Causes For The Fall of the Roman Empire :: The Fall of the Roman Empire

What major events led to the eventual decline and fall of the Roman Empire? Categorized between internal and external factors with broad reasoning, doesn’t lend itself to just a few events as the cause for the actual fall. From the internal factors: socio-economic problems and political corruption with the emperors and senate with their selfish, indulgence lifestyles with gladiator games being a major expense from the coffers, moral decline impacted the richest Romans with immorality, various outlandish sexual behaviors, gambling on most any activities and public lewd/sexual acts in the Colosseum. Education became only for the rich and usually only males. The basic standards of ethics and values were lost with total disregard of human and animal life, cheap slave labor lead to major unemployment for the working class plebeians that stressed the continued divide from the rich patricians. From the external factors: Constant wars and heavy military spending, the great Roman army was excessively expensive, over-stretched trying to keep the experienced warriors, recruiting more and more soldiers then turning to hiring mercenaries and barbarians. With the adding of more soldiers from conquered lands, those barbarians became more like Romans after a short time and less able to fight other barbarians from other countries as a result. With the army stretched thin at all the borders, when an issue grew it could become overwhelming quickly as with the Visogoths, once they were allowed to settle on the south side of the Danube, poverty living conditions and starvation led them to attack, then move to sack the city of Rome. Then there were the natural disasters such as famine, earthquakes and plagues. With influx of barbarians and many newcomers from over-run countries, the manifestation of serious sickness, transferring of plagues and lack of consistent medical care perpetu ated all natural disasters many times over.

Halliburton Essay

One of the most important functions for any organization to succeed in any particular direction is planning. Planning is an activity that enables companies and their employees to understand the company’s purpose and its strategic direction so that they can align themselves to it. This paper will discuss the importance of planning at Halliburton Company and analyze the extent to which it impacts the legal, ethical and CSR issues in the organization. Furthermore, it will discuss three factors that have an influence on the company’s strategic, tactical, operational and contingency planning. Halliburton Company was established in 1919 in Houston, Texas with a second headquarter in Dubai, UAE. Currently employing over 50,000 people, it is a huge multinational and global leader in the energy services sector operating in more than 70 countries. Using its technological edge in its operations and assistance from its world-class human resource, Halliburton has demonstrated outstanding growth and development in the energy sector over the past several decades. Its focus on innovation dates back to its early years when its founder, Erle P. Halliburton initiated his oil well cementing business by building a wooden mixing box only by hiring a wagon, a team of mules and a pump in Oklahoma. Careful planning and effective strategies have enabled Halliburton to remain as the market leader in the energy sector for almost a century now. Its planning strategies are comprehensive, focused on global changes and follow the â€Å"Think globally, act locally† theme. Halliburton management realizes the fact that for global survival it is essential to adopt different methodologies in different countries. For this purpose, it operates from 2 headquarters – Texas, the oil hub of the West and Dubai, the trading hub of Asia and Europe. â€Å"The number one priority of Halliburton is to provide competitive, safe and superior quality products and services†. Halliburton management maintains that in order to ensure business continuity they must explore the unexplored parts of the world for newer energy reserves bringing in environmental concerns. Thus, there are several instances when Corporate Social Responsibility and other issues have an impact on the planning of Halliburton and its strategy planning. There are often differences in the legal framework of different countries, for example, the British and American laws pertaining to environmental exploration have different clauses. This results in differences in the local planning of future steps to be taken by Halliburton in maintaining its market position and extending its operations. Ethics also play a key role in shaping up its policies and plans for the future. Environmental concerns, consideration for animal and plant wildlife are some of the factors the Halliburton management takes into account when planning its activities. For example, if oil exploration in the Sahara will result in extinction of the sub-Saharan tigers living in the region, the company will develop an alternative plan. Global companies as large as Halliburton have to manage their activities and operations collaboratively; sometimes the ethical and legal frameworks of adjacent countries can render certain actions legal in one nation and illegal in another nation. Thus corporate planning is a very extensive process at Halliburton which involves considerable amount of consideration given to regional subsidies of the company. Though corporate social responsibility and legal issues dominate the effect on the planning activities of Halliburton, ethical considerations also sometimes require plans to be modified. For example, Halliburton’s operations in Saudi Arabia have to be controlled differently than its operations in the US. The ethics standards and beliefs in the two countries are different and regulate different practices. For instance, daytime operations during the fasting season where the temperature is very high is not restricted by law. Even the workers may be willing to work, but ethics and moral standards suggest that Halliburton operations should be continued at night during those days. There are several factors which affect the course of action of companies. Often we see changes in the stock market leading to important strategic planning changes in companies. However, most of these are short-term plans and do not affect the vision of the company by a significant degree. Some of the most important factors which have a contribution towards the company’s strategic, tactical, operational, and contingency planning are as follows: Potential Energy Reserves: Halliburton thrives on its energy reserves and constant exploration of newer energy sites. Its strategic and international planning is based upon the potential energy reserves of a region. A region where there are high energy reserves would naturally be an area for long-term planning for Halliburton management while a exit strategy may be prepared for a dried up site in Japan. Its strategy is the key to business continuity and profits and thus takes into account the future business that can be generated from a particular region. Taxation and Corporate Laws: The reason why Nevada is the registered as the corporate head office of thousands of companies is because of its tax-friendly laws. Halliburton’s expansion and acquisition strategies are dependent on the corporate taxation and regulations that are enforceable in a particular state or country. These laws influence to a great degree the company’s operational and contingency panning as well. Avoiding over-taxation requires careful hindsight in operational and acquisition activities. Companies like Halliburton need to have effective planning strategies in order to save huge amounts in taxation and legal fees. Culture: The culture of Texas may be very oil-friendly however, that may not be the case in Brazil. The differences in culture, customs and therefore the code of ethics is important for Halliburton to realize and respect. Companies not caring about these factors often face problems in the long-term. Nike could not stop the sweatshop crisis news from coming into the media which caused hundreds of thousands of dollars loss to the company and several protests were lodged against the company till it finally winded up its operations. Halliburton’s planning should take into account the resident cultural practices and base its plan according to them – violation of local culture is often taken very strongly by the people and is revoked at some point or the other.

Theme Of Harrison Bergeron - 806 Words

Ever thought about everybody being equal? In the story, â€Å"Harrison Bergeron† by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. is about a family who had to have at least one handicap on them, only because they were smart, looked good, or even athletic. The setting takes place in the future of 2081. Therefore their government was ruling everybodys life and body. Only because they were in one way superior from other people. They would also harm the people physically and mentally one is they would have the athletics wear like a fifty pound weight and overly intelligent would wear a handicap that would affect them to slow their brain. His thoughts fled in panic, like bandits from a burglar alarm.†That is only one of many handicaps that they would put on people because†¦show more content†¦This connects to the theme because it is showing that he does not give up on the way he is. ` In the middle, afterwards they were in the living room watching tv when a buzzer had hitting Georges head and caused him to forget what he was doing or seeing. Then George and Hazel were talking and Hazel said something like if she was the handicapper General she would try to get their son back.Not to mention when they were watching they saw and heard that their son had escaped jail. In addition, Harrison when to the ballerinas Stadium and the ballerinas had to wear heavy weights because they were better dancers than normal people are. A evidence that supports my theme ¨Harrison plucked the mental handicap from her ear, snapped off her physical handicaps with marvelous delicacy. Last of all he removed her mask ¨. That supports my theme because its showing that Harrison does not care that he is overly intelligent or athletic he wants to be him without being hurt physically. He just wants for everyone to be with him that hurting innocent people only because they want people for al l to be equality All due to the 211th,212th and 213 amendment. He is trying to make other people realize that they should not wear the devices that hurts them in many ways. Lastly, Harrison was on live tv and he started to command stuff and one important thing he knew that the Handicapper General was there Diana Moon Glampers . Harrison started to dance with one of theShow MoreRelatedHarrison Bergeron Theme Essay852 Words   |  4 PagesKurt Vonnegut’s unique story â€Å"Harrison Bergeron,† displays a theme which is a warning about the dangers of equality, which is equality is a hindrance to an individual’s success and society’s success, but this hindrance is ironically, unequal. In the story, Harrison and his bride are arrested for their unwillingness and inability to stay within the bounds of equality enforced by the Handicapper General. Equality hinders the success of an individual like the weights hinder the beauty and grace of theRead MoreHarrison Bergeron Essay Theme862 Words   |  4 PagesHarrison Bergeron Essay The year is 2081, and Harrison Bergeron is a boy living in a society where all the people must be equal. The government is brainwashing everyone to believe that’s true, but Harrison sees what’s really happening. He is one of the smartest people in the society, but thats what gets him into trouble. Because he is so smart the government believes he wants to overthrow them. They take him away from home and put him in jail. The theme I pulled out of this story is one that weRead MoreTheme Analysis : Harrison Bergeron907 Words   |  4 PagesPeggy S. Little Professor LaGuerre ENC1102 18 September, 2016 Theme Analysis: Harrison Bergeron In the literary piece â€Å"Harrison Bergeron† by Kurt Vonnegut, we enter a futuristic dystopian society in which all citizens have been forced into equality by a government that rules with corrupt omnipotence. From the very beginning of his hauntingly prophetic tale, Vonnegut lures us in by revealing what our society has devolved into at the hands of the wrong system in power. In the name of equality, theRead MoreTheme Of Literary Devices In Harrison Bergeron1116 Words   |  5 PagesESSAY TITLE Literary devices will be a primary source used to compare and contrast the narrative and stylistic choices made in the short story, â€Å"Harrison Bergeron† by Kurt Vonnegut, and the film 2081 directed by Chandler Tuttle. In the film the director is able to express visuals, sounds, and physical characters, to establish a firm idea of how the characters within the story act and feel based on their surroundings and what is happening around them. However, an Author in a short story is reliantRead MoreThemes of Hope in The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut1095 Words   |  4 Pagesit our life is directionless. 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However this Socialism relates to the equality of results as appose to equality of results. Vonnegut paintsRead MoreAnalysis Of Kurt Vonnegut s Harrison Bergeron 1322 Words   |  6 PagesKurt Vonnegut, Jr.’s short story â€Å"Harrison Bergeron.† Harrison, a brilliant and strong 14 year old boy, decides he doesn’t want to follow the government s rules anymore. He sets out to overthrow the government, knowing he may not succeed. Throughout the story Vonnegut expresses the theme that standing up for what you believe in despite the dangers is the morally righteous and necessary thing to do. A major theme in Kurt Vonnegut, Jr’s short story, â€Å"Harrison Bergeron,† is that standing up for whatRead MoreDystopian Society In Kurt Vonneguts Anthem And Harrison Bergeron1050 Words   |  5 Pagesthe two short stories â€Å"Anthem† and â€Å"Harrison Bergeron† the two main characters make a statement by showing it’s possible to break out of the controlling system, standing up and believing in themselves and individualism, and letting the world know about the greatness within one’s self. â€Å"Harrison Bergeron† is a short story written by Kurt Vonnegut. It is about a man named Harrison who got taken away from his parents at a young age because of his uniqueness. Harrison was thrown into prison and later escapedRead MoreThe Subject Of `` Harrison Bergeron By Kurt Vonnegut1507 Words   |  7 PagesThe subject of â€Å"Harrison Bergeron† by Kurt Vonnegut is equality. The theme of this short story is that society should make an effort to value individuality and fairness, in which everyone receives what they need to prosper, instead of universal equality. The forms used to elevate this subject and theme are point of view, syntax, characterization, irony, and humor. The point of view in â€Å"Harrison Bergeron† is third person with limited insight. The focal character is George Bergeron, the titular character’sRead MoreThe Downfalls of Egalitarianism and Television964 Words   |  4 PagesKurt Vonnegut envisioned the fatal outcome in his masterpiece, â€Å"Harrison Bergeron.† The story illustrates â€Å"what would happen if a government or some other power takes this notion serious† (Mowery). The protagonist, Harrison, who is arrest for â€Å"exuberant individuality,† escapes from prison and goes on national television station to declare himself emperor, only later to be killed by the handicap general Diane Moon. In â€Å"Harrison Bergeron,† Kurt Vonnegut satirizes the movement toward egalitarianism and