Social Media and Banking Essay Example for Free

Social Media and Banking EssayIntroductionSocial media and stranding do not seem to have a strong relation at the first tincture on the topic, just atomic number 18 indeed complexly related in todays world with the continuous evolution of the banking sphere of tempt and the huge impact of societal media on the masses. While today some international banks are using fri abately media as a connectivity and marketing barb with its customers, Indian banks are also not far behind. ICICI, one of Indias biggest banks, already boasts a Facebook app al downcasting clients to look out their paper details, check statements and upgrade their debit card, among other activities, barely still maintains a cautious attitude to friendly media dodge. While in that location is no doubt that tender media is all the r get on amongst retail and advertisings sectors, it is provided to bewilder major inroads in the fiscal run and banking sectors. A sensitive report from Ovum, the te chnology arm of market analyst firm Datamonitor reveals that a majority of banks world(a) arent yet ready to embrace kindly media.Privacy and Data Security are two of the biggest hindrances to mass-scale cordial media adoption in the banking sector. Moreover, many banks do not think genial media gives them an edge to act on customers. In fact, they believe that its a dangerous proposition which whitethorn compromise sensitive financial data .Startling as it may seem, the recent Ovum research indicates that 60 per cent of the worlds retail banks have no plans to make use of affable media in the future. There are noticeable exceptions though UKs First Direct, Australias NAB, Wells Fargo in the US and Rabobank in the Netherlands have adopted fond media as a communication channel. While Ameri mountain banks mostly rely on twitter, Australias NAB used YouTube and Twitter to pacify disgruntled customers later on its online banking transcription fell over.And going by the enco uraging response received so far, the move appears to be fetching the desired go forths. 14 per cent banks soon use cordial media as a marketing tool, with a further 12 per cent planning to use it to promote their business by the end of 2012. Some challenges which the sectors might face are as follows The banking sector relies on sensitive financial data all the time. Though Facebook has made several changes to its seclusion norms over the last couple of years, a lot to a greater extent(prenominal) needs to be done in order to simplify who gets to see what information. Perhaps, a antithetic set of privacy controls for banks and financial institutions would subprogram.Given the afoot(predicate) situation, its unsurprising that most banks prefer Twitter over Facebook as the former has virtual(prenominal)ly no privacy vulnerabilities. The Ovum report indicates that friendly media offers a massive untapped opportunity for financial institutions. Consumer confidence in the bank ing sector has hit an all-time low and a personal touch of societal media would serve as a perfect shot in the arm to lift the struggling global financial industry. Before we plunge into this fast deepening relation mingled with sociable media and banking, let us first understand some basic concepts somewhat banking and mixer media separately.BankingUnder the Central Government Act,Section 5(b) in The Banking Regulation Act, 1949(b) Banking means the accepting, for the purpose of lend or investiture, of deposits of money from the public, re compensateable on demand or otherwise, and withdrawable by cheque, draft, order or otherwiseIn general, a bank is a financial institution and a financial intermediary that accepts deposits and channels those deposits into lending activities, either holdly by loaning or indirectly through capital markets. A bank connects customers who have capital deficits to customers with capital surpluses.Due to their influence inside a financial system and an economy, banks are primarily highly regulated in most countries. Most banks operate under a system k forthwithn as fractional reserve banking where they hold only a smallreserve of the capital deposited and lend out the rest for profit. They are generally checkmate to minimum capital requirements which are found on an international set of capital standards, known as the Basel Accords.Standard activitiesBanks act as payment agents by conducting checking or current accounts for customers, paying checks drawn by customers on the bank, and collecting checks deposited to customers current accounts. Banks also enable customer payments via other payment methods much(prenominal) as Automated Clearing House (ACH), Wire transfers or telegraphic transfer, EFTPOS, and automated teller machine (ATM).Banks borrow money by accepting funds deposited on current accounts, by accepting term deposits, and by issuing debt securities such as banknotes and bonds. Banks lend money by making a dvances to customers on current accounts, by making installment loans, and by investing in marketable debt securities and other forms of money lending.Banks provide dissentent payment services, and a bank account is considered indispensable by most businesses and individuals. Non-banks that provide payment services such as remittance companies are normally not considered as an adequate reticence for a bank account.ProductsRetail banking* Checking account* Savings account* Money market account* Certificate of deposit (CD)* Individual retirement account (IRA)* assign card* Debit card* Mortgage* Home equity loan* Mutual fund* Personal loan* Time deposits* ATM card* original AccountsBusiness (or commercial/investment) banking* Business loan* Capital raising (Equity / Debt / Hybrids)* Mezzanine finance* Project finance* Revolving credit* Risk management (FX, interest rates, commodities, derivatives) * destination loan* Cash Management Services (Lock box, Remote Deposit Capture, Merch ant Processing) Economic functionsThe economic functions of banks accept* Issue of money, in the form of banknotes and current accounts subject to check or payment at the customers order. These claims on banks piece of tail act as money because they are negotiable or repayable on demand, and hence valued at par. They are effectively transferable by mere delivery, in the case of banknotes, or by drawing a check that the payee may bank or cash.* Netting and settlement of payments banks act as both collection and paying agents for customers, participating in interbank neting and settlement systems to collect, present, be presented with, and pay payment instruments. This enables banks to economize on reserves held for settlement of payments, since inward and outward payments offset each other. It also enables the offsetting of payment flows between geographical areas, reducing the follow of settlement between them. * Credit intermediation banks borrow and lend back-to-back on the ir own account as middle men. * Credit quality rise banks lend money to ordinary commercial and personal borrowers (ordinary credit quality), only are high quality borrowers.The improvement comes from diversification of the banks assets and capitalwhich provides a lover to absorb losses without defaulting on its obligations. However, banknotes and deposits are generally unsecured if the bank gets into difficulty and pledges assets as security, to raise the patronage it needs to continue to operate, this puts the note h cureds and depositors in an economically subordinated position. * Asset liability mismatch/Maturity transformation banks borrow to a greater extent on demand debt and short term debt, but provide more long term loans. In other words, they borrow short and lend long.With a stronger credit quality than most other borrowers, banks give the sack do this by aggregating issues (e.g. accepting deposits and issuing banknotes) and redemptions (e.g. withdrawals and redem ption of banknotes), maintaining reserves of cash, investing in marketable securities that can be readily converted to cash if needed, and raising re attitudement funding as needed from various sources (e.g. wholesale cash markets and securities markets). * Money creation whenever a bank gives out a loan in a fractional-reserve banking system, a new sum of virtual money is created.Laws Related To Banking In India1.1.Reserve Bank of India Act, 19341.2.Banking Regulation Act, 19491.3.Negotiable Instrument Act, 18811.4.Consumer Protection Act, 19861.5.Limitation Act, 1963Social MediaSocial media employ web- and meandering(a)-based technologies to support synergistic dialogue and introduce substantial and pervasive changes to communication between organizations, communities, and individuals. Social media are social software which mediate human communication. When the technologies are in place, social media is ubiquitously accessible, and enabled by scalable communication techniques. In the year 2012, social media became one of the most powerful sources for news updates through platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.Classification of social mediaSocial media technologies take on many different forms including magazines, Internet forums, weblogs, social blogs, microblogging, wikis, social networks, podcasts, photographs or pictures, video, rating and social bookmarking. By applying a set of theories in the field of media research (social presence, media richness) and social processes (self-presentation, self-disclosure) Kaplan and Haenlein created a classification scheme in their Business Horizons (2010) article, with six different types of social media collaborative projects (for example, Wikipedia), blogs and microblogs (for example, Twitter), nub communities (for example, YouTube), social networking sites (for example, Facebook), virtual game worlds (e.g., World of Warcraft), and virtual social worlds (e.g. Second Life). Technologies acknowledge bl ogs, picture-sharing, vlogs, wall-postings, email, instant messaging, music-sharing, crowdsourcing and voice over IP, to name a few. Many of these social media services can be integrated via social network aggregation platforms. Social media network websites include sites like Facebook, Twitter, Bebo and MySpace.Mobile social mediaSocial media applications used on mobile devices are called mobile social media. In comparison to tralatitious social media running on computers, mobile social media display a higher location- and time-sensitivity. ane can differentiate between four types of mobile social media applications, depending on whether the message takes account of the specialised location of the user (location-sensitivity) and whether it is received and processed by the user instantaneously or with a time delay (time-sensitivity).* Space-timers (location and time sensitive) Exchange of messages with relevance for one specific location at one specific point-in time (e.g., Faceb ook Places Foursquare) * Space-locators (only location sensitive) Exchange of messages, with relevance for one specific location, which are tagged to a certain place and read later by others (e.g., yelp Qype) * Quick-timers (only time sensitive) Transfer of traditionalistic social media applications to mobile devices to increase immediacy (e.g., posting Twitter messages or Facebook status updates) * Slow-timers (neither location, nor time sensitive) Transfer of traditional social media applications tomobile devices (for example, watching a YouTube video or reading a Wikipedia entry)Mobile social media can also be used on the go when one is not near a personal computer, lap-topetc. With all the new devices that are arriving at our finger tips, gadgets such as tablets, iPods, phones, and many other new products, there is no use for sitting at home using ones PC mobile social media has made other sources of internet browsing obsolete, and allows users to write, respond, and pasture i n real-time. New media of social networking such as Instagram allows the world to interconnect and makes space and time much smaller. Instagram allows individuals to snap a photo wherever they may be and share it with the rest of the world instantly, delivering a social media site full of foreign accomplishments and strange scenarios. This feature was introduced by Facebook and other quick social media sites, Instagram is a recent addition to the social media scene, and has made picture sharing much easier. Mobile social media is a relatively new platform since it is contingent on mobile devices ability to access the Internet.There are various statistics that account for social media usage and effectiveness for individuals worldwide. Some of the most recent statistics are as follows* Social networking now accounts for 22% of all time spent online in the US. * A total of 234 one thousand million people age 13 and older in the U.S. used mobile devices in December 2009. * Twitter pr ocessed more than one billion tweets in December 2009 and averages almost 40 million tweets per day. * Over 25% of U.S. Internet page views occurred at one of the top social networking sites in December 2009, up from 13.8% a year before. * Australia has some of the highest social media usage in the world. In usage of Facebook, Australia ranks highest, with over nine million users spending almost nine hours per month on the site. * The number of social media users age 65 and older grew 100 percent throughout 2010, so that one in four people in that age group are now part of a social networking site. * As of May 2012 Facebook has 901 million users.* Social media has overtaken pornography as the No. 1 activity on the web. * In June 2011, it was account that iPhone applications hit one billion in nine months, and Facebook added 100 million users in less than nine months. * If Facebook were a country it would be the worlds third largest in terms of population, larger even than the US. * In June 2011, it was also reported that U.S. Department of Education study revealed that online students out-performed those receiving face-to-face instruction. * YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world. * In four minutes and 26 seconds 100+ hours of video will be uploaded to YouTube. * One in six higher education students are enrolled in an online curriculum. * In November 2011, it was reported Indians spend more time on social media than on any other activity on the Internet. A brief overview of Indian banks-Pictorial statisticsFacebookTwitterThe Why and How of Social Media w.r.t BankingWhy Social media matters to Banks?Whether a banks ultimate goal is enhancing its brand, reducing costs, increasing customer satisfaction, boosting innovation ,or driving tax income ,social media can be a valuable pursuit. Enhancing the brandSocial media can play an important role in differentiating brands and making them more relevant to consumers. overmuch of its power in this regard derives from the fact that in a consumers mind, the most credible spokesperson a company can have is a person like me. In fact, research shows that the number of people who trust such a hypothetical person more than they trust brands or organizations increases virtually the world each year. How can banks take advantage of people like me? American Express, for one, created OPEN Forum, an online community dedicated to connecting businesses with each other and providing valuable content to customers with which the company wants to have relationships. Today, OPEN Forum has more than 10,000businesses involved, monthly traffic has reached as high as 1.5 million visits,5 and the majority of content is produced by the community. The result is a new touch point that drives brand affinity, provides American Express with an immense opportunity to create brand impressions, and gives the company a chance to be at the center of important conversations among its customers.Reducing CostsSoc ial media can be a major contributor to banks ongoing cost reduction efforts, especially as they pertain to service, gross sales, and marketing. For instance, banks can use social media as a low-cost channel to distribute messages, host conversations, provide customer service, identify dissatisfy customers, and increase the impact and reach of traditional media efforts. Consider Bank of America, which was the first and largest bank in the world to use Twitter for customer service. The bank uses a dedicated Twitter page on which a wide variety of real peoplewith their actual photos help customers solve their issues. User feedback reveals the sentiment among customers that receiving help through this page is easier and faster than traditional customer service.In addition to driving customer service costs down, the page creates brand impressions across consumers social graphs, thereby allowing other consumers to see the value of the channel for a variety of goals. The channel also ca n enhance the impact of marketing. Consider, for example, how Discover Bank of late created a Facebook identity for Peggy, a character from its popular series of TV ads. Today, that character is liked by nearly 9,000 consumers, and interacts with them several times a day. such campaigns create millions of additional brand impressions inside of Facebook, as well as new opportunities for brands to interact with their customers in a low-cost format.Creating and improving innovation Banks can use the channel to create better, more innovative products and services that reflect real-time consumer demand. Chase, for example, created an online community of mass-affluent consumers and tasked the group with deviseing a credit card purpose-built to their specific wants and needs. The result its highly successful Chase Priority Club Rewards card. Chase also created a Community Giving program that allows consumers to direct thebanks donations to specific charities. As of this writing, that co mmunity had directed more than $5 million to 100 local charities. Through this initiative, Chases philanthropic entity is initiation up its decision-making to crowds and involving millions of people in the process Increasing revenue While the use of social media to drive revenue within banks is still in its infancy, results from other industries further along the growth curve are encouraging. Avis, for example, has been able to use a variety of coordinated social media efforts to boost its sales by 9 percentin a competitive, commoditized industry with flat or declining revenues.As an example of a more specific and successful effort, USAA, a financial services provider for members of the US armed forces, allows site visitors to rate products like auto insurance or home equity lines of credit and add a compose review. In fact, USAA customers have added thousands of reviews to products, and consumers have responded strongly In the first year of adding product reviews to the site, USA A claims incremental sales of over 15,000 products. This tactic clearly shows a direct impact on growth and demonstrates the value of people like me. In both cases, using social media to unlock increased revenue requires firms to focus on fundamentals. Providing service that customers want to talk about and delivering products that are worth recommending. Once those conditions exist, the chance of successfully using social media to drive revenue goes up exponentially. A uniquely challenging industryFor many banks, all of the examples in the world are not enough to get off the commencement blocks. Typical challenges include External communications are strictly governed by a host of rules and regulations that limit what they can and cannot say. Banks essentialinessiness observe strict rules regarding consumers personal information and data security. Sanctioned employees, whether from customer service, marketing, or another functional group, must be knowledgeable about products, services, rules, and how to get things done within the bankand they must be mature enough to make decisions and craft responses to difficult questions. Plus, all this must be done within the strict legal and regulatory framework that banks lie in and occur within real time in order to be effective.For many banks, technology itself is a major concern when it comes to implementing a socialmedia schema. Banks must identify and implement the tools they will need to be active in social networks, from simple listening platforms to sophisticated tools that enable the integration of social media with bequest CRM systems, customer service tools and workflows, reporting and record keeping requirements, and overall marketing analytics. Finally, some banks will need to overcome a lack of organizational structures and in-house talents to derive full business value from social media. More specifically, many banks may find they have to close talent gaps and bridge internal divisions between pr oduct-oriented teams, all while gaining senior leadership support for a company-wide approach to social media. This is no small task, especially given the fact that most senior leaders are not well-versed in social media.A path toward social media masteryWhile the preceding paints a picture of industry-wide challenges, there is a path that banks can use to begin their social media journey. It starts with gathering critical knowledge that will guide the development of their outline and assure positive outcomes. To begin, banks must strive to understand what their customers, prospects, and competitors are discussing online, as well as the social technologies that seem most relevant. This includes developing profiles of how various customer segments actually use social technology and pinch the practical implications of those uses. For example, strategies for student loan customers may vary widely from those designed for private wealth management clients in areas of execution, conten t, and technology. Banks also must assess their current social media capabilities and activities All too often there are separate, potentially conflicting social media initiatives under way, as well as underutilized technology, insights, and sustain. Banks must begin to consider their collective presence versus that of individual lines of business.Consumers dont make those distinctions, and neither should banks. It is critical for banks to get a firm acquire on what competitors are doing in the social media space, and where white space exists. Bank of America, American Express, and Chase all have done this with their respective social media efforts, but that does not mean no space is left to establish a presence. To find this space, banks have to ask two questions of themselves What can we deliver to our customers that we dont offer today, and howwill it provide them with value? Social media sponsors must critically review risk. Specifically, they must identify specific social me dia concerns, assess their likeliness, and establish processes to carry on adverse events. Prior to involving senior management, it is necessary to have answers to these questions, examples of how others have navigated similar waters, and concrete ideas on the trade-offs between risk and reward.And as mentioned earlier, banks must establish clear business objectives and map them to specific areas in which social media can generate value. All of the above becomes a moot point if efforts are not impelled by real business goals. By addressing each of the preceding areas, social media teams can build senior leadership support for and sponsorship of overall social media efforts. In Accentures experience, successful initiatives typically involve one or more executives with deep passion for and experience with technology and social media. It is crucial to find and engage these people and use their influence to open the eyes of the broader C-suite.Crafting a Social Media StrategyAll of th is work will prepare banks for the successful development and implementation of a comprehensive social media strategy. To be effective , such a strategy must encompass the following areasCrafting the VisionWith an overarching framework in place, social media can be designed from the ground up , versus as a collection of disparate tactics .It also can focus on a specific segments and experiences, as well as on the necessary internal piping to implement social media connections across channels. Indeed, every good customer experience is carefully designed and good social media experiences must follow suit.Defining and Measuring Success A Banks Social media strategy must encompass well-defined metrics that reflect progress toward the banks business goals ( as defined in the vision). However, first and foremost , they must conform with the same type of metrics that drive business today . For Example, a social media strategy focused on sales as an outcome should look at driving traffic from social media, converting that traffic into leads, and successfully cross-sellingand up-selling customers that are interacting across social media channels. In effect, viewing the efforts through the same eyes that traditional channels evaluate success.GovernanceA social media strategy should include clear governance and effective organizational structures, whether that means establishing a dedicated social media center of excellence or appointing social media champions across the banks functional groups and/or product lines. Regardless of the specific measures or structures in place , the banks goal should be to support efficient , effective engagement in social media with the right skills, staff, and controls . this Structure must be nimble, include processes for iteration ,and have senior leadership included.TechnologyPerhaps counter-intuitively, it is only when the vision, metrics , and organizational structures have been defined that the bank should start thinking about tec hnologies and the tactics they dictate. Banks Should start with basic learning and listening platforms that allow them to test the waters and identify areas of potential engagement, and then progressively integrate that platform with existing CRM tools to achieve a single view of customers. Banks must also consider what technologies are appropriate for record keeping and adherence to the policy.Recognizing that not all starting points are the sameThe level of Social Media experience that a bank has plays an important role while crafting a social media strategy. The scope of the social media strategy depends on the relative social media maturity of the bank. The strategy used by a bank that has substantial experience in social media will differ in some aspects from the strategy used by a bank which is new to social media. Banks with less experience in Social Media The social media strategy used by the banks with no or relatively less experience in social media should address the foll owing questions * They should pay attention to the scope in terms of the functional areas covered by the strategy, important business goals, and the business processes used to achieve those goals. *They should also focus on building engagement among pick out stakeholders and assessing their willingness to participate in theinitiative This is as much about creating an initial coalition of the willing as it is about telling a compelling baloney on how social media can positively impact business results. * They should also learn from lean on agency partners and others that have been through the fire before. Banks with significant experience in Social Media The social media strategy used by the banks with significant experience in social media should address the following questions * The Social media champions within these banks must know when it is time to seek help from inside and outside the firm.This is needed because the expanding range of social media analysis and reporting will begin to bury marketing staff and merits the involvement of dedicated analytical and technical staff. * As these banks begin to expand the use of social media across product lines, they have to design governance models that can keep pace, as well as focus on integrating social media technologies with CRM systems to achieve a truly holistic view of cross-channel, multi-product customers.Successful Integration of Social Media into the OperationsBanks that have been successful in integrating social media into their operations often have grass-roots efforts to thank. These banks have passionate leaders who have led social media efforts for individual product or service lines. The key to moving beyond grass roots and getting the entire organization pulling in the same direction is actively engaging senior leadership. Only then will the full brand-building power of social media truly be realized.How banks use social mediaAccording to the survey conducted by MHP Communications amongst th e heads of communications and public relations specialists at more than 35 global banks to gain an understanding into social media habits across the banking industry. In broad terms, use of social media is high with the majority of respondents (53%), using social media both in a private and a business capacity. 30% use social media outside of a work context and 3% for business purposes only. 15% of all respondents do not use social media at all, which is a high percentage given that social media generally sits under the communications departments remit. Whilst social media has become a mainstream activity, it is notable that more respondents use social mediafor personal means than in a business context. When looking at the purpose of social media, it is widely seen as a good source of information on what is happening in the media (75% of respondents).Interestingly it is less seen as a direct route to the customer, but more to communicate broadly and advertise products and solutions More than two thirds say they use social media for communications and public relations purposes, whereas 42% use it for marketing and sales activities. Customer service is a key purpose for 25% only. In the retail banking sector social media has a more established footprint than in the investment banking world. This follows the logical conclusion that for customer service and customer engagement purposes the mass consumer market is appreciative of being able to communicate with banks through these new, yet very much established platforms. And banks are increasingly keen to appear more customer-friendly whilst tackling the image the sector has as consisting of traditional and staid organizations. In the investment banking world social media takes on a different purpose, and has even become a platform to be feared and avoided.It is also not seen as a traditional direct route to clients. This is changing however, and one senior PR manager commented that the banks trading desk recently received a client involve for traders to be given access to Twitter to monitor and engage with client comments throughout the trading day. The use of social media within the internal communications function is relevant for around one third of respondents (36%) which represents a vast untapped potential given the range of opportunities to share knowledge and information internally that social media creates. Free tools such as Yammer, Twitter with protected tweets or Google+ with individual circles make information available only to a selection of people, so they can be used to streamline internal communication processes. However, and this is a key problem for a heavily regulated industry such as the banking sector, social media platforms are provided by external third parties.Any shared data which is of a sensitive or confidential nature will in many cases be stored on the providers servers which may not provide sufficient protection or peace of mind for the banking sector. Most pr oviders are based in the US where legislation may, under certain circumstances, require them to reveal their clients identities or other data. Also, social media platform providers are commercial operations and there is the risk that data is misused, misplacedor falsely allocated. Many banks feel that sensitive data should only be stored and transmitted on their own radix to ensure full compliance. At the same time, regulatory bodies such as the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in the UK aim to make social media more widely user-friendly for banks by publishing guidelines and recommendations.As a consequence there is a high level of insecurity as to what can and cannot be done. Despite these issues, social media is now seen as forming a strategic part of a communications program rather than representing solely a tactical activity, with 84% of banks now having a specific social media strategy. Nearly one third has started to execute a strategy, and 15% have a fully developed strat egy in place. More than 40% are currently in the process of creating a strategy, and only 16% have not started thinking about or have decided not to have a social media strategy in place. A number of banks do have a social media strategy, but no defined goals for the strategy 27% responded that they have not established specific goals for their social media strategy. Measuring the success of a social media program is perceived to be more complicated than for traditional PR which may explain why metrics and, in effect, goals remain vague.

Final Project Essay Example for Free

Final Project EssayBrandt, V., England, W., cover, S.. (2011). Virtual Teams. Research Technology Management, 54(6), 62-63In this article Brandt, England, and Ward define what practical(prenominal) group ups ar, they state practical(prenominal)(prenominal)(prenominal) police squads be individuals spurting together who engender never met each different in mortal and probably will not meet face-to-face during the assigned project (Brandt, England, Ward 2011). The next part of the article is used to define what practical(prenominal)(prenominal) team ups brood of. Virtual teams mainly consist of divisions from different locations working together on a specific project. Although some members of the team may meet each different at some point, they will never see each other on a frequent basis. In the main body of the article Brandt, England, and Ward give 6 common dimensions of successful virtual teams, they be as follows1. Trust-Trust gener bothy set abouts from a history of interpersonal interactions through which people come to notice one another. In virtual teams, think must be established through other means since team members may break no ult escort to draw on and no future to reference (2011).2. Cultural Differences-Cultural and language differences become magnified in virtual teams because it is much easier to hide errors and problems and engender wrong assumptions. Unintended non-inclusive behaviors based on cultural norms can be interpreted as rudeness or intimidation. Fostering cultural understanding breaks drink the barriers that can hamper success and leads to more effective virtual teams (2011).3. Communication-Communication issues for virtual teams include both the tools or technologies for converse and the rules of engagement. Both are critical for virtual team success and what works well for co-located teams is generally not effective for virtual teams. Shared electronic workspaces such as shared websites on an intra net are preferred communication tools for virtual teams (2011).4. Social Skills-Use caution when assembling virtual teams solely on the basis of peoples expertise and availability. Social skills should be considered as a major prerequisite for good teamwork within the virtual team. If the team is unable to establish a basis for the effective exchange of k instantaneously-how, cognitive process will suffer (2011).5. Mission and Goal Clarity-While all teams need clear missions and goals to be effective, virtual teams have more opportunities for diverse assumptions about the teams mission and goal to take root. Clarity comes from discussion among all team members to reach a common understanding of the teams deliverables. Another describe requirement for the virtual team is the need to highlight the expertise of each member of the team and how that expertise relates to the teams goals (2011).6. Rewards and Recognition-Finding appropriate ways to hatch virtual teams with global member ship require creativity. The diversity of the individuals on the team along with local rules and regulations makes a common reward for all approach vexed to execute. Incentives for both project and personal performance need to take into account the diversity of the team (2011).While all of these dimensions of virtual teams are important to their success, it is likewise noted that all virtual teams are not the same. The importance of each dimension can vary from team to team and each separate voice should be emphasized more or less depending on the team make up, assigned task, and clipping permitted.Wally Bock. (2003). Some rules for virtual teams. The Journal for Quality and Participation, 26(3), 43.In this article Wally Bock describes what the best uses for virtual teams are. Virtual teams are best used for problem solving, quality assurance, product cookment, instruction sharing, and a variety of other team related activities. Within the concept of virtual teams it is import ant understand how the team is going to work together to accomplish the activities that are assigned. In immediatelys modern come with virtual teams are interacting in different ways tan with traditional physical teams. Bock lists three ways virtual teams are getting their assigned activities accomplished, and what the company must provide for them to be successful.1. Meetings-Virtual meetings will be the primary way to handle specific, narrowly focused issues right away on these types of teams however, virtual teams that are working on long-term projects will benefit from occasional physical meetings-especially in the early stages of their work (Bock, 2003)2. Virtual Conferences-These interactional discussions offer an effective way to bring in an expert or to allow one team member to make a presentation to others without having to forgather all participants in the same place (2003).3. E-mail Groups-A team leader or manager can use the grouping, nickname, or list making tout on a companys email software to increase the effectiveness of a virtual team. This check overs that when any member of the team sends any communication about the project, all of the other members receive it. For most virtual teams email is the primary means of communication (2003).The essence of this article is noting the fact that virtual teams are only going to be effective when technology is involved. When virtual teams first started, there wasnt much effective meeting technology available, but now there is. New technology allows virtual teams to be on the same page, stay in constant communication with one another, can keep the team organized, increase the ability of each member to make contributions, and can also decrease the expenses associated with physical meetings. Bock also notes that using the available technology allows virtual teams to be more innovative, and more successful than their physical counterparts. (2003).dobson, Sarah. Canadian HR Reporter. Toronto Oct 10, 2 011. Vol. 24, Issue. 17In this article Sarah Dobson gives reasons and facts why many companies are increase their virtual team workforce. In todays tough economy companies are focusing a lot of attention to cost cutting. In a persuasion conducted by Dobson she plunge that over 50% (56%) of companies are planning on using more virtual teams, as a necessitate relation to cost cutting (Dobson 2011). Another reason for the spike in virtual teams is the widespread downsizing that has been seen globally. By hiring workers in less costly markets and managing these newfound employees as virtual teams, companies have seen a drop across the board in expenses related to labor, travel, real-estate, and taxes.Dobson goes on to talk about the advantages of virtual teams. nonpareil of the advantages is having the ability to move in quickly and work with people from almost any location, having a broad pool of people to pull from allows a company to get terrific team members no matter where the y were located (2011). The notion of being able to pull employees from any part of the world is one of the key fruit success factors of virtual teams. There are many multinational organizations growing rapidly in emerging markets such as China and Brazil fueling, the teemingness of talent, demand for new skill sets, and a more distributed and diverse workforce.Although this article is heavy on the importance and advantages of virtual teams in today modern workplace, Dobson also points out that a virtual team can pose many challenges to other parts of a corporation. As a result of her survey Dobson found 66% of HR professionals need to do more work with virtual teams with the top three challenges being additional training, communication issues, and time zone or distance issues (2011). HRs role in building and supporting virtual teams is extensive, this includes selecting the right people, understanding the skills and capabilities required, enabling policies over ample distances, an d getting separate departments such as IT working together. Its a balancing act for HR in managing budgets and ensuring the sustainability and growth of their companies, said Dobson (2011).Mancini, Dale J. (2010). construction organizational trust in virtual teams. Journal of Behavioral Studies in Business, 2, 1-5. This article contends that trust is the root of any teams success and states that cross-cultural understanding and communication play significant roles in building organizational trust.Peoples sense of trust is developed between e genuinely interaction with each other. Trust cannot be forced into an organization or group. A virtual team, brought together to complete a major task, does not already have a foundation upon which trust already lies and therefore starts its project without established trust. Organizational trust can be hampered by cultural and communication difficulties. When team members originate from different acculturations, the cultural differences in com munication can create major obstacles that need to be overcome. To help foster communication in a virtual team that consists of members from different cultures there must be knowledge of each members national culture, which can help with understanding anticipate behavior in a variety of situations. If an understanding is not apparent within the team there may be a lot of unintentional miscommunication which can derail a project from the start. Mancini notes that protocols, appropriateness, monitoring, and feedback mechanisms must all be dynamically adjusted in this unique communication environment (Mancini, 2010).Trust is outlined as reciprocal faith in others intentions and behavior. When dealing with a multitude of cultures in a virtual group it is important to understand that each culture has its own unique characteristics that function as a moral compass guiding the way they meet the challenges of life. Each group member must not judge but understand each of the beliefs of the ir fellow group members to help establish clear goals, a commitment to open communication, and trust and accept the rules and procedures of the virtual team. Only when all parties involved in the virtual team seek not to judge but to understand (2011), can real success begin.Naish, Richard. (2009, October). deal the virtual lead. E. learning Age.This article talks about being an effective leader in a virtual team. Nash notes a 2001 study among students by Kayworth Leider that found the most effective leaders demonstrate mentoring skills, understanding for others and empathy (Naish 2009). This is import to note as being a leader in a virtual team requires a different leadership technique than the traditional command and control style utilized in many co-location teams. Leaders must use trust over control in these virtual team environments because in many cases with the team members being in separate locations it will be difficult for a leader to oversee what is going on with the gr oup at all times.The second part of this article is used to define the different stages of trust that develop in a virtual team. Initial trust comes from team members personal characteristics, this type of trust can be re-enforced by team members sharing data about them. Naish notes a 1999 research study that found high-performing virtual teams spend up to half their time in the first two weeks exchanging social information (2009). Over time initial trust can erode in a virtual team, the next phase of trust in a virtual team is cognitive trust which will take the place of the eroding initial trust. Cognitive trust is based on peoples experience with each other. It is a kind of trust that is pull in not given. In a virtual team cognitive trust can be earned by prompt replies to emails, sticking to deadlines, attending virtual meeting on time, and following up on all of the promises that are made in a group.Neish concludes his article by giving three tips for being a successful lead er on an effective virtual team. A leader must develop awareness of similarities and differences in the team members (2009). Virtual leaders need to encourage team members to share information. This allows members to see how similar they are even though they are working far apart. A leader must watch out for misunderstandings (2009). Face-to-face meetings are important at the beginning of the project and at points during this allows a mutual understanding to develop and allows team members to build relationships with others. A leader must give appropriate skills and support (2009). Virtual leaders need to en sealed all team members have essential virtual team skills self-management, communication skills, and inner-personal awareness. Leaders must also monitor performance, reward team outcomes, and make sure team member have the resources they need to be successful. It is a balance of all of these skills that make for an effective virtual leader.Stephen Morris. (2008). How to get rea l results from virtual teams key out that people, tasks and technology are different but equal. Human Resource Management International Digest, 16(4), 33-35.This article is all about making sure each member of a virtual group has the graceful training with the technology used to make a virtual team successful. Stephen Morris first notes that while technology is very important it is not an end all solution to having a functional virtual team. Technology can only work veraciously when it is put to proper use by the people using it Morris says people who have had no formal telephone or e-mail training can find themselves in a world where they spend hours dealing with the issues of technology and not focusing on the project at hand (Morris 2008).It is important for group members to have the proper training on the technology they are using to help the virtual team function. In many instances virtual teams are put in drive situations, in these types of conditions, if a group leader ha s made the assumption that all members have had proper training the affect can be detrimental to the group. When team members are physical present with one another, especially in high pressure situations, they tend to monitor the impact of communication. In the fast-speed communication of the new digital age, people often transmit communication without taking into consideration the impact it may have.Morris next talks about intent versus impact, his definition of intent is as follows, Most virtual teams probably have an urgent needintent. We are surrounded by technology, feeling under pressure and often isolated. If no fantasy is applied, off go the e-mails like rocketswe are under pressure to deliver, right? There is little time for small talk here. Telephone calls are to the point. They have to understand that I am in a hurry. But if we treat virtual-team members as human doings and not human beings, they often delay the work flow (2009). The important thing to understand here is even thought technology is driving the work that is being done in a virtual team situation leaders cant view the people using the technology as technological pieces themselves. A successful virtual leader assures that all participants have the proper training in all of the technology used they can then balance the people, tasks, and technology usage, and recognize they are all different but not equal.While technology may not be the savior it is thought by some, it is not the demon seen by others, it entirely is what it is. The human element brings it to life and defines its use and impact on the world. With a little care it can be turned into the most amazing enabler for co-creation and collaboration. With a very little carelessness, it can create total disconnect.

The Influence Of Money In Philippine Elections

The Influence Of Money In Philippine ElectionsElection melt d take ins argon now on the roll. Politicians atomic number 18 getting busy thinking of many ways to chequer their victory in the coming resources. Different strategies and techniques are being use by these views in order to win the ballotings of the people. Aside from the techniques and strategies, funds plays a huge role in e very Philippine elections. The ability to win of the medical prognosis lies on how much bullion he or she is going to spend for this coming election.The aspiring candidates go forth definitely spend a large amount of currency to catch the hearts of the ballotingrs even if it means per planting an black act. A single suffrage is very precious and meaty for the win a candidate. And in order to possess this single sure balloting, candidates resort to get the ballots of the people. choose purchasing is overt in the Philippines. It is a disease that continuously rots our semipolitical an d electoral system. It has already become institutionalized in our system and remains constant despite the condemnation of many Filipinos. Before, vote secureing is usually the concluding safety of a rich but unpopular candidate to hold a panorama in office. But today, even popular ones are engaging themselves to this cordial of activity because popularity per se is not enough to assure the vote of the electorate especially in local politics.Vote buy reflects a powerful image of im envisiont and corruption. It is just the stepping stone for doing a much than pretenderulent act.The vicious cycle of vote acquire and vote exchange in the Philippines is becoming more and more alarming. This paper aims to answer the nature of vote get, strategies of vote get in the Philippines, the reasons for doing vote acquire and vote selling and to trace the history of vote acquire in the Philippines.WHAT IS VOTE BUYING?Vote buying, according to Hicken (2006), includes the individual, immediate and private exchange of goods, services or cash for electoral support, usually in infringement of legal norms. It simply means giving out or handing out money to leaders and voters. It in any case means getting the vote of the people to ensure winning. Vote buying is also a form of economical exchange (Schaffer, 2002) because there is money involve.TYPES OF VOTE BUYINGVote buying can be categorized into two types treat vote buying and indirect vote buying. Both types are widely used in the case of the Philippines although the idea of direct vote buying serves as the more popular act.DIRECT VOTE BUYINGIt is the most common type of vote buying where direct payments, in many forms, are given to the voter. It may be in the form of cash gifts, shares of stock or a promise of a popicular plan of action or payment in exchange for a promise of vote (Dekel, E., et. al., 2004).INDIRECT VOTE BUYINGIt is a kind of vote buying done in a non obvious and straightforward approach . This type of vote buying uses tug strategies that target the weaknesses of the electorate. Here in the Philippines, the system of the candidates is to use and pee-pee advantage of the different Filipino traits. Example of these traits are our values of utang na loob, pakikisama, our close family and kinship ties, our religiousness, and opposite sociable values like loyalty, support and trust. They effectively use the various traits to influence and temp us to follow their selfish plans.Bava (1998) gave a concrete example on how this character capitalization happens. Different parties and candidates assume poll watchers and workers who are tasked to distribute experiment votings for their party. Each poll watchers and ballot distributors are given 1500 pesos and 500 pesos respectively, per day of work from 7 am to 3 pm. A poll watcher only needs 4 things in order to land the job 1) a ball pen 2) a condition sheet 3) at least 18 years of age and 4) a registered vote (Bava, 1 998). The last requirement is the most important and advantageous in the part of the candidates. If the hired person is a registered voter, the employer result be sure that the employers vote will go to him or her. A person offered with this kind of job will definitely take the opportunity given all the privileges and comfort that it can give. They can earn almost 1500 pesos a day by just distributing pamphlets and sample ballots. Adding to the convenience is the free meals given to them by their employer. And if the candidate won in the elections, most of them are given permanent jobs in various government offices. This is where indirect vote buying takes place. This act, according to Bava (1998), displays the Filipino trait of utang na loob. If a person has done roundthing good to us, we would do anything and everything to return that goodness. In this case, the poll watchers and different employees will feel obligated to vote the candidate/employer because of the job that was given to them.FORMS OF VOTE BUYINGMoney is the common type of material that the candidates use in order to buy votes. But vote buying not only takes the form of money. It can be other forms of material offers. Schedler (2002) and Schaffer (2002) made a keep down that summarizes the different kinds of offers into three categories.The first and the most common form is payment. A payment is an amount of money paid. Schedler (2002, p.4) described it as a commercial human relationship in which partners trade equivalent values. The citizen trades his vote in exchange of money. The act of accepting money denotes that there is an indirect agreement between the giver and the pass catcher of the payment.The second kind of material offer takes the form of gifts. A gift is something that is given out of free will without paying something in return. In the condition of vote buying, accepting a gift does not give you the responsibility and obligation of voting the giver.The last kind is in th e form of charter. A wage is an amount of money paid in exchange of services rendered. Like gifts, it does not require any obligation to the candidate.FACTORS AFFECTING VOTE BUYING correspond to Schaffer (2002), there are three calculates that affect the strategies of the candidates and the perception of the voters toward vote buying. These are socioeconomic, institutional and political factors. The first factor both affects the candidates strategies and the voters perception while the last two factors affect mainly the strategies of the candidates.SOCIOECONOMIC FACTORSOne of the socioeconomic factors is the social class (Hicken, 2006). The formulation of the different strategies is influenced by social classes existing in society. The candidate must make a strategy that can produce strong and favorable impressions on people from different walks of life. It should cater to the needs of the entire high, lay and low class population. But it is impossible to come up with such strate gies given that there is a massive gap and conflicting interests present among these social classes. Different social classes connote different needs and expectations. A strategy that might work to the visit class might be ineffective to the gist and higher class or a strategy that may be good to the higher class might harm those belonging in the lower class. Adding to the problem is the unequal number of population belonging to a certain social class. In the Philippines, the population of the lower class is greater than the population of the centre of attention and higher class combined. The solution to these is to focus the strategy to those who constitute the majority. The easiest and most effective strategy to garner votes is to buy the votes of those who are included in this majority (which is the lower class). It will be very effective since those who belong in this class are financially unable who need money to sustain their terrestrial living. This scenario is very prev alent in the Philippines since many are members of the lower class. Almost all politicians who are running in office are focusing their feed on the less fortunate because to them, greater number of voters means more number of votes and more number of votes means greater chances of winning.The second socioeconomic factor is education (Hicken, 2006) which affects the voters view closely vote buying. For the high and some middle class voters, vote buying is a deviant and somehow an immoral behavior. Those in the higher and middle class are strong attackers of this physical exercise. They are advocates of different anti-vote buying camping groundaigns and they are known for organizing movements that educate the people about this kind of campaign strategies. They afford this kind of opinion because education teaches them about these kinds of things. But for some middle class and most in the lower class (who cannot afford to fool a higher education), they accepted vote buying becaus e they perceive it as the time when they can receive free money that they can use to buy their necessities.INSTITUTIONAL FACTORSHicken (2006, p. 48), express that the rules and institutions under which candidates must operate can influence their incentives to purchase electoral support. Different institutional factors may encourage or disapprove the use of vote buying.One institutional factor is the electoral system itself (Hicken, 2006). low this factor is the district magnitude. It affects the strategy of the candidate because large constituency means orotundger amount of money needed to buy votes. Large district also has influence on the manner of distribution of the money. The strategy will be more expensive and costly since the distribution of money will take much longer and there should be an increase in the number of employees to properly pass the strategy. As a result, candidates will lessen the amount of money to be distributed to the people in order to prioritize othe r campaign strategies.POLITICAL FACTORS policy-making factors are different conditions and circumstances in society that affect the creation of various policies political choices.One of the variables under this factor is the election laws, particularly the anti-vote buying laws (Hicken, 2006). The degree of execution of different anti-vote buying laws affect how candidates device their strategy and distribution plans. In the Philippines, vote buying is illegal yet it continues to occur likely because of inefficiency of the laws and the law enforcers and the light punishments that will be given to the law breaker. on that point is no strict regulation of such laws in our country that is why the practice of vote buying is up to now a widespread act. More often than not, the law enforcers themselves are the protector of this scheme.BUDGET SOURCESThe first thing that comes into our minds when we talk about vote buying is money. Money is the vital element of vote buying. It is the fou ndation of any vote buying scheme. We usually think that all vote buying funds are coming from the pockets of the candidates since most of them are members of the elect. But I think that the candidates are smart enough not to make use of their own wealth and to think of other alternative ways of budget sources.Some candidates most likely get their vote buying budget from their own political parties. Others accept donations from different business sectors given the condition that if they win the elections, they will repay them by giving them economic benefits and government protection. For example, the candidate accepted the donation from a construction company. If the candidate won the elections and plans to assoil out road projects, he or she will be obliged to make the company the affirmer of the said projects.Other candidates resort in getting illegal funds. Candidates who seek re-election begin the advantage when it comes to money resources because they can easily tap pork membranophone and other government funds. Some ask the help of drug syndicates, smugglers, kidnappers, gamblers and robbers to provide them with untraceable funds. It is true because we can observe that many crimes and illegal acts are disaster during the election season. In return, the candidates give them financial support and protection.DIFFERENT STRATEGIES OF VOTE BUYINGA carefully devised plan of action is needed to successfully carry out acts, especially if it is illegal. Candidates and politicians are wise in strategizing the effective way to buy the votes of the people. Usually, they even hire experts and professionals who are knowledgeable in fields concerning illegal campaign scheming.One specific strategy to ensure that the money given was translated into vote is what Bionat (1998) called Lanzadera system. In this strategy, the watchers give the voters an already completed ballot which will be dropped by the voters in the ballot box. After dropping the already completed ballot, the voter, then, takes with him or her the blank ballot and give it to the watcher. The watcher will complete that ballot and give it to the next paid voter. In this system, the money is given only if the voter returns with a blank ballot.I interviewed people from our barangay in Bulakan, Bulacan about the chronic vote buying in our place. They had first hand experiences on how vote buying takes place in our town. Based from that interview, I was able to learn other strategies and series of actions on how the scheme of vote buying happens.According to them, vote buying is usually conducted a night or two before the election day, usually around eight in the evening until midnight. Each politician has their own leader per community who is responsible for the identification of supporters and potential vote buying targets. They are also responsible in delivering the money to the house of the identified voters, at times in the appearance of paying the watcher. The intense vote b uying is very evident and common in our place that the people are the ones coming and lining up in front of the politicians headquarters to ask for the money. some other strategy done by the candidates is getting the trust of barangay officials and other community leaders. In this way, the candidate can almost assume his or her hold in the community. The local leaders, then, are given large amount of money in exchange of buying the votes of their constituencies on behalf of the politician or the candidate.One more strategy that was mentioned by my neighbors is buying non-supporters. Candidates will offer those non-supporters with huge amount money. If they accept it, they will not be allowed to come out of their houses on the day of the election. There will be someone who will serve as a watchman that will ensure that the voter will abide to the agreement. Some politicians, in order to be extra sure, hire a bus that will take all the paid non-supporters to an out-of-town trip on the election day.another(prenominal) strategy is the taking advantage of the politicians on our deep family and kinship ties. Some politicians use a relative or an influential member of a clan to convince members of the family and close friends to accept the money and to vote for that politician.Vote buying also happens during the election day itself as said by the interviewees. Buying may take the form of 100 pesos attached to the sample ballot.There are also ways in order to ensure that the paid voter will comply with the agreement. Before giving the money, they are required to give proofs that they voted that candidate. Usually, they bring with them a carbon paper or they are asked to take a watch of the ballot with a cell phone camera. Others asked the voters to make an agreed mark (a particular fold for example) on the ballot to serve as identification in the course of the counting of the votes.REASON WHY POLITICIANS BUY VOTESThe primary reason why politicians buy votes is the h unger for power. Vote buying is a form of despair to remain in power. Many politicians fight for the privilege of power because it implies influence and control over other individuals. They see power as the easiest way to win fame and fortune. Candidates want to purchase the vote of the people to obtain domination on different public organizations and mechanisms. They are not afraid to spend a big amount of money because once they are elective in office they can easily recover the money that was used to pay those individuals.REASONS WHY volume SELL THEIR VOTESAccording to the April 2007 of the Social Weather Station (SWS), one in two of the registered voters think that there is nothing bad in accepting the money offers from the candidates (refer to Figure 1). Others may not see this from of money-giving as an attempt to buy their votes. They accept the money but it does not necessarily mean that they will vote for that candidate.Another reason is the offer seems as an opportunit y to get the money, which was stolen by the politicians, hazard to the people. They might as well accept the offered money since it came from the taxes of the people.The April 2007 SWS survey also found that those in the rural areas were more probable in accepting money compared to those who live in urban areas (refer to Table 1). This shows that the primary reason for the selling of votes is poverty. Those who live in or below the poverty line mostly are unemployed individuals. They take the money because they needed it. For the poor, payment for a vote can mean a week without hunger. They just accept the offer because for them, dignity and pride cannot create food and money.Some may see elections as the only chance to obtain something from the government. They have this view that it is an obligation of a candidate to give money and other material things to their supporters.There are some reasons that we can consider negative in the part of the voters. People accept payments becau se they are being threatened. Most of the times, material offers are accompanied with terror, making them very difficult to refuse.Figure 1. In an election, it is not bad to accept money providedone votes according to ones conscience.Source http//www.sws.org.ph/pr070503.htmTable 1. Rural areas approved accepting money compared to those inthe urban areas.Source http//www.sws.org.ph/pr070503.htmIS REFORM POSSIBLE?For the past few years, many have attempted to stop and eliminate the practice of vote buying in the Philippines. They even formed different organizations that promote the values of an honest election. But none of them actually succeeded.The effectiveness of efforts depends on how organizers or developers predicted the intensity of vote buying strategies as well as the various reasons why people accept the offers.A reform aims to change the behavior of the candidates and the voters. Reforms for givers usually take the form of strengthened laws. Example includes strengthened v ote secrecy, tightened campaign finance rules and many others that aim to prevent anyone from buying votes. But these reforms led only to a restrict success. Vote buyers, instead of stopping, have adapt themselves to the new environment. To escape punishments, they devised new ways on how to carry out vote buying like increase the instances of indirect vote buying rather than direct vote buying. It became more uncontrollable even though new laws strained it to become more subtle.On the other hand, reform has always taken the form of voter education. Probably the most successful technique that was done to eradicate vote buying is the campaign a summationst vote buying done different public service posters (see example 1, Illustration 2 and Illustration 3). Successful in the sense that it enables the public to gain information about the wrongness of vote buying. But it did not really help in the removal of this unacceptable practice.None of the attempts to completely stop vote buyi ng became successful. Law enforcers and reformists continue to devise stricter policies and laws over against vote buying despite the fact that none of these actually really worked. Instead of wasting the time in just making stricter policies, they should consider focusing their attention on real roots of this act. Government should focus their attention more on improving economic development and education. By doing so, people will not have the reason to accept money in exchange of their votes.At this point in time, I can say that reform is really impossible. Reform will only be possible once our political and economic system become stable.Illustration 2 3M public service ad, May 2001. blinded by money. Vote with your conscience.Source Schaffer, 2005Illustration 1 Namfrel Public Service Ad, May 2001. Your vote is valuable, it doesnt have a price. Your character is priceless. So, in this election, dont sell your character, dont sell you vote.Source Schaffer, 2005Illustration 3 Red H orse Beer public service ad, May 2001. A humble pocket change wont put you ahead. Dont ask for a bribe. Vote for a good candidate.Source Schaffer, 2005HISTORY OF VOTE BUYING IN THE PHILIPPINESVote buying is not just a recent development in Philippine elections. Its existence started with the coming of foreign colonizers and continued to flourish and evolve with the promotional material of new technologies and the development of new ideas.Pre- colonial elections in the Philippines did not have vote buying because the leadership was assumed not through election but through succession. The same thing goes probably with the elections during the early Spanish stoppage (17th to 18th century). I did not find any account stating that there was vote buying but I assume that there was none because there was no elections and the leaders were only appointed by the Spaniards. In the late Spanish period (19th century), Spanish colonial control in the Philippines declined as the Philippine revol ution started. The revolution led to the development of a government established by Aguinaldo. Under this government, most officials were selected individuals from the principalia class and elections were only held for higher positions. There was no large scale elections during that time so vote buying was not an option.The coming of the American period started vote buying in the Philippines. The Americans gave all Filipinos the right to rule and the right to vote. Act No. 60, which became the organic law for all municipal governments, started the elite rule in the Philippines (Tangcangco, 1988). The Act provided a requirement that only allowed the elites to vote and participate in elections. The elites became powerful and they may have realized the advantage that the position can give them. They became accustomed to the power that was once denied by the Spaniards. From then on, in order to sustain this power, they did whatever means and costs to be elected in office.Here are some o f the documented instances of vote buying from the American period until the present period.In the 1929 Elections (during the American period), money was very essential in the campaign period. Money was used to pay-off rivals to withdraw their candidacy, to buy the votes of the people, to threaten the people, and to bribe campaign leaders of the rival candidate. (Banlaoi Carlos, 1996).In 1940 Local elections (Commonwealth period), Money was again a very important tool. Specific example for this one is the case of Pedro Abad Santos of the Socialist Party. He was predicted as the winner of the gubernatorial race in the province of Pampanga because of his massive popularity to his constituents but his wealthy opponent won the election by almost 7000 votes. There was no evidence of the strategies his opponent had used but the Abad Santos camp was really sure that his opponent used his money to buy the votes of the people. Another example was the electoral protest of Dr. Hilario Moncad o against Tomas Cabili. They were fighting for a congressional seat in Lanoa province. Moncado accused Cabili of unlawful campaign by promising free legal services and employment for those who will vote for him. (Banlaoi Carlos, 1996)In the 1949 National Elections (during the post-independence period), all forms of fraud and manipulation were reportedly done by President Elpidio Quirino to ensure his position as president. Quirino and his other candidates used massive and whole-sale vote-buying in forms of money, jobs and pork barrel. It was reported that Quirino had used almost four million pesos during his election campaign. The three provinces where the massive vote buying occurred include Negros Occidental, Nueva Ecija and Lanao. (Banlaoi Carlos, 1996)The 1969 Presidential and Congressional Elections was between The Nacionalista Party and the Liberal Party. This was considered as the bloodiest and dirtiest election (Banlaoi Carlos, 1996, p.111) prior to the Martial law period . Both parties reportedly used different techniques to ensure their victory. These included cheating, ballot stuffing and massive vote buying. It was stated in the reports that the Nacionalista Party and the Liberal Party spent around 700 million pesos and 300 million pesos respectively. That money came from the pork-barrel funds and was used as media fees and in buying votes. (Banlaoi Carlos, 1996).During the Martial law period, all kinds of wholesale fraud were committed including vote buying. In order to capture the loyalty of the rural people, Marcos personally distributed 4000 pesos to every barrio overlord during his campaign. The barrio captains were tasked to divide the money among the inhabitants of the barrio. (Abueva, 1970).In the 1992 elections, there was a ban on media advertisements so the candidates had more cash to spend on their campaigns. Feliciano Belmonte, Quezon City congressional candidate at that time, was reported to have given cash and free tickets to Hong kong during his campaign. (Bionat, 1998)The media advertisement was also banned in the 1995 elections. According to Bionat (1998), mayors in Cebu received a premium of 50,000 to 100,000 pesos for campaigning the 12 senatorial bets of the administration. Like what Marcos did, candidates also bought the votes of the grassroots leader. The difference is that the value of their support was more expensive. Barangay captains accepted a minimum of 500 pesos and a maximum of 20,000 pesos from the candidates. (Bionat, 1998)In the 2004 Presidential elections, Arroyo committed almost all kinds of fraud according to Tuazon (2006). One example is the Oplan Mercury that was exposed by Rudy Galang (one of the brains of this idea). The goals of this plan are to use public funds to the campaign, to provide money to local officials and to buy the support of those in the opposition. (Tuazon, 2006).Elections in the Philippines from pre-colonial era to the present show how we incorporate influences of colonial rule into our political system. The good and bad effects of these interventions became part of the changes in Philippine elections. History tells us that the face of Philippine elections has never really changed. We still continue to perform the practices of the past. The difference now is that it just assumes new shape and form.CONCLUSIONIn a poor country like ours, it is impossible to have a power because our politicians know our vulnerability to pressure and our hardships in life. Majority of our electorate are poor and have no means of livelihood, no education to back them up and they just resign themselves to taking alms and relief. The poorer the country the more prevalent vote buying is. They take advantage of our weaknesses but we cannot blame those who sell their votes. Filipinos minds are set for any answers that are immediate. That is why even when the act is illegal and unlawful, like selling votes, they instantly resort to it to easily come up with a solution t o their problem, like poverty. People are quite fixated on short term solutions instead of long term ones. A 500 peso short letter can buy you, lets say, a two days decent meal, but it cannot assure you economic stability in the future.For me, vote buying can be associated with surrendering ones right to vote and selling ones principle. I will definitely not sell my vote. Vote buying is based on morality. Money is good by itself but the act is evil because it violates my freedom, my dignity and my right as an individual.Vote buying is not a native Filipino idea. It was only a reflection factor of our colonial experience. But this experience manifest in us that it became a constant scenario in elections. History has an indirect effect on the start of vote buying in the Philippines. The desire for self-rule that was forbidden to the Filipinos for almost 300 years was suddenly bestowed to us that it might have created the idea of doing whatever it takes (may it be good or bad) to pre serve and uphold this right.

The Caretaker By Harold Pinter | Analysis

The Cargontaker By Harold Pinter AnalysisNumerous critics have said that much of the roleplayion of The Caretaker by Harold Pinter is dominated by the characters struggle for billet all everywhere one another. As Michael Billington remarked in his book The Life and Work of Harold Pinter, Power is the theme dominate or be dominated. Pinter shows, Billington continued, That life is a series of negotiations for improvement in which everything comes into play. Indeed, in The Caretaker, this often seems to be the case. Davies tries to play Aston and paddy field against each other as he struggles to establish a foothold in the way of life. Mick maintains origin over Davies by physical as well as verbal assaults. And at the end of the play, Aston exerts his power by forcing Davies to leave the struggle for power is a dominant theme in the play.On the other hand, Mick does have at least just near feeling, even if scarce a wiz of obligation, for his fellow and is, in fact, takin g rush of at least some of Astons needs by allowing him to stay in the room. Although he expresses anger at his brother when he breaks the Buddha against the stove, although he tells Davies that Astons trouble is that he does not want to work, Mick does defend Aston against Daviess cruel remarks and he allows Aston to stay in the room. The desire for power motivates him precisely it is not his only motivation. Nonetheless, it does seem fair to consider the desire for power as a primary motivation for both Davies and Mick.While Davies and Mick are dominated by their own drives for power, to suggest quite the comparable of Aston is to simplify his character as well as the play as a whole. Astons attempts to care for Davies and to talk to him seem motivated, at least in part, by forgivingness and concern for the crumb. On the other hand, it is hard to see Aston as motivated solely by altruism. Indeed, one could argue that Aston is kind to Davies beca usance he wants to control h im, because he wants to meet his own needs and thus is as motivated by power as are Davies and Mick.In truth, neither interpretation of Astons character captures the whole man. Aston does nettle an effort to meet his own needs notwithstanding not in a cynical search for power. What Aston truly desires through proscribed most of the play is real contact with another merciful be. It is only when his efforts at concernion let on that Aston exerts simple power over Davies.In Act I, after the opening scene in which Mick looks about the dismal room, then leaves, Aston comes onstage followed by Davies. Upon entering the room, Davies begins to blab of the encounter that led Aston to bring him home. Davies was involved in some sort of scuffle at the restaurant where he was working, and Aston saw a man have a go at Davies. In relating this incident, Davies complains a great deal about his treatment at the restaurant, claiming that he was not being treated according to his station, that he was told to do work he considered beneath him.In spite of his concern with his topographic point in the world, however, it is clear from Daviess clothes that he is a tramp and, whether such a viewpoint is moral or not, most so-called respectable people would consider him beneath them. While many another(prenominal) would feel sorry for someone in Daviess position, almost no one would actually take such a person home to care for him. Astons take Davies home, therefore, seems an act of incredible kindness.Such kindness can also be seen to some extent in the way Aston and Davies converse. For the most part, Davies speaks and Aston listens, enduring the old mans complaints, neer challenging even the most absurd of Daviess claims, such as his assertion that women have often asked him if he would like to have them look at his body. When Aston does speak to Davies, most of the time he asks questions about the old mans needs and desires.As Act I continues, Aston makes a number of o ffers to Davies and these offers seem to escalate in extremity. He offers the tramp a cigarette, shoes, and money. He says he will retrieve the belongings Davies left in the restaurant. He offers to let Davies stay in his own room and even gives the tramp the keys to the house. By the end of the first act, Astons offers of help become so extreme that they would seem incredible to most people. So unbelievable is Astons kindness to Davies that it raises the question of motivation. It is hard to accept that a person could be that kind simply out a sense of responsibility towards ones fellow man.There are, however, some hints that Aston may be acting from something other than kindness, may in fact be seeking to have Davies satisfy his own needs. In the first act, Aston in two ways tells Davies of incidents from his own life. First he tells Davies a simple story that he went into a pub and ordered a Guinness, which was served to him in a thick mug. He tells Davies that he could not fi nish the Guinness because he can only drink out of a tin glass. Davies completely ignores Astons story and immediately begins speaking about his own plans to go to Sidcup.Later, Aston tells Davies of his sitting in a cafe and speaking to a woman who, after a brief conversation, put her hand on his and asked if he would like her to look at his body. Davies responds first with disbelief, saying Get out of it, then goes on to say that women have often said the same thing to him, not quite ignoring Astons remarks this time, but using Astons friendship simply as a means to boast about himself.In both cases, there is no logical prelude to Astons stories. They seem to come out of nowhere. The most likely interpretation seems to be that Aston simply wants someone to talk to, and this interpretation seems borne out in Astons speech in the second act in which he tells of how he was put in a mental hospital after he talked too much. This suggests that Astons kindness might stem from his own n eed to connect with a human being, any human being, even Davies. If this is the case, Davies offers no satisfaction to Aston, for the tramp is interested only in himself.Toward the end of the first act and throughout most of the second, Aston begins to seem less motivated by simple kindness. His leaving of Davies entirely in the house seems, on the face of it, an act of consideration and of trust but it is in fact somewhat ambiguous. Aston almost certainly knows that Mick may come into the house and that, if he does so, he will view Davies as an intruder. In a sense, Aston, while not at this point confronting Davies with his own power, leaves Davies in a position in which he may have to face the anger and power of Mick. Thus Aston exerts a sort of familial power over Davies.After Micks encounter with Davies and Astons return to the room, Aston continues to show ambiguity in his treatment of Davies. When Mick keeps Daviess bag from him, Aston makes some attempt to get the bag back t o him, but finally, he gives the bag to Mick, and it is Mick who returns it to Davies. Aston still attempts to acquire shoes for Davies, andIT IS ONLY POWER THAT DAVIES UNDERSTANDSHe offers him the job of caretaker, but he complains that Davies makes noises when he sleeps. When Davies complains about the muster in and rain from the open window, Aston asserts himself by telling Davies that he himself cannot sleep without the window being open.Toward the end of the second act, though, Aston temporarily gives in to Davies on the matter of the window. He tells Davies he can close it for the time being. In his giving in to Davies in this way, Aston may be motivated by simple kindness, or he may seek to appease Davies so that he can again attempt to talk to the man, to engage him in some sort of relationship. Again, this can be interpreted as an effort to control Davies in order to meet his own needs.At this point in the play, it is more difficult to believe that Aston acts only from kin dness. It seems possible that Aston may truly be motivated by the desire to manipulate Davies in order to use him to satisfy his own need for contact. The built in bed becomes more complicated, however, at the end of Act II, when Aston, in a lengthy monologue, speaks to Davies about his mental troubles. Aston tells the story of his talking too much in the cafe, of his hallucinations, his commitment, his mothers betrayal, his experience of involuntary electroshock treatments. This monologue is like nothing else in the play. Aston tells the tramp a serious story about what is almost certainly the most agonised experience of his life.Aston seems again to want someone to listen to him, and one could again argue that he simply wants Davies to meet his own needs. Such a view, however, would be too simplistic. In telling this story to Davies, Aston takes a serious risk. The social stigma attached to those who have god such treatment in a mental hospital, particularly electroshock therap y, is strong, especially in the time in which Pinter is writing. When Aston tells Davies about his hospital experience, he makes himself extremely vulnerable to the tramp. He gives Davies ammunition to use against him. This is not a man in search of power but one who desperately seeks to make real human contact. further Aston ultimately cannot make that contact with Davies. Pinter uses lighting to illustrate this. By the end of Astons monologue, he alone can clearly be seen Davies stands in the shadows. This shows that no connection is made. His attempt to connect with a human being leaves him vulnerable and alone.In the final act, Davies exploits Astons moment of honesty. He attempts to ally himself with Mick and against Aston. Aston, once again seeming to attempt an act of kindness, continues to seek shoes for Davies, but the tramp scorns Astons efforts to help. In fact, Davies verbally assaults Aston, insulting him, accusing him of being insane, telling Aston that he could go bac k into the hospital, that he could receive electroshock treatments again. It is at this point that Aston finally tells Davies he has to leave. His attempts to be kind to Davies, to connect with him, have completely failed. Even when he tells Davies to leave, however, Aston again shows kindness, offering Davies money. But still he finally and literally turns his back on Davies as he looks out the window and waits for the tramp to leave.While it is clear that Davies, with no place to go, is alone at the end of the play, what is often overlooked is the fact that Aston is also alone. He has shown kindness to Davies. He has desperately attempted to make real human contact with him. In the end, however, Astons desire for connection cannot be saved. It is only power that Davies understands.

An analysis of Process costing vs. job order costing

An analysis of Process be vs. seam order be aditManagement accounting uses several costing techniques. be techniques argon very important to the business vigilance because they sustain them make sound decisions for the company. They also help companies keep track of the be that they incur in the production process. The techniques be mainly for internal use apart from absorption costing which is employ by external users like the sh arholders and the creditors. This paper analyses the process costing techniques and compares it with job order costing. It gives reasons as to why poke Company should use job order costing rather than process costing (Bradford, 2008).Process CostingThis is a costing technique that is utilize in finding costs in homogenous or products that are uniform. This technique makes averages of costs for all units to make per unit costs. Work in process account is utilise to track the process costs. Through this system, a continuous manufacturing process i s used to produce identical goods (Bradford, 2008).Computation Procedures for Process CostingManufacturing costs are accumulated for a occlusive of time. It also take to the woodsing out the average costs of manufacturing. This being a continuous process, there is need for order (Bradford, 2008). The following are the steps that are followed in the computer science of manufacturing costs through process costing unit of measurements physical flow this is accounted for by the use of head start schedule, stream or used inventory and the inventory at the end of the financial period.Production of equivalent units the units that are equivalent during production are found by multiplying the units that are accounted for by the completion percentage for puddle category of costs (Costing. (n.d.).Accounted for costs these costs are identified during each production period for each cost category. They include the inventory at the starting of the period and the inventory used in the cata menia production period.Per unit cost for each equivalent unit poof production, costs are measured through the division of the costs to be accounted for by the produced equivalent units.The allocation for each category of the cots is through with(p) for total costs that are to be accounted for. This is workable through the multiplication of the equivalent produced units and the cost per produced equivalent cost (Bradford, 2008). systemologyProcess costing follows the following method in finding the total costs used in the production process. The two main methods used in process costing are weighted averages and FIFO methods.Weighted Average Method The main method used is the use of weighted average to compute the costs of output. The average cost computed is comprised of is weighted average cost from both the enterprise inventory and the modern inventory. The following steps are necessaryThere is a physical flow of units since this weighted average method doesnt separate the s tark(a) inventory from the current and the closing inventory.This weighted average technique computes the units that are equivalent and it fails to separate the percentage of produced units in previous period from these units produced currently (Costing. (n.d.).Unit costs in the starting inventory are not separated from the unit costs for inventory incurred in the current period in the unhurriedness of costs to be accounted for.To compute per equivalent unit cost, the total costs to be accounted for are divided by the equivalent total units of production.In the weighing of the cots to be accounted for total equivalent units accounted for, the weighted average method doesnt separate costs of starting inventory from costs of inventory in the current period (Costing. (n.d.).FIFO this method, in computation of costs, separates costs for the current period from the costs of the starting inventory. The following steps are usedThis method separates the current inventory from the inventor y of previous period in the computation of continuous flow of units (Costing. (n.d.).The percentage of production units in the previous periods is separated from the percentage of units produced in the current period during the calculation of produced equivalent units.In the identification of the costs to be accounted for, the FIFO methodology separates the opening inventory units from the cost of eventual units that are added to the current period (Costing. (n.d.).In the calculation of per equivalent unit cost, this FIFO methodology divides the current accountable for units by the current produced equivalent.This method in the calculation of current costs that accounted for separates the costs that added to production in the current period from the costs of opening inventory.Application of Process CostingThis costing technique is appropriately used when the products of manufacture are homogenous or they are identical. This methodology is unalikeiated from job order costing in the cost finding process. While job order costing is best used in the finding of per unit costs, this method finds the total average costs of production over a certain period of time (Bradford, 2008).Advantages of Process CostingThis method has the following advantagesProcess costing is best used for manufacturing industries that perform general manufacturing impact.Disadvantages of process costingThis face of costing technique is not appropriate with those organizations that piddle jobs and batches. labor Order CostingThis is a costing technique that accumulates costs for different types of jobs. The jobs are categorise into batches. For a batch to be considered as a separate job it has to be differentiated. If the batches are identical then process costing will have to be used. As per customers specifications, different individual jobs are produced.Job Order Costing ProceduresThere are accumulated costs for manufacturing for each separate job. This is done by the use of different ledger accounts. The procedures to be followed are as specified belowThe process s initiated by the customer placing a gross revenue order for the batch of products.The sales order is translated into a production order.This is followed by the ordering of the visibles and the labor that sis to be used in the production of the batch. The materials are tracked for the batch (Bradford, 2008).The relevant manufacturing overhead for the job is done by the use of a rate that is predetermined. This is usually done per the hours of labor or per the hours that the machines work (Bradford, 2008).The work in progress account is changed to a control account and is thus not affected by the allocated manufacturing overheads.The spoilage that is abnormal (i.e. spoilage above the expected rates) is reclassified from the work in progress account the period costs. This makes it possible for the management to address the cost of abnormal spoilage (Bradford, 2008).The actual amounts of labor and mate rial incurred are used by the accountant to charge the direct labor and materials to work in progress.The use of a job costing sheet is used to track these amounts of labor and material. This sheet is usually in a format that is computerized and each account has a subsidiary ledger (Bradford, 2008).Applications of Job Order CostingThe application of job order costing is wide and varied. It is used by many companies in tracking costs. It is mainly used by the industries that produce and lot goods in batches. Unlike companies that do general manufacturing, this technique is effective in companies that manufacture products in batches (Bradford, 2008).Advantages of Job Order CostingThis technique readily avails to the management the various cists in relation to the individual batches or jobs. Though this, an analysis can be made to show how and why the cost was incurred. The management gets to drive in the problems with the various allocations of costs and improve on it in future (Acc ountingformanagement, 2010).Though job costing, on going results that are for each job can be yielded. The costs incurred can be added even before the job is finished. This is helpful for the company since it enables the accounting staff of the company to access costs of jobs hence observe them.It enables the company to be in a position to analyze costs for longer jobs hence room for adjustment (Accountingformanagement, 2010).Disadvantages of job costing techniqueThis costing technique is not relevant in some environments like the software industry which has no direct costs but many development costs. Job order costing will not be of help recording such costs.This costing technique has its main focus as primary products. Departments and activities are not dealt with. This is a problem because the management of a company is left with inadequate information (Accountingformanagement 2010).Application of Job Order Costing to SACSAC has switched the mode of manufacturing goods. It now m anufactures spark plugs. The company could get various purchase orders from different organizations and companies. These are sale orders that SAC can transform into batches and start processing the plugs. These form different jobs. It will be costly for SAC to continue using process costing because costs can not be traced to different costs or batches. Therefore I highly recommend SAC to use job process costing in its cost analysis because of the innovative mode of manufacturing spark plugs.ConclusionManagement accounting uses various costing techniques to perform its tasks of costs analysis. Process costing and job order costing are two types of costing techniques that are have a similarity that they both analyze the costs that are incurred by the organization. Though these methods can be used to analyze costs, they differ in their approach to the analysis. Process costing uses both weighted average methods while job order uses the sale orders placed as batches or jobs for costs a nalysis. Also while process costing is good for companies that do general manufacturing, job costing is good for companies that manufacture based on batches.

Imperialism in India :: European Europe History

Imperialism in IndiaBritish imperialism on India had many positive and negative affects on both the mother country, Britain and the colony, India. Many people would consider which effects were more than prominent in these countries and some would agree that they were equal. But in both cases there were actu exclusivelyy both. In India the British colonization had more positive affects than negative. For Instance, When the British colonized India they built 40,000 miles of railroad and 70,000 miles of paved roadway. As a result the British made it much easier to travel across India. some other good affect that the British had on India was the jump in agriculture, through large scale irrigation works. About 30 million acres were put into cultivation. industrialisation had also begun. Because of all these reasons almost no famine existed in British colonial India. The English also built many institutions in India and setup a productive government. They have framed wise laws and have established courts of justice(The Economic History Of India Under Early British Rule). In addition to all these positive affects, Britain also linked India to the modern world through modern science and modern thought. However, where the is good there has to be bad. British colonization of India had its drawbacks. As the great Mohandas Gahndi once said You English committed one supreme crime against my people. For a hundred years you have done everything for us. You have condition us no responsibility for our own government. At first glance this may seem like a positive effect but Ghandi did not intend it to be. Because even though it was a good thing that England setup a government in India they turned it into a burden because they did not permit any natives into the important positions. They mommied the Indians if you will. Another negative effect England had on India was the breaking up of traditional industries. Prior to Britain colonizing India there were many more divers co nsummate labors. Such as shipbuilding, metalwork, glassblowing, and paper making. With the break up there was a noticeable rise in the unemployment India. India was not the only country affected by the annex to the British empire though. This annexation affected Great Britain as well. Although the effects were not as devastating they still caused some change. But boilersuit Britain definitely benefited from the colony of India. They got more raw materials and they also got more land.

The Definition of Insanity as it Relates to Criminal Offences :: Criminal Justice

The madness defensive structure is a self-abnegation asserted by an accused in a criminal prosecution to avoid financial obligation for the commission of a offence because, at the time of the crime, the person did not appreciate the record or quality or wrongfulness of the acts.The insanity defense is used by criminal defendants. The most common variation is cognitive insanity. Under the test for cognitive insanity, a defendant must have been so impaired by a mental disease or defect at the time of the act that he or she did not know the nature or quality of the act, or, if the defendant did know the nature or quality of the act, he or she did not know that the act was wrong. The vast majority of states stand criminal defendants to invoke the cognitive insanity defense.Another form of the insanity defense is volitional insanity, or Irresistible Impulse. A defense of irresistible pulse rate asserts that the defendant, although able to distinguish right from wrong at the time o f the act, suffered from a mental disease or defect that made him or her incapable of coercive her or his actions. This defense is common in crimes of vengeance. For example, suppose that a child has been brutally assaulted. If an otherwise conscientious and law-abiding mother shoots the perpetrator, the mother may struggle that she was so enraged that she became mentally ill and incapable of exerting self-control. Very a few(prenominal) states allow the volitional insanity defense.The insanity defense should not be befogged with Incompetency. Persons who are incompetent to stand trial are held in a mental institution until they are considered capable of participating in the proceedings.The insanity defense also should be kept separate from issues concerning mental retardation. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2002 in Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304, 122 S. Ct. 2242, 153 L. Ed. 2d 335 (2002) that the execution of mentally retarded criminals comprise cruel and unusual punishment and that it was prohibited by Eighth Amendment. But if a person is acquitted by reason of insanity, execution is not an option.The insanity defense reflects the generally accepted notion that persons who cannot appreciate the consequences of their actions should not be punished for criminal acts. Most states regulate the defense with statutes, but a few states allow the courts to craft the rules for its proper use. Generally, the defense is available to a criminal defendant if the judge instructs the jury that it may consider whether the defendant was insane when the crime was committed.