Verbatim Reflection - 1849 Words

When I brought this verbatim to my supervisor and peers, I received affirmation and criticism that I carried with me the rest of the summer. They named one of my main strengths that they saw show up in this verbatim—my ability to connect with people on a human level, to make people feel comfortable and at ease in my presence. They saw this in how the patient felt comfortable sharing her struggles concerning her hospital trip, but also about her daughter and her churches. To me, I did not see this as anything special; I thought it was normal and natural to focus not only on what was happening in the hospital, but on the patient’s life more broadly—I want patients to know that they are more than their present illness, and that their present†¦show more content†¦It opened the door to extend grace to myself, and to be aware of when my own fear and discomfort was getting in the way of a pastoral visit. This awareness is not natural, but comes as a result of r eflecting both individually and with others. Question 5: Impressions of Clinical Pastoral Education The most significant learning experience I had from CPE was a shift from doing things perfectly, to being a human to another human. When I started CPE, I was fearful I did not know what to â€Å"do.† The scant few days of training and orientation seemed wholly inadequate for the task ahead—I was supposed to provide pastoral care? I was supposed to be a chaplain? Suddenly the vocation I had dreamed of doing for so long was before me, and I was terrified of messing it up. The clinical method of learning—action, reflection, action—seemed outrageous. I am a perfectionist, and I often want to know the exact steps in the procedure; I want to know what to do to achieve optimal results. I was immobilized by fear of failure. Our supervisor jokingly cajoled us with the phrase, â€Å"Get lost!† What started as his best advice to navigating the confusing world of the hospital became advice in a much broader sense. He emphasized that CPE was about getting lost a nd finding your way through, it was about letting go of a theology of perfection toShow MoreRelatedThe Parable Of The Good Samaritan830 Words   |  4 Pagesversions of the Bible. Therefore, I decided to read this passage with New International Version, The Message by Eugene Peterson, English Standard Version, and Korean Revised Version. I decided to read in Korean as well because I wanted to have better verbatim understanding of the passage. After reading the passage for three times in each version, I reflected on my role as a Christian and my understanding of a neighbor. Reading through this passage, the definition of neighbor for me is one who is in needRead Moreverbatim theatre1280 Words   |  6 Pagesï » ¿Verbatim essay; â€Å"the main purpose of Verbatim theatre has always been to challenge audiences into a confrontation with real events and concrete facts, an to prevent their escapism into theatrical fantasy.† How well does this statement apply to Verbatim plays, RRR and LP? Alfred Hitchcock commented, â€Å" what is drama but life with the dull bits cut out.† This quotes is typically true of drama, however verbatim theatre is contrary to this as it forces it audiences to confront serious issuesRead MoreStandard Costing and Variance Analysis, Abc Costing1705 Words   |  7 Pagesreading. No reflection on key issues. | There is some evaluation of the materials used in the work. The work is based on a limited number of appropriate sources.Little reflection on key issues. | Good evaluation of materials used, with discernment obvious as to key sources. 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The best advice that I see here is the suggestion that I write out notes and keywords repeatedly and go over themRead MoreReflection Paper : The Cry Of Tamar893 Words   |  4 PagesReflection paper: The Cry of Tamar When I picked up the book off of my door step, I hardly expected to stumble across such a valuable tool for my future in human resources, and in my life in general. I almost cursed the FedEx driver for not accidentally delivering it next door. I admittedly judged the book by its cover, I thought that it was going to be a laborious read with a ton of hours spent trying to stay focused on the task of completing it and remembering enough to make a fair grade. AlthoughRead MorePerceptions And Understanding Of Self And Others, By Laura Wade And Crouch, Touch, Pause,2808 Words   |  12 Pagesarsed to get a job and then calling it legitimate social protest? Fuck off. How about you respect my culture?† (Wade, 2012, p.110) Both these poignant quotes, one from each play, demonstrate what new writing tries to tackle and achieve through self -reflection, decomposition and separation among ourselves and one another. Are these quoted assumptions good? Are they fair? Are they right? Fundamental to the credentials of new writing in contemporary theatre is its role in â€Å"affronting the ruling ideas ofRead MoreReliable Sources Worksheet Essay1079 Words   |  5 PagesHai-feng. Date:   Mar 2012 Title: The Application of English  Movies  in Higher Vocational English Teaching. Publication: Mar 2012 Peer Reviewed? No What words did you use to find this article? Movies What type of article is this (research, summary, reflection, essay, etc.)? Article Did this article include an abstract? Yes Summarize the article (75 to 100 words) English has become more and more significant. In China, a big part of higher learning, is a required for undergraduate students to takeRead MoreThe Climate Of A School754 Words   |  4 Pagesschool facility has a direct impact on the culture developed within the school. It is easy for sections of the school to develop their own culture if they do not mingle with the rest of the school. The physical location of a wing also has a direct reflection of the culture of the school. Sounds or any other physical aspect of its surroundings define the culture. When one needs to assess the climate of a school, Lindahl mentions several instruments in which the climate can be measured. The processRead MoreSelf Reflection Assignment : Sales Force Training1560 Words   |  7 PagesSelf-reflection assignment: Sales force training 0 SALES FORCE TRAINING Student Number: 73517147 Date: 30th September, 2015 Self-reflection assignment: Sales force training 1 Introduction The issue I have faced in the organizations I have worked for in the past is driving business by understanding customer needs and asking the right questions to develop that understanding and then recommend products or services. This would fall under the bucket of sales force training. Sales training significantlyRead MoreEssay On Gender Differences In Major Selection781 Words   |  4 Pagesapproach. Moreover, Morgan et al. (2012) revealed a finding that the occupational plans of high school seniors are strong predictors of initial college major selection only when occupational plans are measured with sufficient detail, here by using the verbatim responses of students. This approach by looking into the data in detail would give a suggestion for further researches. On the other hand, Mann et al. (2012) used the various sources of data to maximum the time length, which provided an overview

Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District Essay - 1635 Words

In cases having to do with constitutionality, the issue of the separation of church and state arises with marked frequency. This battle, which has raged since the nation?s founding, touches the very heart of the United States public, and pits two of the countrys most important influences of public opinion against one another. Although some material containing religious content has found its way into many of the nations public schools, its inclusion stems from its contextual and historical importance, which is heavily supported by material evidence and documentation. It often results from a teacher?s own decision, rather than from a decision handed down from above by a higher power. The proposal of the Dover Area School District to†¦show more content†¦If approved, the bill would require intelligent design to be taught alongside any evolutionary theory in order to present an ?explanation of the origin of life that differs from Darwin?s view?. Additionally, it would require a statement to be read that expresses doubts about Darwinist theories (Baksa 1). The Court is now confronted with the responsibility of determining if Dover?s proposition, and the implications of its implementation are constitutional, or whether they would violate fundamental personal freedoms. In order to make its decision, the court must contemplate many facets of the issue, including: if the religious origins of intelligent design permeate the theory too strongly, if teaching I.D. in schools would violate statutes regarding state funding for public schools, and even if the theory provides sufficient factual scientific evidence to be taught as a scientific theory in a school?s biology curriculum. Case law supporting the absence of the instruction of intelligent design theory from secular, public education cites several main grounds for exclusion, including the unconstitutionality of ?sponsorship, financial support, and active involvement of the sovereign in religious activity? [397 U.S. 664]. The 1987 case Edwards v. Aguillard requires any religiously-related instruction to have ?a clear secular purpose? [482 U.S. 578]. The legislation addressed in this case?the CreationismShow MoreRelatedIntelligent Design: An Intelligent Way of Disguising Religion1346 Words   |  6 PagesEvolutionists say humans evolved from apes, but many religious people cannot swallow the thought. For years, religious people have voiced their unhappiness that schools teach evolution. The Bible says that God put all the plants, animals, and people on this planet, and evolution completely contradicts that. The idea of including creationism in schools has been brought to courts multiple times but with no success. Now the creationists have a new way of presenting it. They disguise it behind science and useRead MoreIntelligent Design Essays1315 Words   |  6 Pagestheories is inappropriate and according to Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District is illegal in public schools. Kitzmiller was the first case brought before the federal court in the intelligent design debate. In the process of teaching the origins of life in school it attempted to require the reading of a statement in science class that offered intelligent design as an alternative to evolution. The judge, John Edward Jones III, later ruled against Kitzmiller stating in essence that teaching intelligentRead MoreThe Debate of Orgin: Creationsim versus Evolutionism992 Words   |  4 Pagessometimes labeled, Intelligent Design, be taught in public schools? The answer, of course, is no. 23% of High School students surveyed said that no, they do not believe in creationism and yet the attend church every week. This is compared to 20% of people who attend weekly and do believe in creationism. What this means is that creationist beliefs and ideals are less common among religious folk than the theory of Evolution. As a total, 36% of High School students said they believed in Creationism, and ofRead MoreShould Religious Education Be Public Schools?1719 Words   |  7 Pageshave religious education in our schools. Religion is a taboo issue and turns even more taboo when we involve children. Many oppose the teaching of region in our schools for the simple reason of separation of church and state. Another reason this is met with resistance would include all the reasons for which religion is frowned upon such as: crating division amongst people and misunderstandings. However, others argue that religious education is necessary in public schools due to the immense diversity

Corruption in Procurement Free Essays

UNIVERSITY OF DAR ES SALAAM BUSINESS SCHOOL| AN ASSESSMENT OF CORRUPTION IN THE PROCUREMENT PROFESSION IN GOVERNMENT: CASE IN TANZANIA. | | BY| BERNARD, HELLEN| REG. NO. We will write a custom essay sample on Corruption in Procurement or any similar topic only for you Order Now 2009-06-00929 | RESEARCH PROPOSAL SUBMITTED FOR APPROVAL TO CARRY OUT RESEARCH FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTERS OR BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION. | Table of Contents 1. 0 INTRODUCTION 1. 1 background3 1. 2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM4 2. o research aim6 2. 1 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES6 3. 0 RESEARCH QUESTIONS†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦6 3. 1 RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS. 7 4. 0 LITERATURE REVIEW 4. 1 CONCEPTUAL LITERATURE†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦8 4. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â ‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 10 4. 3 EMPIRICAL LITERATURE†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 12 5. 0 METHODOLOGY†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 14 REFERENCES†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢ € ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 17 1. 0. INTRODUCTION 1. 1 Background The Tanzania Government has long realized the importance of public procurement to the economic development of Tanzania and hence to the fulfillment of key objectives within the national Poverty Reduction Strategy. To this effect, Tanzania was one of the first countries in Sub-Saharan Africa to enact a law modeled on the UNCITRAL model law. Since 1996, when the first country procurement assessment report (CPAR) was carried out, the Government has been working closely with the World Bank and other development partners to enhance the economy and efficiency of its procurement system and to make it more transparent and accountable. The Government has long acknowledged that there is rampant corruption in Tanzania and has been fighting hard to reduce it. It is estimated that at the national level about 20 percent of the government expenditure on procurement is lost through corruption, mainly through kick-backs and bogus investments that have to be written off. Considering that public procurement accounts for about 70 percent of the entire government expenditure budget, this translates to a loss of TShs 300 billion (USD 300 million) per year, enough to finance the combined annual recurrent budgets of the ministries of health and education. Clearly such a loss is economically unsustainable. Major losses occur in construction and supply contracts, which are the major avenues for corruption, particularly at the local government level. The need for enhancing the transparency of the procurement system cannot therefore be overemphasized. The Government of Tanzania is fully aware that its public procurement is still weak and needs to be strengthened substantially to enable it to ensure that the procurement laws and institutions become effective tools in the efficient and transparent management of public funds. Strategic management in the public sector begins by looking up toward politics -the current expectations and aspirations of citizens and their representatives and the older political agreements formally enshrined in the legislation that defines public managers’ mandates for action. Corruption had been inculcated in the political culture of most underdeveloped countries; while, it still elicits the criticism and opposition of the public, it has nonetheless been accepted as a fact in the political life. One of the primary areas of corruption is in the procurement process. Grounded on the idea that, the bread and butter of politicians exists in this aspect, the procurement process has been the locus and target of most politicians aiming to get a slice of the cake. In third world countries, this part of the cake proves to be the life of people. The foreign aid given by international organizations like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund and the government revenue from taxes is easily lost once the budget is distributed to departments and the â€Å"purchase† of equipments and materials has begun. . Earlier on we questioned the assumption or perception that corruption, especially petty corruption is a function of low pay. In our review of theories of motivation we noted that there is consensus among theorists on motivation on pay being a necessary, but not sufficient condition for an employee to perform at a minimum level in an organization. Where an employee has a perception that the level of compensation given by the employer cannot and will not meet basic living/existence needs, and the employee is not in a position to exit from the organization, he/she will adopt deviant work behavior, which will include a number of income maintenance strategies, including corruption to address the income shortfall. 1. 2 statement of the problem The procurement process has been the locus of government corruption- unless this can be addressed; the citizens of Tanzania will continue to suffer. It is necessary that strategies and measures be introduced in the government procurement profession to reduce the corruption in this process and in effect, corruption in the government. Procurement corruption is deeply rooted in the political culture and traces its roots on the nature of governments. As long as the nature of government and politics remains to be relatively immature, corruption in the procurement process will remain. Thus, the need for strategies to hamper this occurrence arises. A focus on newspaper reports, editorials and letters from readers in any of the last ten years would make one conclude that this country has been eaten away by the corruption scourge. Contrast the foregoing situation with what obtained between 1961, as we became independent and the late 1970s. The decade following Tanzania’s independence (1960-1970) did not manifest intense corruption. Where it took place it tended to be restricted to low-level officials who demanded and received negligible sums of money. As the country expanded the public sector and public administration institutions progressively decayed, entailing the rise of bureaucratic malfunctioning, opportunities for rent-seeking behavior and asking and offering bribes started creeping in. In the same period, the cost of living rose dramatically while public service pay remained static or declined. Public officials became driven by a culture of survival and they progressively adopted deviant behavior patterns discussed earlier in the paper, including the use of corruption as an income maintenance strategy. To address and control the trend of increased corruption, the Nyerere Government enacted the leadership code as part of the Arusha Declaration which had been adopted in 1967 and dedicated Tanzania to the pursuit of Ujamaa and Self Reliance as its ideology. While moral suasion through a socialist code of conduct was making its contribution to the fight against corrupt tendencies, the country came to experience a major economic crisis following the oil crisis and the after effects of the war with Idd Amin in the late 1970s and early 1980s, with double digit inflation, major fiscal deficits and negative economic growth. That situation saw the state lose its ability to pay public servants a living wage. Official salaries, even at managerial and executive levels, fell below subsistence needs, creating incentives to look for side incomes. As the state controlled economy declined, an informal one arose to take its place. Smuggling became rampant. In the end, the harsh realities of scarcity and poverty overwhelmed the dedication to socialist equality and corruption became embedded in Tanzania society. 2. 0 RESEARCH AIM This study aims to propose measures and strategies that could resolve the issue of government corruption in the procurement process. . 1 research objectives This research paper aims to: 1. Identify the different procurement corruptions in governments of Third World countries 2. Determine the stages of the procurement process and discover where corruption happens 3. Evaluate the nature of Third World Government and politics and the corruption in procurement 4. Propose measures that can reso lve the issue of corruption in the procurement profession 3. 0 RESEARCH QUESTIONS This study seeks to answer the following questions: 1. What are the indicators of procurement corruption and how extensive is it mong governments (Developed, developing and Third World) 2. What are the different corrupt practices in the process of procurement? 3. Outlining the procurement process, what stage(s) does corruption happen? 4. In relation to the nature of Third World Governments, what is their relation and to what degree that these two variables (corruption in procurements and government) affect each other? 5. What are the measures and strategies that governments have employed to address this issue? 3. 1 Research hypothesis 1. The nature of government and politics in a country is significantly related to its corruption practices 2. The more accountable the government, the lesser the tendency of corruption in the procurement process 3. Further, procurement corruption is directly related to the lack of transparency in government purchases. 4. 0 LITERATURE REVIEW 4. 1 Conceptual literature CORRUPTION Corruption is a very widespread phenomenon with most governments having a least some. While corruption usually meets with disapproval, it may have some redeeming features (Tullock, 1996). It may make possible smaller or no salary payments to officials who, if carefully supervised, will still carry out their functions on a fee-for-service basis (Tullock, 1996). Transparency International (TI) has chosen a clear and focused definition of the term: Corruption is operationally defined as the misuse of entrusted power for private gain. TI further differentiates between â€Å"according to rule† corruption and â€Å"against the rule† corruption. Facilitation payments, where a bribe is paid to receive preferential treatment for something that the bribe receiver is required to do by law, constitute the former. The latter, on the other hand, is a bribe paid to obtain services the bribe receiver is prohibited from providing. The cost of corruption The cost of corruption is four-fold: political, economic, social, and environmental. On the political front, corruption constitutes a major obstacle to democracy and the rule of law. In a democratic system, offices and institutions lose their legitimacy when they are misused for private advantage. Though this is harmful in the established democracies, it is even more so in newly emerging ones. Accountable political leadership cannot develop in a corrupt climate. Economically, corruption leads to the depletion of national wealth. It is often responsible for the funneling of scarce public resources to uneconomic high-profile projects, such as dams, power plants, pipelines and refineries, at the expense of less spectacular but more necessary infrastructure projects such as schools, hospitals and roads, or the supply of power and water to rural areas. Furthermore, it hinders the development of fair market structures and distorts competition, thereby deterring investment. The effect of corruption on the social fabric of society is the most damaging of all. It undermines people’s trust in the political system, in its institutions and its leadership. Frustration and general apathy among a disillusioned public result in a weak civil society. That in turn clears the way for despots as well as democratically elected yet unscrupulous leaders to turn national assets into personal wealth. Demanding and paying bribes become the norm. Those unwilling to comply often emigrate, leaving the country drained of its most able and most honest citizens. Environmental degradation is yet another consequence of corrupt systems. The lack of, or non-enforcement of, environmental regulations and legislation has historically allowed the North to export its polluting industry to the South. At the same time, careless exploitation of natural resources, from timber and minerals to elephants, by both domestic and international agents has led to ravaged natural environments. Environmentally devastating projects are given preference in funding, because they are easy targets for siphoning off public money into private pockets. PROCUREMENT Procurement is the full process involved in acquiring required goods, services or works. Procurement involves identifying the requirement of the purchasing authority, building a list of minimum requirements, and then scoring any interested parties who meet the minimum requirements, usually offering the highest score based on the most economically advantageous bid, commonly known as â€Å"best value†. Part of the Procurement process is also to manage the contract once awarded, to ensure that the successful suppliers, or suppliers, are providing a quality service. Collaborative contracts are becoming more commonplace; where multiple public bodies will combine their requirements and run a single Procurement process to meet their merged requirements. Due to the higher volume of business promised by collaborative contracts, suppliers will usually offer larger discounts. Collaborative contracts are usually led by one public body, acting on behalf of the others. In addition to this, some Procurement Centers of Expertise set up and manage contracts on behalf of public bodies, allowing all public bodies to use these collaborative contracts. Some examples of these Centers of Expertise are OGC, Buying Solutions and Procurement Scotland. The stage of the Procurement cycle when suppliers are invited to submit bids is known as the Tendering process. Usually, in addition to submitting their monetary bid, suppliers are required to respond to a questionnaire which the public body has put together with the intention of identifying and eliminating suppliers who are unable to meet their basic requirements, thereby preventing their tender from being successful regardless of whether they have the most economically advantageous bid. . 2 Theoretical framework The systematic study of political corruption encompasses matters of definition, typology, cause, and consequence, linked by a common theoretical framework. A substantial body of literature explores these issues, but many problems exist. The countless definitions inadequately set out the fundamental normative and behavioral dimensions of corruption and fail to incorporate the phen omenon into a broader theoretical framework or to deal accurately with the question of private interests. Typologies of corruption, though equally rife, also seem to lack clear theoretical relevance. Existing explanations of corruption can be attacked for projecting confusing and contradictory hypotheses, for being fragmentary, and for failing to differentiate various types of corrupt behavior; those centering on the functions of corruption also seem incomplete. Some, for instance, underscore the positive effects of corruption in integrating ruling elite but fail to question whether corruption influences feelings of legitimacy toward government or inspires destabilizing protests and mobilizations. As a form of deviant political behavior, corruption is political conduct contrary to political norms. This definition underscores both its normative and behavioral components. The normative aspect of corruption centers on the evaluative standards or rules that determine political propriety: the criteria used to judge the legitimacy or illegitimacy (i. e. , the â€Å"corruptness†) of a political act; the behavioral aspect corresponds to observable actions (Morris, 1991). The norm provides the standard by which all acts of government are to be interpreted and judged. Accordingly, any private usurpation of that pertaining to the public domain, which negates this principle, invites condemnation. An important issue that warrants attention concerns the role of personal gain or interest. Including personal gain or what is tantamount to private interest in a definition of corruption presents two major problems. First, it is generally held that all acts are a function of personal gain; in formal theory, this is referred to as â€Å"rationality. † Consequently, all acts by government officials, whether corrupt or otherwise, are thought to be motivated by a rational promotion of private interest. In other words, a non corrupt act is promoted by personal interest just as is a corrupt act. Since personal interest is an assumption of human behavior and a constant, it need not be included in a definition Strategic management in the public sector begins by looking up toward politics -the current expectations and aspirations of citizens and their representatives and the older political agreements formally enshrined in the legislation that defines public managers’ mandates for action. Politics, and the laws that politics produce, deserve this pride of place for three key reasons. First, it is this realm that managers must search to discover what purposes are deemed publicly valuable and can, therefore, be practically and normatively sustained as the focus of their managerial efforts. It is in and through politics that they can discover and help shapes their mandates for action. Second, political institutions grant public managers the resources they need to accomplish their operational purposes–including money and authority over their own organizations and over those beyond their organizations who can contribute to the managers’ purposes. Third, it is to politics and law that public managers are both theoretically and practically accountable; their performance is graded and their reputations made within this realm. Procurement contracting often entails large monetary sums and involves widely known or powerful people inside and outside government. Thus, this kind of corruption can be especially damaging to a country in terms of distorted incentives, undermined public trust, and inequitable distribution of national budgets. This is particularly prevalent in Third World countries where the political socialization of people seems to accept corruption as a part of the political culture. Among the principal types of procurement corruption includes: collusion in bidding (leading to higher costs/prices for the city, payments for which may or may not be shared with corrupt officials); kickbacks by firms to â€Å"fix† procurement competition; and bribes to officials who regulate the winning contractor’s behavior (which may permit lowball bids with subsequent cost overruns and unnecessary changes in contract specifications) (Klitgaard, MacLean, and Parris, 2000). 4. 3 Empirical literature Corruption is about economics, gaining power, maintaining power and unfortunately to some, survival (Green, 2000). Generally, it’s been my experience that corruption usually involves bribery, kickbacks, gratuities and gifts to government employees from individuals doing business or attempting to do business with the government. A large percentage of corruption taking place within governments and businesses worldwide rests within the procurement of goods and services. The movement toward decentralization, accountability, and democratic forms of government at the local level is gathering momentum (Klitgaard, MacLean, and Parris, 2000). In this context, the enormous costs of corruption are being explicitly recognized, as is the urgent need to correct governmental malfeasance (Klitgaard, MacLean, and Parris, 2000). Corruption is an entrenched symptom of misgovernance often reflected in patronage, red tape, ineffective revenue-generating agencies, large scale bribery in procurement, and failure to deliver services to city dwellers When the government needs a good or service, the city government has the two broad alternatives of making it or buying it: that is, the city can provide the good or service itself, or rocure it from the private sector (Klitgaard, MacLean, and Parris, 2000). Corruption is one of the dimensions of this choice. Because contracting is â€Å"where the money is†, most government officials are tempted by the lure of procurement services often at the expense of the public. Recent developments and current trends are highlighting the role of accountants in governance. Foremost among these are: the increasing concern with rising levels of corruption, the renewal of interest in accountability and transparency as inoculations against corruption; the new government focus on results, benchmarking and value-for-money (the â€Å"new public management†) and the corresponding thrust in the private sector through business process reengineering, knowledge management and intranets — where accounting systems play a major role; decentralization and participation by citizens and NGOs in public management are multiplying the needs for credible accounting information; the privatization of utilities in several countries is increasing the need for regulation, in which accountants have a major role in reducing information asymmetry; the globalization of corporate finance has enhanced the need for global standards of accounting and auditing; the Asian crisis has highlighted the weaknesses in transparency, in financial sector regulation and in corporate g overnance generally in a number of countries (Bennett,   2000). There are several measures that could be done in order to reduce the incidence of corruption. First, reducing the scope and role of personality politics. An increase in public policy debates and other activities of government, opening the closed doors, and permitting greater public scrutiny of official processes would clearly have such an impact. Generally, the more public government affairs become, the less corrupt they can be (Bennett,  2000). Enhancing the autonomy of the state’s subsystems would also reduce the likelihood of corruption. This could be pursued, for instance, by creating an effective civil service system or merit system or opening up grass-roots political involvement. Such reforms would cripple the centralization of recruitment and thereby temper the loyalty patterns that currently prevail. Strengthening the autonomy and role of Congress or democratizing corporate organizations would be steps in this direction (Bennett,  2000). Strengthening social organizations would also impinge on corruption. This could be done by reducing the tutelary role of the state and lessening the dependency of social organizations on the state or by enhancing popular input into the organizations themselves. Not only must businesses or union’s articulate demands on the government, but such organizations must be structurally responsive to the demands of their constituents. Tying the fate of leaders of social organizations to criteria internal to the group rather than those determined by the state would greatly inhibit current patterns of corruption (Bennett,  2000). 5. 0 METHODOLOGY This chapter will discuss the method of research to be used, the respondents of the study, the sampling technique, the instrument to be used, the validation of the instrument, the administration of the of the instrument and the statistical treatment of the data that will be gathered. Research Methodology and Techniques for data collection This study will use the descriptive approach. This descriptive type of research will utilize interview, observation and questionnaires in the study. To illustrate the descriptive type of research, the researcher will be guided by Calmorin when he stated: â€Å"Descriptive method of research is to gather information about the present existing condition. The purpose of employing this method is to describe the nature of a situation as exists at the time of the study and to explore the cause/s of particular phenomena. Proposed subject Population/Sample The general population for this study will be composed of government officials and personnel in the procurement process, randomly selected private companies who have been involved in the bidding process and randomly selected citizens. I will use a combination of cluster and random sampling. First, I will cluster the respondents from the government, the private sector and the public sector. To make the sampling easier for every specific cluster, I will seek the aid of any anti-corruption non-government organization to facilitate the names and addresses of the respondents or have them together in one place (i. e. in an organizational meeting) so that the surveys can be given in one session. I will pick one hundred (100) respondents per cluster for a total of three hundred (300) respondents. Validation of the Instrument For validation purposes, I will initially submit a survey questionnaire and after approval, the survey will be given to five responden ts from the government, private corporations and the public sector. After the survey questionnaire will be answered, I will ask the respondents for any suggestions or any necessary corrections to ensure further improvement and validity of the instrument. I will again examine the content of the survey questionnaire to find out the reliability of the instrument. I will exclude irrelevant questions and will change words that would be deemed difficult by the respondents, too much simpler terms. Administration of the Instrument The revised instrument will then be administered to the respondents of the study which will be chosen through a combination of cluster and random sampling. I will exclude the ten respondents who will be initially used for the validation of the instrument. I will also tally, score and tabulate all the relevant data in the survey questionnaire. Statistical Treatment of Data When the entire survey questionnaire will have been collected, the researcher will use statistics to analyze all the data. The statistical formulae to be used in the second and third part of the survey questionnaire will be the following: 1. Percentage – to determine the magnitude of the responses to the questionnaire. 2. Weighted Mean 3. I will use chi-square to relate the participation rate of the government employees, companies and the public sector. I will be assisted by the SPSS in coming up with the statistical analysis for this study. Resource, Confidentiality and other consideration The survey respondents and interviewees’ identities will be held confidential. Only I will have the knowledge on their identities and utmost secrecy will be provided. Further, personalities who do not want to be quoted in interviews will not be disclosed. REFERENCES. 1. Klitgaard, Robert, MacLean, Ronald and Parris, Lindsey, Corrupt Cities: A Practical Guide to Cure and Prevention, Ics Press, 2000 2. Bennett, Anthony, â€Å"The Role of Accounting in Good Governance†, In Carter, Williiam, Davies, Mark, El, Yassin and Ford, Kevin, Government Ethics and Law Enforcement: Toward Global Guidelines, Praeger Publishers, 2000 3. Green, Vincent, â€Å"An Approach to Investigating Corruption in Government†, In Carter, Williiam, Davies, Mark, El, Yassin and Ford, Kevin, Government Ethics and Law Enforcement: Toward Global Guidelines, Praeger Publishers, 2000 4. Morris, Stephen, â€Å"A State-Society Approach to the Study of Corruption â€Å", Corruption Politics in Contemporary Mexico, University of Alabama Press, 1991 How to cite Corruption in Procurement, Papers

Discussion Of Waiting For Godot Essay Example For Students

Discussion Of Waiting For Godot Essay Samuel Beckett s Waiting for Godot is a play without meaning. Vladimir (Didi) and Estragon (Gogo) go on for pages with meaningless jibber-jabber. The setting is an obscure place with no distinguishable characteristics; there is only a tree and a road to decorate the mundane landscape. We have no knowledge of where they are in particular; we are oblivious to what time, year, or day it is. The addition of random and weird characters only further emphasizes the piece s dissonance. But in this seemingly pointless attempt one is able to find Beckett s genius. Out of frivolous banter springs the profound significance of Beckett s critique. It s fortunate that Beckett shied away from public life; this way, it leaves his works more susceptible to reader interpretation, rather than having the facts scribed in stone. I happen to believe that Beckett meant for his play to be a statement about religion, particularly Christianity. The play is riddled with Biblical references, most of which aren t necessarily positive. I wouldn t consider them negative either. The most prominent characteristics about the Biblical suggestions are the contradictions. Close to the beginning of the play Vladimir is asked what he remembers about the Gospels, and he replies, I remember the maps of the Holy Land. Coloured they were. Very pretty. The Dead Sea was pale blue. The very look of it made me thirsty. That s where we ll go, I used to say, that s where we ll go for our honeymoon. We ll swim. We ll be happy. Later on he compares himself to Christ saying, All my life I ve compared myself to Christ. Estragon says that he follows in the footsteps of Christ but all he can remember about the book that tells his story is the pretty maps a blatant contradiction. This is an example of the many times during Waiting for Godot that Beckett takes shots at the typical Christian. I doubt that he was casting judgment on the religion itself, rather than those who claim to be a part of it. People associate themselves with a religion, but are selective in which practices they choose to follow. They pay most attention to the superficial details rather than making an honest effort to get into the depth of it all. But if their or another s character is called into question, they are quick to revert back to religion as a way to qualify their moral or civil nature. The word Godot undeniably sounds like God. This Godot is the reason that Didi and Gogo are where they are. I hardly believe that the two main characters are supposed to be laudable in their vigilance. To most people, I assume, they are quite pathetic. They don t do anything anything! They don t talk about anything of substance. They are lazy and rather stupid. From the first page on, I pictured them as two tramps. They wait in the middle of nowhere for no reason whatsoever. All we know, all they know, is that they are waiting for Godot, who, even by the end of the play, doesn t arrive. This is a statement about the complacency induced by Christianity or other religions. It s sort of like a spin off the clich, You re so heavenly minded that you re no earthly good. Some have a tendency to depend so heavily on their religion that they wait for God to fix all their problems for them, instead of taking the initiative and exerting the maximum effort on their own behalf. It s a comfort zone the if God wanted things to be different, he would have done it by now attitude. Once again, Beckett isn t striking at Christianity itself; he s attacking the subsequent attitude that often follows in its wake that prevents humanity from realizing the potency for action that we possess here on earth.