LRNA - Company Profile :: essays research papers

1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Industry History & Current Overview Since the invention of the Ford’s Model T, the modern automobile industry has been manufacturing affordable automobiles for everyone in the U.S. The age of design of cars boomed as people started to demand more customization of their cars (Model T only came black). This began the shift from manufacturing-driven automobile to a more design-driven automobile. The Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) emerged in the 1990s based on the negative image of the minivan, which was developed throughout the 1980s on a bland and purely functional platform. In 1996, the Ford Motor Company began building the Expedition, its new, full-sized SUV in Michigan. The Expedition was essentially the F-150 pickup truck (the best selling pick-up truck) with an extra set of doors and two more rows of seats. Ford marketed the SUV at a ticket price of thirty-six thousand dollars. The average cost to build these trucks was no more than twenty-four thousand dollar, and in the automobile industry, this is a high-profit margin. By the late 1990s, the SUV market has become the most profitable in the automobile industry. The move toward a more aggressively styled and higher riding vehicles have caused unintended consequences and risks. The risks include decreased â€Å"drivability†, obstruction of vision, and concerns surrounding safety. Current trends in vehicle design focus on addressing these problems to achieve appealing designs with the best qualities of both cars and trucks, as seen in all the new designs from the Land Rover. 2004 will be remembered as a pivotal year in the automobile industry. It was a year in which high gasoline prices started a sea change among U.S. consumers that will finally create significant demand for fuel-efficient vehicles. Gasoline prices of $2.00+ per gallon started taking a huge bite out of family budgets, and many middle-class consumers who own fuel guzzling SUVs and pickup trucks began to wish they had vehicles that were much less expensive to operate. Demand for hybrid cars (ie. Toyota Prius) was so high that many customers had to wait six months or longer to get there car. Other carmakers, including Ford and GM, saw the opportunity and introduced their own brand of hybrid vehicles to market. Ford launched its first hybrid: a small SUV. Other fuel-efficient vehicles, such as BMW’s MINI Cooper, also enjoyed soaring demand. Meanwhile, sales of heavy SUVs lagged miserably, and automakers such as Chevy, Hummer and Cadillac offered unprecedented dealer incentives and rebates in an effort to move these vehicles, Land Rover Range Rover has increased due to efficient newly designed models as shown from the stats below.

Disparity and Discrimination Essay

Statistics continue to reflect issues of disparity and discrimination within the American criminal justice system. The issues that affect the enforcement of laws and government policy can result in justice for the safety of society and/or justice that will single out members of society. With the diverse population living in the United States, stereotypical judgments and attitudes can influence and possibly overwhelm the direction of the criminal justice system. The American system of criminal justice is thought to include equal rights, due process of law; in addition to fair and equitable treatment for all people – these ideas do not correlate to the information provided by law enforcement, court procedures and correctional facilities. Disparity is defined as, â€Å"The condition or fact of being unequal, as in age, rank, or degree† (American Heritage Dictionary, 2005). This idea whether on an individual level or communal, is something heavily affected by the difficulti es of crime. The conflict issues within members of society and the existing disparities are becoming ever more complicated by the growing immigrant and minority populations in the United States. From these disparities, the seeds of discrimination are sown. Discrimination is the act of singling out a certain individual/group for unfair treatment and has been defined as, â€Å"Treatment or consideration based on class or category rather than individual merit† (American Heritage Dictionary, 2005). Discrimination should not and cannot be tolerated in a just society, especially in its criminal justice system. There are varied causes of disparity including law enforcement emphasis on certain communities, criminal activity, policies by legislature and by criminal  justice professionals during decision making processes using broad discretion. Racial disparity in criminal justice is when â€Å"the proportion of a racial/ ethnic group within the control of the system is greater than the proportion of such groups in the general population†¦Illegitimate or unwarranted racial disparity results from the dissimilar treatment by the criminal justice system of similarly situated people based on race. In some instances this may involve ov ert racial bias, while in others it may reflect the influence of factors that are only indirectly associated with race† (The Sentencing Project, 2000, p. 1-2). The impact of racial disparity is evidenced in all levels of the criminal justice system. â€Å"Statistics show that more than one-fourth of all black males and 16 percent of Latinos can expect to spend time in prison during their lifetime, while only 4 percent of white males ever go to prison. African-Americans make up 12 percent of the U.S. population, but they compose about half of all prison inmates and 40 percent of those sentenced to death. Even more startling, a third of all African-American males aged 20-29 are right now either locked up, on probation, or on parole† (Brown, 2006). Interpretations of the crime data can vary based on its source and these variations call into question whether the disparities come from racism within the criminal justice system or other factors. There are those that believe racial disparity results directly from discrimination and is a violation of equal justice. It is often that disparities have a collective effect; for example, biased inf luences at one stage could contribute to an increase of disparities in the following stages. One illustration given by The Sentencing Project stated that if bail practices resulted in minorities with similar situations being detained before trial in greater occurrences that whites, these minorities will also be disadvantaged during trial and sentencing due to less access to defense counsel, community resources and treatment options (The Sentencing Project, 2000. p3). Another alarming trend is the use of capitol punishment practiced in cases of black offenders v. white victims. Disparities are a simple fact of our ever shrinking world as we continue to come into contact with multiple peoples from all over, especially in the United States. While these disparities can often lead to discrimination; the reverse can also be true. Society must realize that both of these issues affect decisions resulting from conflicted notions from its members.  Within the criminal justice system discretion should be used cautiously and provide justification for such use. In many stages of the correctional process there are possibilities of discrimination due to disparities. If this situation occurs, the action would be considered biased and inconsistent with the idea of justice as it should be upheld in criminal justice proceedings. It is unfortunate that disparity is often intertwined with discrimination directed at minority groups. Additional factors that can contribute to discrimination from disparity are income level, learned skills, education and connection to society. Crime and its conviction should be based on the knowledge of what is right and wrong; not the basis that one particular group is more likely to commit that particular crime. Differences or disparities should not have to result in discrimination; however, the key lies within the education of society as a whole. References The American Heritage ® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright  © 2005, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated 2005. Brown v. Board of Education. (2006). Retrieved on May 17, 2009 from the Landmark Cases website: http://www.landmarkcases.org/brown/home.html The Sentencing Project. (October, 2000). Reducing Racial Disparity in the Criminal Justice System, A Manual for Practitioners and Policymakers. Retrieved on May 17, 2009 from The Sentencing Project website: http://www.sentencingproject.org/Admin/Documents/publications/rd_reducingrdmanual.pdf

What does Utilitarianism Has to do with a Surgeon

The guiding principle, being utilitarianism, is to act in the way which will always produce the maximum overall amount of goodness in the world. The basic purpose of morality is making the world a much better place to live in (Hinman, 2014). Morality is also about producing some good consequences and not having any kind of good intension. It also states that we should be doing whatever brings the maximum benefit (intrinsic value) to the entire humanity. Case: rule utilitarian vs. act utilitarian The case under study is of the surgeon who has to decide killing of a normal, but unjust person for the sake of saving five sick people. An act utilitarian in this case would be considering every probable†¦show more content†¦Opposition to transplant In addition, most of the observers intuitively say it is utterly wrong. Hence, a challenge is eventually posed to the utilitarian, as it mostly seems to go on without even saying that the transplant would be an act of greatest utility mainly for the cost of one’s life as well as the surgeon’s time, as five other people could also be saved (Degrees of clarity, n.d.). Considering the situation, then it will result into a one-to-five cost-to-advantage ratio, which is not just preponderance, but only weightily so. Here it is important to discuss about Foot’s views as he avoids the problem by saying that the doctrine of doing as well as allowing draws more moral distinction specifically between the actions which we wilfully execute and also the ones we which we allow to take place. In this case, it can be said that it is morally sound to let all the five men die as killing the sixth man would be actually a murder. On the contrary, doing nothing, while being unfortunate, seems very much justified due to the fact that we can do nothing on our own but just let it happen on its own. At this point, a better means to explain the transplant case is required, and for that, preferably we will only use the fundamental tenets associated to utilitarianism. One of the major solutions for this case will be simply ignoring the intuitive answers and to assert that an operation for transplant will indeed be a moralShow MoreRelatedObjections to Utilitarianism1467 Words   |  6 Pages SECTION (1) INTRODUCTION We noted, last week, that UTILITARIANISM is a version of CONSEQUENTIALISM in that it holds that the RIGHT action (in any given situation) is the action WHICH HAS THE WHICH HAS THE BEST CONSEQUENCES; CONSEQUENTIALIST ethical theories may be contrasted with DEONTOLOGICAL – or Read MoreThe Trolley Problem1420 Words   |  6 PagesTrolley Driver, Bystander at the Switch, Fat Man, Transplant, Hospital scenarios discussed in the The Trolley Problem reading. In doing so, address what the ethical issue(s) are in each of these scenarios. The trolley problem can be expanded to discuss a number of related ethical dilemmas, all referring to the conflicts inherent in utilitarianism and consequentialist ethics. 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More specifically , Utilitarianism is a form of consequentialism, holding that the right act is that which yields the greatest net utility, or the total amount of pleasure minus the total amount of pain, for all individuals affected by said act (JoyceRead MoreMr. Wright s The Unnecessary Surgery1301 Words   |  6 PagesIn life everyone seeks out what will give them the most happiness. To be able to get the happiness that we seek in life, we often think of our own self-interest. According to Shafer-Landau (2010), â€Å"Psychological egoism, which tells us that there is only one thing that motivates human beings: self-interest,† (p86). To achieve this happiness we rely on our own desires, what makes us feel good, or we do as much good as we can to achieve our own version of happiness. In the case of the unnecessary surgeryRead MoreEssay on The Parable of the Sadhu by Bowen H. McCoy1072 Words   |  5 Pagessee and often worry about. What will happen when another â€Å"defining moment† surfaces? â€Å"I took a carotid pulse and found that the sadhu was still alive†¦. It was fruitless to question why he had chosen this desperately high route instead of the safe, heavily traveled caravan†¦. Or why he was shoeless and almost naked, or how long he had been lying in the pass. The answers weren’t going to solve our problem.† Bowen McCoy did what any compassionate and humane person would do; he ‘attempted’ to help someoneRead MoreThe Ethics, Utilitarianism And Deontology1891 Words   |  8 PagesIn this assignment I am going to using my class notes and hand outs to describe what ethics, utilitarianism and deontology is. I will then be explaining the arguments between organ donation and transplantation. Lastly I will be identifying the rights of individual patients the responsibilities they have. 1.1 Ethics are moral principles that affect how people make decisions and live their lives. Ethics focuses on what is the good for individuals and society. Ethics are involved in how to live a good