Essay on 8 Ball Chicks by Gini Sikes - 1955 Words

8 Ball Chicks by Gini Sikes The book 8 Ball Chicks, written by Gini Sikes is a thrilling yet shocking book about girls in gangs. The book explains in horrific detail the roles and existences of the girls in these gangs. Sikes traveled to several different cities to experience the life of girl gangsters. She traveled to Los Angeles, San Antonio, and Milwaukee. Through these travels, she became immersed in the lifestyles of each gang and had first hand accounts on what it was like to be in a gang. Sikes met many girls whom she could not believe what had persuaded them to live like they did. Most of the girls wanted to just fit in with something, to have power or be safe. Sikes recognized that all these girls were victims of†¦show more content†¦They would call it a â€Å"train†. Most girls would choose that option. Once in a lot of these girls who joined gangs were basically viewed a sex objects. These girls would end up a pregnant at a young age . They were raped and beaten by their boyfrien ds. The abuse was endless , violence was just a way of life for them. By the end of the book some or most of these girls quit these gangs due to motherhood or the desire to want more. Here is one of their stories. TJ was a member of the Lennox gang and the â€Å"Play Girl Gangstas.† When TJ was in the 9th grade, her mother moved to Lennox for cheaper housing due to her parents split. TJ was a good student until she moved to the Lennox, because TJ didnt like her new school her grades dropped. When her grades dropped, she was put into lower classes. In these classes, she meet Lennox gang members and so became influenced by them. Soon some male gang members began to notice her because of her looks. She enjoyed the attention she received so soon enough TJ began partying and hanging out with the guys at night. She felt love in comfort with them. She met a guy named Shotgun ( who beat her up so bad once that she had endured a miscarriage), which in turn made her even more popular w ith in the gang. As a result of her growing popularity she had a choice either to join the Play Girl Gangstas or get beaten up. Soon after she wasShow MoreRelatedThe Book 8 Ball Chicks1979 Words   |  8 PagesEight Ball Chicks concise By Laura Anderson The book 8 Ball Chicks, written by Gini Sikes. It is a thrilling yet shocking book about girls in gangs. The book explains in horrific detail the roles and existences of the girls in these gangs. Sikes traveled to several different cities to experience the life of girl gangsters. She traveled to Los Angeles, San Antonio, and Milwaukee. Through these travels, she became immersed in the lifestyles of each gang and had first hand accounts on what it

Battered Woman Syndrome Free Essays

The phrase â€Å"battered woman syndrome† was first coined by Walker to provide a clear picture about the recurrent events of violence occurring in a relationship. In this concept, some psychological structures are defined such as learned helplessness. This terminology will aid in the discussion of the reasons behind why certain women, who experience violence and assault, still remain and cling to the batterer and their relationship. We will write a custom essay sample on Battered Woman Syndrome or any similar topic only for you Order Now Battered woman syndrome has become the subject of court cases in the past years, ranging from the prosecution of the batterers up to the testimonies of the battered woman. It is also traditionally applied as a reason for self-defense of a woman, who is believed to be in an imminent danger at the time she killed the batterer (McCann, Shindler and Hammond, 2004). However, issues conjure in response to this traditionally accepted claim of the victim. One of which is that battered women are masochists. Fulero and Wrightsman (2009) tackled issues about the battered woman syndrome. They also compiled myths about the battered woman syndrome and one of which is the masochism of battered women. Since it is a myth, there are insufficient proof that the said issue is true and factual. Englander (2007) further added that theories about masochism as being normal for women have no scientific foundation and empirical data to support these theories. It is also not necessary that a woman experiencing battered woman syndrome is a masochist. Different angles of the issue must be viewed first. Consider the social status of the person because having an inferior social status does not necessarily mean that one is masochistic. Consider also her behavior. Although she behaves masochistically, it does not necessarily mean that she is suffering from masochism. Her act of masochism may be due to the fact that she needs to increase her chances of surviving or to eliminate the tension building inside her. A woman may not be able to leave her husband because of the benefit she gains from him (e. g. , her children has father) or she cannot find any other man to satisfy her emotional needs (Rancour-Laferriere, 1995). Other factors to consider would include the following: social or financial dependence on spouse, insufficient marketing skills, limited independence and mobility due to continuous childbearing, uncertainty about the severity of the problem, fear of becoming single, poor and alone, and knowledge deficit about other options that may help her (Englander, 2007). If a woman is a masochist, then she enjoys the suffering or the pain inflicted to her. However, Okun (1986) noted that masochism enlisted here does not imply enjoyment of suffering. Instead the suffering is endured because of the woman’s low self-esteem and failure to understand her role in their relationship. Battered women are then suggested to be suffering from a subtype of anxiety related disorder. It is said to be under the subclassification of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) since the cyclical act of violence has become a serious threat to the health of the victim and her life. The battered woman often reports flashbacks, nightmares, emotional detachment, numbness, sleep problems, disrupted concentration, hypervigilance, startled response, guilt, and fears of experiencing recurrent violence. Other symptoms would include depression, indecisiveness, low self-esteem, self-blame, passiveness, social isolation, and unwillingness to seek help from others (Keltner, Schwecke and Bostrom, 2007). In conclusion, one must first consider several factors before making assumptions about battered women. They may have some psychiatric disorders that render them incapable of leaving their abusive partner. They may have deeper reasons why they chose to experience physical rather than emotional pain. Knowing that some of these women are mothers, their love for their children may be the only bond that ties her to an abusive partner. References Englander, E. K. (2007). Understanding Violence (3rd ed. ). USA: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Fulero, S. M. Wrightsman, L. S. (2009). Forensic Psychology (3rd ed. ). USA: Wadsworth. Keltner, N. L. , Schwecke, L. H. Bostrom, C. L. (2007). Psychiatric Nursing (5th ed. ). USA: Elsevier. McCann, J. T. , Shindler, K. L. , Hammond, T. R. (2004). The Science and Pseudoscience of Ecpert Testimony. In S. O. Lilienfeld, S. J. Lynn, J. M. Lohr, C. Tavris. (Ed. ) Science and Pseudoscience of Clinical Psychology. USA: The Guilford Press. Okun, L. (1986). Woman Abuse: Facts Replacing Myths. USA: State University New York Press Rancour-Laferriere, D. (1995). The Slave Soul of Russia: Moral Masochism and the Cult of Suffering. USA: New York University Press. How to cite Battered Woman Syndrome, Papers

In Cold Blood Review Essay Example For Students

In Cold Blood Review Essay In Cold Blood Review In Cold Blood is a tragic story of two men, Eugene Hickock and Perry Edward, who murder an entire family in search of money and then find themselves running from the law. While writing the book, Truman Capote used only facts to create a novel out of an actual event. He had thousands of notes on the subject, but his problem was making his book read like a novel. He accomplished this by adding dialogue and describing characters feelings. This technique is used in the film as well when flashbacks of characters childhoods are shown. We will write a custom essay on In Cold Blood Review specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now The different plots are handled very well in the movie. The main plot obviously is the murders and the run from the law. Other subplots that are shown are Smiths internal fight with his past in which his father deserted him, and at one point, had a gun pointed to his head. Also there appears to be tension between Smith and Hickock. They think differently at times, especially when it comes to the discussion of the crime. You cant help but feel sympathetic towards Smith, as it appears that he is forced into this by Hickock. All characters in the movie were played well by the actors in my opinion. They all seemed real and seemed to fit in with the setting and the time period. I think that Hickock and Smith are not victims of forces beyond their control, they are victims of, at least in Smiths case, a bad upbringing. The two murderers have no direction in their lives. The only skills that Hickock seems to know is how to steal things and how to write phony checks. Smith seems more sane than Hickock, but all he has is his guitar and that is stolen in Mexico. This is reason that these two resort to crime to solve their problems. The film was very well structured in comparison to the book. Capote purposely didnt tell the detailed version of the deaths until the end of the book, and the same procedure was followed in the movie. This technique is used to keep the viewer or reader interested throughout the entire story. The first part of the movie moved a little slowly, but I think this was necessary to show all the background information about the Cutter family and to show how the two murderers developed their plan. Once the night of the murders arrived, the plot moved very quickly and there was lots of suspense to keep the viewer interested. At the end of the film, after the hanging of the two murderers , I did not feel that justice had prevailed. After an entire family has been murdered, there is no justice because the people are already dead and there is nothing that can be done to change that. Even though Smith says that he apologizes for what he has done, it is meaningless because it doesnt change anything. One reason the film seems like it was a real event is how the producers recreate the setting of the late 1950s in America. Everything is correct from the social lives of people to the music that was popular in that era. The US is in a period of transition, and this is shown by the way people react to the crime. After this crime, people become suspicious of even the closest of their friends, and they begin to lock their doors at night to prevent more crimes like this. Truman Capote became extremely successful as a result of this novel. I think that it is very similar to novels written today, and if it was published in the 1990s, it would be just as successful as it was when it was first published in 1966. Today big writers such as John Grisham and Patricia Cornwell could be compared to Capote, but they do not use real world events for their crime-fiction novels. This is what sets Capote apart from other writers and makes him one of the great writers in American History. . In Cold Blood Review Essay Example For Students In Cold Blood Review Essay In Cold Blood Review In Cold Blood Review In Cold Blood is a tragic story of two men, Eugene Hickock and Perry Edward, who murder an entire family in search of money and then find themselves running from the law. While writing the book, Truman Capote used only facts to create a novel out of an actual event. He had thousands of notes on the subject, but his problem was making his book read like a novel. He accomplished this by adding dialogue and describing characters feelings. This technique is used in the film as well when flashbacks of characters childhoods are shown. We will write a custom essay on In Cold Blood Review specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now The different plots are handled very well in the movie. The main plot obviously is the murders and the run from the law. Other subplots that are shown are Smiths internal fight with his past in which his father deserted him, and at one point, had a gun pointed to his head. Also there appears to be tension between Smith and Hickock. They think differently at times, especially when it comes to the discussion of the crime. You cant help but feel sympathetic towards Smith, as it appears that he is forced into this by Hickock. All characters in the movie were played well by the actors in my opinion. They all seemed real and seemed to fit in with the setting and the time period. I think that Hickock and Smith are not victims of forces beyond their control, they are victims of, at least in Smiths case, a bad upbringing. The two murderers have no direction in their lives. The only skills that Hickock seems to know is how to steal things and how to write phony checks. Smith seems more sane than Hickock, but all he has is his guitar and that is stolen in Mexico. This is reason that these two resort to crime to solve their problems. The film was very well structured in comparison to the book. Capote purposely didnt tell the detailed version of the deaths until the end of the book, and the same procedure was followed in the movie. This technique is used to keep the viewer or reader interested throughout the entire story. The first part of the movie moved a little slowly, but I think this was necessary to show all the background information about the Cutter family and to show how the two murderers developed their plan. Once the night of the murders arrived, the plot moved very quickly and there was lots of suspense to keep the viewer interested. At the end of the film, after the hanging of the two murderers , I did not feel that justice had prevailed. After an entire family has been murdered, there is no justice because the people are already dead and there is nothing that can be done to change that. Even though Smith says that he apologizes for what he has done, it is meaningless because it doesnt change anything. One reason the film seems like it was a real event is how the producers recreate the setting of the late 1950s in America. Everything is correct from the social lives of people to the music that was popular in that era. The US is in a period of transition, and this is shown by the way people react to the crime. After this crime, people become suspicious of even the closest of their friends, and they begin to lock their doors at night to prevent more crimes like this. Truman Capote became extremely successful as a result of this novel. I think that it is very similar to novels written today, and if it was published in the 1990s, it would be just as successful as it was when it was first published in 1966. Today big writers such as John Grisham and Patricia Cornwell could be compared to Capote, but they do not use real world events for their crime-fiction novels. This is what sets Capote apart from other writers and makes him one of the great writers in American History. .ud00d3345db6bbc573287c4fddb6db732 , .ud00d3345db6bbc573287c4fddb6db732 .postImageUrl , .ud00d3345db6bbc573287c4fddb6db732 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ud00d3345db6bbc573287c4fddb6db732 , .ud00d3345db6bbc573287c4fddb6db732:hover , .ud00d3345db6bbc573287c4fddb6db732:visited , .ud00d3345db6bbc573287c4fddb6db732:active { border:0!important; } .ud00d3345db6bbc573287c4fddb6db732 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ud00d3345db6bbc573287c4fddb6db732 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ud00d3345db6bbc573287c4fddb6db732:active , .ud00d3345db6bbc573287c4fddb6db732:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ud00d3345db6bbc573287c4fddb6db732 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ud00d3345db6bbc573287c4fddb6db732 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ud00d3345db6bbc573287c4fddb6db732 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ud00d3345db6bbc573287c4fddb6db732 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ud00d3345db6bbc573287c4fddb6db732:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ud00d3345db6bbc573287c4fddb6db732 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ud00d3345db6bbc573287c4fddb6db732 .ud00d3345db6bbc573287c4fddb6db732-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ud00d3345db6bbc573287c4fddb6db732:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: NURSING NUTRITION PROJECT Essay . In Cold Blood Review Essay Example For Students In Cold Blood Review Essay In Cold Blood Review In Cold Blood Review In Cold Blood is a tragic story of two men, Eugene Hickock and Perry Edward, who murder an entire family in search of money and then find themselves running from the law. While writing the book, Truman Capote used only facts to create a novel out of an actual event. He had thousands of notes on the subject, but his problem was making his book read like a novel. He accomplished this by adding dialogue and describing characters feelings. This technique is used in the film as well when flashbacks of characters childhoods are shown. We will write a custom essay on In Cold Blood Review specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now The different plots are handled very well in the movie. The main plot obviously is the murders and the run from the law. Other subplots that are shown are Smiths internal fight with his past in which his father deserted him, and at one point, had a gun pointed to his head. Also there appears to be tension between Smith and Hickock. They think differently at times, especially when it comes to the discussion of the crime. You cant help but feel sympathetic towards Smith, as it appears that he is forced into this by Hickock. All characters in the movie were played well by the actors in my opinion. They all seemed real and seemed to fit in with the setting and the time period. I think that Hickock and Smith are not victims of forces beyond their control, they are victims of, at least in Smiths case, a bad upbringing. The two murderers have no direction in their lives. The only skills that Hickock seems to know is how to steal things and how to write phony checks. Smith seems more sane than Hickock, but all he has is his guitar and that is stolen in Mexico. This is reason that these two resort to crime to solve their problems. The film was very well structured in comparison to the book. Capote purposely didnt tell the detailed version of the deaths until the end of the book, and the same procedure was followed in the movie. This technique is used to keep the viewer or reader interested throughout the entire story. The first part of the movie moved a little slowly, but I think this was necessary to show all the background information about the Cutter family and to show how the two murderers developed their plan. Once the night of the murders arrived, the plot moved very quickly and there was lots of suspense to keep the viewer interested. At the end of the film, after the hanging of the two murderers , I did not feel that justice had prevailed. After an entire family has been murdered, there is no justice because the people are already dead and there is nothing that can be done to change that. Even though Smith says that he apologizes for what he has done, it is meaningless because it doesnt change anything. One reason the film seems like it was a real event is how the producers recreate the setting of the late 1950s in America. Everything is correct from the social lives of people to the music that was popular in that era. The US is in a period of transition, and this is shown by the way people react to the crime. After this crime, people become suspicious of even the closest of their friends, and they begin to lock their doors at night to prevent more crimes like this. Truman Capote became extremely successful as a result of this novel. I think that it is very similar to novels written today, and if it was published in the 1990s, it would be just as successful as it was when it was first published in 1966. Today big writers such as John Grisham and Patricia Cornwell could be compared to Capote, but they do not use real world events for their crime-fiction novels. This is what sets Capote apart from other writers and makes him one of the great writers in American History. .u3bc61d0848dd4b6241d70d207651720c , .u3bc61d0848dd4b6241d70d207651720c .postImageUrl , .u3bc61d0848dd4b6241d70d207651720c .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u3bc61d0848dd4b6241d70d207651720c , .u3bc61d0848dd4b6241d70d207651720c:hover , .u3bc61d0848dd4b6241d70d207651720c:visited , .u3bc61d0848dd4b6241d70d207651720c:active { border:0!important; } .u3bc61d0848dd4b6241d70d207651720c .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u3bc61d0848dd4b6241d70d207651720c { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u3bc61d0848dd4b6241d70d207651720c:active , .u3bc61d0848dd4b6241d70d207651720c:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u3bc61d0848dd4b6241d70d207651720c .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u3bc61d0848dd4b6241d70d207651720c .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u3bc61d0848dd4b6241d70d207651720c .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u3bc61d0848dd4b6241d70d207651720c .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u3bc61d0848dd4b6241d70d207651720c:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u3bc61d0848dd4b6241d70d207651720c .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u3bc61d0848dd4b6241d70d207651720c .u3bc61d0848dd4b6241d70d207651720c-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u3bc61d0848dd4b6241d70d207651720c:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: The Trail Of Tears EssayMusic and Movies . In Cold Blood Review Essay Example For Students In Cold Blood Review Essay In Cold Blood Review In Cold Blood is a tragic story of two men, Eugene Hickock and Perry Edward, who murder an entire family in search of money and then find themselves running from the law. While writing the book, Truman Capote used only facts to create a novel out of an actual event. He had thousands of notes on the subject, but his problem was making his book read like a novel. He accomplished this by adding dialogue and describing characters feelings. This technique is used in the film as well when flashbacks of characters childhoods are shown. We will write a custom essay on In Cold Blood Review specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now The different plots are handled very well in the movie. The main plot obviously is the murders and the run from the law. Other subplots that are shown are Smiths internal fight with his past in which his father deserted him, and at one point, had a gun pointed to his head. Also there appears to be tension between Smith and Hickock. They think differently at times, especially when it comes to the discussion of the crime. You cant help but feel sympathetic towards Smith, as it appears that he is forced into this by Hickock. All characters in the movie were played well by the actors in my opinion. They all seemed real and seemed to fit in with the setting and the time period. I think that Hickock and Smith are not victims of forces beyond their control, they are victims of, at least in Smiths case, a bad upbringing. The two murderers have no direction in their lives. The only skills that Hickock seems to know is how to steal things and how to write phony checks. Smith seems more sane than Hickock, but all he has is his guitar and that is stolen in Mexico. This is reason that these two resort to crime to solve their problems. The film was very well structured in comparison to the book. Capote purposely didnt tell the detailed version of the deaths until the end of the book, and the same procedure was followed in the movie. This technique is used to keep the viewer or reader interested throughout the entire story. The first part of the movie moved a little slowly, but I think this was necessary to show all the background information about the Cutter family and to show how the two murderers developed their plan. Once the night of the murders arrived, the plot moved very quickly and there was lots of suspense to keep the viewer interested. At the end of the film, after the hanging of the two murderers , I did not feel that justice had prevailed. After an entire family has been murdered, there is no justice because the people are already dead and there is nothing that can be done to change that. Even though Smith says that he apologizes for what he has done, it is meaningless because it doesnt change anything. One reason the film seems like it was a real event is how the producers recreate the setting of the late 1950s in America. Everything is correct from the social lives of people to the music that was popular in that era. The US is in a period of transition, and this is shown by the way people react to the crime. After this crime, people become suspicious of even the closest of their friends, and they begin to lock their doors at night to prevent more crimes like this. Truman Capote became extremely successful as a result of this novel. I think that it is very similar to novels written today, and if it was published in the 1990s, it would be just as successful as it was when it was first published in 1966. Today big writers such as John Grisham and Patricia Cornwell could be compared to Capote, but they do not use real world events for their crime-fiction novels. This is what sets Capote apart from other writers and makes him one of the great writers in American History. .

Name BTM free essay sample

Make sure you save your files in accessible action. BATHMAT-8 Advanced Scholarly Writing Week 1 Assignment: Referencing Peer Reviewed Studies Faculty use Only ;:Date Graded> Referencing Peer Reviewed Studies BATHMAT-8,week 1 Name Professor January 04, 2015 The mission of Northwestern University is to educate professionals throughout the world and enable them for success. At the beginning of every course, the student must check their email, review the course syllabus, grading rubric, course content, and policies.The course syllabus will lay the foundation for he course guidelines and provide a timeline for assignments. The main reason chose a DAB is that a PhD is to advance knowledge, whereas the primary goal of a DAB is to advance professional practice. Began my course by reviewing the syllabus, rubric, and course content. The UNCLE Rubric can also be found on the Academic Success Center. The NICE Rubric states that content consists of 70% and writing (including PAP formatting) is 30% of your overall grade. We will write a custom essay sample on Name BTM or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page I reviewed the course content and determined how I would have to manage my time, each week.Weeks 1-7 will require a 5-7 page paper ND week 8 will be 12-15 page paper. The Northwestern Academic Success Center is the one-stop area for all academic services. The center offers coaching in scholarly writing, time management courses, library resources, tutorials, and guidance on turning reporting. The Northwestern Library is a centralized and unprecedented global resource that provides high-quality informational resources. The Road Runner search allows you to search conveniently for full text, scholarly, and peer-reviewed articles.The Northwestern Academic Integrity Policy site is a resource for students o be aware of the appropriate guidelines to follow. If a violation of academic integrity, has been discovered, then the students instructor will complete the Notice of Possible Academic Integrity Violation. After the review has been completed, the Dean will notify the student and the instructor of the outcome (Importance of Reading and Understanding This Policy, 2012). In the Library and under popular databases, I explored the different sources for research and articles. In three of the databases, I searched for Organizational Leadership.

Memory Leak Notification in Delphi on Program Exit

Memory Leak Notification in Delphi on Program Exit All Delphi versions since Delphi 2006 have an updated memory manager that is faster and more feature rich. One of the nicest features of the new memory manager allows applications to register (and unregister) expected memory leaks, and optionally report unexpected memory leaks on program shutdown. When creating WIN32 applications with Delphi it is imperative to make sure that you free all the objects (memory) you create dynamically. A memory (or resource) leak occurs when the program loses the ability to free the memory it consumes. Report Memory Leaks on Shutdown Memory leak detecting and reporting are set to false by default. To enable it, you need to set the global variable ReportMemoryLeaksOnShutdown to TRUE. When the application is closed, if there are unexpected memory leaks the application will display the Unexpected Memory Leak dialog box. The best place for the ReportMemoryLeaksOnShutdown would be in the programs source code (dpr) file. begin   Ã‚  ReportMemoryLeaksOnShutdown : DebugHook 0;   Ã‚  //source by Delphi   Ã‚  Application.Initialize;   Ã‚  Application.MainFormOnTaskbar : True;   Ã‚  Application.CreateForm(TMainForm, MainForm) ;   Ã‚  Application.Run; end. Note: a global variable DebugHook is used above to make sure memory leaks are displayed when the application is run in debug mode - when you fit F9 from the Delphi IDE. Test Drive: Memory Leak Detection Having ReportMemoryLeaksOnShutdown set to TRUE, add the following code in the main forms OnCreate event handler. var   Ã‚  sl : TStringList; begin   Ã‚  sl : TStringList.Create;   Ã‚  sl.Add(Memory leak!) ; end; Run the application in debug mode, exit the application - you should see the memory leak dialog box. Note: If you are looking for a tool to catch your Delphi application errors such as memory corruption, memory leaks, memory allocation errors, variable initialization errors, variable definition conflicts, pointer errors ... take a look at madExcept and EurekaLog Delphi Tips Navigator Date Time SQL Queries: Formatting Date Time Values for Access SQL in DelphiForce TListViews Edit Mode using a Keyboard Shortcut

Assessing the effects of evolving consumer expectations of corporate philanthropy on the shareholder and stakeholder primacy models of CSR. A case study of Marks and Spencer

In other words, it involves spending organization’s resources for the benefit of society. It is usually done directly or through a company’s foundation. In some cases, donations are in the form of an organization’s facilities, products and services. The areas covered under corporate philanthropy consist of education, health, art and environment (Council on Foundations, 1982). On the other hand, CSR or corporate social responsibility is an enterprise level program designed to bring positive change in society. The primary effect of the evolution of consumer expectation on CSR is the incorporation of this concept into corporate strategy of such organizations. Likewise, the effect on the shareholder’s model of CSR is also considerable. The incorporation of the CSR model within corporate strategy enables the shareholder to enjoy returns from the CSR program of the organization. The returns usually manifest in the form of increased sales and profits, which resul ts from the goodwill created by the CSR program (Urip, 2010). One of the distinctive features of the CSR concept is the involvement and participation of all the stakeholders including shareholders, employees, customers, supply chain partners, community and government. This feature is the central point of the stakeholder’s primacy model of CSR. According to this model, the CSR incorporates the interests of the society at both the strategic and operational level. Furthermore, this concept also entails the interaction and relationship of all the key stakeholders in the context of CSR. This means that an integral aspect of CSR is the interaction of the organization with internal and external stakeholders. The internal stakeholders consist in the form of employees, top management and shareholders, whereas external stakeholders consist of government, non-government organization and community. The scope of issues that CSR covers ranges from the environment, economic and social faced by the community and society at large. The stakeholder’s primacy model on CSR also entails that CSR should be considered separate from the core operations and activities of the business. This means that CSR should be given similar importance compared to other core functions such as marketing, sales, finance and HR. However, according to this model, CSR is a voluntary concept. Nevertheless, it should be noted that changing a consumer’s expectations has made this concept more of an obligation. This is due to the fact that consumers increasingly hold the view that corporations are directly responsible for the well being of the society and, therefore, should play their due role (Fernando, 2011). 2.2. Aim: To assess the effects of evolving and changing consumer expectations of corporate philanthropy on the shareholder and stakeholder’s primacy models of CSR 2.2.1. Objectives: To understand how the evolving consumer expectations has affected the CSR programs of Marks and Spencer. To determine the changes in consumer expectations in regard to corporate philanthropy. 2.2.2. Research questions For the purpose of attaining research objective, this study will make use of following research questions: Is the CSR program of Marks and Spencer part of the organization’s corporate strategy Is the CSR program of Marks and Spencer affected by the evolving consumer expectations of corporate philanthropy What areas of society are covered by the Marks and Spencer CSR program Does Marks and Spencer’s CSR program come under stakeholder’s primacy model of CSR 3.0 Literature Review The literature reviews enable the understanding of the topic in the context of different theories. The theories, which are brought under discussion usually exists in academic journals, books and other research dissertations The literature review will enable the research to determine the effects of customers’ expectations of corporate philanthropic initiatives on an organization’s primary CSR model. However, before delineating these effects, it is imperative that a clear understanding of the meaning and scope of CSR is made. Usually CSR referred to all the activities, which are conducted by a private organization for the well-being of the general public or community. These activities can relate to different social and environmental issues. The CSR activities do not differ from each other regarding the amount spent on each activity but on the basis of the way in which an organization indulges in that CSR activity (Werther Chandler, 2010). The importance of CSR and its im plications are vital for any global or national business. As a result, the changes in the consumer expectations have assumed vital importance for the nature of organization’s CSR model. Business concern for society is not a new concept but can be traced backed many centuries.. Initially, the activities, which are now categorized as CSR, were seen as merely corporate or business philanthropy. The perception and expectation from the consumer that companies or businesses are an important part of society and, therefore, has responsibility towards society originated in last few years. This led to the development of formal concepts of CSR (Carroll, 1999). Likewise, academic and scholarly work on CSR and corporate philanthropy started in the last century, which led to the belief that CSR is an obligation of every corporate entity. Bowen, who is considered the father of the modern concept of CSR, classified CSR as those activities, which enables businesses and companies to achieve ob jectives, which are desirable for any society (Bowen, 1953). This definition is very simplistic in nature and does not cover the entire spectrum of CSR activities. Davis (1960) sees CSR as a responsibility on the part of a firm, which forces it to admit to duties, which are present in areas beyond the domain of commercial interest. Resultantly, firms will be engaging in politics, community welfare, education and health. Walton (1967) sees CSR as an activity, which will cost the organization without any material gain for the business. Therefore, such activity must be done on a voluntary basis. From this concept, it can be seen that CSR was seen as a matter of moral duty instead of something, which could generate material gain for the organization. However, this consideration has started to change as many firms expect intangible returns from their CSR initiatives. The intangible initiatives can be in the shape of goodwill and creation of a friendly image in the public eye (Louche et a l., 2010). On the other hand, the prevalence of CSR in the modern world has made it necessary for the organization to perform CSR activities. In the case by which an organization decides not to participate in CSR initiatives, it risks losing its customer base. This can be attributed to constant expectations from the consumers for socially responsible behaviour from the companies. Such consumers have increasingly become socially and environmentally conscious and support only those firms, which are involved in CSR and in the provision of sustainable products. The importance of such customers for businesses can be gauged from the recent researches, which show consumer’s preferences for socially responsible firms (Lindgreen Swaen, 2010). One such study showed that the market of those customers, who live their life according to the new concepts of health and environment, is expected to grow to 30% alone in the US (Forster, 2007). The customers are increasingly expecting a great a mount of sustainability from the corporate entities. This is one of the new trends, which have originated in the customer’s way of thinking as far as corporate philanthropy. Initially, consumers’ view any activity, intended to bring positive in the society, as part of corporate philanthropic initiative. Such initiative was considered separate and discrete from organization’s core activities, where were the provision of products and services to customers. Now, such initiative, which comes under the domain of CSR, needs to be considered a core business activity and, hence, part of organizational corporate strategy. Therefore, the primary effect of the changing and evolving expectations of corporate philanthropy on the consumers is the incorporation of CSR model in the organization’s main strategy. This incorporation will enable the organization to provide products and services, which are up to the social and environmental standards. And at the same time, it will enable the organization to launch separate but related initiatives intended to bring positive change in the society. Any organization, which fails to perform this, can risk losing customer base within the market. Therefore, the CSR model has now become an integral part of corporate strategy of all large multinational organizations (Fernando, 2011). The effects of changing consumer expectations has led to the development of the concept of ‘sustainable development’. According it is viewed as the responsibility of businesses to conduct their core activities in such manner, which will not affect the ability of the future generation to meet their basic needs (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987). It can be seen from this concept that sustainability in the organization’s activities has now become an integral part of the customers. An organization can fulfil this expectation by integrating the economic, social and environmental consideration in its corporate strategy. This will enable it to achieve sustainability in all aspects of an organization’s operations ( (Visser et al., 2007). Another effect of evolving consumers’ expectation of corporate philanthropy on organization’s CSR model is the adoption of concept of â€Å"Triple Bottom Line† (TBL) by the organization. Ac cording to such, it is the obligation of the organization to put its focus on three main aspects. The first is related to the responsibility of economic success. Secondly, it is related to the responsibility to the environment and thirdly is related to the responsibility of the individuals and the community in general (Elkington, 1998). With this concept, the business organization has transformed itself from a primary economic entity to an organization, which is responsible for fulfilling social and environmental needs of the society alongside achieving their objective of profit generation. This change in the approach of conducting business is attributed to the evolving consumer’s expectation of corporate philanthropy. In the past, any activity on the part of the corporation for the well-being of the community was looked as an initiative taken on the part of shareholders and the high-management. However, with the emergence of CSR, such activities have come under the domain of institutions. Now all activities, taken for the improvement of society have assumed institutional shape (Gainer, 2010). It is equally important to understand the reasons, which led to the evolution of consumers’ expectations of business philanthropy. One pertinent factor responsible for the change is the increase in consumers’ awareness. Consumer awareness has gone a long way in changing the perception of business activities of the corporations. Consumers have now increasingly become aware of their rights. Moreover, this awareness is usually backed by legal and regulatory support , which increases the overall bargaining power of consumers in relation to the organizations. This has enabled the consumers to hold expectations from the corporate entities to perform their due share in the well-being of society. If any organizations fail to perform its obligations, it will not only face legal repercussions but also risk losing consumers in the market. In addition to this, h igh competition in the market is also one of the factors responsible in the shift of customers’ expectations. High forces of competition in the market have required the organization to look for new avenues to build and sustain their competitive advantage. One such technique is through the creation of goodwill within the general public. And the best method for creating such goodwill is through CSR. Furthermore, the effects of culture on CSR expectations are also considerable. For instance, according to Matten Moon (2004), in Europe, the CSR is viewed more in terms of philanthropy than the US, where it is most likely viewed as institutional activity. This difference is primarily attributed to the dissimilarity in the institutional environment and cultural values of the regions. This is the reason, why organizations usually incorporate CSR initiatives in the corporate policies and programs. On the other hand, in Europe, it is mostly viewed as an informal business activity. This shows that customers’ expectations of corporate philanthropy have not matured in Europe as it has done in the US (Baden et al., 2011). For the clear understanding of the problem, it is also important to allow comprehension of the stakeholders’ primacy model of CSR. It is not sufficient to only understand the activities but, it is necessary to have a clear understanding of all the stakeholders, who are directly and indirectly involved in it. Overall, the CSR model is focused on the improvement of society. Resultantly, it should incorporate all the values of society (Carroll, 1979). On the other hand, there is another school of thought, which views CSR as entirely aimed at addressing the issues of different stakeholders in place of the entire society. One proponent of this school of thought is Clarkson (1995). According to Clarkson (1995), the activities including CSR of any business entity are aimed at fulfilling the needs of stakeholders. According to this concept, corporations are free from any obligation concerning society. Instead, there are only responsible for the welfare of the community, which is direc tly affected by their activities. Likewise, (Maignan et al., 2005) also supports this assertion. According to (Maignan et al., 2005), businesses and corporations are responsible for satisfying economic and noneconomic needs of the stakeholders. However, it is difficult to ascertain the exact boundaries of stakeholders especially in the case of multinationals, whose activities spread to different dimensions and areas of society. Nevertheless, the stakeholder model of CSR provides a framework, which can be used to analyze the relationship of the business with the society in the context of CSR (Carroll Shabana, 2010). This theory plays more a complementary role than conflict, when viewed in the milieu of CSR. This theory allows a better understanding of relationship between principal factors involved in the provision of CSR related initiative. According to this theory, corporate units can be better understood through the relationship of different actors, which have a stake in the oper ations of the business (Friedman, 1970). This means that the objectives of any CSR initiative taken by the organization are indirectly related to the primary goal of the organization, which is profit maximization. It means any CSR activity conducted by the organization will eventually increase the customer base for the organization and will subsequently translate in the form of higher returns for the organization. This approach creates a win-win situation for all stakeholders. The community gets the benefit from the CSR activities whereas shareholders and management of the organization receive benefits in the form of increased profits (Freeman, 1984). Theoretically, this model is very effective in transforming capitalism into serving the interest of different stakeholders, excluding shareholders. Within the framework of this theory, the implications of the evolving consumer’s expectations are considerable. The new set of consumer’s belief expects the organization to wo rk for the wellbeing of actors who do not come under the category of stakeholders. As a result, it has become necessary for the organization to redefine the boundaries of stakeholders and include all those actors within society, who are not directly related to the activities of the organization. The primary implication of this for the organization is increased cost related to CSR initiatives without any translations of returns for the organization. In other words, the organization fails to achieve something tangible from such initiative. Moreover, such initiative has departed from pure CSR and has returned to the scope of corporate philanthropy. Previously, only stakeholder’s interest was considered in the CSR program, which is regarded as vital for the existence and success of the organization. This concept also takes into account the importance of power dependent relationships, which suggests that an organization customizes its CSR program according to the power enjoyed by certain stakeholder groups over the firm (Pirsch, 2007). 4.0 Methodology 4.1 Research approach: The research approach adopted for this thesis is the case-based approach. The case study approach will provide profound understanding of the effects of changing consumer’s expectations on an organization’s CSR models. The case study approach is preferred because it allows the collection of in-depth information, which can be comprehensively analyzed in order to reach definite conclusions (Kumar, n.d.). This approach will also enable understanding of the problem in isolation, which is not possible with any other research approach (Bergh Ketchen, 2009). As a result, a comprehensive study of the case will be conducted, which will enable identification and analysis of the factors affecting the consumer expectation of corporate philanthropy on the stakeholder primacy model of CSR. Due to the nature of the case study, the research approach will be primarily qualitative in nature. This approach is ideal because it allows clear comprehension of the all the dimensions of the top ic under discussion (Maxwell, 2005). Therefore, the first stage of this research will consists of in-depth research and review of the relevant literature. The stage will also consist of the study of primacy models of CSR in the context of organizational strategy. This approach will enable the fulfilment of the objective of ascertaining the effects of fluctuating consumer’s expectations on the stakeholder primacy models of CSR. 4.2 Case selection This research will study the case of Marks and Spencer as a model organization for understanding and concluding the effects of evolving customer’s expectation on organization’s dominant models of CSR. The case study approach is ideal in the present scenario because it will allow the research to investigate the problem while retaining the holistic point of view, which is necessary for accurate results (Henn, 2009). The reason Marks and Spencer is selected rests in its long history of corporate philanthropy in the shape of CSR. Likewise, it is a large organization, which makes it representative for all other organizations. This case is also appropriate as it will lead the research to accurate theory development. It should be noted here that the fact the each business unit of Mark and Spenser develops its own CSR strategy makes it relevant for this research. This case will also allow the understanding and identification of the issues concerning the CSR model of Marks and S penser. CSR has an integral position in the organization of Marks and Spenser. This can be attributed to the founders of MS who intended to build sustainable and mutually beneficial relationships with all stakeholders including the community and employees. This model of CSR was implemented with the belief that it will ensure long-term success for the organization. MS launched a number of initiatives under its CSR model relating to education, health, environment and employability. This model has led to the creation of trustworthy images of the company in the general public and the community (Hallbauer, 2008). 4.3 Sample size This research will use a sample of 25 to 40 respondents. This size is ideal to reach a representative conclusion and at the same time eliminates bias in the research. The information from the respondents from the sample will provide additional data and perspective to the information derived from literature and theory review. 4.4 Data collection Primary data: In order to ascertain the effects of evolving customer’s expectations of corporate philanthropy, a large chunk of data will be collected from comprehensive primary research. The case study approach will allow triangulation of data from multiple sources, which will further allow a balanced understating of the problem under discussion. The primary data will be collected from semi structured interviews, which will provide insight into the thought process of the respondents being interviewed. The respondents will include the customers alongside employees of the organization, which will permit an incorporation of the view points of both sides. The questions for the interview are divided according to the respondent type. The following tentative and semi structured questions will be presented the customers: What areas should be targeted in the organization’s CSR strategy Have you witnessed any changes in the the CSR activities of the organizations in last 5 years Do you consider corporate philanthropy an integral responsibility of the organization On the other hand, managerial staff of the organization will be asked to follow main questions: How many changes have taken place in the scope of CSR activities of the organization How much of this change reflects the changes in the customer expectations from the organization’s CSR model How much organization’s philanthropy has been transformed into formalized CSR system Using these questions, this study will collect the relevant data, which will later be used in collaboration with the literature review to address the concerned topic. Secondary data: This research study will also make use of a variety of sources of secondary data alongside primary data, collected from interviews. The secondary data will consist of the website and annual reports of the concerned organization. In addition to this, academic journals and books relating to the topic will also come under the purview of this research. The purpose of the secondary data collection is to determine the effects of evolving customers’ expectations of corporate philanthropy on the organization’s primary CSR model. In addition to this, external reports originating from third party sources, such as the government, will also be used to provide all-encompassing analysis of the topic. The secondary data will enable a balanced understanding of the organization’s CSR model in the wake of evolving customer expectations from corporate philanthropy. 4.5 Pilot study The main objective of the pilot study was to ensure that the terminologies used in the research methodology are correct. As a result, the pilot study was conducted in the shape of interviews from a narrow range of respondents. The method used for the pilot study was a face-to-face to interview. This method enabled direct feedback from the respondents. In addition to this, the method also allowed the interviewer to ask relevant and pertinent questions, which were not present in the question guide, for the sole purpose of clarity. 4.6 Data analysis The data collected from the interview will consist of qualitative data. Therefore, it will not be possible to apply statistical principles and techniques, which can be applied to quantitative data, to extract trends and patterns. As a result, the information collected from interviews will be analyzed to deduce normative patterns for further understanding. However, for the purpose of categorization, the data will be coded and compared according to the research questions. The purpose of this activity is to identify any gaps in the research. In the case of identification of certain gaps, extended data collection will be conducted to eliminate any deficiencies. Moreover, the comparisons will also lead to the elimination of discrepancies before the final stage, when this data will be used to derive concrete findings. The main objective of the data analysis is to find the different dimensions of the topic under discussion. As the data in question primarily consists of primary information, it will provide more realistic picture of all aspects of the problem. Furthermore, this data analysis could also be used with the literature review, which will allow an incorporation of primary data with the theory development in the research finding stage (Miles Huberman, 1994). 5.0 Conclusion The purpose of this research is to assess the effects of the evolving customer expectations in regard to corporate philanthropy on the stakeholder’s primacy model of CSR. For this purpose, the case of Marks and Spencer is selected. Marks and Spencer has a long history of CSR and, therefore, provides a representative model for research study. This research will make use of qualitative data for the purpose of analysis and deriving conclusions. The qualitative data will provide normative insight into the problem, which will enable accurate assessment of the problem under discussion. This research will make use of both primary and secondary data. The primary data will be collected from semi structured interview, which will be conducted from the sample of 25 to 40 respondents. The respondents are divided into two categories in the form of consumers and employees of the said discussion. The data collected will be used in collaboration with secondary data. The secondary data will con sist of academic journals, books, websites and external reports. The secondary data will enable the analysis of primary data in a more comprehensive and balanced manner. With this research methodology, the research study intends to achieve its objective, which is to assess the effects of evolving and changing consumer expectations of corporate philanthropy on the shareholder and stakeholder primacy models of CSR. 6.0 References Baden, Tonne Meyer, 2011. The effect of context and type of corporate philanthropy on moral capital. Journal of Business Ethics . Bergh, D.D. Ketchen, D.J., 2009. Research methodology in strategy and management. Emerald Group Publishing. Bowen, H., 1953. Social responsibility of the businessman. New York: Harper Row. Carroll, A., 1979. A Three-dimensional conceptual model of corporate social performance. Academy of Management Review, 4(4), pp.497-505. Carroll, A., 1999. Corporate Social Responsibility: Evolution of a defnitional construct. Business and Society, 39, p.268–295. Carroll, A.B. Shabana, K.M., 2010. The business case for corporate social responsibility: A review of concepts, research and practice. International Journal of Management Reviews, 12(1), p.85–105. Clarkson, M., 1995. The Toronto conference: Refections on stakeholder theory. Business and Society, 33(1), p.82–131. Council on Foundations, 1982. Corporate philanthropy: Philosophy, management, trends, future, background. Council on Foundations. Davis, K., 1960. Can business afford to ignore social responsibilities. California Management Review, 2(3), p.70–76. Elkington, J., 1998. Cannibals with forks: The triple bottom line of 21st Century business. Gabriola Island, Canada: New Society Publishers. Fernando, A., 2011. Business environment. Pearson Education India. Forster, T., 2004. Die grunen Yuppies. Werben Verkaufen, 51, p.45. Freeman, R., 1984. Strategic management: A stakeholder perspective. Boston: Pitman Publishing Inc. Friedman, M., 1962. Capitalism and freedom. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Gainer, B., 2010. Corporate social responsibility. Third Sector Research, pp.187-200. Hallbauer, S., 2008. Retail marketing and new retail idea – Marks Spencer. GRIN Verlag. Henn, S.K., 2009. Business ethics: A case study approach. John Wiley Sons. Kumar, R., n.d. Research methodology. APH Publishing. Lindgreen, A. Swaen, V., 2010. Corporate social responsibility. International Journal of Management Reviews, 12(1), pp.1-7. Louche, C., Idowu, S.O. Filho, W.L., 2010. Innovative Csr: From risk management to value creation. Greenleaf Publishing. Maignan, I., Ferrell, O. Ferrell, L., 2005. A stakeholder model for implementing social responsibility in marketing. European Journal of Marketing, 29(9/10), p.956–977. Matten, D. Moon, J., 2004. Implicit and explicit CSR: A conceptual framework for understanding CSR in Europe. ICCSR Research Paper Series, (29). Maxwell, J.A., 2005. Qualitative research design: An interactive approach. Sage Publications. Miles, M.B. Huberman, A.M., 1994. Qualitative data analysis: An expanded sourcebook. Sage Publications. Pirsch, J., 2007. A framework for understanding corporate social responsibility programs as a continuum: An exploratory study. Journal of Business Ethics, 70(2), pp.125-40. Urip, S., 2010. CSR strategies: Corporate Social Responsibility for a competitive edge in emerging markets. John Wiley Sons. Visser, W., Matten, D. Pohl, M., 2007. The A to Z of Corporate Social Responsibility: A complete reference guide to concepts, codes and organisations. London: Wiley. Walton, C., 1967. Corporate social responsibilities. Belmont, CA, USA.: Wadsworth. Werther, W.B. Chandler, D., 2010. Strategic corporate social responsibility: Stakeholders in a global environment. SAGE. World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987. Our common future. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Assessing the effects of evolving consumer expectations of corporate philanthropy on the shareholder and stakeholder primacy models of CSR. A case study of Marks and Spencer In other words, it involves spending organization’s resources for the benefit of society. It is usually done directly or through a company’s foundation. In some cases, donations are in the form of an organization’s facilities, products and services. The areas covered under corporate philanthropy consist of education, health, art and environment (Council on Foundations, 1982). On the other hand, CSR or corporate social responsibility is an enterprise level program designed to bring positive change in society. The primary effect of the evolution of consumer expectation on CSR is the incorporation of this concept into corporate strategy of such organizations. Likewise, the effect on the shareholder’s model of CSR is also considerable. The incorporation of the CSR model within corporate strategy enables the shareholder to enjoy returns from the CSR program of the organization. The returns usually manifest in the form of increased sales and profits, which resul ts from the goodwill created by the CSR program (Urip, 2010). One of the distinctive features of the CSR concept is the involvement and participation of all the stakeholders including shareholders, employees, customers, supply chain partners, community and government. This feature is the central point of the stakeholder’s primacy model of CSR. According to this model, the CSR incorporates the interests of the society at both the strategic and operational level. Furthermore, this concept also entails the interaction and relationship of all the key stakeholders in the context of CSR. This means that an integral aspect of CSR is the interaction of the organization with internal and external stakeholders. The internal stakeholders consist in the form of employees, top management and shareholders, whereas external stakeholders consist of government, non-government organization and community. The scope of issues that CSR covers ranges from the environment, economic and social faced by the community and society at large. The stakeholder’s primacy model on CSR also entails that CSR should be considered separate from the core operations and activities of the business. This means that CSR should be given similar importance compared to other core functions such as marketing, sales, finance and HR. However, according to this model, CSR is a voluntary concept. Nevertheless, it should be noted that changing a consumer’s expectations has made this concept more of an obligation. This is due to the fact that consumers increasingly hold the view that corporations are directly responsible for the well being of the society and, therefore, should play their due role (Fernando, 2011). 2.2. Aim: To assess the effects of evolving and changing consumer expectations of corporate philanthropy on the shareholder and stakeholder’s primacy models of CSR 2.2.1. Objectives: To understand how the evolving consumer expectations has affected the CSR programs of Marks and Spencer. To determine the changes in consumer expectations in regard to corporate philanthropy. 2.2.2. Research questions For the purpose of attaining research objective, this study will make use of following research questions: Is the CSR program of Marks and Spencer part of the organization’s corporate strategy Is the CSR program of Marks and Spencer affected by the evolving consumer expectations of corporate philanthropy What areas of society are covered by the Marks and Spencer CSR program Does Marks and Spencer’s CSR program come under stakeholder’s primacy model of CSR 3.0 Literature Review The literature reviews enable the understanding of the topic in the context of different theories. The theories, which are brought under discussion usually exists in academic journals, books and other research dissertations The literature review will enable the research to determine the effects of customers’ expectations of corporate philanthropic initiatives on an organization’s primary CSR model. However, before delineating these effects, it is imperative that a clear understanding of the meaning and scope of CSR is made. Usually CSR referred to all the activities, which are conducted by a private organization for the well-being of the general public or community. These activities can relate to different social and environmental issues. The CSR activities do not differ from each other regarding the amount spent on each activity but on the basis of the way in which an organization indulges in that CSR activity (Werther Chandler, 2010). The importance of CSR and its im plications are vital for any global or national business. As a result, the changes in the consumer expectations have assumed vital importance for the nature of organization’s CSR model. Business concern for society is not a new concept but can be traced backed many centuries.. Initially, the activities, which are now categorized as CSR, were seen as merely corporate or business philanthropy. The perception and expectation from the consumer that companies or businesses are an important part of society and, therefore, has responsibility towards society originated in last few years. This led to the development of formal concepts of CSR (Carroll, 1999). Likewise, academic and scholarly work on CSR and corporate philanthropy started in the last century, which led to the belief that CSR is an obligation of every corporate entity. Bowen, who is considered the father of the modern concept of CSR, classified CSR as those activities, which enables businesses and companies to achieve ob jectives, which are desirable for any society (Bowen, 1953). This definition is very simplistic in nature and does not cover the entire spectrum of CSR activities. Davis (1960) sees CSR as a responsibility on the part of a firm, which forces it to admit to duties, which are present in areas beyond the domain of commercial interest. Resultantly, firms will be engaging in politics, community welfare, education and health. Walton (1967) sees CSR as an activity, which will cost the organization without any material gain for the business. Therefore, such activity must be done on a voluntary basis. From this concept, it can be seen that CSR was seen as a matter of moral duty instead of something, which could generate material gain for the organization. However, this consideration has started to change as many firms expect intangible returns from their CSR initiatives. The intangible initiatives can be in the shape of goodwill and creation of a friendly image in the public eye (Louche et a l., 2010). On the other hand, the prevalence of CSR in the modern world has made it necessary for the organization to perform CSR activities. In the case by which an organization decides not to participate in CSR initiatives, it risks losing its customer base. This can be attributed to constant expectations from the consumers for socially responsible behaviour from the companies. Such consumers have increasingly become socially and environmentally conscious and support only those firms, which are involved in CSR and in the provision of sustainable products. The importance of such customers for businesses can be gauged from the recent researches, which show consumer’s preferences for socially responsible firms (Lindgreen Swaen, 2010). One such study showed that the market of those customers, who live their life according to the new concepts of health and environment, is expected to grow to 30% alone in the US (Forster, 2007). The customers are increasingly expecting a great a mount of sustainability from the corporate entities. This is one of the new trends, which have originated in the customer’s way of thinking as far as corporate philanthropy. Initially, consumers’ view any activity, intended to bring positive in the society, as part of corporate philanthropic initiative. Such initiative was considered separate and discrete from organization’s core activities, where were the provision of products and services to customers. Now, such initiative, which comes under the domain of CSR, needs to be considered a core business activity and, hence, part of organizational corporate strategy. Therefore, the primary effect of the changing and evolving expectations of corporate philanthropy on the consumers is the incorporation of CSR model in the organization’s main strategy. This incorporation will enable the organization to provide products and services, which are up to the social and environmental standards. And at the same time, it will enable the organization to launch separate but related initiatives intended to bring positive change in the society. Any organization, which fails to perform this, can risk losing customer base within the market. Therefore, the CSR model has now become an integral part of corporate strategy of all large multinational organizations (Fernando, 2011). The effects of changing consumer expectations has led to the development of the concept of ‘sustainable development’. According it is viewed as the responsibility of businesses to conduct their core activities in such manner, which will not affect the ability of the future generation to meet their basic needs (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987). It can be seen from this concept that sustainability in the organization’s activities has now become an integral part of the customers. An organization can fulfil this expectation by integrating the economic, social and environmental consideration in its corporate strategy. This will enable it to achieve sustainability in all aspects of an organization’s operations ( (Visser et al., 2007). Another effect of evolving consumers’ expectation of corporate philanthropy on organization’s CSR model is the adoption of concept of â€Å"Triple Bottom Line† (TBL) by the organization. Ac cording to such, it is the obligation of the organization to put its focus on three main aspects. The first is related to the responsibility of economic success. Secondly, it is related to the responsibility to the environment and thirdly is related to the responsibility of the individuals and the community in general (Elkington, 1998). With this concept, the business organization has transformed itself from a primary economic entity to an organization, which is responsible for fulfilling social and environmental needs of the society alongside achieving their objective of profit generation. This change in the approach of conducting business is attributed to the evolving consumer’s expectation of corporate philanthropy. In the past, any activity on the part of the corporation for the well-being of the community was looked as an initiative taken on the part of shareholders and the high-management. However, with the emergence of CSR, such activities have come under the domain of institutions. Now all activities, taken for the improvement of society have assumed institutional shape (Gainer, 2010). It is equally important to understand the reasons, which led to the evolution of consumers’ expectations of business philanthropy. One pertinent factor responsible for the change is the increase in consumers’ awareness. Consumer awareness has gone a long way in changing the perception of business activities of the corporations. Consumers have now increasingly become aware of their rights. Moreover, this awareness is usually backed by legal and regulatory support , which increases the overall bargaining power of consumers in relation to the organizations. This has enabled the consumers to hold expectations from the corporate entities to perform their due share in the well-being of society. If any organizations fail to perform its obligations, it will not only face legal repercussions but also risk losing consumers in the market. In addition to this, h igh competition in the market is also one of the factors responsible in the shift of customers’ expectations. High forces of competition in the market have required the organization to look for new avenues to build and sustain their competitive advantage. One such technique is through the creation of goodwill within the general public. And the best method for creating such goodwill is through CSR. Furthermore, the effects of culture on CSR expectations are also considerable. For instance, according to Matten Moon (2004), in Europe, the CSR is viewed more in terms of philanthropy than the US, where it is most likely viewed as institutional activity. This difference is primarily attributed to the dissimilarity in the institutional environment and cultural values of the regions. This is the reason, why organizations usually incorporate CSR initiatives in the corporate policies and programs. On the other hand, in Europe, it is mostly viewed as an informal business activity. This shows that customers’ expectations of corporate philanthropy have not matured in Europe as it has done in the US (Baden et al., 2011). For the clear understanding of the problem, it is also important to allow comprehension of the stakeholders’ primacy model of CSR. It is not sufficient to only understand the activities but, it is necessary to have a clear understanding of all the stakeholders, who are directly and indirectly involved in it. Overall, the CSR model is focused on the improvement of society. Resultantly, it should incorporate all the values of society (Carroll, 1979). On the other hand, there is another school of thought, which views CSR as entirely aimed at addressing the issues of different stakeholders in place of the entire society. One proponent of this school of thought is Clarkson (1995). According to Clarkson (1995), the activities including CSR of any business entity are aimed at fulfilling the needs of stakeholders. According to this concept, corporations are free from any obligation concerning society. Instead, there are only responsible for the welfare of the community, which is direc tly affected by their activities. Likewise, (Maignan et al., 2005) also supports this assertion. According to (Maignan et al., 2005), businesses and corporations are responsible for satisfying economic and noneconomic needs of the stakeholders. However, it is difficult to ascertain the exact boundaries of stakeholders especially in the case of multinationals, whose activities spread to different dimensions and areas of society. Nevertheless, the stakeholder model of CSR provides a framework, which can be used to analyze the relationship of the business with the society in the context of CSR (Carroll Shabana, 2010). This theory plays more a complementary role than conflict, when viewed in the milieu of CSR. This theory allows a better understanding of relationship between principal factors involved in the provision of CSR related initiative. According to this theory, corporate units can be better understood through the relationship of different actors, which have a stake in the oper ations of the business (Friedman, 1970). This means that the objectives of any CSR initiative taken by the organization are indirectly related to the primary goal of the organization, which is profit maximization. It means any CSR activity conducted by the organization will eventually increase the customer base for the organization and will subsequently translate in the form of higher returns for the organization. This approach creates a win-win situation for all stakeholders. The community gets the benefit from the CSR activities whereas shareholders and management of the organization receive benefits in the form of increased profits (Freeman, 1984). Theoretically, this model is very effective in transforming capitalism into serving the interest of different stakeholders, excluding shareholders. Within the framework of this theory, the implications of the evolving consumer’s expectations are considerable. The new set of consumer’s belief expects the organization to wo rk for the wellbeing of actors who do not come under the category of stakeholders. As a result, it has become necessary for the organization to redefine the boundaries of stakeholders and include all those actors within society, who are not directly related to the activities of the organization. The primary implication of this for the organization is increased cost related to CSR initiatives without any translations of returns for the organization. In other words, the organization fails to achieve something tangible from such initiative. Moreover, such initiative has departed from pure CSR and has returned to the scope of corporate philanthropy. Previously, only stakeholder’s interest was considered in the CSR program, which is regarded as vital for the existence and success of the organization. This concept also takes into account the importance of power dependent relationships, which suggests that an organization customizes its CSR program according to the power enjoyed by certain stakeholder groups over the firm (Pirsch, 2007). 4.0 Methodology 4.1 Research approach: The research approach adopted for this thesis is the case-based approach. The case study approach will provide profound understanding of the effects of changing consumer’s expectations on an organization’s CSR models. The case study approach is preferred because it allows the collection of in-depth information, which can be comprehensively analyzed in order to reach definite conclusions (Kumar, n.d.). This approach will also enable understanding of the problem in isolation, which is not possible with any other research approach (Bergh Ketchen, 2009). As a result, a comprehensive study of the case will be conducted, which will enable identification and analysis of the factors affecting the consumer expectation of corporate philanthropy on the stakeholder primacy model of CSR. Due to the nature of the case study, the research approach will be primarily qualitative in nature. This approach is ideal because it allows clear comprehension of the all the dimensions of the top ic under discussion (Maxwell, 2005). Therefore, the first stage of this research will consists of in-depth research and review of the relevant literature. The stage will also consist of the study of primacy models of CSR in the context of organizational strategy. This approach will enable the fulfilment of the objective of ascertaining the effects of fluctuating consumer’s expectations on the stakeholder primacy models of CSR. 4.2 Case selection This research will study the case of Marks and Spencer as a model organization for understanding and concluding the effects of evolving customer’s expectation on organization’s dominant models of CSR. The case study approach is ideal in the present scenario because it will allow the research to investigate the problem while retaining the holistic point of view, which is necessary for accurate results (Henn, 2009). The reason Marks and Spencer is selected rests in its long history of corporate philanthropy in the shape of CSR. Likewise, it is a large organization, which makes it representative for all other organizations. This case is also appropriate as it will lead the research to accurate theory development. It should be noted here that the fact the each business unit of Mark and Spenser develops its own CSR strategy makes it relevant for this research. This case will also allow the understanding and identification of the issues concerning the CSR model of Marks and S penser. CSR has an integral position in the organization of Marks and Spenser. This can be attributed to the founders of MS who intended to build sustainable and mutually beneficial relationships with all stakeholders including the community and employees. This model of CSR was implemented with the belief that it will ensure long-term success for the organization. MS launched a number of initiatives under its CSR model relating to education, health, environment and employability. This model has led to the creation of trustworthy images of the company in the general public and the community (Hallbauer, 2008). 4.3 Sample size This research will use a sample of 25 to 40 respondents. This size is ideal to reach a representative conclusion and at the same time eliminates bias in the research. The information from the respondents from the sample will provide additional data and perspective to the information derived from literature and theory review. 4.4 Data collection Primary data: In order to ascertain the effects of evolving customer’s expectations of corporate philanthropy, a large chunk of data will be collected from comprehensive primary research. The case study approach will allow triangulation of data from multiple sources, which will further allow a balanced understating of the problem under discussion. The primary data will be collected from semi structured interviews, which will provide insight into the thought process of the respondents being interviewed. The respondents will include the customers alongside employees of the organization, which will permit an incorporation of the view points of both sides. The questions for the interview are divided according to the respondent type. The following tentative and semi structured questions will be presented the customers: What areas should be targeted in the organization’s CSR strategy Have you witnessed any changes in the the CSR activities of the organizations in last 5 years Do you consider corporate philanthropy an integral responsibility of the organization On the other hand, managerial staff of the organization will be asked to follow main questions: How many changes have taken place in the scope of CSR activities of the organization How much of this change reflects the changes in the customer expectations from the organization’s CSR model How much organization’s philanthropy has been transformed into formalized CSR system Using these questions, this study will collect the relevant data, which will later be used in collaboration with the literature review to address the concerned topic. Secondary data: This research study will also make use of a variety of sources of secondary data alongside primary data, collected from interviews. The secondary data will consist of the website and annual reports of the concerned organization. In addition to this, academic journals and books relating to the topic will also come under the purview of this research. The purpose of the secondary data collection is to determine the effects of evolving customers’ expectations of corporate philanthropy on the organization’s primary CSR model. In addition to this, external reports originating from third party sources, such as the government, will also be used to provide all-encompassing analysis of the topic. The secondary data will enable a balanced understanding of the organization’s CSR model in the wake of evolving customer expectations from corporate philanthropy. 4.5 Pilot study The main objective of the pilot study was to ensure that the terminologies used in the research methodology are correct. As a result, the pilot study was conducted in the shape of interviews from a narrow range of respondents. The method used for the pilot study was a face-to-face to interview. This method enabled direct feedback from the respondents. In addition to this, the method also allowed the interviewer to ask relevant and pertinent questions, which were not present in the question guide, for the sole purpose of clarity. 4.6 Data analysis The data collected from the interview will consist of qualitative data. Therefore, it will not be possible to apply statistical principles and techniques, which can be applied to quantitative data, to extract trends and patterns. As a result, the information collected from interviews will be analyzed to deduce normative patterns for further understanding. However, for the purpose of categorization, the data will be coded and compared according to the research questions. The purpose of this activity is to identify any gaps in the research. In the case of identification of certain gaps, extended data collection will be conducted to eliminate any deficiencies. Moreover, the comparisons will also lead to the elimination of discrepancies before the final stage, when this data will be used to derive concrete findings. The main objective of the data analysis is to find the different dimensions of the topic under discussion. As the data in question primarily consists of primary information, it will provide more realistic picture of all aspects of the problem. Furthermore, this data analysis could also be used with the literature review, which will allow an incorporation of primary data with the theory development in the research finding stage (Miles Huberman, 1994). 5.0 Conclusion The purpose of this research is to assess the effects of the evolving customer expectations in regard to corporate philanthropy on the stakeholder’s primacy model of CSR. For this purpose, the case of Marks and Spencer is selected. Marks and Spencer has a long history of CSR and, therefore, provides a representative model for research study. This research will make use of qualitative data for the purpose of analysis and deriving conclusions. The qualitative data will provide normative insight into the problem, which will enable accurate assessment of the problem under discussion. This research will make use of both primary and secondary data. The primary data will be collected from semi structured interview, which will be conducted from the sample of 25 to 40 respondents. The respondents are divided into two categories in the form of consumers and employees of the said discussion. The data collected will be used in collaboration with secondary data. The secondary data will con sist of academic journals, books, websites and external reports. The secondary data will enable the analysis of primary data in a more comprehensive and balanced manner. With this research methodology, the research study intends to achieve its objective, which is to assess the effects of evolving and changing consumer expectations of corporate philanthropy on the shareholder and stakeholder primacy models of CSR. 6.0 References Baden, Tonne Meyer, 2011. The effect of context and type of corporate philanthropy on moral capital. Journal of Business Ethics . Bergh, D.D. Ketchen, D.J., 2009. Research methodology in strategy and management. Emerald Group Publishing. Bowen, H., 1953. Social responsibility of the businessman. New York: Harper Row. Carroll, A., 1979. A Three-dimensional conceptual model of corporate social performance. Academy of Management Review, 4(4), pp.497-505. Carroll, A., 1999. Corporate Social Responsibility: Evolution of a defnitional construct. Business and Society, 39, p.268–295. Carroll, A.B. Shabana, K.M., 2010. The business case for corporate social responsibility: A review of concepts, research and practice. International Journal of Management Reviews, 12(1), p.85–105. Clarkson, M., 1995. The Toronto conference: Refections on stakeholder theory. Business and Society, 33(1), p.82–131. Council on Foundations, 1982. Corporate philanthropy: Philosophy, management, trends, future, background. Council on Foundations. Davis, K., 1960. Can business afford to ignore social responsibilities. California Management Review, 2(3), p.70–76. Elkington, J., 1998. Cannibals with forks: The triple bottom line of 21st Century business. Gabriola Island, Canada: New Society Publishers. Fernando, A., 2011. Business environment. Pearson Education India. Forster, T., 2004. Die grunen Yuppies. Werben Verkaufen, 51, p.45. Freeman, R., 1984. Strategic management: A stakeholder perspective. Boston: Pitman Publishing Inc. Friedman, M., 1962. Capitalism and freedom. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Gainer, B., 2010. Corporate social responsibility. Third Sector Research, pp.187-200. Hallbauer, S., 2008. Retail marketing and new retail idea – Marks Spencer. GRIN Verlag. Henn, S.K., 2009. Business ethics: A case study approach. John Wiley Sons. Kumar, R., n.d. Research methodology. APH Publishing. Lindgreen, A. Swaen, V., 2010. Corporate social responsibility. International Journal of Management Reviews, 12(1), pp.1-7. Louche, C., Idowu, S.O. Filho, W.L., 2010. Innovative Csr: From risk management to value creation. Greenleaf Publishing. Maignan, I., Ferrell, O. Ferrell, L., 2005. A stakeholder model for implementing social responsibility in marketing. European Journal of Marketing, 29(9/10), p.956–977. Matten, D. Moon, J., 2004. Implicit and explicit CSR: A conceptual framework for understanding CSR in Europe. ICCSR Research Paper Series, (29). Maxwell, J.A., 2005. Qualitative research design: An interactive approach. Sage Publications. Miles, M.B. Huberman, A.M., 1994. Qualitative data analysis: An expanded sourcebook. Sage Publications. Pirsch, J., 2007. A framework for understanding corporate social responsibility programs as a continuum: An exploratory study. Journal of Business Ethics, 70(2), pp.125-40. Urip, S., 2010. CSR strategies: Corporate Social Responsibility for a competitive edge in emerging markets. John Wiley Sons. Visser, W., Matten, D. Pohl, M., 2007. The A to Z of Corporate Social Responsibility: A complete reference guide to concepts, codes and organisations. London: Wiley. Walton, C., 1967. Corporate social responsibilities. Belmont, CA, USA.: Wadsworth. Werther, W.B. Chandler, D., 2010. Strategic corporate social responsibility: Stakeholders in a global environment. SAGE. World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987. Our common future. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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Alternative Minimum Tax Essay Example for Free

Alternative Minimum Tax Essay Good to hear from you Alex. Estate and gift tax can be a burden so let me help you clear the air and give you a fresh take on what to do. First I’m going to want to explain to you the estate tax formula. Then I will discuss the interplay between gift and estate taxes. I have a few strategies for you to minimize estate taxes that I can let you in on and will help you on the long run. I would also like to explain the generation-skipping transfer tax and its relationship to gift and estate tax, because this might relate to you. From all this I will give you my advice on whether to invest in your son and his business idea. I would like to explain the estate tax formula and how it is computed. The first step is to gather or compile the gross estate and that consists of all the property in which you have an interest in. This would be the total dollar value of all the property and assets you have at the time of your death. The gross estate figure will be before liabilities like debt and taxes are deducted. The next step will be to subtract all the debt, funeral, and administration expenses. This will give you the adjusted gross estate. We would then normally subtract the property passing to the surviving spouse. In your case, your spouse no longer plays a factor but that may come to play if you decide to remarry and include your possible future spouse in your will. After we have taken out these items we would come up with your taxable estate. We will have to add the adjusted taxable gifts. This would be the excess of $13,000 annual gift exclusion amount. Under some special circumstances, if the gift was included in the gross estate it would not have to be reported again. Once this is done we will have you estate tax base. We then can find your tentative estate tax from the tax table. Our next step would be to subtract gift taxes payable on gifts includible in the estate tax base. We also have to subtract the applicable credit amount. The applicable credit is also known as the unified credit. This credit applies to both the gift and estate taxes. In 2012 the maximum unified credit is at $1,772,800 and the applicable exclusion amount is at $5,120,000. If after all this is done and a tax is still payable we will subtract other possible credits. These credits would include state tax credits, the credit for prior transfers and the foreign tax credit. The final result would be the tax payable that is due with the estate tax return. Gift and estate taxes work together and there is a specific purpose to that. While you are alive, and gift transfers may be subject to the federal gift tax. After your death, the estate transfers (property and assets) may be subject to federal estate tax. The reason these two taxes work together is so at the time of your death you cannot avoid the estate tax by giving away your property. The one good thing is that they both have exclusions that we can take advantage to avoid taxes. A gift and estate lifetime exclusion can work together to allow you to transfer up to $5,120,000 of lifetime gifts. They both will not be imposed with gift or estate tax. Anything after this exclusion will be subject to the 35% tax rate and that goes for both gift and estate tax. Another way they are intertwined is that if you have to make large gift tax payments during your lifetime this would result in lower estate taxes. In some circumstances the combine total of the early gift taxes and the later estate tax would give you an even lower estate tax that you would have gotten with the estate tax alone. This would then allow you to pass on even higher values to your beneficiaries. There are a few estate tax strategies that I want you in on and that will eventually lower you estate tax. First is marital transfer, which neither lifetime gifts nor bequests at death to one’s spouse are subject to estate taxes. This type of transfer might be an incentive for you to remarry but don’t recommend that be your only reason for remarriage. Another strategy is lifetime gifts to children and grandchildren. An example of this is to give annual gifts of $12,000 to any number of persons. By giving this gift a husband and wife can give a collective amount of $24,000 per year per recipient without having to incur a gift tax. This can add up to a substantial amount over a number of years. Uniform transfer to minors is another option. You can accomplish this by gifting to the children that are still minors which is usually given to a custodian for the benefit of the child. This would be distributed to the child when the child reaches 18 and like other gifts would be subject to an annual exclusion for lifetime gifts. Irrevocable life insurance trusts are available for you to use. To do this you would be transferring small amounts of your estate that are equal to the amount of a life insurance premium to an irrevocable life insurance trust. When this is done, you will be reducing your taxable estate and creating a much larger asset outside of the estate. The life insurance proceeds are generally not taxable. A private annuity can be made to make a sale of an asset to a younger generation in exchange for an unsecured promise. This promise is to pay annual amounts to the seller for the seller’s lifetime. Furthermore, charitable transfers can reduce the size of the estate and thereby reduce the estate taxes. Lifetime gifts provide an additional benefit of an income tax deduction. This last one I think is one of your best bets for transferring your estate to your child or children. A family limited partnership can provide a valuable estate planning tool to assist your family in transferring ownership of family owned businesses. This would also help protect your family assets from creditors as an added bonus. Considering that you will be making larger amounts of money, this option permits taxation of partnership income at your child’s lower tax rates. This plan offers plenty of intriguing options but also the added features of the family limited partnership flexibility and revocability. With your son’s possible criminal record, this gives you control in case things don’t pan out like you wish. What is generation skipping transfer? A generation skipping transfer is shift of property by gift to a person who is two or more generations below that of you. For years wealthy individuals gave away their fortune or property to grandchildren without paying federal estate taxes. This tax was made to prevent people avoiding this tax by skipping generations. This tax is only due when a skip person receives amount in excess of GST estate tax credit. One good thing is that most people will never encounter the GST tax because the tax credit levels are pretty high. Currently taxpayers are entitled to a $5 million GST tax exemption. Leaving a dynasty trust offers two advantages to the GST exemption. One is that the trust will escape all transfer taxes when the child dies. I would then pass tax-free to the grandchildren. The trust can be protected from the claims of creditors and to some extent, money seeking ex-spouses. Overall I hope I have given you some ideas on what to do and how to avoid estate taxes. Estate taxes can be avoided and you don’t have to take it sitting down. There are plenty of tax loopholes that you can still take advantage of. Now for the matter of your son it is in my personal recommendation for you not to just give your child, Jackson, the gift of three million. As there will be a gift tax that will apply to it for this current year that can be avoided. Instead I hope you decide to make a family limited partnership as to give you control of that money and still give your son the opportunity to pursue his dream to make custom cabinets. Eventually you can leave the company to Jackson after you know that the felony charges will not affect him and he has shown promise in maintaining the company. This once again is my recommendation but you have the option to do as you see fit. You are not limited to this and we can always work together to find something that will fit your c hildren or family needs.