Society, Ethics and Technology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Society, Ethics and Technology - Essay Example Reference will also be made from other sources to expound on the concept. Why does Cowan believe it is important to examine technologies in the context of technological systems? What advantage does this broader perspective give to planners? Give a specific current technological example (not it the reading) in support of your answer. Technological concepts cannot be understood clearly without a determined focus on technological systems. The knowledge includes an understanding of the input, output, transformation, control and interdependency to other systems (Winston and Edelbach, 2012). Technological systems have led to increased levels of productivity at all sectors of the economy leading to changes in lifestyles. The improvement in technological systems has led to globalization, with people becoming more reliant and interdependent on one another than ever before. Technological systems are the perfect indicators of advancement in technology for any nation. For instance, although the American industrialization began in the early 1780’s, the instability of its technological system was hampered by the civil war. This delayed the attainment of the status of an industrialized nation until the end of the civil war. ... The improvement in living and working conditions is caused by the presence of advanced technology. Some of the current technological systems include the electric, telephone and petroleum systems. Examining technology in the context of technological systems enables the planners to identify those areas of human life that require technological advancement, and thus design the most effective and efficient system for improvement. The aspects of human culture that conflict with technological advancement can also be aligned for a beneficial coexistence. An example of the impact of recent technological systems on technology is the improvement in the medical technology that has witnessed the use of advanced technologies such as kidney dialysis machines that have enhanced the efficiency of intravenous therapy. Landes argues that there were cultural differences between the East and Middle East and the West that affected the development and application of some technologies such as the clock. Did these differences also affect the way these cultures approached information technologies such as the printing press? Can you make a comparison with the different approaches taken by Eastern and Middle Eastern and Western cultures today and current information technologies? The cultural diversity that characterized the East, Middle East and the West led to the modification of the individual technologies to suit societal demand. The Chinese cultural language is written in ideographs and does not submit itself to the current changes in the language patterns. This explains the increased popularity of full page block printing among the Chinese, contrary to movable type that is more preferred by the West (Winston and Edelbach, 2012, pp.

Leadership and Management Development at Jaguar Land Rover Essay

Leadership and Management Development at Jaguar Land Rover - Essay Example In this regard, the essay intends to provide a discussion about the leadership as well as management development programme of Jaguar Land Rover. The company is a British transnational organisation functioning in the automobile industry. It is a subsidiary company belonging to Tata Motors of India. In addition, a detailed SWOT analysis about the company’s leadership and management development programme will be studied (John Wiley & Sons, 2009). In this case study, the discussion would aim to find out the root causes for which the company may face difficulties in the future. Certain recommendations for making necessary changes in the management as well the leadership programmes that the company can adopt in order to see a better tomorrow will also be provided. Benefits of Leadership and Management Development Programme In order to comprehend the varied inherent aspects about leadership and management development programme, it is very important to determine the actual meaning of leadership and management. ... With proper development of leadership and management there are many benefits that can be attained in business. In this regard, a report by CMI-Penna, which was prepared along with a collaboration of Henley Business School and which considered the findings of around 4500 managers, including more than 800 higher level managers of numerous companies can be highlighted. This report was created which proved to be a very important tool for management and leadership development. This report proved to be very fruitful because it showed different evidences about the benefits of leadership and management development activities in different companies. It also showed about its contribution in increasing 32% if the performance of the people and 23% augmentation in the overall performance of the organisation. Also, proper training on leadership development can bring superior organisational results which prove to be the return on investment (ROI) for a company. For example, those companies which ar e exercising more leadership development programmes seem to be listed in the Fortune magazine and come under the most recognised companies list 1.5 times more than other companies (McBain & et. al., 2012: Kincaid & Gordick, 2003) Leadership and Management Development at Jaguar Land Rover Leadership in Jaguar Land Rover is considered as a prerogative of Tata Motors, after the ownership was taken by Tata Group. The company has established different leadership policies to follow at different levels of management. These programmes were developed to bring out great business leaders with dynamism and also for boosting the high performance of the employees. These programmes were also meant to boost proper organisational results with exceptionable leadership along with facilitating in

Does the internationalisation process model explain the Essay

Does the internationalisation process model explain the internationalization strategy of Lenovo In your view what are the succe - Essay Example Outward investment also includes mergers and acquisitions and it is observed that ODI is steadily increasing due to the increasing productivity of the organizations. However, it has been observed that only productive companies can invest in foreign country operation facilities. There is a huge difference in the steadiness and competitiveness of the companies, which results in different productive indigenousness in the host countries. The study will deal with the various outwards opportunities faced by the Chinese organizations in the last two decades from the developing and developed countries. The recent evolution procedure in internationalization process has helped in the significant growth in the outward foreign direct investment. The developed countries are the main source of ODI for the developing economies, which is increasing steadily. It has been observed that China has been the leading source of ODI since the 1990’s and it has also helped in cross border investment fa cilities through the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) (Vox, 2008). It has been observed that among all the developing economies, China is one of the highest outward investor and the ratio of outward China has been 17 percent. China earns most of its ODI earnings from its manufacturing operations overseas, joint venture mining activities and also by setting up increasing sales office in the overseas operations (Ning, Lane and Sutherland, 2010). The Uppsala Internationalization Process Model As per authors Johanson & Wiedersheim (1977 cited in Ning, Lane and Sutherland, 2010) the internationalization is an incremental process, which involves no regular export activities, export through independent representatives, production and sales subsidiary. These authors developed a theoretical model regarding the internationalization process model. The internationalization process model focused on the development of the individual business organization and the gradual acquisition, integration of activities and the utilization of the operational facilities for overseas expansion. The basic fundamental aspect of the organization is that lack of understanding of the knowledge, which is an important obstacle in the development of the international operational facilities. These need to be acquired through necessary knowledge about the foreign markets, which can lower the perceived risks and the transaction costs and increase the commitment to the foreign markets (Lou and Tung, 2007).The market knowledge and the commitment will affect both the managerial and commitment decisions. It is assumed in the model that the organization strives to keep the risk taking decisions at lower level. The internationalization model assumes that the state of globalization or internationalization affects the perceived opportunities and the risks, which in turn have the potentiality of influencing the commitment decisions. The model describes the various operational phases especially at the multi s tage level. In the first stage the organization’s engagement in a particular country develops according to the chain; the chain involves established market pattern of a particular company (Sauvant, Maschek and McAllister, 2009). In the second stage, the organization enters the developed economy with a psychic distance (Environment.fi, 2012). Although, there are various restrictions regarding the internationalization model which is consistent among the different actors. These elements between the actors can only be judged an

How can I come professional in safety major Essay

How can I come professional in safety major - Essay Example Due to time and geographic constraints, not all students can enroll for on-campus programs. In this regard, some colleges and universities conduct their coursework on line. It is also possible for one to be a safety professional by taking a certificate course in occupational safety. A certificate program in most cases lasts for few months. Within that period, practitioners are prepared to undertake national certification exams for example the Board of Certified Safety Professionals. Even though a certificate in safety is limited in terms of courses, it gives basic safety skills such as regulations, prevention of accidents, safety policies among others (Jeroen et al 17). An individual who want to be a safety personnel can also undertake an associate degree in occupational safety. This course gives imperative training that prepares students to enter well paying job. Being focused at developing students on communication skills, handling safety equipments and detection of hazards, associ ate degree in occupational safety prepares the graduates to work as junior safety practitioners or pre-service. By working for some time in any of these posts, an individual is able to acquire relevant skills that make him or her to be promoted to senior position in the safety department. Taking a minimum of 65 credit hours, associate degree in occupational safety takes a minimum of 2 years to complete.An individual who aims at attaining appropriate qualification in safety should undertake a Bachelor of Science in Occupational Safety. Key aspects that are covered by this program includes fundamental course in safety, upper-division specialists and an internship at the end of training. As compared to an associate degree, coursework undertaken by students in Bachelor degree is usually extensive and more involving. Consequently, individuals with a bachelor’s degree in occupational safety have extensive knowledge that exposes them to more job opportunities. Being a course that is offered by majority of universities in the world, Bachelors degree in safety provides relevant skills to individuals. Some of the major areas that are covered by bachelor's degrees in occupational safety includes writing skills, health and social theory, oral presentations, management and leadership skills among others. Employees or individuals who are focused at improving their skills in safety but have no access to on-campus program can take online Bachelor’s degrees in occupational safety. It is vital to note that based on their flexibility, on line courses have turned to be major opportunity that employees can take to improve their safety skills thus becoming eligible for promotion (Charles and Mortimer 36)

Micro and macro economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Micro and macro economics - Essay Example A rosy business environment means that merger forecasts indicated that the combined company will be able to create a profitable synergy. The synergy included combining the marketing and management strategies of both companies. Since the two companies were economically profitable prior to the January 2001 merger, all business predictors expected that the combined company will be able to generate additional revenues that will surpass the combined revenues and profits of each of the two merger companies combined (Lipsey, 2007). In fact, the merger was a huge projected gamble at $348 million investment money on the line. Both America Online’s founder, Stephen Case, and Time Warner’s chief executive, Gerald Levin, had very high hopes that the merger will bring more revenues and profits to the new giant company, the merged entity cropping up from the two companies. The merger was expected to generate an equal share in the shareholders’ dividends. The board of directors of each of the two combining companies was expected to vote equally on all business decisions of the combined company (Hoskisson, 2005). Question 2 Both companies had similar motives for ensuring the success of the merger. Time Warner entered the merger in order to enhance its benefits from both the supply equation and demand equation (Microeconomics). Similarly, America Online entered the merger in order to enhance its present benefits from both the supply equation and demand equation (Hirschey, 2005). Additionally, Time Warner joined the merger to enhance the company’s macroeconomic environment. The company’s macroeconomic goals included improving its total economic activity, especially in the area of growth. The company’s other macroeconomic goals included the successful resolution of the obstacles of inflation. Further, the company’s macroeconomic goals included contributing to the reduction of the nation’s unemployment rate (Hall, 1997). Simi larly, America Online vigorously entered the merger in order to enhance the company’s macroeconomic environment on January 10, 2000. The company’s macroeconomic goals included improving its total economic activity, especially in the area of growth (Tucker, 1997). The company’s other macroeconomic goals included the successful resolution of the obstacles of inflation (Khoury, 2003). Further, the macroeconomic goals of Time Warner and America Online are geared towards contributing to the improvement of the nation’s economy. The nation’s economic indicators include gross domestic production. The nation’s economic indicators include international trade. The merged company’s global market included clients from outside the United States. The merger between Time Warner and America Online occurred on January 2000. The merger was considered as one of the largest merger s in United States history. The merger involved an estimated $348 million. America Online’s founder, Stephen Case, was proud with the merger. Likewise, Time Warner’s chief executive, Gerald Levin, felt that America Online’s formidable internet presence would catapult America online to greater financial profit heights (Hoskisson, 2005). After the merger was consummated, the new merger focused on reducing the number of redundant employees. With the retrenchment, the number of unemployed United States citizens ballooned to unfavorable macroeconomic levels. Today the combined value of the two companies, Time Warner and

Reflective Statement Essay Example for Free

Reflective Statement Essay For this module, we are required to do an assignment with regards of SME company. The purpose of writing the report is to analyze the key internal issues the management is likely to face when strategizing their marketing formula. Besides, we are also required to provide a practical recommendation for the company. For this project, the class was divided into 3 groups and each group consists of 3 members. My group members are Miss Tai Geok Yeong and Miss Sharanya. Discussions among group members were held 4 times, on the 29th October, 2nd November, 4th November and 6th November, respectively. Besides of our normal eeting in college, the discussions also were held through the MSN chat and email. Each of our group members was allocated with task and although conflicts arise during the discussion, we still managed to solve the problem. In my opinion, conflict in a group is not necessarily bad and we use several of techniques in order to resolve conflicts like compromising and exercises work delegation. Throughout completing the task CareKoolTint Sdn Bhd, I have gained lots of new information about SME and the company. In order to get more facts about the company, we held an interview with one of their sales representatives on 2nd November 2009. From the 1 hour interview, we managed to gather the information needed for this project, which for example are, their current marketing strategies and the companys internal issues. One important lesson I learnt from the interview is that, even though small firms is not properly structured, it does not mean that SMEs do not engage in marketing. It is only that, they are doing marketing according to their own terms and not according to a theoretical framework. Other than interviewing the sales representatives, my group and I also did a research based from their websites and also by reading books. It is important so that e will have a broader view on the business environment and help us to write the task more accurately. In order to complete the task, I read Marketing and Entrepreneurship in SMEs, Principles of Marketing by Philip Kotler and Fundamentals of Management to have a better understanding about SME and its management as well as several websites related to the topic which for example SME Info Portal. This whole process, I believe has improved both my knowledge and skills. I learnt how to work with others as a team, it taught me how to compromise as I need to be open in accepting other people ideas or opinion and also in handling conflicts. In addition to that, basically, I am more knowledgeable on this topic. From the research, I discovered various type of SME in Malaysia which can classified under 3 category that are Primary Agriculture, Manufacturing (including Agro-Based) ; MRS, Services Sector (including CT) . Furthermore, I am also more aware on characteristics needed to be an entrepreneur, and one essential trait they must have is to be a risk taker. This is important as SME business environment is very uncertain and whenever they make a wrong decision, it may affect their business as a whole.

The death penalty debate

The death penalty debate Death penalty has been an issue of controversy and debate for ages and one comes across a large number of arguments for and against capital punishment system. Capital punishments were prevalent at one stage or other in the developmental history of many nations and many of them have constitutionally abolished death penalty from their criminal justice systems. Advocates of death penalty in the United States argue that death penalty is the need of the time as homicides and serious offences are at an increasing rate and that the provision for capital punishment can act as the strongest corrective measure in a crime prone condition. Besides, there are many who believe that many innocent lives can be saved by providing death penalty to dreaded criminals. The retributive belief that death penalty is essential to preserve retributive justice whereby murderers get the full punishment they deserve and the utilitarian argument that death penalty deters or is necessary to incapacitate prospectiv e criminals have immensely supported capital punishments in the nation. On the other hand, the major argument against death penalty is that it is against human rights, ethics, and morality. Whatever may be the arguments for and against the practice, when it comes to implementation of a law such as capital punishment on state level, it is essential to consider the pros and cons of death penalty in the nation, the underlying reasons behind the creation of the capital punishment, the moral and ethical issues related to it, how much the implementation of it is efficient in fulfilling its purpose, and whether there are any other alternatives to achieving the same purposes as that of death penalty. The higher cost of using the capital punishment and the liabilities it causes on the states governance are also to be unearthed. In doing so the paper tries to compare and contrast capital punishment with its closest possible alternative-life imprisonment without any possibility for parole. The paper seeks to make a probe into the various aspects of capital punishment and it emphasises that capital punishment should be abolished in the United States as it does not deter other criminals, as there is the increased risk of innocents being executed and as the cost of execution is higher than that of life imprisonment. 2 Discussion There have been a number of debates over the future of capital punishment in the United States. However, it is a fact that the opponents as well as the supporters of death penalty system are not entirely satisfied with the current system of capital punishments and the way death penalty is administered in the nation. Even a number of national opinion polls have brought about conflicting results with regard to the elimination capital punishments. This has prompted most of the politicians to take a neutral stand in this controversial issue. On the other hand, there are many who favour life time imprisonment without any chance of parole to death sentencing. In fact, the abolitionists have played a pivotal role in educating the public of the laws regarding life in prison without parole whereby they seek to convince people that such murderers will never be released or allowed to commit further deadly crimes (Marzilli 2008, p. 94). They also argue that United States should follow the exampl e set by other Western industrialized nations in abolishing capital punishment. There are also many who hold that gun control, drug treatment, better schools, and other social programs are much more effective than the death penalty in reducing crime (Marzilli 2008, p. 96). Similarly, one should also bear in mind that there are several nations that have brought down crime rates even after abolishing death sentence. Abolition of Capital Punishments: Pros and Cons: It is essential to consider the advantages and disadvantages of capital punishments in the United States. Stephen B. Bright argues that death penalty is an outdated form of punishment which belonged to the primitive ages when prisons and jail systems were limited. He cites the examples of South Africa and Russia, two nations that have abolished death sentencing in the 1990s. According to him, in USA, there are many other factors like racism, poverty, improper police and prosecution practices that decide death penalty for the perpetrator, rather than the seriousness of the crime committed (Bright, 2000, p. 2). To substantiate his argument, Stephen provides a number of instances where the convicts who were sentenced for death penalty were later proved to be innocents and thus points out how the judicial system of the nation come to hasty conclusions and sentence people for capital punishments. In the same way, in most of the cases the ac cused were not given proper legal assistance and even the mentally retarded people were convicted for capital punishment. Thus, he concludes that there exists fallibility of the court system of the nation and he exhorts that the government should pay heed to the public demand to abolish death penalty from the nation. On the other hand, the supporters of the capital punishment system consider death penalty as the strongest form of deterrence and preserver of judicial retribution. Ernest van den Haag, a Professor of Jurisprudence at Fordham University, repudiates the arguments of Simon by stating that it would be a failure of the judicial system of the nation if dreaded criminals are not punished for the retribution of their crimes. According to him, the capital punishment acts as the powerful deterrent for the criminal minded people to abstain from crimes as he believes in the common sense evidence that fear of the death penalty is likely to deter many would-be criminals from committing murder (Haag 2000, p.1). Besides, he holds that sparing criminals from death penalty would pose further threat to many more innocent lives. Thus, the abolitionists argue that the change should take place not in the sentencing of death penalty but the way it is pronounced. The accused are to be provided sufficient o pportunity to prove his/her innocence irrespective of his/ her colour or financial status. No hasty decisions are to be taken during trials and only the deserving convicts are to be sentenced for death penalty. While many purport that capital punishments are aimed at deterring prospective criminals from indulging in serious criminal activities, it is quite paradoxical that death sentence in the United States are inflicted in private, leaving no scope for such deterrence. Similarly, one can also find that crime rates have not come down in those states where capital punishment prevails offering no evidence that support this deterrence perspective. Bryant (2003, p. 376) makes this clear when the author purports that even though the states are spending millions of dollars into the death penalty, one can notice no resultant reduction in crime rates in these states. In this respect, Sarat argues that capital punishments has become commonplace in America. For him, capital punishments in the states take place in the face of increasing doubts about the reliability and fairness of the capital punishment system, strong criticising from international communities (mainly from democratic nations) and in many cases the issues of the victims innocence are remaining unresolved (Sarat, 2002, p. 13). The author also argues that capital punishments only help to weaken democratic political institutions and promote revenge rather than reconciliation or social reconstruction. One can also notice that death penalty in America is disproportionately directed towards racial minorities (who murder white victims) and in many jurisdictions blacks and African Americans are subjected to capital punishments at a rate of 38 percent higher than all others (Sarat, 2002, p. 18). Innocence, Morality and death penalty: The growing support for the abolition of death penalty and subsequent priority for life imprisonment is the likelihood of innocent people being put to death. One can never undermine the possibility of wrongful conviction and execution of the innocents due to human error the fallibility and frailty of human judgement), perjured testimony and mistaken honest testimony (Hodgkinson Schabas, 2004, p. 11). A significant research conducted by Bedau, Radelet and Putnam showed that there were almost 416 cases in the United States where the wrong person had been convicted and sentenced to death; the underlying reasons for these wrongful convictions varied from perjury by prosecution witnesses, mistaken eyewitness testimony, community passion against the defendants, failure in police work to overzealous prosecution (Hodgkinson Schabas, 2004, p. 13). All this have culminated in the public demand towards the introduction of a moratorium on executions where by a commission would decide whether it is fair to administer death penalty on the convicted. The Death penalty Information Centre (2002) observes that even though the Federal Government has undertaken great radical measures to minimise the chances of innocent people being executed, it has been identified that almost 102 persons have been released from death rows in various states based on evidence of their innocence since 1973 (Bryant 2003, p. 376) and all these evidences call for the need to abolish capital punishment in the nation. Thus, it can be seen that even though the most significant argument against administering death penalty is the possibility of innocent people being executed, the ethical and human rights issues related to capital system also need to be addressed. Many social scientists, theologians and legal experts explain that capital punishment is morally wrong, and thus should be abolished and replaced with more humane but adequate criminal penalties. Simultaneously, social activists and right protection organizations called for a moratorium on death penalty until the American judicial system achieves an acceptable degree of accuracy and ensures highest levels of fairness in capital punishment processes. The ethical concerns with regard to capital punishment system consider it as a way of taking revenge on the perpetrators whereas morality stresses on mercy, compassion and forgiveness. Similarly, the proponents of human rights theories argue that the government does not have the right to take the life of anyone and that the value of life is to be acknowledged. Similarly, there are many who hold that the methods of execution used by the judicial system are cruel and inhumane. History of Capital Punishment in America: Ever since the end of the Second World War one can notice a considerable decline in the rate of capital punishments in the United States. Hood (2002) offers a clear cut statistics of the number of capital punishments in the United States in various decades. During the 1930s the number of people executed in the nation was 1,670; in the 1940s it was brought down to 1,288 and in the 1950s to 717. The number of people executed in the nation was only 21 in 1963, 15 in 1964 and just 2 in 1967. The Supreme Courts verdict in 1972 that ruled all death penalty as unconstitutional as it was being applied in an arbitrary, capricious and discriminatory manner against the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments of the constitution in Furman v. Georgia case proved to be a landmark in the history of the criminal judicial system of the nation (Hood, 2002, p. 63). This prompted many of the states to redraft their statutes and frame new capital statutes which were rul ed as constitutional by the Supreme Court in Gregg v. Georgia and many other cases towards 1976. Since then, there have been debates over whether capital punishments are to be abolished or not. While those states that uphold capital punishments for their deterrence effect on prospective criminals, there are 13 jurisdictions in the United States that have abolished capital punishments. In the 1970s there was an increasing public demand to reinstate capital punishments and this paved the way for new mandatory statutes regarding death penalty. Killing a police officer, murder-for-hire, multiple murder, and murder by a life-sentenced inmate became more likely to be followed by death penalties under these new mandatory statutes (Petrezselyem, 2008, p. 15). However, factors such as mental impairment, emotional disturbance and juvenile delinquency were also taken into account in such mandatory capital punishment cases. Even though the abolitionists argued that capital punishment in its ver y nature is cruel and unusual as per the Eighth Amendment of the constitution, the US Supreme court announced its decision on July 2, 1976 in favour of the supporters. However, the mandatory death penalty sentencing was rejected by the Supreme Court as it fails to take into such factors as individual circumstances that led to the crime. In 1971, the Supreme Court ruled in the Coker v. Georgia case that it was unconstitutional to provide death penalty for rape cases. However, The Violent Control Act of 1994 made capital punishment a discretionary penalty for offences other than murder cases. However, towards the last decade of the 20th century there was an increased difference of opinion on the legitimacy of capital punishment among the juries in the Supreme Court as well as the common public which led to controversies and debates over the abolition of capital punishment in the nation. Similarly, public opinion also has varied from time to time in public polls with regard to the abol ition of capital punishments. The methods of execution in the United States vary from lethal injection, electrocution, gas chamber, hanging to firing squad; the statistics on execution in the United States since 1976 show that there were 654 executions through lethal injection whereas there were only 10 executions by electrocution, 11 by gas chamber, 3 by hanging and two via firing squad (Bryant 2003, p. 370). Abolitionists argue the death penalty is cruel and inhumane primarily because of the methods used. The pictures of the old and newly renovated San Quentin Prison Death Chambers are given below: Capital Punishment and its Cost: One needs to consider the huge amount of money spent on capital punishments and studies have shown that the cost of death penalty is much higher compared to other forms of punishment. In this respect Mandery (2005) observes that the increasing costs of capital punishment are actually making America less safe and that it has put the nation at the danger of economic and financial liabilities. The author observes that the state of California which had little money for innovations like community policing is spending an extra $90 million per year on capital punishment whereas Texas, which spends on capital punishment an estimated $2.3 million per case has the highest murder rate in the nation (Mandery, 2005, p. 116). These statistics clearly demonstrate that there exists no cost-benefit analysis for the huge sums of money spend on administering death penalty. It is also imperative to compare the cost of capital punishment with that of life imprisonment without parole and researches have shown that death penalty is much more expensive than its closest alternative-life imprisonment with no parole. As Mandery observes, Capital trials are longer and more expensive at every step than other murder trials. Pre-trial motions, expert witness investigations, jury selection, and the necessity for two trials-one on guilt and one on sentencing-make capital cases extremely costly, even before the appeals process begins (Mandery, 2005, p. 116). One can also see that many of the capital punishments end up in life imprisonment even though the government needs to spend huge amount of money for the prosecution and trials. A comparative and contrastive analysis of the cost of death penalty and life imprisonment without parole shows that the death penalty is actually two or three times more expensive than that of life imprisonment. Barkan Bryjak put it, capi tal cases are extremely time-consuming costly than life imprisonment procedures as they involve various procedures at the pre-trial and trial stages unlike non-capital cases; similarly, appeals following conviction also become mandatory, time-consuming and costly in capital cases (Barkan Bryjak 2010, p. 447). All these prove that the federal and state governments can benefit a lot from the abolition of capital punishment and the huge amount of money spend on death capital cases can be used for the effective prevention of crimes such as the employment of community policing. Capital punishments are also causing financial burden to the local governments and various counties. Very often, the county governments become responsible for the costs of prosecution, appeals for defending the poor convicts, and in their criminal trials. The far reaching effects of this increasing cost for capital punishment for the nation are many and varied. The large sum of money spend on death penalty not only is reflected in the shrinking budget for crime prevention but also in other developmental and health care projects. Similarly, these costs of capital punishment pose great financial trouble to the tax payers also. Mandery, in this respect, observes that in Texas taxpayers need to pay an average of $ 2.3 million towards death penalty case costs which is about three times the cost of imprisoning one at the highest security level for 40 years and in Florida the cost for each execution is $3.2 million (2005, p. 117). Thus, one can easily come to the conclusion that the high co sts of capital prosecution in the nation has adverse and long lasting effects on its local, State and Federal government budgets. All these call for the need to substitute death penalties with life-without-parole sentences whereby the nation can utilize the high cost of death penalty system for better crime prevention measures and other purposes. (Baumgartner, Boef Boydstun 2008, p. 229). Life imprisonment over death penalty: Moral, religious and legal issues have always been an issue with regard to punishment of criminal activities of citizens of a country or a region. Some legal systems consider both life imprisonment and death penalty while others take a stand that taking a life of a human being is morally and ethically wrong (Gildenhuys 2004, p. 17). Given the various factors mentioned above, this section views awarding life imprisonment without parole as an effective alternative to capital punishments for any crimes. The factors that will be taken into consideration are the effectiveness in prevention of crime in awarding death sentences versus life imprisonment. The legal factors followed in the US are not considered here because statutes regarding the two factors differ between different states. Proponents of death penalty state that executions will help to deter crime and will also remove the criminal from committing further crimes (Baumgartner, Boef Boydstun 2008, p. 246). Execution in a verdict of death penalty is irreversible and does not offer a chance to the concerned individual to a life of redemption and regret apart from the fact that judicial errors may creep in such sentencing and subsequent executions (Hood 2004, p. 95). Once a person is executed it is not possible that he or she will redeem or change their attitudes and make an attempt to come back into the mainstream society. The above observation also indicates that judicial errors can result in wrongful conviction of innocent persons which could be proved as wrong in the course of time which is possible in life imprisonment. One compelling argument against death penalty is that it promotes official homicide or murder or in other words, endorses unofficial criminal acts (Robertson 2002, p. 2). In other words, it could be said that official execution will only contribute to develop an attitude that will endorse unofficial or civilian criminal acts. Another factor that favours a lighter sentence like life imprisonment over capital punishment is provided by Hodgkinson and Schabas. The reason is that there is an increase of unfairness in awarding of capital punishment for the same type of crimes in the United States (Hodgkinson Schabas 2004, p. 208). The authors state the following factors that contribute to this development over the years. Courts in the US find it increasingly difficult to appoint counsels to represent death-row inmates in the country. In other words, competent people who can argue for a lesser punishment are often seen as difficult and hence can be considered to be unfair to such convicted people. Those counsels appointed are not only incompetent, but also are often accused of unethical behaviour themselves. This is an indication that competent counsels are reluctant to represent such cases and also that those who come forward will go any lengths to defend their clients. According to the authors, another aspect of this lack of fairness is that economically backward sections of the community are affected more under such circumstances. In other words, a proper investigation which could provide persuasive evidence against providing capital punishment to such sections through proper investigations and arguments is not available. The inherent problem is that a jury comprised of common citizens may award a preliminary death penalty and such people do not have the power to counter it. The lack of understanding of the acts of psychologically disturbed persons is also an issue in this instance (Fleiner Fleiner-Gerster 1999, p. 64). Statistics over the years show that sentencing to death and actual executions have shown a disturbing trend in recent years. Figures ranging from the 1950s to 1970s show that the actual number of sentencing was quite low in the 1950s, but the subsequent carrying out of executions were high during this period (Barkan Bryjak 2010, p. 443). Both sentencing and actual executions came down during the 1970s. But as mentioned earlier, both sentencing and executions have actually increased after the 1970s in the United States. This could be due to the increasing number of crimes in the modern society and a change in judicial outlook on the concept of implementing (and executing) death penalty. The fact is that awarding of capital punishment does not seem to have an effect on criminal activities in a particular society. For example, studies on crime over the past century in New York does not provide any real evidence that death sentence providesany real deterrence to crime when compared to life imprisonment (Owens, Carlson, Elshtain, 2004, p. 241). Thus, it can be concluded that capital punishment and subsequent execution is not a deterrent and a solution for criminal activities in the United States. Whatever may be the reasons that the perpetuators of crimes act in a particular fashion harmful to the society, it is felt that they should be given a chance to change their outlook and attitudes. This is not possible in the case of capital punishments and executions. But a life imprisonment may provide them with a chance to transform through effective counselling and support and above all the government can save a large sum of capital invested in death penalties which can be utilized in other sectors. 3 Conclusions Having critically analysed the various pros and cons of the capital punishment system in the United States one can come to the conclusion that death penalty should be abolished in the nation. First of all, the large sum of money spent on capital punishments not only adversely affects the budget systems of the local, State and Federal governments but it also does not have any positive impact on reducing the crime rates in such states that have not yet abolished the system. Similarly, studies have clearly demonstrated that the capital punishment system does not help to deter further similar crimes in the United States. The study also has shown that life imprisonment without any possibility for parole could be an ideal alternative to death penalties as it is comparatively less costly and provides an opportunity for innocent victims to prove their innocence. Life time imprisonment is also desirable as the dreaded criminals will never be allowed to indulge in similar dreaded crimes as the y will not be offered any sorts of parole and it can also have a deterring effect on the society. The moral and ethical considerations also favour life imprisonment without parole as the method of punishment value both human life, human rights and ethical codes. Similarly, life time imprisonment without parole also helps the judicial system to make sure that no innocents are being executed. The innocent victims get opportunity to prove their innocence even though justice can be delayed to them. Death penalty, in its implementation level is subject to a number of drawbacks and therefore it is recommended that the nation abolish the system and substitute it with its closest possible alternative-life imprisonment without any possibility for parole. It can also be seen that life imprisonment is capable of providing sufficient retribution for ones crimes and that it has also got the potential to deter further crimes. It is high time that the United States makes meaningful constitutional amendments so as to implement the abolition of capital punishments. For this, the abolitionists need to go a long way towards creating awareness among the public, the jury and the political leaders. They also need to build public opinion in favour of the abolition of death penalty in the nation and the present trends in the nation show positive signs towards such a land mark in the judicial and constitutional history of the United States. Thus, it can be concluded that that capital punishment should be abolished in the United States as it does not deter other criminals, as there is the increased risk of innocents being executed and as the cost of execution is higher than that of life imprisonment.