The Role of Trade Unions in 2011

Executive Summary A trade union is an organization of workers whose main objective is to regulate the relations between workers and employers. Trade unions have a legal personality separate and distinct from that of its members. This means that powers, obligations and immunities enjoyed only extends to the union itself, and not to its officials and members. For example, a trade union has the capacity to contract, can sue or be sued and can own property.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on The Role of Trade Unions in 2011 specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Introduction The need for support and representation in legal matters, financial support, advice and welfare activities are some of the reasons behind formation of unions. A closed shop policy in trade unions provide for mandatory membership of all employees to the same trade union, hence strengthening the organization. Members expect protection and effective monitor ing of working conditions by the trade unions. It is widely recognized that working conditions are deteriorating; unions need to improve their capability to monitor working conditions (Wang, 2005). Trade unions provide legal representation to workers facing legal action hence protecting members from exploitation. Unions are expected to have a distinguishable identity from that of employers and the state (Zhu, 1998). Professionalism among the trade union officials is desirable, the quality and effectiveness of education and training provided by the Trade Union College needs to be improved. It is widely recognized that industries with trade unions tend to have higher wages than those without. Unions achieve this by negotiating productivity deals and assisting in the implementation of new working policies, this enables the firm to afford higher wages. Trade unions are reeling from the effects of legislative changes which have made it hard for them to perform their duties. The introduct ion of the Workplace Relations Act 1996 together with subsequent amendments compromised trade union activities. The act required bargaining for the guaranteed conditions instead of strikes. The act also Introduced Australian Workplace Agreement (AWAs) and individual agreements from which trade unions were excluded. The use of strategic selection techniques to manipulate union sympathies in the workplace and establishing alternative representative forms discriminated trade union activities (Briggs, 2004). In the post-1996 era the federal government has promoted employer militancy, there has been a hostile environment towards trade unions especially in Australia. Minister Abbott of Australia described unions as the ‘enemy’ (Dimitrova, 2005). In recent studies some HR practices have shown to have influence on organizational and employee outcomes (Appelbaum et al., 2000). Practices such as the systematic selection of employees, provision of training opportunities, perceived reward equity, job security, perceived management support, and the decentralized design of jobs have had a significant impact on employee attitudes and behavior.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Use of HR practices has led to both union suppression and union substitution. This has the impact of reducing the number of workers joining trade union (Balnave et al., 2009). In conclusion, in the post 1996 environment trade union formation has been on the decline due to the undercutting effects of the employers and the federal government. Reference List Appelbaum, E., Bailey T., Berg P., and Kalleberg A., 2000. Manufacturing Advantage. Why high performance work systems pay off. Itacha: Cornell University Press. Balnave, N., Brown, J., Maconchie, G. Stone, R., 2009. Employment Relations in Australia, 2nd ed. Queensland: John Wiley Sons. Dimitrova, D., 2005. Trade union strategie s in Central and Eastern Europe: towards decent work. Tottenham Court Road, London: International Labour organization. Wang, H., 2005. Asian Transnational Corporations and Labour Rights: Vietnamese Trade Unions in Taiwan-Invested Companies. Journal of Business Ethics, 56: 43-53.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on The Role of Trade Unions in 2011 specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Zhu, Y., 1998. Trade Unions in Asia: An Economic and Sociological Analysis. New York: Routledge. This report on The Role of Trade Unions in 2011 was written and submitted by user Blake S. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

How to Teach the Present Continuous to ESL Students

How to Teach the Present Continuous to ESL Students Teaching the present continuous usually takes place after the present, past, and future simple forms have been introduced. However, many books and curricula choose to introduce the present continuous immediately after the  present simple. This order can be confusing as students may have difficulties understanding the subtlety of something that happens as a routine and an  action that takes places at the moment of speaking. No matter when you introduce this tense,  its important to provide as much context as possible by using appropriate time expressions, such as now, at the moment, currently, etc.   How to Introduce the Present Continuous Start by Modeling the Present Continuous Begin teaching the present continuous by speaking about what is happening in the classroom at the moment of introduction. Once students recognize  this usage, extend to other things you know are happening now. This can include simple facts such as The sun is shining at the moment. Were learning English at the moment. etc. Make sure to mix it up by using a number of different subjects. Im teaching the present continuous right now.My wife is working in her office at the moment.Those boys are playing tennis over there.etc. Choose a magazine or web page with lots of activity, go through a number of pages, and ask students questions based on the photo. What are they doing now?What is she holding in her hand?Which sport are they playing?etc. To teach the negative form, use the magazine or web pages to ask yes or no questions focusing on eliciting a negative response. You may want to model a few examples before asking students. Is she playing tennis? - No, she isnt playing tennis. Shes playing golf.Is he wearing shoes? - No, hes wearing boots.(Asking students) Are they eating lunch?Is she driving a car?etc. Once students have practiced a few rounds of questions, distribute magazines or other pictures around the classroom and ask students to grill each other on what is happening at the moment. How to Practice the Present Continuous Explaining the Present Continuous on the Board Use a present continuous timeline to illustrate the fact that the present continuous is used to express what is happening at the moment. If you feel comfortable with  the level of the class, introduce the idea that the present continuous can be used to speak about what is happening around the present moment in time. Its a good idea at this point to contrast the present continuous auxiliary verb to be with other auxiliary verbs, pointing out that ing must be added to the verb in the present continuous form. Comprehension Activities Comprehension activities such as using photos in magazines will help with the present continuous. Present continuous dialogues can also help illustrate the form. Present continuous worksheets will help tie in the form with appropriate time expressions. Review quizzes contrasting present simple with the present continuous will also help. Continued Activity Practice Its a good idea to compare and contrast the present continuous with the present simple form once students have understood the difference. Using the present continuous for other purposes such as discussing present projects at work or speaking about future scheduled meetings will help students become familiar with other uses of the present continuous form. Challenges with the Present Continuous The greatest challenge with present continuous is understanding the difference between a routine action (present simple) and an activity occurring at the moment. Its quite common for students to use the present continuous to speak about daily habits once theyve learned the form, so comparing the two forms early on will help students understand the differences. The use of the present continuous to express  future scheduled events  is best left for intermediate level classes.  Finally, students might also have difficulties understanding that stative verbs may not be used with continuous forms. Present Continuous Lesson Plan Example Greet the class and talk about what is happening at the moment in class. Make sure to pepper your sentences with appropriate time expressions such as at the moment and now.Ask students what they are doing at the moment to help them begin using the form. At this point in the lesson, keep things simple by not diving into the grammar. Try to get students to provide correct answers in a relaxed conversational manner.Use a magazine or find pictures online and discuss what is happening in the picture.  As you discuss what he/she or they are doing in photos, begin to differentiate by asking questions with you and we.  At the end of this discussion, write up a few example sentences on the whiteboard. Make sure to use different subjects and ask students to identify the differences between each sentence or question.  Point out the helping verb be changes, but note that the main verb (playing, eating, watching, etc.) remains the same.Begin contrasting the present continuous with the prese nt simple by alternating questions. For example:  What is your friend doing at the moment?  and  Where does your friend live?   Get student input on the differences between the two forms. Help students understand as necessary. Make sure to point out differences in time expression use between the two forms.  Ask students to write out ten questions, five with the present continuous and five with the present simple. Move around the room helping students with any difficulties.  Have students interview each other using the ten questions.  For homework, ask students to write a short paragraph contrasting what a friend or family member does every day and what they are doing at the moment. Model a few sentences on the board so that students clearly understand the homework assignment.

Human Resources - Managing & Developing People Essay

Human Resources - Managing & Developing People - Essay Example This paper will review the roles and responsibilities of line managers in management of human resources and to what extent they contribute to organizational effectiveness. Top managers according to Thornhill and Saunders generally concentrate on formulating corporate goals and objectives. They offer ‘transformational leadership’ and they share their vision for future success with other employees. The middle managers play a vital role in any organization because they are the ones who interact most frequently with the employees. They are thus expected to have the ability to inspire, encourage, motive, enable and facilitate change by allowing the employees to become committed to the organization. This role of middle managers and their ability to strategically manage the human resources has been challenged. Bond and McCracken (2006) agree that organizations are increasingly adopting the HRM approach where personnel practices have become devolved to the line. This implies that the line managers should become more involved in HRM at the operational level. The role of the personnel specialist has also undergone a change. He concentrates on formulating strategy and is not concerned with what happens at the operational level from the perspective of the line manager. A study on local pay in the NHS revealed that middle managers used their discretion on a number of issues thereby operationalizing HR strategy. Line managers definitely have more opportunity to translate the HRM policies into practices at the operational level. A study of four companies in the financial sector by Bond and McCracken showed that line managers do take decision when employees make requests for time off at a short notice. This decision depends on several factors which include how committed the employee is to work and to the organization, the nature of

Eucation and Identity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Eucation and Identity - Essay Example He lacked the many facilities we have, and yet he managed to develop his writing skills by relying on the little help he could access. All through, he struggle with identity crisis though he later manages to establish his identity. The critical role that education plays in defining Douglas identity cannot be ignored. Douglass's urge and determination to learn is captivating. This essay discusses how Douglas narrative on learning to write influences my thinking about education as well as identity and how his ideas relate to my own ideas regarding education, literacy, and identity. As I read his narrative, it triggered me to think of my own views regarding education. Although I have always considered education important in achieving my goals, never had I viewed education with as much regard as Douglass did. This is irrespective of having teachers and all learning resources at my disposal. However, Douglass ideas about education are somehow related to my own views about education. Just like Douglas believed, learning to read and write sets us free not just from stupidity but it also enables us discover ourselves. Lack of education makes us ignorant and we end up being slaves of ourselves. It is only by expressing ourselves through activities such as writing that we can be able to really feel sufficient and convince others of our capability. Thinking of people who are deprived of education by one reason or another makes me consider that the worst form of slavery. However, this kind of slavery is better since one can make a choice to liberate him or herself from it like Douglass did. As I read Douglass narrative, I thought of the many times I felt like giving up because I could not understand a concept in class. Those are the time I felt like I did not really understand who I was. However, I have always considered education to be one of the fundamental aspects that will enable me achieve my goals and that is what keeps me going. When I imagined of Douglass roaming i n the streets seeking for assistant from kids in the streets, I acknowledged the many education resources we have at our disposal and how little we make use of them. This made me feel like I was a slave of myself since I have no good reason to fail to achieve my academic goals yet I find myself failing at times. Reading Douglass experience and comparing it with my own encouraged me that no matter the adversities it is possible to achieve our goals. Education and literacy plays a great role in enabling us to realize our own identity. Educational attainments assist us in integrating with others in addition to being able to understand and appreciate those who may different from us. Just as the slaves suffered with their real identity as humans, such is the case when one is not conversant with a concept. Education defines us in some ways. People will identify with you depending on how well you can express yourself. If you are uneducated, people will brand you as illiterate. This has mad e me conclude that education can form one’s identity since it determines a person’s interest in life. In the contemporary society, social stratification is a common phenomenon and education is used as one of the criteria of defining the class one belongs to. However, not all people are able to access equal education opportunities. Being unable to access quality education does not automatically mean you cannot set high

Construction and Environment Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Construction and Environment - Research Paper Example He also stated that in the formulation of their proposal for performance improvement, they studied what had been happening and gained insight on the transformations that they had undergone in the recent years. Due to the concerns raised facing the need to meet clients expectations and to the fact that it is underachieving, the Deputy prime Minister set up the Construction Task Force. In UK’s domestic economy, the construction industry provides a substantial value to the Gross domestic product and therefore, it needs to be safeguarded and allowed to continue growing. The industry measures well with the others in the world due to its flexibility, the nature of the willing labour in adapting to the harsh working conditions. To improve efficiency the task force has to refer to several guidelines which were outlined as; quantification of scope for the improvement of efficiency in construction, examination of practices currently in the improvement of innovations in processes and pro ducts, identification of good practices and projects which would help in the demonstrations and also the advisory of the Deputy Prime Minister to improve efficient building of houses of quality (Lock, 2007). Modernisation is a key factor that affects profitability rate. To sustain development in a healthy way, the Task force need to be well catered for because if not addresses the margins would be very low. There is need for training a proportion of the workforce to help solve the problem of skill shortage improve career structure and develop management and supervisory grades (Berkun, 2008). As a result of under-achievement, the clients are not satisfied both in the public and private sector. This under achievement can be attributed to poor investment, unpredictability, competition in terms of price but not considering quality, poor performers not restricted from entering the market. This has led to difficulty in identification of quality brands for investors. The construction indus try in UK is already fragmented with several small construction companies with less than eight employees. This has led to the prevention of continual teams that work efficiently. This has the only advantage of providing flexibility in dealing with workloads that are highly variable. Still, the cycle of the economy has to a great extent affected the industry to an extent that it maximises on how to survive rather than future investment (Sir.John, 2007). There is an encouragement by the construction company to continue developing to the government sponsors and clients. Improvements are recently being initiated with the main agenda as Change. Improvement focuses on the components of construction and materials, this includes pre-assembly and standardization and with the three dimensional modelling and positioning globally. Tools are being put in place to deal with the problems of fragmentation such as creation of partnerships, increasing the techniques and tools for efficiency and quali ty improvement, benchmarking, encouraging team works and integrated Total Quality management (Lock, 2003). As stated by Burke, identification of stakeholders and their respective roles is important in mitigating the problems identified. Management of scope helps a great deal in completion of tasks on time and quantification of task. Work breakdown and structure of the project connecting tasks

Examining The Incentive Effect Of State Aid

Examining The Incentive Effect Of State Aid This article examines how the incentive effect of state aid is defined and measured. It also considers how the use of the incentive effect may impact on the behaviour of aid recipients. The availability of state aid would naturally induce them to undertake riskier projects that are not normally included in business plans which tend to be conservative. Therefore, if business plans (looking into future) are the benchmark by which the incentive effect of state aid is established, then this benchmark may be a too easy test of the existence of the incentive effect. The article also argues that the timing of the assessment of the need for state aid has a  decisive impact on the determination of whether aid has an incentive effect or not. The timing of the assessment of the need for state aid is critical. Even projects that have already started may deserve to receive state aid if the aid can ensure that they are not abandoned. This is highlighted by an analysis of the case of training aid to DHL. The Commission believes that training aid should not be used to induce companies to undertake regional investment. Commercial reality suggests that companies take into account the total amount of aid they expect to receive at different locations. The article examines this Commission Decision on the proposed training aid to DHL and suggests that that aid could have had an incentive effect, if it were offered to DHL before it made its decision to establish a logistics centre in Leipzig  [1]  . State aid must have an incentive effect. But it may induce beneficiaries to undertake riskier projects and investment in riskier projects may not be in the interest of society at large. The incentive effect of state aid means that undertakings are expected to do something extra with the aid. That extra must go beyond their normal practices. This has recently been confirmed by the CFI in the Kronoply case: Case T-162/06, Kronoply GmbH Co. KG v Commission of the European Communities (2009)  [2]  . The Commission has defined how the incentive effect is to be understood and measured in a  number of recent policy documents, most notably the Commission Regulation (EC) No 800/2008 of 6 August 2008 declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the common market in application of Articles 87 and 88 of the Treaty (General block exemption Regulation) Recital 28, Article 8; Framework on Research and Innovation (the RDI Framework): Community framework for state aid for research and development and innovation (OJ C 323, 30/12/2006, p. 0001 0026) 1.3.4.; Guidelines on Risk Capital: Community guidelines on state aid to promote risk capital investments in small and medium-sized enterprises (OJ C 194, 18/8/2006, p. 0002 0021) 1.3.4.; Guidelines on Environmental Protection: Community guidelines on state aid for environmental protection (OJ C 082, 01/04/2008, p. 0001 0033) Recitals 27, 28; Guidelines on the Assessment of Large Regional Projects: Commission Communication criteria for an in-depth assessment of regional aid to large investment projects, 24/6/2009 [not yet published in OJ], http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/09/292format=HTMLaged=0language=ENguiLanguage=en. The incentive effect is established at three levels of assessment that may be termed standard, additional and detailed (note that all guidelines use these three levels): at the standard level which applies to all cases, state aid lacks an incentive effect and it is therefore unnecessary when it is granted after a project or investment has been initiated. [see Art 8(2) of the block exemption Regulation, chapter 6 of the RDI Framework, chapter 3 of Environmental Guidelines, point 17 of the Guidelines on the Individual Assessment of Large Regional Projects]; at the additional level of assessment, undertakings [primarily large] which apply for aid before they start a project or investment, must also demonstrate that they do something extra by showing that they go beyond their normal practice as defined by their annual reports, or business plans OR other typical or benchmark behaviour for the industry in question in terms of output, expenditure, jobs, etc. [see chapter 6 of the RDI Framework, chapter 3 of Environmental Guidelines, point 19 of the Guidelines on the Individual Assessment of Large Regional Projects]. at the detailed level of assessment [for aid amounts above certain thresholds], undertakings [primarily large] must further show that in the absence of aid they would not carry out the project or investment. They must also demonstrate that the project or investment itself is uneconomic or too risky. [see chapter 7 of the RDI Framework, chapter 5 of the Environmental Guidelines and point 23 of the Guidelines on the Individual Assessment of Large Regional Projects]. Phedon Nicolaides, Michael Kekelekis: An Economic Analysis of EC Guidelines on State Aid for the Rescue and Restructuring of Companies in Difficulty, Intereconomics, July/August 2004, 9p. The Rescue and Restructuring State Aid Guidelines 1999 to expire on 9 October 2004. This article mentions certain inconsistencies and proposes how to improve the next guidelines. COM itself was aware of certain problems, namely: What is the definition of firm in difficulties? How to assess group of companies (allocation of costs within the group)? Urgency issue: when the state aid is granted prior to COM approval. One time, last time principle rescue aid is a one-off operation Different time limits in the current framework What compensatory measures are sufficient? There are 3 internal inconsistencies in the Guidelines: 99% of companies are SMEs, but state aids for SMEs are exempted from state aids notification if lower than 10 mil. EUR + if purpose of rescuing companies is to prevent their surviving competitors dominating the market, then SMEs would not need to be rescued; why to ask firms facing bankruptcy to reduce their output?; if every company that receives restructuring aid has more than a fair chance to become profitable (return to viability), why then do private investors need any state aid? ECJ has repeatedly ruled (e.g. in case C-730/79 Phillip Morris v. COM, paras. 16-17): State aid is allowed for the purposes of inducing firms to do something they would not otherwise do under free market conditions. The article further analyses 3 hypothetical plans for restructuring (to reduce workforce from 300 to 200, 100 OR 50) and assesses how minimising social cost is taken and should be taken into account by the COM. 60 % of EU awards were for just 4 MS (Germany, France, Spain and Italy): Are the firms in other countries immune from financial problems OR are the governments of these countries less willing to bail out firms in financial difficulty? It is not for the COM to tell MS how to spend their money wisely. However, there must be an upper limit to the amount of authorised aid -> the social costs of letting the company go bankrupt. On the other hand, there is cost for owners (redundancy payments) which can be avoided, if they can save the company. It should be up to the beneficiary company to argue the case and provide convincing evidence. The authors welcome simplified procedure proposed for the new guidelines for urgency aids. Urgency aids (to be repaid in 6 months) replace rescue aids (to be repaid in 12 months). But they are not happy, that no restructuring plan is required for SMEs. The money contributed by owners must be at least 25% for small enterprises, 40% for medium-sized enterprises and 50% for large enterprises. The new guidelines also do not require MS to grant socially optimum amounts of aid. The aid per employee varies from 4,000 EUR to 755,000 EUR  [3]  . The market shares vary from 0.8% to 61%. Number of employees varies from 20 to 64,000. Phedon Nicolaides: Re-introducing the Market in the Market Economy Investor Principle, European State Aid Law Quarterly 2003, 5p. COM invented this principle almost 20 years ago (1983) to deal with injections of public capital, which cannot be prohibited by virtue of Article 295 EC (Art. 345 TFEU) to determine whether public investments contain state aid. The author considers 3 observations: the term market economy investor is a misnomer; ex-post assessment may undermine the principle itself; it is necessary to re-introduce market. Firstly, the COM compares the actions of the public authority with those of a typical private investor in a similar situation (in terms of the size, risk and terms of investment) see landmark cases C-234/84 Belgium v. COM, C-40/85 Belgium v. COM, C-305/89 Italy v. COM, C-278/92 Spain v. COM, T-228/99 WestLB v. COM). In some cases (recovery of debt, rescheduling of debt OR closure of factories) the ECJ invented term private creditor (T-152/99, C-334/99 C-342/99, C-256/97). In these conditions there are no comparable market benchmarks (every case is different): Creativity and ingenuity are as important as toughness and persistence in negotiations. That is why successful corporate bankers command huge salaries. Since public authorities are not known for their foresight and investments skills, it is hard to believe that public officials can negotiate as well as private investors. It is not a case of comparing agreed rates with market rates. Secondly, as the landmark WestLB judgement clarifies, a private investor will demand a return on his investment that reflects all the benefits obtained by the recipient of his funds and will take into account all foreseeable future contingencies. Private investor always looks forward: bygones are bygones. The author criticizes the judgement T-98/00 Linde v. COM, because a reasonable investor would never obliged himself to provide the privatised company with certain (chemical) product for a period of ten years at market prices. The German authorities argued, that when the agreement was made it was hoped that a second user of that chemical would build a plant in the area (PN: how reasonable was that expectation?). But the CFI found further payments to prevent much larger cost justified. The author agrees with the judgement C-334/99 Germany v. COM: public authorities may not create costs for themselves which can justify the granting of additional state aid later on, because ECJ correctl y observed that Germany has included in the cost of closure the repayment of state aid that had been granted earlier. Thirdly, private money is not the same as public money. Private investor is willing to tolerate less. There are 3 solutions: the MS should have independent investor advisor to assess the deal; the MS should use private intermediary for negotiations; to adjust upwards the rate of return demanded for public funding (in comparison to private investor). The proposed measures are not discriminatory (Art. 345 TFEU), because public investment is not the same as private investment. The officials are not dealing with their own money, so the due diligence is not the same. The market economy investor principle has been narrowed to only private investor principle. Once the market drops out, it is difficult to identify any hidden state aid. R. Meiklejohn (ed.): State aid and the single market, 1999, European Commission, 206 p.  [4]  (in the syllabus from the first semester only Synopsis and Chapter 1: The Economics of State Aid were present: p.7-32) http://www.tu-dresden.de/wwbwleeg/publications/hirschhausen_roeller_european_economy_state_aids_0399en.pdf This publication contains 7 studies by several authors on several issues. Because the documents is quite old, I will summarize only briefly the synopsis: Economics of State Aid (Meiklejohn) State aid should prevent market failures. Perfect competition is based on radical assumptions (perfect information and foresight, perfect factor mobility, no economies of scale, no externalities). In real world government intervention may increase total welfare. We consider 8 market failures: public goods; merit goods; increasing returns to scale; externalities (positive and negative); imperfect or asymmetric information (SMEs and innovative firms looking for capital on capital markets); institutional rigidities (e.g. labour market); imperfect factor mobility; subsidisation of foreign competitors. Income redistribution constitutes an additional reason for government intervention. Intervention must be carefully considered to minimise distortions of competition, evasion, abuse OR the creation of perverse incentives. Government expenditure has to be financed, which is likely to lead to some loss of efficiency in other parts of the economy. The instrument can be chosen from wide panoply including: regulation; direct government provision of certain goods or services; taxation OR state aids. (effectiveness) Trends and Patterns Recent developments Market definition (Fingleton, Ruane, Ryan) The Treaties expressly demand geographical extent of the market (trade between MS). In antitrust we analyse: demand side substitutability, supply side substitutability, temporal aspects (product market definition) AND geographic boundaries (geographic market definition). The narrower the market definition the more likely it is that a firm will be found to be dominant. We can compare characteristics of different products, own-price elasticity of demand, cross-price elasticities, ability of firms to switch production (time necessary to do that and sunk costs). For geographic market definition transport cost and trade barriers are taken into account. Elzinga-Hogarty test and study of correlations of prices and price movements in different areas have both important drawbacks. According to the authors it is necessary to distinguish between inputs and final products. The situation differs according to whether output market and input market are national or international (4 combinations). Therefore it is necessary to define the geographic relevant market also for upstream market (where it buys its inputs) and neighbouring markets. Taxonomy of aids: activity-specific; firm-specific; industry-specific; region/area-specific. In state aids methodology, greater weight should be given to potential competition. The recipient of aid can also change its geographic market strategy. If a recipient can easily switch its production, spill-over into other markets is possible (even for activity-specific aids). Input and output markets must be defined, even if the recipient is vertically integrated. The potential of widening the geographic market (cf. internal market) must be taken into account. Also we must assess how costs and benefits are distributed = the degree of price competition can be a guide to the distribution between producer surplus and consumer surplus. Restructuring and Privatisation The case of new German Là ¤nder The international context Further documents to look at: State Aid Action Plan 2005-2009 (SAAP) quoted in the presentation http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2005:0107:FIN:EN:PDF Commission Regulation (EC) No 800/2008 of 6 August 2008 declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the common market in application of Articles 87 and 88 of the Treaty (General block exemption Regulation) (Text with EEA relevance) http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32008R0800:EN:NOT http://ec.europa.eu/competition/state_aid/legislation/block.html State Aid Reform http://ec.europa.eu/competition/state_aid/reform/reform.html State Aid Scoreboard, Reports + Studies http://ec.europa.eu/competition/state_aid/studies_reports/studies_reports.html

Of Mice And Men Essay On Loneliness -- essays research papers

In the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck looks at the theme of loneliness as it affects many characters on the ranch. Crooks, Curley's wife, and Candy are the most excluded characters on the ranch, because they all have dreams that they will not be able to live out and they all are at loss when it came to companionship. Crooks is lonely because he is the only black man on the ranch. Since this book is set during the Depression, Jim Crow laws are still in effect, whites and blacks had separate facilities for socializing and living. Crooks comments that he can't live in the bunkhouse, and cant even play cards in there. "I cant' play because I'm black. They say I stink."(68) This quote illustrates that Crooks feels the pain of rejection more that he let's people see. In fact, Crooks protects himself by acting like a "proud and aloof man."(67) The full extent of Crooks's suffering is made clear in chapter 4 when Crooks lashes out at Lennie. Viewing Lennie as a symbol of all the white men who had hurt him, Crooks strikes out in anger, saying "You got no right to come in my room...Nobody got any right in here but me."(68) Steinbeck states that "Crooks's face lighted with pleasure in his torture."(71) Crooks's anger, though, is really just a cover for the pain he experiences from constant isolation. "A guy goes nuts if he aint got nobody ... A guy gets too lonely and he gets sick."(73) This desire to have a connection is apparent later in the scene when Crooks hears Lennie and Candy's plan to buy a little ranch. Wistfully, he suggests, "If you guys want a hand to work for nothing, just his keep, why Id come and lend a hand."(76) No matter how hard Crooks may try to hide the hurt he feels, he clearly would like to be included in this venture with the other men. Crooks's dream, however, lasts only for a few minutes. When Curley's wife threatens Crooks with a lynching, he quickly remembers the terrible reality of his situation . Steinbeck writes "Crooks had reduced himself to nothing. There was no personality, no ego - his voice was toneless."(81) The character of Crooks reflects the universal need for human connection as well as the brutalizing effects of racial prejudice. Like Crooks, Curley's wife is very lonely, but she is lonely for different reasons. Like Crooks Curley's wife suffers from... ...ion. But Candy gets some life back in him when he hears George and Lennie talking about their dream farm. Hearing this gives Candy a reason to live. He would love to join George and Lennie on there farm and he even tells them that he'll give them money to help finance it "I aint't much good with on'y one hand. I lost my hand right here on this ranch...an' they give me two hunderd an' fifty dollars ‘cause I los' my hand. An' I got fifty more saved up right in the bank, right now...and I got fifty more more comin... S'pose I went in with you guys. Tha's three hundred an' fifty bucks I'd put in."(59) When George agrees to let Candy jump on the wagon and join the farm, you can tell Candy is extremely pleased. But with death of Lennie the dream of the farm dies to. Like the other characters Candy's dream was stolen from him. Candy's character was lonely because he needed human contact but his only companion was his dog which was killed. Loneliness affected many characters in John Steinbecks novel, Of Mice and Men. Crooks, Curley's wife and Candy were affected the most by this loneliness because none of them had a real companion and all of them had dreams which were shattered.