization, that is disengagement from both cultures, is associated with mental health problems for immigrant youth† (p. 52). Society certainly would do well to address issues of marginalization, in order to help prevent future â€Å"Sudden Jihad Syndrome† (Pipes, 2006). Conclusion While this paper has focused mainly on US and Muslim extremist involvement, state and non-state respectively, it is important to remember that many other states and organizations exist whic h perpetrate terror. Terror is a two way street, with few exceptions. Perhaps the ultimate defense against terrorism is to understand the cultural and cross-cultural causes of it, and with proper knowledge, address the issues at hand. We must avoid stereotypes at all costs, because â€Å"Nearly all terrorists are extremists, but most extremists are not terrorists† (Borum, 2004). â€Å"Long-term orientation versus short-term orientation† (Franke, Hofstede, ; Bond, 1991) may provide insights into which culture holds greater strength in the GWOT. U. S. culture demands immediate results, and has little tolerance for long term strategies, while extremist Islamic culture is bond by the vision of Mohammed, and is prepared to sacrifice for centuries if need be (Borum, 2004). Fortunately, unnecessary warring between cultures may diminish substantially as one of the biggest single benefits of cross-cultural understanding and application of organizational psychological research (Brislan, 1983). â€Å"It is argued that we now live in an age of ‘hyperterrorism,’ where the nature and scale of terrorism has reached a new level, and that the question of ‘How to deal with international terrorism is quickly becoming the defining issue of our age’† (Ward, 2008, p. 248). It is imperative that we make every effort to understand the cross-cultural determinants of terrorism, regardless of cost. Additionally, â€Å"terrorism is a discourse that affects all our lives, and the collateral argument that terrorism somehow validates the occasional abrogation of so many of our most cherished legal principles, is something that should concern all of us† (p. 249). Hogan (2006) offers: â€Å"Due to the logistical and analytical challenges of cross-national comparisons, studies to date have concentrated largely on single nations† (p. 64). While much work remains, understanding the vast scope of cultural interdependencies that help create terrorism is an extremely complex task yet must be undertaken if we are to come to terms with global terrorism. As Hostede (1998) states, â€Å"constructs are products of the mind with which we attempt to understand and predict human behavior in an infinitely complex world†, and all constructs are flawed to some degree. In an infinitely complex world, we will never entirely eradicate terrorism in its many manifestations. Our best hope to eradicate the bulk of organized terrorism is through scientific understanding and conscientious application of rational solutions, freed from cultural bias. â€Å"Culture lies entirely on the â€Å"nurture† side of the ledger, as against â€Å"nature†, or truly nherited traits† (Munger, 2006, p. 134). Solutions to the specter of terrorism will manifest through understanding and responding to such cultural nurture. This paper has posited that understanding other cultures can help to reduce tensions between cultures, which give rise to terrorism and counterterrorism conflicts. As Munger (2006) points out, â€Å"a shared understanding of something that identifies insiders, and excludes outsiders because they do not share this understanding† (p. 133), is perhaps the fundamental commonality between conflicting sides. If we can short-circuit this exclusionary identity concept, by education and promulgate understanding by either, or both sides, and act upon it with responsible communication between parties, then perhaps modern terrorism as we know it will eventually end. It may take many years, because established terrorist organizations are not open to compromise (Smelser ; Mitchell, 2002), but such efforts may play a large part in helping to prevent future recruitment, and help eliminate the need for terrorist organizations within the cultures that originally spawned them; losing their luster they slowly fade from existence.

Citic Tower Essay Example for Free

Citic Tower Essay Stakes in firms such as Cathay Pacific, Dragonair and a string of trading and property companies * Citic Tower (Original) Property development team had gained extensive expertise and knowledge in the property business * Development began in 1995 and completed in less than two years * Despite post-Asian financial crisis, Citic Tower maintained a relatively high occupancy rate Concerns * The discounted cash flow analysis shows a negative net present value Commercial real estate market is extremely cyclical * No guarantee that Citic Tower II would be able to survive the economic downturn (perform as well as Citic Tower I has performed) Situation Larry Yung is interested in this property but hesitant due to uncertainty of future economic conditions * Member of the property development team suggested that CPL acquire rights to the land, and thus the development by offering to purchase an exclusive option from the seller * In the past land owners would not even have considered negotiating an option to purchase development sites but property developers are much more cautious after the Asian financial crisis Calculated by finding the standard deviation of return on assets proportional to time * Net option value=51 million Decision * CPL should (NOT? ) purchase the option *it seems like the price of the option is 77 million (5% equity stake) and if the option value is only 51 million then it seems like a bad idea for them to purchase the option†¦so I’m confused a little about this part still†¦maybe you guys could talk to him about this or figure it out

Pet Tracking Solution in India

Pet Tracking Solution in India GPS enabled chip in the collar called Pet Tracker, which is designed specifically to track, Identify your pet if it gets lost.[1] Customer Analysis Pets fulfill a larger role than just being a companion they are part of the family, and in some cases, considered as your children. For such owners loss of a pet becomes a traumatic experience as it is difficult to locate and recover a lost pet and the whole exercise becomes a nightmare. Another problem being faced by a large number of pet owners is that, while on vacation, or in their absence at work, there is no way to keep a track on their pets since most of the time the pets are either kept in a local shelter or with their neighbors. Pet industry in India is a multimillion dollar industry and has grown to approx. $900 million with a steady double-digit growth every year (Euro Monitor, 2011).[2] According to an estimate, in 2011, there were around 10 million pets in India and the number is growing by approximately 600000 per year in the Indian pet market. Some of the reasons for this growth can be attributed to the increase in pet adoption, rising incomes coupled with the increased trend for companionship, interest in owning pedigree and growing awareness amongst the owners to take proper care of their pets. Target Pet Owners will be our target market. We also understand that not all pet owners will be buying our product as such; we will target the segment that consciously needs the safety and security of their pets and who are looking for a solution to get a peace of mind in this regard. There is, however, no set age group that we can target, as owners of all ages would need this facility: the following groups of pet owners will be our primary target: Ardent pet lovers like Child-less and working Couples Owners of Pedigree dogs and high-end expensive pets People who already have pet Collar but do not have real time tracking facility Pet Groomers and Premium pet food buyers We will initially target customers in the middle and high-income group living in the four major metropolitan cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and Calcutta in India. The estimated market size for premium pet care product is around 144 Million USD [3] which includes products like daily hygiene, premium pet food, pet sitting, pet parties, spas and other Premium services. We are confident that our product will attract most pet lovers in this segment; however, Even if we get around 1% of the targeted customers, we should be able to make a sizeable entry into the market in the first year and as the customer base grows we will try to increase our market share in the future. We do underhand our product may not succeed or Store owners may not keep our product and we have create a strong brand via delivering quality and amazing customer service.[4](Threats). The main pains or frustrations I see for this segments are; Unable to track their lost Pet. Dont have an easy and accessible one-stop solution to secure all safety and security requirements for the pet. The major gains that customer would be looking for are; Have one solution for identification and tracking of their pets and be able to use the information in user-friendly way. Get a peace of mind while on vacation, or busy at work or having a Pedigree Pet. Value Proposition / Positioning Product: The proposal is for Pet Tracker smart phone App that works with a micro chip which will be sold with a plain collar or can be installed on any existing collar. This chip will be installed in a way that it is not easily identifiable. If required it can also be implanted on to the pet, however, this method may not be acceptable to most pet lovers. The app will store all the information about the owner and the pet. Each pet will be allotted a unique identification number for updating all information in a user-friendly way, and tracking the location of the pet. We hope to please all pet lovers who are looking for a way to keep their pets safe and secure. See Appendix 2 [5] Collaboration: Our App will be based on GPS tracking system; we will collaborate with GPS service providers like Google maps for real- time tracking. Competition: Our product will have a comparative advantage over the others in the market as it will allow users to additionally track their pets. The existing collars in the market do not provide this facility. Real time tracking of pets will be the Unique selling Proposition for our product. [6] Price: Two pricing solutions will be offered; Identification For customers who only want to use the app and the Collar and do not need tracking, the app/Collar will be sold through Apple and Google play stores at a onetime nominal charge of $100. Tracking For customers who want both identification and tracking the app and the collar would be free but the customer would sign a contract for a monthly subscription of $7 or yearly subscription of $50 will be charged for tracking purposes.[7] Distribution We will offer our app and chip through the following channels; Pet supplies stores Pet grooming boutiques Vets and animal shelters Online through our website Media Based sales,, e.g. Facebook, twitter (for wide coverage) We will use various methods to determine demand through a survey of buyers intentions, past sales analysis and market-test method. Promotion Since we are providing a new product in this market we will aggressively promote our product through, print and other media, physical display at vantage points, and live demonstrations at pet stores etc. Appendix -1 Customer Motivation (Jobs Pains and Gains) Job to be done 1: Provide safety and security for Pets 2: Provides Tracking Facility and identification 3: Storage of all information about the pet and owner. Pains Have to spend lot of time and money to look for lost pet Difficult to prove the identity when pet is recovered at Kennel Cant keep a track of my pet when left with a pet sitter. Gains Gives pet owners a peace of mind that their pet is safe and secure Helps one focus on other things rather the pet during vacations or when at work Easy to track and identify the pet when it found at the local kennel or animal shelter. Proposal We plan to introduce a GPS enabled collar called Pet Tracker which is designed specifically to track and protect a pet from getting lost. Pet Tracker is an innovative creation keeping the specific requirements of the pet owners in India and will be very useful for this class of pet owners. Pet Tracker will cater to all breeds of pets and will be available in multiple collar sizes and designs. Appendix -2 Customer Behavior Motivation Safety and security of the Pet and an assurance that the pet can be tracked real time, is the main motivation for a pet owner to go in for this product. The pet owners can concentrate on other important issues without worrying about the safety of their pets. Consideration -Threats In India there are Apps that provide a collar for the identification part of our product, but do not provide for the Tracking. If our Tracking Maps are not precise and efficient, we may not be able to get customers to sign up for longer periods. We will also have to constantly up grade and fine tune our product to compete with the new entrants in the market. New and innovative schemes will be implemented to keep our loyal customer base. Our product will have to have an edge always over the other similar products in the market. The market threats will have to be timely identified and intelligently overcome. Our main focus would be on delivering quality and customer service so that we are able to make a brand image in the market. We have to convince the Pet Store owners via the word of mouth effect where customers start demanding our product and then the pet stores will be eager to put our Collar in their Shelves. Evaluation As there are no products currently in the market which provide tracking of pets, the challenge therefore, will be to position our product ably on the attributes which show how it can provide value addition over the existing products. The key Attribute and emphasis will be on the tracking information. Appendix -3 Actions Controls Action The decision to purchase our product would be entirely based on the individual pet owners. Not all pet owners would be interested in our product. Some may just by the Collar and the Chip for identification purposes and others may buy a collar with tracking facility. Controls We will measure marketing performance to increase efficiency of our resource allocations. As marketing costs account for a large portion of the total operating budget, setting up methods to evaluate and measure these marketing efforts will be a proper use of the businesss budget. The outcome of these measures will benefit us in the long run by becoming more profitable with increased sales and decrease in expenses and costs. The goal will be to sell enough units by projecting sales targets (monthly, quarterly and annually) to achieve a break-even point during the first year. A large portion of the budget for advertising will be allocated during the first year of business, to ensure product survival and prepare for the possible increased competition in the following years. Continued product improvement and RD will be another important factor kept in mind. Appendix 4 Break Even: analysis Manufacturing Cost The cost of producing a pet tracker collar (includes the chip) is anticipated to be $35 ($1= INR70) taking into account all expenses on material, research, administrative costs. Variable Costs (VC) $15 (Promotion, Distribution etc.) Cost of production (FC) 5000* 35 = $175, 0000 Overhead (staff, server, rent) = $40,000 a year Sales Price for the Collar and Chip (P) = $100 Estimated breakeven= FC / (P-VC) = $215000/ ($100-$15) = 2550 Customers approx. This shows that we will break even if we have at least 2550 customers against the estimated 5000. Revenue GPS Tracking = 1000*$50 = $50000 a year The revenue is based on our ability to get 1000 customer to sign up for tracking service in the first year. This number will grow in the following years. Appendix -5 Penetration = Market size 1: Its going to a small market = around 1% of the total customer base. 2: There is no age group that we can specifically target. Pet owners of multiple age groups would use our product. 3: There are some Apps already available in the market, however, these are only for identification and none of them offers a solution for tracking. 4: We will continue to update our product and bring in new features to achieve and retain a number one position in the market. [1] Please See Appendix 1 for Proposal [2]http://www.euromonitor.com/pet-care-in-india/report [3] http://www.iiptf.com/aboutus.php?page=About_Fair http://www.petfoodindustry.com/articles/3180-indian-pet-care-market-to-reach-us-144-8-million-by-2015 [4] Please see threats to our product in appendix 2 [5] Please see Appendix 2 for Customer MotivationÂÂ   and Threats to our Product [6] Please see Appendix 3 for Controls [7] Please see Break Even analysis

Free College Admissions Essays: What I Want From College :: College Admissions Essays

What I Want From College    It has always been my greatest ambition to become a college graduate. In order to achieve that goal I have strived to cultivate the various talents with which I have been blessed.    The first step is to fully appreciate the professors and their dedication to passing on not just knowledge from a text, but the intimate knowledge of helping young men such as myself become accountable and successful contributors to society. I don't think enough students take the opportunity to tap into the personal knowledge that many professors offer their students. They have traveled the road we are attempting to navigate. It is only prudent to take advantage of that fact. Many students shy away from personal time with their professors. Yet, this is the best way to show the professor that you are engaged in the classroom. It sets you apart from other students and offers additional information that many professors cannot cover inside of the classroom.    Secondly, I hope to gain a greater sense of solidarity, recreation and release with the African American community. Having attended a predominantly white high school where less than 5% of the student body was African American, I feel it would be a wonderful experience to take advantage of the support that is offered by fellow students. We live in a diverse society and it is necessary to learn to function among others. There is nothing like the experience of communing among ourselves in order to gain a collective confidence in our ability to achieve our goals. I also hope to actively contribute to that community as well. I also hope to gain a greater sense of economic and social responsibility. By being an active part of my college community via employment and civic activities in the community, I have the opportunity to be a more independent adult. At the same time I am gaining experience that will only enhance my abilities to be employed and to be a positive and productive member of any community I join in the future. It is important to also contribute to those in the community that have not been offered the same opportunities I have. As a future teacher, it is my feeling that I have a personal responsibility in passing on the desire to learn to others. The seriousness of that task warrants my endless pursuit of a better understanding of that commitment.

Pacifism & Conscientious Objection :: essays research papers fc

During the 20th century America has been involved in many conflicts that have led to war or the taking up of arms against other humans and nations. Although the vast majority of Americans have blindly accepted these actions throughout the century, more and more people are seeing war as morally wrong. Reasons for this epiphany are based off of a variety of things and encompass many other aspects related to war and killing examples include: due to moral and ethical principles, objection to war due to strong religious beliefs, the objection to violence due to the same ideals above, objection to the government's use of force, and the objection to the use of weapons of mass destruction. Many of the core beliefs of conscientious objection derive from the teachings or beliefs of pacifism. Pacifism has been a system of thinking and living for hundreds of years, and, in the 20th century many objection and pacifistic movements have sprung up all around the nation, more so than in any other time. Pacifism and conscientious objection in the United States have been moral issues that have fallen under question due to the belief of the participants that killing, war, and the act of violence is wrong and immoral. To begin to understand the workings of conscientious objection, it is important have a clear view of what pacifism is. The roots of pacifism reach back for literally hundreds of years. Practically all of the messiahs of all the chief religions of the world preached for pacifism including: Allah and Muhammad from the Muslim Koran, Jesus and God from the Bible used by Catholics, Christens, and Quakers, and in the Jewish Torah. Other teachers of pacifism include: Plato and Socrates. The moral and ethical principles of pacifism and conscientious objection have been present throughout United States history. There have been known objectors in every single war that America has been somehow involved, Including: The French and Indian War, The Revolutionary War, The War of 1812, The Civil War, The Spanish American War, The Mexican American War, World War One, World War Two, The Korean War, The Vietnam War, The Persian Gulf War, and into the ongoing War Against "Terror". Pacifism is the refusal to participate in any violent actions and or killing. This can be derived from the belief that all life is sacred and that it is morally wrong to take another persons life.

Accounting Ethics Essay -- essays research papers

paper will discuss the public perception of CPAs in today's society, pitfalls that they may encounter, methods to prevent some of these negative behaviors and consequences they may face should they fall short. Most "Who Do You Trust?" surveys rank politicians, lawyers and used car salesmen at the bottom and certified public accountants at the top. That is because the CPA profession has a squeaky clean image--anal-retentive little wimps who wear thick glasses and cannot get a date. CPAs are known and respected for their honesty. The profession that goes out of its way to project that image, and there is a certain amount of truth to it. Not all accountants are anal-retentive little wimps who cannot get a date. Many of them are quite articulate. Some are quite lovely, in some schools, more than half of the accounting majors are women. Also, not all CPAs are squeaky clean and respected for their honesty. Some are quite dishonest and are putting a black mark on the image of the entire profession. There is one area where the CPA profession has fallen short of protecting the public interest. The general duty that accountants owe to their clients and the other persons who are affected by their actions is to "exercise the skill and care of the ordinarily prudent accountant" in the same circumstances. Two elements compose the general duty of performance: skill and care. Another element and responsibility is owed to clients and other persons, that is that accountants should observe a standard of ethical or social responsibility. One set of difficulties concerns ethics education's ability to instill the chosen values and to make them stick after the educational process is completed. Instru ction in accounting ethics is directed at people whose character-or lack there-of-has largely been formed by the time the instruction occurs. Although such instruction should increase the moral awareness of those who are already predisposed to listen, its effect on the basically self-interested, indifferent, or unethical is questionable. Even those who are positively influenced by ethics instruction, moreover, may still behave irresponsibly if their careers or their livelihoods require them to act in their client's financial interest. Recent pressure to include more ethics instruction in the accounting classroom has placed an emphasis on individuals who have a sen... ... the trust instilled in me very seriously. I hope that this paper has enlightened you to the pitfalls many certified public accountants face today, both with ethical standards and with impending educational requirements. Reference Page Fulmer, W.E. and B.R. Cargile: 1987, "Ethical Perceptions of Accounting Students: Does Exposure to a Code of Professional Ethics Help?" Issues in Accounting Education 2, 207-219. Loeb, S.E.: 1988, "Teaching Students Accounting Ethics: Some Crucial Issues', Issues in Accounting Education 3, 316-329. Metzger, J.D.: 1992. "Business Law and the Regulatory Environment: Consepts and Cases 8th Edition. 1061. McGee, Robert W., "CPAs vs. the Public Interest". Dumont Institute, Ethic Information Center. 1. Whiteck, C: 1992, 'The Trouble with Dilemmas: Rethinking Applied Ethic', Professional Ethics 1, 119-142. er, J.D.: 1992. "Business Law and the Regulatory Environment: Consepts and Cases 8th Edition. 1061. McGee, Robert W., "CPAs vs. the Public Interest". Dumont Institute, Ethic Information Center. 1. Whiteck, C: 1992, 'The Trouble with Dilemmas: Rethinking Applied Ethic', Professional Ethics 1, 119-142.

Role of Management Accounting in International Firm

INTERNATIONAL ACCOUNTING Sources: 1) Financial knowledge enables central control to determine what is happening in different subsidiaries. That enable the integration and control of subsidiaries by the central control. (Belkauoi, 1991) 2) Management accounting’ involvement in currency management is also important as the fluctuations in the exchange rates can distort the financial results of the subsidiaries. (Eiteman, Stonehill and Moffet, 1992). ) Management accounting is a means of co-ordinating established configurations and its form depends on the strategies a firm adopts for configuration and co-ordination (Tomkins, 1991) 4) Study by Biles and Assada (1991) investigated how the Japanese and American ownership firms evaluated the performance of their subsidiaries. The US firms frequently used financial ratios for performance measurement. ROI was by far most important, whereas Japanese firms pay more attention to individual line-items in the budget such as sales volume and production costs. ) Horovitz(1978) compared management controls between UK, French and German firms. He concluded that German and French firms tend to be more centralized than the UK firms. The control systems of German and French companies were more detailed than that of UK firms. 6) Holzer and Schonfelt (1986) illustrated that accounting systems of major European and US firms differ greatly and, although internationalisation affects their management accounting systems, it does not do so in a linear fashion. Factors: 1) Configuration. ) Strategy. 3) Ownership of the firm. ROLE OF MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING IN INTERNATIONAL FIRM: The international firms have disperse configuration as their activities in the value chain are spread throughout the world. Therefore, the international firms use management accounting to co-ordinate and integrate their activities in different countries. The role and scope of management accounting differs in international firms depending upon the relationship be tween their subsidiaries and the strategy of their top management. Porter 1986) classified international firms into the global firms, the multidomestic firms and the exporting firms. Both global and multidomestic firms have dispersed configuration but the former is an integrated unit whereas the latter is a conglomerate that achieves control by making its subsidiaries as independent of each other as possible. In a global firm, management accounting supports a dispersed configuration of the value chain located across the world. The output of one subsidiary is an input of other subsidiary located in a different country. The dispersed location of subsidiaries call for extensive co-ordination and central management intervention in the affairs of the subsidiaries. By focusing on global product-line profitability, the central management can use management accounting to establish an integrated organization. Various operations like production, sales, R&D are positioned globally according to specific locational advantage and they are integrated through extensive planning and budgeting activities. Management accounting in an international firm is a finely tuned information mechanism. In contrast, there is little integration of subsidiaries in a multidomestic firma as they usually operate in different businesses. Therefore, they are relatively free to devise their own strategies and plans and to monitor their progress towards them. Central management monitors subsidiaries from a portfolio management perspective which evaluates subsidiaries largely on financial rates of profitability. Management accounting role in multidomestic firms is setting financial targets for sudsidaries and evaluating their performance using composite financial ratios like ROI( Return on investment), ROA (Return on assets) , RI (residual income) and ROE ( return on equity). There is little emphasis on information which integrates activities across subsidiaries. International firms are exposed to exchange rates fluctuation risks. These fluctuations creates uncertain cash flows in corporate currency and also can distort the performance of subsidiaries (Eiteman, Stonehill and Moffet, 1992). Therefore, the management accounting manage the currency risks in the international firms by monitoring the short-term transaction exposure to debtors and creditors, medium term budgeting of international cash flows and long term strategic currency and exposure concerns over the firm’s strategic planning period. Management accounting uses transfer pricing between subsidiaries in different countries in order to maximize international firm’s after-tax global profits. Through transfer pricing firms may divert profits to regions where taxes are low (Radebaugh and Gray, 1993). The threat of this puts pressure on host governments to make and adminstor tax laws that benefits the firm. However, the firms seek to be as independent of the individual location as is possible, to minimize the political risks such as change in government causing substantial changes in host country’s economic policies. The management accounting plays a key and wide role in international firms. The information technology is improving and becoming cheap with the passage of time. That will further deepen the role of management accounting in the international firms. According to Belkauoi (1991), the financial knowledge resulting from management accounting has enabled the integration and control of dispersedly configured firms by the central control. The global firm is characterized by its large geographical reach and the considerable interdependence between its subsidiaries. Global firm uses management accounting to integrate its activities across the globe. On other hand, the multidomestic firm’s subsidiaries are quite independent in their activities.