The Utilitarian ethics and its impact on supply chain

The Utilitarian ethics and its impact on supply chain Introduction: Utilitarian ethics is considered as a theory which is considered significant in the perfect competitive business world. This theory emerged from the customer expectancy where they expect greatest happiness. According to example.com (2010) this theory is based on the principle-the greatest good for the greatest number. The pioneer of the utilitarianism theory was Jeremy Bentham. He lived from 1748-1832 and was brought up in a very intellectual family. The utilitarianism could be classified in three types. Without following any specific rule, if it deals with the consequences of individual acts, then it is nominated as Act Utilitarianism. Rule utilitarianism allows specific rule to be followed and preference Utilitarianism says that one should act in a way that the person involved prefer unless the preference is outweighed by others. On the other hand, Utilitarianism also defined negatively. Negative utilitarianism requires us to promote the least amount of evil or harm, or to prevent the greatest amount of suffering for the greatest number of people. The key words the greatest good for greatest number, in broader view reflects the consideration of sustainability of business resources in long term rather than short term profitability. In terms of supporting the supply chain, the utilitarian ethics keep or accelerate the flow of supply chain in long term and in this interest the immediate situation should be less evaluated than long term. As the requirement of this assignment, the study is going to present a comprehensive structure of using the utilitarian ethics in respect of supply chain of vegetable retailers. Retailers and other food sector companies to test and develop innovative business models, together with their supply chain partners, that will bring new and higher volumes of food products from Africa to the UK, at the same time delivering improved livelihoods for African producers (FRICH, 2010). Supply chain and its effectiveness with the use of Utilitarian ethics: Supply chain is a system that is responsible to reach the goods from farm to customer minimizing the waste and maximizing the assurance of availability of goods in the shelve for customer. Supply chains underlie value chain because, without them, no producer has the ability to give customer what they want, when and where they want, at the price they want. Producers compete with each other only through their supply chains, and no degree of improvement at the producers end can make up for the deficiencies in a supply chain which reduce the producers ability to compete (Business dictionary.com, 2010). The term vegetable supply chain is smooth normally in season. Thus, the behavior of supply chain management authority normally could be different with the supply chain partner as the availability of goods. In this case, utilitarian ethics suggest that the authority to judge the partners significantly in both times, in season and out of season. According to FRICH (2010) UK supermarkets have successfully developed African horticulture to meet year round demand for fresh fruit and vegetables, most produce is sourced from a few countries only and farmers find it hard to meet buyers exacting standards. Farther obstacles to these farmers can arise from concerns over food miles, environmental conservation, labor standards and food safety. Giving African farmers greater access for their food exports help reduce poverty and increase rural incomes, so the fund is designed to support projects that bring African farmers and their workers including poor small holder in their food supply chain. Th erefore, it is very specific from the acts of FRICH that, the practice of utilitarian ethics helps the people involved in vegetable supply chain in terms of their basic needs, improve the economic development that assure the flow of vegetable even in out of season. Not only supply chain partner become satisfied with the proper practice of utilitarian ethics but also the consumer, the god of a business become benefitted from this use which attract them to be loyal to the retailer. The benefitted supply chain partner influence the consumer directly. This is easy to realize that if the farmers become satisfied and can maintain the product with assurance of export and continue the flow of supply, then adequate supply of goods is visible in the shelve of retailers and consumer become happy to them. According to Accenture (2010), the challenge of supply chain is increasing day by day because of tremendous competition. It found out five preconditions of supply chain according to the mode of consumers choice. They are on-shelf availability, faster replacement- smaller quantities and changing customer requirement. In terms of on-shelf availability, supply chain has to maintain good relation with the farmers as though they are dedicated to the organizations fluctuating demand by customer. Excellent retail supply chain management revolves around understanding and balancing three key dimensions of availability, inventory and cost. Managing this trade-off sufficiently can result in supply chains that improve business through assurance the availability of goods for consumers satisfaction. Practice of Utilitarian ethics by consumer group and its impact on supply chain: It is not deniable that there are also some challenges to maintain the utilitarian ethics which increase the cost of supply chain. However, according to the principle of this ethics greatest good for greatest people should be maintained first because customers satisfaction is the primary goal of a business. As vegetable is a fundamental domain of customers demand and it is consumed every day, they are to demand it. Thus, in broader view, the ethics practice cost apparently may be perceived increased, the assurance of sufficient vegetable supply should be counted first. The use of utilitarian ethics in supply chain can provide adequate supply of vegetable. In terms of fresh vegetable supply, use of utilitarian ethics also helps maintaining the freshness of vegetable. If the supply chain authority can maintain the relation with the farmers in compromise aspect in season, then they will supply in out of season. If the labour working in farms get security of their job in out of season, then their dedication to farms become increased and farms can assure the importers the supply of vegetable according to demand. This practice also can minimize the waste of good. In the case of organic vegetable, the use of this ethics is more fruitful. Organic vegetable is produced in such a way that there is no use of chemical and pesticides. Vegetable is certified as organic by specific body of national government. The demand is increasing in the world is increasing gradually. In UK, the yearly increasing rate of organic food is around 30% which fluctuates according to the economic flow (FIRTH, C and SCHMUTZ, U,. 2004). If supply chain management evaluates the farmer, the supply chain partner, then the assurance of organic food will be more sustainable and organization can be able to present to the organic customers the organic vegetable. After carefully evaluation the correlation between the utilitarian ethics and its impacts on supply chain of vegetable retailers, it could be mentioned that in this perfect competitive market utilitarian ethics has a great impact to survival for a vegetable retailer. It satisfies the supply chain partner, their (farmers) internal and external stakeholders and overall sustainability of the farms can decrease the waste of goods, assure the supply in dull season and can decrease the major cost of supply chain management of organizations. Merits of Utilitarian ethics and critical analysis in food miles: In respect of extending the discussion of consideration of utilitarian ethics in terms of vegetable supply chain, author of this study intends to mention the food miles. Food miles is the idea that emerged from the travel of food from farms to dining table which indeed, says the environmental impact that happens in this travel time. Half of the vegetables and 95% of fruits are imported to UK from overseas countries. This food and vegetables arrive by air and water and truck. In the consideration of environmental impact, water, plane and road transport give off CO2 in different scale. In order to maintain the supply chain regarding business prospect, retailers have to use plane in vast cases. The food comes from overseas gives off 11% of the total CO2 emission from UK food transport where air-freighted travel produces 177 times more greenhouse gases than shipping. Though there is some national bodies and protest groups to watch the mode of using transport, the use of utilitarian ethic s will be more effective to reduce this emission and environmental harm. In this case, the merit of this ethics could be utilized in some aspects. Firstly, Utilitarianism cannot be faulted on its morals as it clearly seeks the happiness and fairness for the majority, which has always been an important consideration in the works of government and other major powers, as well as in everyones everyday life. If the supply chain authority of the food retailers shows and maintain the happiness and fairness as the part of following utilitarian ethics, then they will be interested to use water way to import food rather than air considering the green house effect. On the contrary, there is another argument is that using the shipping needs requires long time refrigerator, it also produce CO2. However that is very lower than plane. Another thing is that, the retailers are interested to maintain shorter life of food form farms to plate in order to present it to the consumer fresh and regarding the food and safety, they prefer quick travel than the slower. Secondly, Utilitarian ethics considers the consequences of all actions, which is key in building a civilised society. If people were not aware of consequences then there would be no deterrent to commit crime. Here awareness is the key point of using this ethics. As it has been mentioned that the food travel in UK emits 11% of CO2, the retailers could be interested to minimize the emission of greenhouse gases by influencing their self-motivation. In this case, they can be encouraged to produce vegetables and fruits in home. Though, some people argue that locally grown and organic food can be kept chilled for months which require energy because of maintain the supply chain out of season. In one hand, this chillers keeps the food fresh, on the other hand it act as culprit for our global warming. However, it is undeniable that home grown is better than using air. If the awareness could be build up, then newly sophisticated mechanism of reducing the CO2 emission may also innovated by supply chain expert. Finally, It encourages a democratic approach to decision making, and dangerous minorities are not allowed to dominate. Therefore, author can mention here again the organic food grown in home based cultivation. It food transport is responsible for 25% of the kilometres clocked up by HGVs on the congested roads in UK. Supermarkets have national distribution systems, so even food grown near a particular branch may have travelled by lorry to a central depot and back to its place of origin. This idea should be emphasised to implement to the food producers, then quarter of 25% emission could be reduced. This is also not beyond the controversialist because the congested road is not fully sufficient to avoid roads accident. It is perceived that in traffic jam the lorry has to wait on the road for a long time and that is why this lorry has to maintain chillers regarding food and safety issue. However, massive awareness and encouragement can increase this lorry user in democratic majority. Practice of ethics of virtue in supply chain: Virtue ethics is currently one of three major approaches in normative ethics. It may, initially, be identified as the one that emphasizes the virtues, or moral character, in contrast to the approach which emphasizes duties or rules (deontology) or that which emphasizes the consequences of actions (consequentialism). Suppose it is obvious that someone in need should be helped. A utilitarian will point to the fact that the consequences of doing so will maximize well-being, a deontologist to the fact that, in doing so the agent will be acting in accordance with a moral rule such as Do unto others as you would be done by and a virtue ethicist to the fact that helping the person would be charitable or benevolent (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2007). To some extent, ethics of virtue could be mentioned as that- the practice of normal ethical sense regarding the situation. In terms of vegetable retail supply chain, there are some primary things come to the account firstly. Maintaining the freshness of vegetable and food and safety are commercially an objective. Beyond the rules and regulation and consequences, the ethics of virtue will be more perfect in comparison. In addition, the evaluation of supply chain partners, more specifically the farmers should be dealt with utilitarian ethics, however the practice of ethics of virtue will be more effective to maintain the supply chain in the out of season. Practice of ethics of virtue, is indeed propelled from the moral ethics. Moreover, in terms of environmental issue, the use of virtual ethics will be fruitful to save this global warming. Virtual ethics is consequently related to the moral behavior to the globe. Thus, which sort of transport should be used to reduce CO2 emission regarding the situation like customers demand, scarcity of goods in shelves, assurance of availability of supply and so forth will be decided by proper use of ethics of virtue. Conclusions: In conclusion, it is to say that utilitarian ethics is considerably correlated to the business world. In respect of commercial goal, the supply chain management is the most expensive domains of business organization because the retention of customer, customer loyalty and flow of increasing sale depends on this section. Therefore, ultimately the farmers become significant to the retailers as they are the source of goods. For satisfy them, the price level, assurance of selling goods, and proper communication with them should be emphasized. Thus, use of utilitarian ethics is important to make them satisfied. In the case of global environmental issue, utilitarian ethical behavior also is must. Because of food miles concept, the emission of CO2 could be minimized as their supply chain dealings. If the supply chain management is used to maintain targeting less use of air way, then the global warming will be reduced. Using utilitarian ethics and ethics of virtue, the retailers will be motivated to produce home grown vegetable nearest to the distribution centre. In terms of organic food, supply chain partner should be motivated to maintain the characteristics of cultivation of organic food grains. As the demand of organic food is increasing day by day, the dependency on farmers is also increasing. Consequently, the retailers should encourage them to maintain the virtue of organic food growing through supply chain management.

Vagrancy in Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century England :: British History 16th 17th

Vagrancy in Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century England Throughout the work An Account of the Travels, Sufferings and Persecutions of Barbara Blaugdone, there is a common occurrence of imprisonment. Wherever Blaugdone traveled, she seemed to come across some confrontation with the law. This should not be surprising, for in the time period when this work was written many laws, statutes, and acts had been established to thwart the spreading of unpopular Quaker views. Many acts were established primarily to prevent the ministry of Quakerism; however universal laws, especially those to prevent vagrancy, were also used against traveling Quakers. Vagrancy had always been a concern in sixteenth century England, resulting in the passing of four anti-vagrancy bills in 1547 alone. This resulted in legislation so harsh that a person charged with vagrancy could be sentenced to two years enslavement, which could be extended to life enslavement if they tried to escape. When these bills did not seem to prevent the occurrence of beggars on the street, the Vagrancy and Poor Relief Act of 1572 was instated. This act called for a â€Å"three strikes and you are out† policy, where on a person’s third vagrancy offense they could be rightfully put to death (Woodbridge 272). This legislation was the policy for over twenty years until it was repealed in 1593 for being too strict. In 1597, the new Vagrancy Act authorized the government to banish anyone caught offending the vagrancy laws. After a 1598 statute reestablished slavery as the proper punishment for vagrancy, there were a number of years where periods of l eniency and harshness of punishments alternated. It is important to note the history of these laws since many of them were never entirely repealed. However, it was in the early seventeenth century that a particular legislation finally became the common law that would rule for centuries. In 1601, England passed the Act for the Relief of the Poor, which would be the commanding authority on this issue until 1834. This act established the church as the sole establishment responsible for the care of the poor. If a family was not able to get by, it was the responsibility of the area parish to ensure that the family was taken care of (Woodbridge 272).

Allied Diplomacy Essay

Due to Britain’s position as a major power, the country was able to reshape the Middle East and formulate agreements with several important cultures. However, some of the terms within these treaties were completely contradictory, creating dispute and controversy between parties. This very powerful mandate made many mistakes and errors in judgment that led to disastrous conflicts, such as providing assurances of things they weren’t able to fulfill and creating contradictory terms within official agreements. Britain was responsible for a great amount of problems in the Middle East during World War 1, but there were many other sources of instability with different origins and motives. Two of the most controversial events in the Middle East were the McMahon-Hussein agreement and the Balfour declaration, due to the profound difference in their terms. Whilst the Balfour Declaration promised to provide a National Homeland for the Jewish people, the McMahon- Hussein pact stated that Arab nationals would recover land previously owned by the Turks. At first sight, these terms were completely opposite, and according to the Jewish and the Arabs, impossible to fulfill at once. However, the British claimed that the way in which the Arabs had interpreted the McMahon-Hussein agreement was mistaken because they believed Palestine was to be given to them, just as Britain argued that the map used to establish the terms excluded Palestine from land that had to be given back to the Arab people. A minor phrase that stated that any land that was not purely Arab was to be excluded from the terms created a monumental disagreement when it came to this particular event. Hussein claimed Palestine had to be considered â€Å"purely Arab† as McMahon had a very different view. He believed the land in question was not of pure Arab nature because many other religious groups had established in Jerusalem under Turk rule, therefore eliminating the possibility of ultimate Arab presence in Palestine. Many Palestinians felt betrayed by the British government due to the use of inaccurate technicalities of language. The main purpose of the agreement Britain decided to make with Palestinian Arabs was to gain protection against Ottoman forces and their increasing power. In order to achieve their goal, British officials in Cairo contacted Sharif Hussein and informed him that if they were to assist them against Ottomans, Britain would support future Arab independence. The Arabs had to create a revolt and refer to the Ottomans as their enemies, in order to support the British government further. On the 10th of June 1916, the Arabs did effectively create a large physical conflict in order to fulfill the terms established and to gain the support they required for their ideal independence. The Arab army was founded and organized by the British government, but led by Sharif Hussein’s sons. Due to the amount of instability the Arab-British forces created in the region, the terms were now justified and Hussein demanded Britain to recognize Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Palestine and areas of the Arabian Peninsula as Arab countries. However, Syria and Lebanon were of French interest and therefore were discussed in the Sykes-Picot agreement that took place from 1915 to 1916. The United Kingdom recognized the freedom of the Arabs, creating not only a contradiction between the agreements made with France and Palestinians but a great dispute between the Jewish and Arabs, two religious groups that had been promised the same portion of land. As time passed, Britain started increasing the amount of conflict in the Middle East throughout grave contradictions and opposite statements. The McMahon-Hussein agreement occurred approximately two years before the Balfour declaration, increasing the dimension of the mistake made by the British government. Just after they had promised to return Middle Eastern territories to the Arabs, the major power was responsible for providing a very concrete assurance of giving the Jewish a national homeland within Palestine. Arthur James Balfour was very clear and was able to state this throughout a letter he wrote to Lord Rothschild on November 2nd, 1917. The Balfour Declaration urged Lionel Walter Rothschild to inform the Zionist Federation of the proposition and was clear that His Majesty’s government would use all its power to provide a National Homeland as long as no rights were violated in the process, even if they did belong to exterior ethnic groups. As mentioned before, this declaration was said to be completely  contradictory to the agreement made with Sharif Hussein according to Jewish interpretation. Jews believe d they would receive the entire land of Palestine and would be able to make exclusive use of it, whereas the British argued they never promised the land in its whole and therefore were not breaking any promises or contradicting the terms made in previous agreements. The Treaty of Sevres confirmed the promise made to the Jewish people in the 1917 Balfour Declaration and initiated a long-term problem between the both Palestinian Arabs and Jews. With this treaty, European Powers managed to solve their internal conflicts and successes by reestablishing the map of the region according to what was convenient at the moment, but didn’t really think of the long-term consequences of the new arrangement. By not taking Turkish interests into account, the treaty of Sevres was not of their liking and managed to create a larger sense of nationalism within the country, thus creating the war. The lack of precision presented in the three consecutive arrangements with the Arabs, French and Jewish created a great deal of controversy and instability in the Middle Eastern region. Even though the British government was undoubtedly responsible for the majority of the disputes in the Middle East during WW1, there were some exterior factors that accumulated and created outrageous amounts of discrepancies. It wouldn’t be incorrect to say that Britain acted the way it did due to the pressure put on it by the initiation of the Holy War, announced by the Ottomans. After four entire centuries of rule, the Ottoman Empire collapsed and therefore contributed to the incessant tensions between inhabitants of several countries. The mentioned empire was the world’s most influential Islamic power and was responsible for putting a stop to its neutrality towards the allies and declaring a Holy War against France, Russia and Great Britain. This war initiation not only put pressure on Britain, but also encouraged the government to find support against the Ottomans, hence the McMahon-Hussein agreement and its terms. In retrospect, Britain was mostly responsible for the instability in the Middle East during the First World War but there were some factors and events having to do with the Ottoman war declaration that created tension  and controversy. If the treaties made with the French, Arabs and Jews had been coherent and logical when put together; the problems in the Middle East wouldn’t have been so deeply catastrophic. To certain extent, there were some factors that put Britain in a very difficult position by threatening their empire and even though they were to blame for creating most of the conflicts during World War 1, they definitely weren’t responsible for starting the long sequence of instability. If it hadn’t been for Britain’s lack of precision when presenting the terms, the long-term problem between Palestinian Arabs and Jews could have been reduced or avoided, despite their ambitious natures. The events and agreements mentioned were not the only sources of conflict between these two ethnic groups due to the disputes that had been occurring a long time before concerning land and respective properties. British officials could have definitely dealt with conflicts in a better way, avoiding the preposterous amount of tension and disputes in the Middle East from the beginning until de end of the war. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Palestinians. (n.d.). The McMahon Agreement. _History Learning Site_. Retrieved September 16, 2012, from http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/mcmahon.htm The Balfour Declaration . (n.d.). _Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs_ . Retrieved September 16, 2012, from http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peace+Process/Guide+to+the+Peace+Process/The+Balfour+Declaration.htm British Mandate for Palestine. (n.d.). _Middle East: MidEastWeb_. Retrieved September 17, 2012, from http://www.mideastweb.org/Middle-East-Encyclopedia/british_mandate_palestine.htm

Free International Trade System Free Essay Example, 1500 words

Trading goods and services without barriers are important in the global setting. This practice should be promoted globally. Over and above comparative advantage, a number of theories back up international trade. The prospects of international trade further necessitate the installation of open markets for the benefit of participating parties. For example, the theory of factor proportions addresses both the import and export sides of international trade (Carbaugh, 2012). In this respect, free trade is the essence of international trade. National competitive advantage is a critical factor in the international trade environment (Reuvid Sherlock, 2011). The use of resources, technology development, availability of infrastructure, and industry growth affect the ability of any given state to compete at the global level. By embracing free trade, partners in trade capitalize on their competitiveness and subsequently import or export products and services throughout the world. Moreover, unre gulated access to markets and market information encourages the proliferation of free trade (Wessel Davis, 2007). Trade agreements between free trade partners provide a fair environment within which participants have unrestricted export-import movements. Free trade sees the abolishment of import tariffs, thus making the movement of exports and imports easier. We will write a custom essay sample on Free International Trade System or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/page When free trade finally reached the scope of poor countries, Bangladesh was seemingly on the losing end. However, this country would prove that free trade did more good than harm. Following the successful implementation of free trade principles in Bangladesh, the country s textile industry hit an all-time high in terms of export revenues (Daniels, Radebaugh, Sullivan, 2012).