Essay --

China has many traditions that they follow very closely. Not much of the Chinese culture has been forgotten or not practiced anymore. But there is one tradition that China does not practice, and for good reason too. Chinese foot binding was first used to show superiority and power. Over the years women started to foot bind their daughters to show beauty and class. Chinese foot binding started in 1700-1027 B.C., during the Shang Dynasty. Foot binding started with the royal family. The Shang Empress had a clubfoot, so she demanded that foot binding be required in the court. Over the years foot binding spread throughout China. The wealthy did it to show wealth and power and eventually even farmers started to bind their feet, making it easier for them to marry into wealth. 40 percent to 50 percent of Chinese women had bound feet in the 19th century. For the upper classes, the figure was almost 100 percent. â€Å"Some estimate that as many as 2 billion Chinese women broke and bound their feet to attain this agonizing ideal of physical perfection†. Farm girls were able to marry into wealth and all was wonderful. People were happy and you were considered beautiful if you had bound feet. Although people were starting to realize that foot binding was making them suffer they continued to do it. They had to be carried around because they couldn’t walk on their prized "three-inch golden lotuses.† Geishas started foot binding before most people except for royalty. The Geishas would bind their feet to show beauty. They were extremely proud of their three-inch prized golden lotuses. "The bandages that women used for foot binding were about 10 feet long, so it was difficult for them to wash their feet," Yang, an old woman now, who grew up in... ...oupe which toured the region. Such public display is a far cry from their youth, when their bound feet limited their freedom, keeping them close to their homes. But the local press criticized the dance troupe, talking of abuse and freak shows. These women yet again are victims of history in a society that finds their dilemma an uncomfortable reminder of its own recent cruelty towards women. Overall, foot binding was a practice that will forever be remembered. Many women have suffered from this horrific practice but they don’t let it hold them back. They strive to overcome being shunned and today, they are respected for surviving the foot binding epidemic. All over China there are old women with bound feet and many stories about growing up with three inch golden lotuses. Many of these women live in the village of Liuyicun. We will never forget the foot binding era .

Csr Framework

Theoretical Framework: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Definition CSR is a much broader concept than business ethics. Business ethics is the application of ethics and ethical theory to the decision of business. CSR claims that businesses are more than just profit-seeking entities and, therefore, also have any obligation to benefit society. CSR is about business and other organizations going beyond the legal obligation to manage the impact they have on the environment and society. In particular, this could include how organizations interact with their employees, suppliers, customers and the community in which they operate, as well as the extent they attempt to protect the environment. Nature According to Carroll’s four-part model, corporate social responsibility encompasses the economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic expectations [placed on organizations by society at a given point in time. Motivation To be corporate social responsible, businesses must go beyond profit-making to be responsible for a variety of stakeholder groups other than focusing exclusively on investors. It is applicable to both large corporations and SMEs. The firm goes beyond compliance and engages in ‘actions that appear to further some social good, belongs to the interests of the firm and that which is required by law’. Outcome The outcome of CSR includes financial performance, corporate reputation – brand & image, employee commitment, cost saving, customers, government, and competitiveness. Components There are six stakeholder groups considered as the most important influence factors in terms of corporations’ social responsibility. They are shown as followings: Customer responsibility practices It demonstrates customer commitment by providing high quality service that includes complete information, responding to customer complaints, and adapting products and services to enhance customer satisfaction. Employee responsibility practices This element includes equitable employee selection, promotion, and compensation practices, supporting employee educational development, and helping employees attain work-family life balance. Investor responsibility practices It encompasses the factors related to seeking investor input on strategic decisions, responding to investor needs and requests, and providing all investors with a competitive return on their investment. Supplier responsibility practices It focuses on developing long-term collaborative supplier relationships founded on open communication and information sharing, cooperative goal- and decision-making, and offering suppliers price guarantees for the future. Community responsibility practices It demonstrates voluntary commitment to improve the quality of life in their local communities by giving resources to local charities, and sponsoring cultural, sports, and education programs. Environmental responsibilities It integrates environmental sustainability goals and objectives in organizational operations. It is typified by voluntarily exceeding government environmental regulations, implementing environmental management systems. Influence Factors There are two types of Influence Factors in CSR, which are Macro Factors and Micro Factors. Macro Factors are the external elements affecting CSR strategy development of the company whereas Micro Factors are those internal elements having effect on CSR strategy decision making of the company. Macro Factors can be the environmental factors such as Political, Economical, Social and Technological elements. On the other hand, Micro factors can be Firm size, Budget, Top management commitment, Decision maker morality and Company culture.

The Giant Panda essays

The Giant Panda essays In the Earth ¡Ã‚ ¯s ecosystem, many species of animals live with mutual cooperation and influence on each other. For example, mankind benefits as much 2.9 trillion dollars from biological diversity. Despite this benefit, however, because of the paucity of awareness of environmental importance, many species are endangered. According to the statistics, the problems of the ecosystem are serious; three species per hour and 20-40 thousands species per year become endangered. China, well known for its variety of climate conditions and its abundant topography, is also faced with the problem of endangered species. Especially, in the case of the giant panda, the emblem of China, China makes an effort to protect pandas. For many reasons, the panda is endangered. First of all, the most important problem of the panda is its copulation habit. Actually, the female and male panda have a different estrous cycle. The female panda ruts from April to May; however, the male panda ruts two or three months later. Therefore, pandas have low ability to copulate. In addition, the panda usually reproduces its kind with two babies per three years. Second, the other important problem is the reduction and destruction of the panda ¡Ã‚ ¯s habitat. The panda lives in a forest and marshy place. However, the panda ¡Ã‚ ¯s habitats fall behind in quality due to the large scale forest clearing and the inordinate grazing. For example, Hyenam, one of the panda ¡Ã‚ ¯s habitats in China, showed the decline of the panda ¡Ã‚ ¯s habitat from 25.7% to 7.2% during 27 years. Indeed, the environmental pollution of land, water, and air makes the panda leave its habitat to find its new suitable places for living. Finally, excessive capturing caused by man is also a big problem of the panda. In Asia, the blood of some animals is well known as a good tonic. So many rich men want to have it, even though they pay lots of money; the panda has this blood. I ...