Business to Business Marketing

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1.Mike is arrested at a warehouse in North Industrial Park and arrested for burglary and larceny. A government prosecutor present the matter to a Grand Jury and it issues charges against Mike in a formal document . This document is known as
a. an inquisition.
b. an indictment.
c. an arraignment.
d. an information.

2.The police arrest Lou, who confesses to a crime. Later, Lou refutes the confession and demands a trial, at which witnesses testify they saw him commit the crime. Lou is convicted and sentenced. The U.S. Constitution provides safeguards against all of the following except
a. punishment.
b. not being allowed to question witnesses.
c. self-incrimination.
d. deprivations of life or liberty without due process of law.

3.Sandy, a businessperson, is convicted of RICO offenses. Sandy’s penalties may include
a. dissolution or divestiture of his business, but not his imprisonment.
b. his imprisonment, but not dissolution or divestiture of his business.
c. dissolution or divestiture of her business, and his imprisonment.
d. divestiture of his business, but not its dissolution or his imprisonment.

4.Metro City Center is an area of tourist attractions in Metro City. The Center’s director, under the city’s authority, issues a rule to require street performers to obtain permits. The Center cites Nobby, a magician, for performing without a permit. Under the principles discussed in "A Sample Court Case," Berger v. City of Seattle, the Center most likely acted
a. reasonably in the circumstances and under the law.
b. reasonably in citing Nobby but not in issuing the rule.
c. reasonably in issuing the rule but not in citing Nobby.
d. in violation of Nobby’s rights under the First Amendment.

5.Steele Tool Company’s decision makers view a particular risk in the use of Steele’s product as open and obvious. They believe that because the risk is obvious, consumers are already taking steps to avoid it and that adding a warning could result in lower sales that would necessitate layoffs of employees. Thus, in the managers’ view, the warning would not benefit consumers but could have a serious negative impact on Steele’s employees. Continuing to market the product without telling consumers of the risk could be justified from a perspective of
a. rights-based ethics.
b. Kantian ethics.
c. utilitarian ethics.
d. duty-based ethics.

6.Uniform laws apply in all states, including those in which the laws have not been adopted.
a. True
b. False

7.Uniform laws apply in all states, including those in which the laws have not been adopted.
a. True
b. False

8.Every state has adopted the Uniform Commercial Code in some form.
a. True
b. False

9.Judges use precedent when deciding a case in a common law legal system.
a. True
b. False

10.Equity is a branch of law that seeks to primarily supply equitable remedies when monetary damages are not adequate to make the claimant whole.
a. True
b. False

11.To Pete, the written law of a particular society at a particular time is most significant. Pete is
a. a person who adheres to the natural law tradition.
b. a legal realist.
c. a legal positivist.
d. a legal rationalist.

12.Voters in North Carolina approve a new state constitution, after which the Ocean City Council passes new ordinances, the North Carolina Department of Parks and Recreation issues new rules, and the Ocean City Chamber of Commerce sends out new instructions. Sources of law do not include
a. rules issued by the North Carolina Department of Parks and Recreation.
b. instructions issued by the Ocean City Chamber of Commerce.
c. ordinances passed by the Ocean City Council.
d. state constitutions passed by popular vote.

13.A state trial court has before it Eagle Manufacturing Co. v. Fine Products Corp., a case with no binding authority. The court can
a. postpone deciding Eagle indefinitely.
b. not refuse to decide the Eagle case.
c. refuse to decide Eagle.
d. postpone deciding Eagle until there is binding authority

14.Metro City Center is an area of tourist attractions in Metro City. The Center’s director, under the city’s authority, issues a rule to require street performers to obtain permits. The Center cites Nobby, a magician, for performing without a permit. Under the principles discussed in "A Sample Court Case," Berger v. City of Seattle, the Center most likely acted
a. reasonably in the circumstances and under the law.
b. reasonably in citing Nobby but not in issuing the rule.
c. reasonably in issuing the rule but not in citing Nobby.
d. in violation of Nobby’s rights under the First Amendment.

15.Acting in good faith gives a business firm a better chance of defending its actions in court.
a. True
b. False

16.One guideline to evaluating the ethics of a particular action is to "let your conscienc

1) c
2)

This is long, but worth the read; Pass these odds on to others, too!
I know some people who have left already while others are waiting until they can smell oil, or no smell(methane gas) before deciding. To my way of thinking, it’s not too early to be looking for bug-out land up north – just in case. If the well continues spewing into winter, the odds of mandatory movement go up – and better me thinks to go on your own accord and by your own plans than a mass-packaged solution.
As long as we’re on it, a fair number of people have written in, in hushed conspiratorial tones – wondering whether the "George, does this Gulf spill lead to the government setting up REX-84 FEMA camps?"
Maybe. In the event of a higher level of global conflict, it’s possible. More likely, though, seems to me is that there’s a legitimate role for government to try and provide some level of housing, etc for disaster victims after events like the developing Gulf disaster.
Let’s do a mental exercise here: Say you have a family of four and no prospects, no income, and so on, and the smell of oil shows up.
Questions is: Is the federal government expected to provide some basic level of food & housing for disaster victims? I think so…unless I’ve got political winds judged all wrong.
Follow-up question: Based on what we saw in KatRita, would you trust your family’s fate to just a Wild West kind of tent/camper enclosed encampment, (I’ve seen that future of crowded families, don’t know which way is up or out, their lost in their own senses.) Or, would you rather
duke it out on the streets of a strange northern city in the middle of winter? Gangs, druggies, zombies, and maybe even local police who missed the Chamber of Commerce welcome training?
You see where this goes? On the one hand, government could actually have plans in its back pocket for resettlement centers and such, but whether they’d be prison camps — or simply be best efforts to help people — may depend on how your meds are holding out and if you listen to fear mongering.
Whether people will ever arrive at such possible future government ‘assistance centers’ from the Gulf Oil disaster, WW III, or terrorist attacks can be debated all day long. The further question is "Would such facilities be properly classed "prison camps" or would they be more along the lines of the CCC Camps of the last Depression?"
Then let’s ask if there aren’t political interests who raise money for opposition republicorp candidates (then then go promptly to the same corporate trough) by trying to whip up all kinds of fears about political enemies lists, and so on, in order to bolster their own agenda? Of course!
Figuring out where markets are going seems a better pursuit, since "He who pays the piper calls the tune." Such pursuits may sound base if downright immoral to some, but as a Cuban-American friend of mine taught me years ago: "We don’t have any problems revenue can’t fix…"

It’s -always- a good time to leave the Gulf Coast area. I know, I live on it. There’s really nothing here at all, and all the waters west of the Mississippi River are full of sewage (even before the BP disaster and the severe hurricanes five or so years ago).

Trust me, humans are not meant to live here. Marshes aren’t fun, floods aren’t fun, 100% humidity isn’t fun, and mosquitoes aren’t fun.

1.         Introduction

Over the past two decades, the forces of economic globalization, political transformation and technological innovation have increased the global reach and influence of the private sector. The number of transnational corporations has almost doubled from 37,000 in 1990 to over 60,000 today, with some 800,000 foreign affiliates and millions of suppliers and distributors operating along their global value chains. This process has conferred new rights and created new business opportunities for global corporations and large national companies, while also exposing weaknesses in national and global governance structures. It has also resulted in new competitive pressures and risks, and led to increased demands for greater corporate responsibility, transparency and accountability.

As a result, today’s business leaders face a complex and often contradictory set of stakeholder expectations. They are being called on to engage with activists as well as analysts, to manage social and environmental risks as well as market risks, to be accountable for their non-financial as well as their financial performance, and to cooperate as well as to compete, often with non-traditional partners, focused on unfamiliar issues. They are under pressure from governments, consumers, trade unions, non-governmental organizations and a small but growing number of their investors, to demonstrate outstanding performance not only in terms of competitiveness and market growth, but also in their corporate governance and corporate citizenship.

In short, corporate executives are faced with a complex, unprecedented challenge: How can they continue to deliver shareholder value while also delivering, and demonstrating that they are delivering, societal value?

2.         What is corporate citizenship?

The term ‘corporate citizenship’runs the risk of being all things to all people. But it does have some easily identifiable elements too. The basic idea is to understand business as part of society, contributing directly to the welfare of society, rather than somehow separate from it. Whereas in the past the baseline of good behaviour was ‘acting within the law’across the company’s operations, newer aspirations range from the maxim ‘do no harm’through to assessing ‘overall net impacts’. Companies need to go beyond simply obeying the law and making a competitive return for their shareholders if they are to respond to the challenge of citizenship.

Corporate citizenship invites companies to make strategic choices based on an understanding of the total impacts of their business in society. The practice of corporate citizenship involves a

focus on one or more of three main areas:

v     the societal impacts that flow from basic business policy and practice (as managed and measured through various codes of conduct, ‘values statements’and company reports);

v     the impacts that a company has up and down the value chain (e.g. when child labour is employed by its suppliers; or when end consumers dispose of its products in ways likely to harm the environment); and

v     the impacts that come from the voluntary contributions that businesses make to communities affected by their operations (including charitable gifts, community investment and commercial initiatives in the community).

Management and communication tools such as the ‘social audit’, development of key performance indicators on corporate citizenship, ‘benchmarking’best practice across a variety of industries, and best practice on ‘cause-related marketing’have all grown up alongside these core elements of corporate citizenship. Codes of  good conduct for companies abound, as do stamps or standards awarded by third parties, such as the Social Audit stamp of the Brazilian NGO IBASE, or the Social Accountability 8000 standard developed by the Council on Economic Priorities Accreditation Agency. The professionalization of environmental management has had an impact on the ‘new’tools of social management and accounting, accelerating the process of adaptation to the corporate citizenship agenda. But not all companies professing to be good ‘corporate citizens’choose to use all of these tools, and the current state of ‘corporate citizenship’varies from country to country.

3.         What drives Corporate Citizenship in a Global Context?

The emergence of ‘corporate citizenship’as a guiding principle for business strategy has been driven by a number of changes in the business operating environment. The overall process of globalization

affects all businesses one way or another.

Globalization has given rise to unprecedented links between economies, cultures, individuals and groups. Technological advances such as the internet have transformed communications. When multinational corporations apply different standards at home from those in their overseas operations, the gaps are exposed to external scrutiny as never before. The result is that the corporate

citizenship debate has acquired an increasingly significant ‘international’ dimension, raising one of the most difficult sets of questions in the current policy and business agenda: where does the responsibility of companies end and the role of governments begin, and by what (and whose) standards should this be judged?

Economic liberalization and deregulation have seen a massive increase in the flow of capital, goods and services across borders, opening new markets to foreign investment. At the same time the gaps between rich and poor around the world have widened and the world’s population is growing rapidly.

As privatization proceeds apace around the world, companies are increasingly responsible for providing services that were public-sector responsibilities in the past; areas such as healthcare provision by private companies and liberalization of energy markets focus more attention on the role of companies in the place of governments. The role of the private sector in provision of technical assistance around the world has also increased as corporations have become more involved in providing funding for intergovernmental bodies and as contractors in the delivery of donor assistance programmes. The overall balance of public- and private sector responsibilities is changing.

Globalization has given rise to new demands on corporations to exercise their power responsibly. There is a popular perception that in some markets the economic power and influence of corporations is much greater than that of the incumbent government. Some international NGOs have focused in on this, giving rise to new demands that companies investing in politically unstable economies such as the Sudan should use their power to encourage host country governments to spend the revenue that their investments generate for social benefit – not to wage wars or benefit political elites.

It is often pointed out that the turnover of the world’s largest companies is greater than the GNP of all but around 20 members of the United Nations. But individually even large companies account for only a fraction of global economic ouput: BP, Amoco and Arco together produce no more than 0.01%.

Globalization is not an entirely ‘neutral’ driver of corporate citizenship from a business perspective. Indeed, a powerful ‘backlash against globalization’ has now been set in motion, as witnessed by the public demonstrations surrounding recent World Trade Organization (WTO) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) meetings in Seattle and Washington.

Some proponents of corporate citizenship in the North see it as a way of countering the backlash against globalization – of reinvigorating the notion that trade and investment can bring overall social and environmental welfare gains. Encouragement of global corporate responsibility then becomes part of efforts to put ‘a human face on the global economy’.

One maxim seems to find resonance with all: that with power needs to come responsibility. Globalization, it is said, is transforming corporate responsibility from a choice into an imperative.6 But the extent of that responsibility remains a matter of hot debate.

4.         Commitments to Corporate Citizenship

There are numerous examples of commitments towards corporate citizenship. Many of them involve not only the private sector, but also the public sector and civil society organizations.

v     The Global Compact was proposed by the outgoing UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, at Davos in January 1999. He called on business leaders to embrace and enact within their own corporate activities nine core principles derived from universally accepted agreements on human rights, labour and the environment. Today the Global Compact brings together several hundred companies, with some of the world’s leading trade union bodies, human rights and environmental organizations in a global learning forum, policy dialogues and variety of development projects. Companies engage in the initiative through the written support of their CEOs.

v     Tackling global health issues: The World Economic Forum Global Health Initiative (GHI) is designed to foster greater private sector engagement in the global battle against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. In cooperation with the World Health Organization and UNAIDS, the GHI brings together businesses, NGOs, civil society and academic institutions in a partnership, focusing on corporate best practices, resource gaps, partnership opportunities, philanthropy and the role of business in advocacy. The Global Business Council on HIV/AIDS is an international group of business leaders dedicated to advocating for an increased business response to AIDS both in the workplace and in the community. The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (www.vaccinealliance.org) was officially launched in January 2000 at Davos, with a mission of combining public and private resources and competencies to support immunization activities. It is a coalition of governments, the WHO, UNICEF and the World Bank; philanthropic foundations; the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Associations (IFPMA); and technical and research institutes.

v     Overcoming the digital divide: The ICT sector has engaged itself in a variety of policy dialogues and practical initiatives to bridge the ‘digital divide’ both within and between nations. Examples include: the G8 Digital Opportunity Task Force which consisted of leaders from the public, private and not-for-profit sectors; the UN’s multi-stakeholder ICT Task Force and the World Economic Forum’s Global Digital Divide Initiative. Business leaders are also supporting practical projects such as the Digital Partnership and Net Aid; and others such as those listed on the World Economic Forum website.

v     Investing in sustainable development: This has been an area of immense focus. The International Chamber of Commerce and World Business Council for Sustainable Development have established Business Action for Sustainable Development as a network and platform to provide business input and partnership examples to the World Summit for Sustainable Development in 2002.

v     Promoting good corporate governance: Business leaders are playing a role in several initiatives to promote good corporate governance. Examples include: The International Corporate Governance Network, pension funds and financial institutions with over $8 trillion in assets under management working towards global convergence on standards of governance; and business support for Transparency International to tackle corruption. Another aspect of good governance is the efforts to promote sustainability reporting such as the Global Reporting Initiative.

v     Corporate citizenship at the sector level: The World Business Council for Sustainable Development and UNEP have played an important role in promoting sector-based initiatives for sustainable development in industries as diverse as mobility, cement, pulp and paper, information technology, banking and finance. Other examples include the E7 network of electricity companies; the International Hotels Environment Initiative; and the Global Mining Initiative.

v     Supporting national development: At the national level business leaders are supporting initiatives focused on goals such as education, local enterprise and job creation, and rural development. Examples include: Philippine Business for Social Progress; the National Business Initiative in South Africa;  Instituto Ethos in Brazil;  Business in the Community in the UK;  and Landcare in Australia.

v     Engaging Tomorrow’s Leaders: Today’s business leaders are supporting networks such as the World Economic Forum’s Global Leaders for Tomorrow, which consists of young leaders from the public and private sectors and civil society, and AIESEC, the world’s largest student-run organization to promote sustainable development and corporate citizenship. A small but growing number of business schools have started to invest in research and teaching in this area supported by some CEOs.

 

5.         Progress of Corporate Citizenship in a Global Context

While the leadership challenge is especially apparent for executives in Europe and North America, it is also becoming a reality for many in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America, especially those who aim to be global players – either doing business with or competing against the world’s top multinationals. Business leaders in each region are obviously influenced by different economic, social, cultural and political traditions, and different industry sectors face different types of corporate citizenship challenges. Despite these differences, the following trends in the concepts of corporate citizenship or corporate responsibility are common across geographic and sector boundaries:

1. From the corporate margins to the mainstream

2. From assertion to accountability

3. From paternalistic approaches to partnership

5.1.      From the corporate margins to the mainstream

In leading companies, corporate citizenship is moving beyond the boundaries of legal compliance and traditional philanthropy to become a more central factor in determining corporate success and legitimacy, with implications for corporate strategy, governance and risk management.

There is now growing recognition that global corporate citizenship is essentially about how the company makes its profits, everywhere it operates, not simply what it does with these profits afterwards. It is about how the company operates in three key spheres of corporate influence.

§         First, in its core business operations – in the boardroom, in the workplace, in the marketplace and along the supply chain.

• Second, in its community investment and philanthropic activities.
• Third, in its engagement in public policy dialogue, advocacy and institution building.

In all three spheres of corporate influence, the challenge for leadership companies is two fold:-

First, aim to ‘do minimal harm’ in terms of minimizing negative economic impacts, bad labour conditions, corruption, human rights abuses and environmental degradation that may result from a company’s operations. This is a goal that calls for management strategies such as compliance – with internationally accepted norms, guidelines and standards, such as the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Corporations and the UN Global Compact, as well as with national laws and regulation – and control of social and environmental risks, liabilities and negative impacts.

Second, aim to ‘do positive good’ in terms of creating new value for both the business and its stakeholders in the countries and communities in which it operates. This can be achieved through strategic philanthropy and community investment, which harnesses the company’s core competencies, products and services, not only its philanthropic cheques. Examples include, ICT companies supporting community projects to tackle the digital divide, financial companies supporting microcredit initiatives, and professional services firms sharing management expertise with local community organizations. More strategic, are efforts by companies to create new business value through developing new products, processes and technologies, and in some cases even transforming their business models, to serve untapped social and environmental needs, or facilitate entry into underserved markets. Examples include developing new markets for carbon emissions trading, creating new environmental technologies, and producing more affordable access to essential services such as clean water, energy, food, housing and medicines for the estimated 3 billion people who live on less than $2 a day.

A taskforce of the World Economic Forum, consisting of a group of over 40 CEOs and chairmen from 16 countries and representing 18 industry sectors signed a joint statement on global corporate citizenship. They agreed that: “The greatest contribution that we can make to development is to do business in a manner that obeys the law, produces safe and cost effective products and services, creates jobs and wealth, supports training and technology cooperation, and reflects international standards and values in areas such as the environment, ethics, labour and human rights. To make every effort to enhance the positive multipliers of our activities and to minimize any negative impacts on people and the environment, everywhere we invest and operate. A key element of this is recognizing that the frameworks we adopt for being a responsible corporate citizen must move beyond philanthropy and be integrated into core business strategy and practice.”

5.2. From assertion to accountability

A second key trend at the heart of the emerging corporate citizenship agenda is the growth in demands by stakeholders, including shareholders, for corporations to demonstrate greater accountability and transparency – and to do so not only in terms of their financial accounts and statements, but also in terms of their wider social, economic and environmental impacts.

Gone are the days when consumers, investors and the general public trusted all the information they received from companies and were relatively undemanding on what this information should cover in terms of corporate performance. In part this trust has been squandered by the recent series of corporate ethics scandals and governance failures. It has also been affected by a combination of increased democratization and press freedom around the world, easier access to more information through the Internet, greater public awareness of global issues through the media, increased consumer choice and sophistication, and higher societal expectations of the private sector.

In response to these trends, leading companies are being called on to be more accountable and more transparent to more stakeholders on more issues and in more places than ever before. In the wake of corporate governance and ethics scandals, there have been demands for greater financial accountability and transparency, resulting in increased shareholder advocacy and new regulations, such as Sarbanes-Oxley in the United States. At the same time, certain governments and stock exchanges are also calling for greater public disclosure on environmental and social performance, in areas such as carbon emissions, product safety, occupational health and safety, training and diversity. There are also growing calls for greater transparency on private sector engagement with governments on issues such as lobbying, financing political campaigns, payment of taxes and receipts of public procurement contracts and incentives.

In all of these areas, business leaders are facing new and challenging questions in terms of what to be accountable for, who to be accountable to, and how to actually measure and report non-financial performance in practice.

A number of global voluntary efforts are underway to develop standards, guidelines and procedures for measuring and reporting on corporate social and environmental performance. These range from multi-sector alliances, such as the Global Reporting Initiative, which is developing guidelines and indicators for public reporting on sustainability performance, to sector-focused efforts such as the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, which focuses on public disclosure of payments to governments by oil and mining companies, the Fair Labour Association in the apparel sector, the Equator Principles for project finance in the banking sector, and global framework agreements being negotiated between certain trade unions and global corporations. Growing numbers of Asian companies are engaging in these and other accountability initiatives.

5.3. From paternalistic approaches to partnerships

The third key trend in global corporate citizenship is a move away from more traditional, paternalistic attitudes that “the company and its senior executives knows best” to more genuine engagement, consultation and cooperation with key groups of stakeholders. There is growing recognition that the challenges we face, both as individual companies and nations and as a global community, are too great and too interdependent, and the resources for addressing these challenges too varied and too dispersed, for any one actor or sector to have all the solutions. New types of alliances between companies and other sectors, built on mutual respect and benefit, are becoming essential to both corporate success and societal progress.

The area of community investment offers a good example, where leading companies have moved away from traditional philanthropic approaches, focused on one way disbursement of charitable funds, to efforts aimed at engaging the core competencies of the company and building mutually beneficial partnerships between the company and non-profit or community organizations. Cisco Systems, for example, has been able to expand its Cisco Networking Academies program to over 10,000 academies in all 50 U.S. states and over 150 countries, working with partners ranging from the United Nations, the United States Agency for International Development and the Peace Corps, to local schools and nongovernmental organizations. In the Philippines, the Ayala Group has worked with Nokia, one of its key business partners, Pearson Education, the International Youth Foundation, the Department of Education, local authorities and parent-teachers associations to provide science materials to over 80 under-resourced schools. Just two of thousands of examples, through which companies, working in partnership with others, are providing education, training, and other opportunities to millions of young people and low-income communities around the world.

Some of the most interesting partnerships are in the form of strategic global or national alliances aimed at transforming not only individual corporate practices, but also influencing public policy frameworks and the broader enabling environment. National examples in Asia include the pioneering Philippines Business for Social Progress, the Thai Business Initiative for Rural Development and the Asia-Pacific Business Coalition Against HIV/AIDs.

In addition to community-level alliances between individual companies and nonprofit organizations, we are also witnessing the emergence of strategic global or national alliances aimed at transforming not only individual corporate practices, but also influencing public policy frameworks and the broader enabling environment. One example is the United Nations Global Compact, with over 2,000 corporate participants and some 30 national business networks, many of them from developing countries, working with UN agencies, trade unions and non-governmental organizations.

Through the power of collective action, the Global Compact seeks to advance responsible corporate citizenship so that business can be part of the solution to the challenges of globalization. It is a voluntary initiative with two objectives:

• Mainstream ten principles in the areas of environment, human rights, labour, and anti-corruption – all of which are based on international, intergovernmental agreements – into business activities and supply chains around the world;

• Catalyse business actions and partnerships in support of UN goals, especially the Millennium Development Goals.

Asian companies have been among the pioneers in supporting the Global Compact. In countries such as China, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, South Korea and Australia, individual companies, stock exchanges, business associations and governments are starting to explore ways to implement the compact’s ten principles as core elements of sound business practice. In November 2005, the Chinese government will host a major Global Compact Summit, taking a vital leadership role at a time when global industrial capacity continues to shift to China and Chinese companies continue to increase their international investment and influence.

Concluding Remarks

Although local business conditions and cultures vary from country to country, the elements of what it takes to be a successful and sustainable business over the longer-term illustrate some common imperatives. Being a profitable, but also responsible corporate citizen is increasingly one of these imperatives. This requires business leaders to be committed to a set of clearly stated and publicly upheld values – underpinned by policies and standards that are applied everywhere the company operates, not only in its home market. It requires companies to have risk management systems and accountability structures in place to protect existing value, by minimizing any negative economic, social or environmental impacts and reputation damage arising from their business operations. It also requires companies to support learning, innovation and partnerships that help to create new value, by delivering new products and services that meet societal needs as well as creating shareholder value. And it calls for ongoing efforts to evaluate and measure progress and performance against each of these three areas.

In summary, regardless of industry sector or country, global corporate citizenship rests on four pillars: values; value protection; value creation; and evaluation. These four pillars not only underpin the long-term success and sustainability of individual companies, but are also a major factor in contributing to broader social and economic progress in the countries and communities in which these companies operate. Along with good governance on the part of governments, they offer one of our greatest hopes for a more prosperous, just and sustainable world.

Prof. Surinder Pal Singh
http://www.articlesbase.com/ethics-articles/the-concept-of-corporate-citizenship-in-a-global-environment-741210.html

The Post Second World War period has witnessed an unprecedented proliferation of lethal and non-lethal weapons. The frequent usage of these sources of human destruction has resulted in hundreds of causalities. Unlike the weapons of Mass Destruction, these weapons constitute the primary instruments of violence in any internal or low-intensity conflict and are responsible for a large number of deaths. They are increasingly being acquired by criminals, cartels and irregular forces and in certain cases by influential citizens and politicians as a show of strength and  political might. As a result, militarization of crime and political conflict are emerging as serious and potentially irreversible threats.

In recent years, there has been a growing tendency within the activist and scholarly communities to treat major conventional weapons and small arms as well as light weapons as distinct areas of policy formulation and study. An estimate of the global value of small arms production in 2002 is $7.4 billion. Well over 1,000 companies manufacture light weapons and ammunition in nearly hundred countries. Controlling production of both light and major conventional weapons has historically been very difficult, because of lack of political will and economic pressures from manufacturers.

The main focus with respect to illegal weapons proliferation in Pakistan remains in the unorganized private enterprise at Darra and Landi Kotal  where the arms trade continues without any state hindrance. Besides this, the organized sector manufacturers are also bound to sell their products to licensed gun owners is not more than approximately 80,000-90,000 in the country. This makes the legal market a very small one, which is adequately served by the private producers.    However, recent trends indicate that the estimated number of weapons in circulation is much higher than tabulated. The rising ethno-sectarian strife, civil war in Afghanistan, and an enhanced sense of insecurity arising out of factors such as poor economic conditions, bad governance and the deteriorating law-and-order situation have raised the level of frustration and discontent. It is witnessed that the rising sense of apathy and social injustice has strengthened the appeal of small arms and light weapons. Darra and its cheaper rates attracts not only NSAs who purchase these weapons in bulk, but also a second category of buyers, such as officials, low-enforcing agents, influential politicians, and feudal and tribal lords who regard the posses session of light weapons as a status symbol. Moreover, the various governments too have exacerbated this situation by giving licenses for prohibited bore weapons to politicians and influentional people to win political favour, or in pursuit of their vested interests in arming one (ethnic/sectarian) group against another from time to time.

The principal source of weapons proliferation and supply to arms of regional and domestic conflict, the unorganized sector, has a minimal manufacturing capacity of a hundred weapons per day. With the very sudden and dramatic termination of the Afghan conflict, the governments following Zia Ulaq’s proved to be ineffective in solving this menace. Although attempts were made in the past, and are being made presently, too, to curb the proliferation and the indiscriminate use of small arms, they are very much an indicator of a dysfunctional state apparatus.

In Pakistan, the failure of governance-especially with regard to narcotics production and smuggling-and the country’s proximity to Afghanistan and its involvement in the attempts to end Soviet occupation of the country have combined to intensity an already dire law-and-order situation. In many cases, access to light weapons has facilitated or intensified conflicts, often by emboldening the protagonists. Consequently, the ability the increased firepower enjoyed by the forces pitched against them.

Second in line are the private manufacturers who operate and produce certain non-prohibited bore are limited in number and are concentrated mainly in the province of Punjab and Karachi. These private entrepreneurs are forced to continue with the production of the same items, whether or not they have market demand, because of the licensing requirements. This proves to be extremely cost-intensive efforts, and in a bid to cover production costs as well as maintain a reasonable profit level, these manufactures not only use substandard material, but are also involved in unauthorized manufacturing.

With respect to the scope of the term ‘illicit trade’, one should consider the illicit manufacture, acquisition, possession, use, and storage of small arms and light weapons, since these are closely linked to transfers of such weapons. The illicit trade in small arms and light weapons is closely related to the excessive and destabilizing accumulation and transfer of such arms and should, therefore, not be limited to criminal breaches of existing arms legislation and export/import controls, but consideration should be to all relevant factors. With regard to the manufacture, production, and sale of light weapons, we can divide the domestic producers of SA/LW in Pakistan into three broad categories:

1.                  The state-owned or public sector enterprise

2.                  Private manufacturers(operating under state license and regulation)

3.                  The Darra Bara/gun cottage industry (which is not under any state            supervision).

State-Owned/ Public Enterprise: This primarily constitutes about 14 public sector manufacturing enterprise at the Pak .Ordanance   Factories (POF), Wah. The variety of weapons manufactured in these factories includes Heckler and Koch MP-5, G-3, A-3, MPSA-2 guns, Anti-tank light weapons, ammunition and anti-personnel land mines. All of these items are produced under license with a very stringent control mechanism and maintenance of complete record. The items thus produced are not only ISO9001 certified, but also come under strict export regulations under the government’s Statutory Regulatory Order (SRO-123/124 OF February 1998). Carrying out correct marketing procedure and purchase enumeration both at the receiving and purchasing end is also properly overseen. Besides the POF, items such as anti-tank systems and ammunition, anti-personnel and anti-tank landmines, explosive devices, multi-barrel rocket launchers etc. are manufactured at the Kahuta Research Lab (KRL), an independent entity under state control.

The POF was made a public-sector enterprise in the early 1980’s by redesigning the Head of POF as “Chairman” and instituting a “Board of Directors”, As part of its new states the POF has also been given the authority to engage in profit-making activities, but in spite of that, its principal and largest client remains the Pakistan military with new weapons, these ordanance factories hold reserve stocks and repair facilities for the normal wear and tear.

From the entire gun manufacturing facilities, POF remains the only outfit, which is allowed to export its products. These exports include anti-tank ammunition as well as infantry equipment and the sales also cater to the domestic market but in a very limited manner. Although very stringent regulations are in place on the production and scale of weapons to state actors alone, there are reported incidents where weapons seized from low-intensity zones could be traced back to the POF.

Thus as mentioned above, the revenue generation criterion does not find much relevance in this case. The point to be noted here is that due to a limited demand, the POF’s full production capacity is not being properly utilized. Thus the factories end up producing only what is required by the principal client, the Pakistani military, and this of course is quite restricted in scope given the annual optimum ammunition production capacity which is not less than US$ 70 million.

Private Manufacturers: Second in line are the private manufacturers who operate and produce certain non-prohibited bore weapons under license. The organized legal arms manufacturers are limited in number, and are concentrated mainly in the province of Punjab and Karachi. Although the licensing requirements restrict the manufacturers from producing anything other than the exact configurations of the armaments, the main incentive or motivate or motivation  for the private enterprises is to generate profit task that has become increasingly difficult in the restricted business environment where the one hand these guns manufacturers are constrained by license regulations and on the other they are provided with no incentives and are also heavily taxed by the government

These private entrepreneurs are forced to continue with the production of the same items whether or not they have any market demand, because of the licensing requirements. This proves to be extremely cost-intensive effort and in a bid to cover production cost as well as to maintain a proportionate profit level, these manufacturers not only use sub-standard material but they are also involved in unauthorized manufacturing. Accordingly, in many cities there are few or no licensed manufacturers, but there can be found many dealership and repair license holders, for it has a better money generation scope. The end-users in this regard are usually sub-state sectors or outfits which purchase these items for coercive activities.

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The Darra Bara or Gun-Making Industry: The arms bazaars of Darra Adamhel and Landi Kotal in the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan are famous for the production of light weapons for centuries. Both are colonial as well as Cold War legacy, these traditional grey areas gained increased salience, after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. However, the illicit gunsmiths of India are poor cousins when compared to those of DAK. Darra is the heart of Pakistan’s notorious arms bazaar, and it is here that one can acquire practically any small arm at a low cost: Kalashnikovs, M-16S, Uzis, and even guns hidden in walking sticks and ballpoint pens. Some are originals left over from the war in Afghanistan; others are copies made in back-alley workshops, repaired originals, or copies made from cannibalized parts. Often the only difference between the original and are made from inferior quality metal. Original AK-47s sell for about US $320, but an identical copy starts at US $50.

The Darra gunsmiths are famous for their skills and expertise,                                                    which have been passed down from father to son for generations, and they are known for their ability to produce any kind of weapon in Spartan conditions. Although these artisans do not have any formal technical training, they have inherited the skills and have the ability to copy and make almost any kind of light weapon. Before the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979, they produced mainly rifles and shotguns in addition to a wide range of pistols. Now they are adept at producing exact copies of any light weapon desired in a matter of days. They have been known to make imitation Chinese laser-sight pistols and Japanese pen pistols down to the finest detail.Some of Darra’s older craftsmen have also invented their own designs; for example a shotgun that works like a revolver, with a chamber holding six shells. Unlike the previous two categories of gun manufacturers, the Darra gunsmiths base their business on demand and supply and are acutely aware of the prevalent market trends and demand factors.

At one time they supplied the Afghan mujahideen in their struggle against Soviet occupation. Now they are the main suppliers of guns to Kashmir and to Pakistan’s troubled provinces of Punjab and Sind. Darra ’s shops and factories offer home delivery any where in the country, and are known to have also sold arms to guerrillas from Northern Ireland and the Middle East.

. Both a colonial as well as   Cold War legacy, these traditional grey areas gained increased salience after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. This brought a new dimension to light weapons manufacture and production in this area-the unabated and immeasurable proliferation and inflow of illicit and illegal arms. Before the Soviet incursion, Darra used to produce mainly 9mm. rifles, shotguns and pistols ranging from 0.22 to 0.32 caliber, etc. The Darra manufacturers are now adept at producing very exact copies of kalashnikovs, bazookas, and even rocket launchers.

An important characteristic of Darra and its various manufacturing units is that it is an unorganized enterprise, free from any state licensing, regulation and tax requirements. It is a part of the NWFP’ s tribal belt where no formal state law has been accepted or applied, and the tribal authority, better known as the jirga ,mediates and enforces justice, law and order .The government also cannot do much about the production sale of weapons here, because the state laws do not have jurisdiction over the tribal areas-even the British couldn’t establish their writ here. The government can only check the in-country movement of arms from this area, which is indeed a very challenging task.

Arms purchasers are attracted to the Darra because the manufacturing cost of weapons made here is relatively low compared to the state-regulated gun making sectors and the ready availability of a wide variety of weapons with so much pilferage taking place across the border. There is also found in this primitive gun-making cottage industry gunsmiths carrying out innovative changes which are not possible without a certain level of expertise.These arms bazaars of Pakistan are perhaps the best-known example of small-scale production of small arms .Hundreds of one-room operation manufacture copies of AK-47s and other rifles and pistols. Individual craftsmen manufacture small numbers of weapons, with a pistol taking three days to produce and an AK-47 between seven and ten days .But because there are many hundreds of such arms sellers, the overall production figures run into thousands of weapons

Small Arms Trade and Manufacture in Pakistan:

In the case of South Asia and more specifically Pakistan, some very interesting aspects come forth. The source of weapons supply and acquisition has been myriad: ranging from illicit influx, transfer or trade to the local production facilities. Several countries in the region produce SA/LW in the government-owned or public sector enterprise, which is licitly regulated, with India and Pakistan possessing the most developed weapon manufacturing capabilities. But as such the predominant from of acquisition of LW by the state security forces continues to be the import or foreign technology transfer.

Although LW have somewhat always been available in the arms bazaars within the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan, such as Darra Adamkhel and Landi Kotal, the major impetus and free flow of modern light weapons has increased manifold after the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. The December 1979 Soviet invasion resulted in Pakistan’s proactive support to various Mujahideen outfits engaged in fighting the occupationist forces. This effort was practically driven by its own security interest but mainly on behalf of the US, which provided material and financial assistance to these Afghan guerrillas though Pakistan. The failure or ignorance of the incumbent government of the time to pay adequate attention to this dangerously spiraling trend of weapons accumulation and free flow in the hands of non-state actors aggravated this problem. In spite of the cessation of Soviet occupation, Afghanistan to date remains bitterly embroiled in a civil war, which has cast very severe shadows on the Pakistani civil society.

Before moving further the point to be stressed that when studying weapons proliferation, an important aspect is to keep in perspective the demand and supply factor. The motives for which suppliers and recipients engage in weapons transaction may be mixed. Suppliers may have political or commercial incentives or a combination of both. For this reason, excessive and destabilizing accumulation and transfer of small arms are closely related to the increased incidence of conflicts and high level of crime and violence. It is observed that sub-state or non-state forces make extensive use of such arsenal due to its merits of easy accessibility, storage and handling. Insurgent forces, irregular troops and freedom fighters, criminal groups and sub-state actors harbouring ethnic, religious and sectarian agenda use SA/LW for their particular motives with impunity. Generally speaking the most perturbing aspect of these conflicts is that more than 80% of the causalities are civilian, non-combatants-mostly women and children.

Market Trends and Origins of Arms Proliferation in Pakistan: The main focus with respect to weapons proliferation in Pakistan remains on the unorganized private enterprise at the Landi Kotal, where arms trade continues without any state supervision. In comparison to this, the POF as mentioned earlier creates mainly the military-specific ammunition, the production cost of is relatively expensive. Secondly, the POF manufactured ammunition has a very limited and restricted clientele. Another contributing factor is that POF sells only through designated distributors.

Secondly, the organized sector manufacturers are also bound to sell their products only to licensed buyers. This again limits their sale capacity. The overall number of licensed gun owners is not more than 80,000-90,000 people of the entire country’s population. This makes the legal market a very small one, which is adequately served by the private producers

But recent trends indicate that the estimated number of weapons in circulation is much higher than tabulated. The rising ethno-sectarian strife, civil war in Afghanistan, and an enhanced sense of insecurity arising out of factors such as poor economic conditions, bad governance and deteriorating law and order situation, have given rise to a level of frustration and discontent. It is witnessed that this rising sense of apathy and social injustice has strengthened the appeal of SA/LW. Darra and its cheaper rates attract not only non-state actors, who purchase these weapons in bulk, but also a second category of buyers, such as officials, aw enforcing agents, influential politicians,  feudal and tribal lords who regard possession of light weapons as a status symbol. Moreover the various governments too have contributed to exacerbating this situation by giving licenses for prohibited bore weapons to politicians and influential interest arming one (ethnic/sectarian) group against another from time to time.

A principal source of weapons proliferation and supply to areas of regional and domestic conflict, the unorganized sector has a minimal manufacturing capacity of producing per unit a hundred weapons per day .With a very sudden and dramatic termination of the Afghan conflict, the political governments after Zia’s military rule proved to be ineffective in solving this menace. Although attempts were made in the past and present to curb the proliferation and indiscriminate usage of small arms, they are very much an indicator of a dysfunctional state apparatus.

In Pakistan, the failure of governance-especially with regard to narcotics production and smuggling-coupled with the country’s proximity to Afghanistan and involvement in the attempts to end the Soviet occupation of the country, has aggravated an already dire law-and-order situation. In many cases, access to light weapons has facilitated or intensified conflicts, often by emboldening the protagonists. Consequently, the ability of security forces has declined corresponding with the increased firepower enjoyed by the forces pitted against them. As regards the leakage of these illicit arms, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan unshared in a new era in the light weapons trade in South Asia,   with millions of tons of military material including SA/LW, being imported into the region.

Other countries also contributed in one way or indirect assistance in both material and finances. For example, China wary of Soviet designs contributed weaponary, while Saudi Arabia came forth with financial assistance. As a front line ally, Pakistan became the main conduit for this massive military assistance programme, with its top intelligence outfit, inter-services intelligence (ISI), managing the receipt and distribution and the American CIA coordinating the supply of weapons. With a bitter Vietnam experience still fresh in memory, the United States, at least initially, did not want to be seen as providing direct military assistance for the Mujahideen, and for these reason massive amounts of arms were purchased from the Chinese government. Interesting trends could be witnessed in this undercover arms pipeline; the CIA would procure through Egypt large amounts of antipersonnel mines originally produced in Italy. During this period, weapons even of Israeli and as Indian makes could also be found in circulation. The CIA would then arrange for the arms to be either flown to Islamabad or shipped, via Oman, to Karachi.

The US-orchestrated arms shipments had a fundamental impact on the war in Afghanistan. Moreover, the autonomy given to the Pakistan intelligence services in controlling the distribution of weapons was to have a profound effect on subsequent security conditions in the region. Washington’s “hand-off” policy of allowing the ISI to control the arms pipeline was largely the product of Oakley’s belief that the United States had failed in Vietnam because of excessive governmental interference and mismanagement.

One factor contributing to the availability of small arms and light weapons in many areas (of conflict) is their earlier supply by Cold War opponents. Much of the supply and acquisitions of arms in the regions of conflict dealt with by the UN has been conducted by Governments or by legal entities authorized by the Governments. Some states have exercised insufficient control and restraint over transfers and holdings of small arms and light weapons. Moreover, arms supplies associated with foreign interference in areas of conflict are still a feature of current realities. In general, the lines of supply often are complex and difficult to monitor, facilitated by the relative ease with which small arms and light weapons can be concealed.

Not surprisingly, the arms pipeline to the Mujahideen leaked significantly. By the time the weapons reached Mujahideen field commanders, they had been loaded and off-loaded at least fifteen times while transported over the distance of several thousand kilometers by trucks, ships, trains, and pack animals. How many weapons leaked out of the pipeline is unknown, but the estimates run into millions of unaccounted for weapons. One glaring proof of this is the April1988 Ojhri camp blast in the Rawalpindi metropolis, which claimed not less than 100 civilan lives. Although no official version of the inquiry conducted came out, it is generally speculated that the blast was engineered to cover-up for the undelivered and hoarded weapons, and there is also a major link between this incident and the Iran Contra scandal.

Another contributing factor, however diminutive is that Afghans returning to their country after months or years in the refugee camps in the North West Frontier Province have left their weapons behind in Pakistan. This again forms a cause for weapons proliferation. Under the Geneva Accord, it was agreed that any surplus weapons that were left off the pipeline would be handed over to the Afghans, and interestingly there was a frantic arms transfer to Afghanistan, before the agreement came into effect. Most of these were smuggled back into Pakistan and sold in arms bazaars of the tribal area.

Besides, Afghanistan has a significant number of small arms manufacturing units. The trade of these arms is a ready source of income for the war-ravaged Afghan population. With a long porous border that stretches the entire Pakistan-Afghanistan belt, coupled with corrupt and inefficient border control forces, the mechanism fails miserably in effectively checking and curbing the inflow of not only weapons but other forms of smuggling as well. This has made the availability of arms in the commercial market considerably high and in some cases prices have fallen, attracting buyers from all over the country and region to purchase unlicensed weapons. The various weapons on sale in this regard, can be grouped in to four categories;

1.      Weapons that lecked from the US-supported arms pipelines.

2.      The stocks of Soviet weapons captured by the Mujahideen during the conflict.

3.      The third category of weapons is those manufactured by small-scale producers within the region.

4.      Finally, the arms bazaars of the NWFP are full of miscellaneous weapons that must have arrived in the region though extremely circuitous and unpredictable routes-from Vietnam or the Middle East. For instance, G-3s have appeared from Iran, given that border controls between Iran and Pakistan were relaxed after the fall of the shah.

Though there is clear evidence that light weapons are proliferating at an alarming rate from the North to the South, there are also south-to-north movements from Sri Lanka, Singapore, and other starting points in Southeast Asia. There are also discernible east-to west and west-to east movements.

In Pakistan, it is not only the Afghan crisis alone that was instrumental in introducing the Gun Culture. Another very important but relatively ignored aspect was the Baluchistan insurgency of the 1970s, that witnessed a massive inflow of weaponry from the traditional leakage points

There is a dire need for the government to take control of the drug trade and prevent the proliferation and flow of weapons, domestically, regionally and particularly with the help of the international community. What will be difficult, if not impossible to implement is an effective gun control agenda-such as the present regime’s Seven-Stage De-Weaponization Programmes.  This 7- stage formula includes a ban on arms license, and a proliferation on carrying weapons in the first stage, which became effective from March 1, 2000. The other proposals or possibilities under the same action plan were to recover illicit/unlicensed arms, canceling of the prohibited arms licenses and also to regulate and bring under state control arms manufacturing units in the tribal areas. The problem is so acute that there is a need to implement such policies and reforms in their true spirit. Bringing Darra under the state umbrella is an issue that the governments past and present have seriously deliberated upon. As a necessary first step the tribal areas were awarded with the right to Adult Franchise as well, but the possibility of Darra manufacturers agreeing to any state supervision or taxation seems impossible an evidence of which is reaction faced by the government over its attempt to document and evaluate the economy. The government needs to stick to a given time frame and implement the necessary reforms, otherwise the situation could be one as identified by Pamela Constable, in one of her recent Washington post articles, “Pakistani Retreats in Battle for Reform”- that there is found a tendency on part of the Pakistani government to announce bold reforms, only to backtrack later when opposition surfaces.

At the practical level, this new de-weaponisation policy will face many problems, especially in the NWFP and tribal areas where it is part of local culture and tradition to carry a weapon and in fact it also forms a part of their attire. This plan will definitely discourage open display of weapons in major urban centers, but again this will not be able to redress the problem fully.

Efforts made by the past governments were inadequate for either they were not properly articulated or they failed to deal with the real root cause of the problem that is the illicit trafficking of weapons. Whatever measures enforced affected only the manufacturers, thus giving the illegal trading cartels a free hand to conduct their business with impunity.

Although light weapons have always circulated within Pakistan, the impact of the American-sponsored arms pipeline to the Afghan Mujahideen stands head and shoulders above any other adverse development in recent years. The flood of weaponry into the region has clearly played a major part in the erosion of low and order over the past decade. The growing proliferation of and access to small arms are increasing both the communal polarization and the incidence of violence. The very availability of weapons is providing a short-term solution for a long-term problem. At the very point when political discourse and sound governance are required to overcome these problems, the need is to harness our efforts together to combat this menace.

References

“Light Weapons, Small Arms and Landmines: An Identification Manual”, Centre for Defense
Studies, King’s college London.Dec.1997.

Ayesha S. Agha , ‘Light Weapons Manufacture ’,in project on Light Weapons, BASIC Working Paper No.2.

Michael T.Klare, “ Light Weapons Diffusions and Global Violence in Post-Cold War Era”, in Jasjit Singh(ed) Light Weapons  and International Security, Delhi, 1995.

Chris Smith, Light Weapons and Ethnic Conflict in South Asia”, in Jeffery Bout well (ed), Lethal Commerce, Cambridge, 1995,pp.

India Arms and Abuses in Indian Punjab and Kashmir”, Human Rights Watch Arms Project6 (10), Washington,1994,pp..

Ayesha S. Agha, “Light Weapons Manufacture in the Public and Private Sectors: A View from Pakistan”, Project on Light Weapons Working Paper no.2, British American Security Information Council, p.3.

Tara Kartha, ‘South Asia; A Rising Spiral of Proliferation’, Background Paper, Geneva: Small Arms Survey, 2000.

The 1999 Report of the UN Group of Government Experts on Small Arms,  August1999.

O Roy, “The Lessons of the Soviet/Afghan War”, A Delhi                                                                                                                   paper no.259,[London International Institute of Strategic Studies,1991].

jipson v.paul
http://www.articlesbase.com/politics-articles/proliferation-of-small-arms-and-light-weapons-in-pakistan-747093.html

Need a new roof? If your living room or kitchen sports large buckets for catching rainy drips, the answer is probably “yes.” Assuming that you are unable or willing to replace it yourself, you will be looking for a reputable roofing contractor to handle the job for you. The question then becomes, how do you find a dependable roofer?

The answer may not be as hard as you think. Here are a few possibilities to consider:

1. Check the telephone directory’s yellow pages. Browse the section called “roofing” for the names of local persons you can call for an estimate. Sometimes the ads will reveal key information about the person, such as location, hours of operation, and specialty areas. You also might find out whether the person accepts credit card payments, and whether he or she provides free estimates. Call two or three names, at least, for an idea of available contractors.

2. Contact the Better Business Bureau. While this organization will not provide a list of names for you to call, it can give you an indication of someone’s response to complaints so that you get an idea of his or her character and reputation.

3. Locate roofer-related organizations. There may be a roofers’ group or construction companies that can tell you what to look for in a roofing contractor, and perhaps recommend a few local names.

4. Ask local home building supply stores. Often they keep a list of specialists they recommend to area folks who are looking for consulting or hands-on help with building projects. Occasionally the store might sponsor a workshop or seminar featuring one of these experts. Attending a session may give you a better idea of the roofer’s credentials.

5. Browse online websites. Building companies and contractors as well as independent roofers are increasingly advertising their skills on the Web by hosting a website. Some offer free newsletter sign-ups or updated FAQ’s that help to answer visitors’ questions.

6. Ask for referrals. Wherever you get the name of a possible roofer for your project, ask for referral letters from clients, and then follow up by contacting these people. You may even want to take a glance at the workmanship.

7. Pay in portions. Never pay for a roofing job (or any type of home construction or remodeling project) up front. You can pay a third or a fourth as a down payment if you really want to, but make an agreement to collect partial payments in two or three intervals. Get a written estimate first, and if the person does not follow this or tries to change the terms of your agreement, report him to the Better Business Bureau or local authorities.

Having your roof done is an important job. Don’t let just anyone tamper with your roof. It is an important part of your home’s structure, and only an expert should tackle needed repairs and updates. For more information, contact your local Chamber of Commerce or building supply store.

Gary Wells
http://www.articlesbase.com/home-and-family-articles/how-to-find-a-reputable-roofing-contractor-11281.html

In the rush to open your small new business, you’re probably occupied with a thousand details. In many ways, the timeline sets itself according to what has to be done in order to launch your product or service.

Unfortunately, what gets left behind is often an equally important, but seemingly invisible consideration – marketing your small business.

By the time you get around thinking about marketing your small business, you may be low on time and money! Not exactly the best conditions in which to make important decisions about marketing strategy!

Making small business marketing decisions under the gun leaves you with a greater risk for making mistakes. Marketing is one place where even small mistakes can have lasting consequences.

Following are a few of the most common small business marketing mistakes.

Not Doing Your Homework

First and foremost, you have to spend a little time researching your industry. Start with your competition. What are they doing to market their business? Take note of where and how they market their product or service, especially the successful ones. Call in or email an inquiry as if you are a potential client. See what their process is, what type of material they send you, and how they follow up.

You can also join an organization like the local Chamber of Commerce to strategize with other business owners in your area or field. Developing relationships with other small business owners allows you to leverage combined expertise, and may also leads you to joint marketing ventures that can save you time and money.

Spending Too Much, Too Fast

It’s easy to jump in and start spending money, especially if you have it in the way of a small business loan or other start-up capital.

But this is one of the most dangerous mistakes you can make when planning your small business marketing strategy. More is not always better. Sometimes it’s just more.

You want to spend smart, not necessarily big. Don’t spend a dime until you’ve done the research to back up your investment, and then start small. It’s much, much easier to add additional marketing than it is to ramp back after you’ve already spent the money.

Spending money too fast can mean running through most of your start-up capital too soon, leaving your business without the funds it needs to survive.

Spending Too Little

In an effort to curb costs and ration your budget over the long, slow haul to profitability, you may just make the opposite mistake of spending too much money and spend too little.

Starting a business is scary, and most small business owners don’t have an unlimited time to turn to a profit. With a tangible or intangible deadline looming, it’s common for small business owners to keep a death grip on whatever capital they have “just in case”.

But you will have to spend money to make money, at least on some level.

If you have the jitters about spending your working capital, start small with something that has measurable results. You need to be able to determine if your campaign has produced results within a short period of time and before you’ve spent too much money. This way you can kill it and move onto something different if it’s not working or ramp up the existing campaign if it’s doing its job!

Information Overload

The internet makes it possible to tap into previously unheard of quantities of information. That’s both good and bad for anyone looking online for small business marketing advice.

With the advent of blogs and free websites, everyone’s an expert! But they’re not, really. They only play one on TV!

Seriously, though, carefully choose the advice you seek out and use to market your small business. To avoid getting bogged down with too much information, choose one or two sources you know to be reliable, and resist the urge to cruise the internet for fifty more opinions.

Take it Slow

Launching a small business is a learning experience above all else. Avoid making rash (or expensive) decisions when it comes to marketing your small business, at least in the beginning.

By taking it slow, you can try different marketing techniques and check the results as you go, mitigating the consequences for your long term small business marketing plan.

John Edmond
http://www.articlesbase.com/ebooks-articles/4-things-to-avoid-when-marketing-your-small-business-60178.html

There are many differences between insuring a home business and a large corporation. You can get the best deal in home business insurance, with a systematic approach. No matter what kind of business you are running, insurance is necessary for every business so that you do not have to regret any unforeseen occurrence.

How to Start
To insure a home business, first of all decide the additional insurance coverage required for a home based business that is not covered otherwise. For example, most of the homeowners’ policies cover a risk of only up to $2500. This is a very small amount considering the risk associated with home business properties. Furthermore, you have to insure for lost income and liabilities. Contact the local office of chamber of commerce or any other organization for self-employment and inquire about the available insurance programs. Also, take advice of your present insurance company from whom you have bought the rental or homeowner insurance policy. It can guide you regarding the additions in insuring home office property.

Insurance Coverage For Business Interruption
While insuring a home business, also gather information regarding the business interruption policies. In this type of insurance, the company reimburses you the amount, in case of sudden obstructions in day to day business operations. Different companies offer different options with varying price tags, By putting some extra effort in shopping around, you may end up getting the best possible deal.

There are certain special policies also for particular kinds of businesses. For example, a professional should have professional liability insurance. Similarly, those businesses, which deal in food products or homemade personal care products, may need some special policies. Varying with the kind of business and the insurance company, you have basically three options before you to insure a home business.

A Quick Look at All The Three Options
1. First is a homeowner’s policy endorsement. This is simply endorsing your current homeowner’s policy. By paying only $25, you can double the risk coverage for business equipment. A liability endorsement is also available for the homeowner’s policy. However, insurance companies provide it only for those businesses, which have a limited number of visitors.

2. The second option is an in home business policy. The area of coverage in this policy is much wider than the first one.

3. The third option is business owners’ policy. This policy is designed for the businesses that perform business activities from two or locations.

Additional Help
There are firms online that can help you choose the right insurance package for your small business.

David Gass
http://www.articlesbase.com/home-business-articles/how-to-insure-a-home-business-50201.html

Houston is the fourth largest city in the United States and the largest city in Texas and is also credited as a global city. It is a vibrant metropolis with a broad based economy and an enormous range of cultural activities and recreational opportunities.

Two brothers who had made their fortune in real estate in New York founded Houston in 1836 on the banks of the Buffalo Bayou; Augustus Chapman Allen and John Kirby Allen purchased approximately 6,500 acres with the intention of creating their own city and named the new settlement after General Sam Houston who had fought and won the decisive battle of San Jacinto close the site.

In 1837, Houston was incorporated and the infrastructure of a city started to form with the creation of a Chamber of Commerce and election of a mayor. Shipping was the first business to be promoted however, by 1860 Houston had also become a railroad hub which transformed the city into a commercial center for the export of cotton to Europe. After the Civil War, efforts were undertaken to expand the seaborne activities and especially by works to create a deep water port in sync with the nearby port of Galveston.

Galveston was hit by a terrible hurricane in 1900 which sped the works to create a deep water port out of Houston and growth was further stimulated by the discovery of oil in 1901 at the Spindletop oil field. 1902 saw President Roosevelt approving $1 million allocation for the Houston Ship Channel and this combination of private and government backed initiatives turned Houston into a major growth center with the population doubling between 1900 and 1910 to 78,800.

Finally in 1914, President Wilson opened Port of Houston as a deepwater port and by 1930, Houston was the most heavily populated city in America.

World War 2 saw a decline in the shipping sector as the ports on the East coast dominated trans-Atlantic shipping however, enormous growth in the petrochemical sector more than made up for this. Enormous new military bases were also constructed including Ellington Field which was reconstructed in order to train bombardiers and navigators while medical facilities were also greatly expanded and research took off. The end of the ware saw a reversion to deep water port activity as the bases were wound down and moth-balled and the physical area was doubled by the addition of surrounding land and the metropolis started its sprawling growth.

Post-war saw the establishment of the NASA Manned Spacecraft Center (now known as the Lyndon B Johnson Space Center) and with this the aerospace industry came to town. The city is also home to the Astrodome which was the world’s first indoor domed sporting arena. In the seventies, population again boomed as the oil industry boomed but by the 1980’s the boom abruptly ended with the aerospace industry also suffered as a consequence of the Challenger space shuttle disaster in 1986.

Today, Houston has fully recovered and now has one of the broadest economies of any city in the United States. Only New York is home to more Fortune 500 companies while the city is now the largest international port of the United States. The wealth created has led to Houston also becoming home to a wide range of cultural institutions which now has over 7 million visitors each year while Houston is one of a very few cities offering year round resident companies for all the major performing arts.

Lawrence J. Reaves
http://www.articlesbase.com/travel-articles/a-brief-history-of-houston-texas-752186.html

Chincoteague Island is a small, friendly, vacation resort along the coast of Virginia, USA. Vacations to the island can include recreational activities such as shopping, swimming, sunbathing, fishing, clamming, bird watching, nature cruises, biking, hiking, boating, kayaking, miniature golf, Chincoteague ponies, the pony swim, fireman’s carnival, Chincoteague decoy and art show, Chincoteague Center’s arts and crafts show and more.

The island is known for it’s quaint shops and art galleries. Chincoteague area wildlife artists display art such as decoys and other bird carvings, paintings, photographs and sculptured wildlife pieces.

Located within minutes of the resort is Assateague Island, which is occupied by Assateague National Sea Shore and Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge covers over 14,000 acres of beach, dunes, marsh, and forest habitat. The majority of the refuge is located in Virginia although 418 acres are on Maryland soil. The refuge also includes Morris Island, Marsh on the Northern part of Chincoteague Island. The refuge extends southward, Assawoman, Metompkin, and Cedar Islands. Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge is one of the most popular refuges in the United States, especially among bird watchers. The refuge is either home to or a stop over point for a array of birds and other wildlife. Ducks, geese, swans, egrets, herons, and dozens of other shorebirds visit or live on the islands.

The most famous Chincoteague Island event is the pony swim and penning, a tradition since 1924. The swim, penning and auction is held on the last Wednesday and Thursday of July. Ponies are rounded up and swim the channel between Assateague and Chincoteague Islands. The animals are penned, inspected, fed and most of the foals auctioned off to qualified buyers. Most of the population of the ponies are returned to Assateague after the penning to roam free for another year.

Assateague Island lighthouse is another attraction for visitors to Chincoteague and Assateague Islands. The lighthouse is located within Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge and is a popular tourist stop. The lighthouse is owned by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and is still actively used by the United States Coast Guard as an aid to navigation.

The Lighthouse is 142 feet high on a site 22 feet about sea level. The structure is one of the most attractive and recognizable lighthouses of the USA east coast. Made of brick, it was painted in the red and white pattern in 1967. Nearby is the keeper’s quarters. The lighthouse light has had a series of lamp upgrades over the years and presently displays a powerful rotating light visible up to 19 miles away. The Oyster and Maritime Museum in Chincoteague displays the frensel lens on display which was used in the lighthouse from 1867-1963.

The Chincoteague Island Virginia Oyster Festival is another island attraction The festival, created by the chamber of commerce, features Chincoteague Island’s famous oysters. The event promotes the oyster season, which includes the cooler months of fall, winter and spring. The popularity of the event may require obtaining tickets well in advance as the festival often sells out.

John C. Banks
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