Design Liability under National Engineering Contract (NEC)

Design Liability under National Engineering Contract (NEC) Design Liability under NEC Problem Every construction or engineering project is generally designed and occasionally defects occur as a result of defective design. These defects if possible then have to be rectified and this has associated costs. Where interested parties cannot agree on which of them is responsible for the defect they often seek a legal remedy to allocate costs. To avoid this legal entanglement the majority of construction projects are carried out under the relative control of a contract that identifies the party that is responsible for the design. The degree of liability depends on how the design responsibility has been allocated under the contract. However, the complicated interaction of various legal elements with contractual provisions can consequently make this difficult to determine. For practical use a contract should allow for the incorporation of clear acceptable levels of liability to both parties. Research by Gaafar and Perry (1998) suggests using a contract that allows for a spectrum of liability such as the NEC/ECC. This allows the level of responsibility to be tailored to the individual project by the inclusion of secondary clauses. Another consideration that must be investigated is that even if the design responsibility is not allocated under the contract, or no written contract exists, a level of responsibility under tort almost always exists. This responsibility is often forgotten and is rarely referenced in the contracts text. The level of design liability differs depending on what type of organisation the designer works for. For example, the level of design liability is the same in tort for a consultancys designer and a contractors designer, however, under a contract the level of liability may be different. In tort, the nature of the designers obligation is to exercise reasonable skill and care irrespective of the designers organisation. In contract, a consultancys designers liability is to exercise reasonable skill and care unless they know the purpose for which they are designing in which case a fitness for purpose liability is implied. Because of this risk of suffering an implied liability terms of engagement for a consultancys designer usually contract out fitness for purpose requirement. This is useful as no level of Professional Indemnity insurance exists to cover a consultancys designer for fitness for purpose liability and it is unlikely the consultancy would be able to independently cover the ris k. Even if a fitness for purpose liability is excluded, a consultancys designer could still be liable for not delivering the end result, if it can be proved that they did not use reasonable skill and care and has ultimately committed professional negligence under tort as well as being in breach of contract. As the tort of negligence is implied into both written and none written contracts, wherever a situation arises where one party owes another a duty of care, it is essential to look at its meaning. The Institution of Civil Engineers (2006) defines negligence as being based on the inflicting of injury or loss upon another person by failure to take such care as the law requires. A contractors designer suffers risk by reference to the statutory implied terms, under the Sales of Goods Act 1972 and the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982, which will impose certain contractual warranties relating to merchantable quality and fitness for purpose, irrespective of what the contract says. The statutory implied terms give rise to risk for the designers contractor in that a contract which is silent on the point will impose on him a strict liability for all the obligations he has undertaken, including his design obligation. It is also worth noting that because of this, if a contractor chooses to appoint a consultancy designer under a subcontract, even if he is using the relevant standard subcontract form of the main contract, they may open themselves up to considerable risk. This is because they still have an obligation to deliver the end result that is fit for purpose, unless there are express provisions to limit liability. This why most Design and Build standard for m contracts limit the liability of the contractor for design to that of an architect under a traditional build contract. However, if there are express provisions in the contract to impose an explicit fitness for purpose liability on the contractor these provisions will then be subject to the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977. As already stated, there are two levels of design reasonable skill and care and fitness for purpose. These two terms are the most commonly used and even though they are an over simplification it is important to define them in more detail. Fitness for purpose is just that, it should satisfy and/or deliver the clients requirements whereas reasonable skill and care can be further split into professional skill and duty of care. As well as carrying out their specialist skill competently the construction professionals have to exercise a defined level of care. This duty of care is based on foreseeability, where one must take reasonable care to avoid acts, omissions or statements, which could reasonably be foreseen to be likely to result in injury or loss to other people. The standard of care to be exercised is that of the ordinary, prudent person and will depend on the particular circumstances of each individual case. In the context of this proposal it would be the construction professionals, working for the contractor who must exercise due care to highlight errors when reading and implementing the clients design, or the contractors own designer who must exercise due care when creating and developing a design (Institution of Civil Engineers, 2006). The element of skill required by a construction professional, whether they are an engineer, designer, quantity surveyor or project manager is to carry out their own specialist skill competently. The courts have defined the specialist skill and competence on many occasions and the following direction to the jury in Bolam v Friern Hospital Management Committee [1957], has been adopted by the House of Lords and is frequently cited:- Where you get a situation which involves some special skill or competence the test is the standard of the ordinary skilled man exercising and professing to have that special skill. A man need not possess the highest expert skill it is sufficient if he exercises the ordinary skill of the ordinary competent man exercising that particular art (Institution of Civil Engineers, 2006). As previous research by Gaafar and Perry (1998) suggests, the NEC/ECC contract is an acceptable document that can be tailored to individual projects and remain workable and acceptable to both client and contractor. These advantages could explain why it has rapidly become the contract of choice for public sector work. Due to the economic situation that exists in the construction and engineering industry at present the majority of work is in the public sector and as a result is under NEC3 the most recent version of NEC/ECC form of contract. According to the Bank of England the current economic situation is going to continue for at least the next 6 months before signs of recovery start to filter through to the construction industry in the form of private investment. Because of this, more disagreements over design defects carried out under the NEC3 form of contract are probably going to go before the courts. It would be useful then for contractors construction professionals to know what design liabilities the contractor could be exposed to so that they can take steps to avoid any legal entanglement. This is especially prudent as the NEC3 contract does not include the term fitness for purpose in its text and instead relies on the works information given by the client to specify the performance requirements and secondary clauses to limit a contractors liability. When this information is incomplete or missing it creates a situation where the responsibilities and the end requirements are unclear and the contract reverts back to a silent position as discussed earlier and imposes a strict liability upon the contractor, unless secondary clauses to expressly limit liability are included within the contract document. Even where these clauses are included contractual warranties implied by the Sales of Goods Act 1972 and the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 may take precedence. It is important to note that in this silent position a contractor would not be liable for desi gn works carried out by subcontractors even if appointed by them under the relevant NEC3 subcontract form. The aim of the dissertation then, is to carry out primary and secondary research to determine whether, and if so, how, a contractors design liability can be limited to reasonable skill and care under the NEC3 suite of contracts. Your problem specification specifies the problem alright, but it does not indicate what can be done to resolve the problem or what issues need to be addressed in resolving this problem. These issues would form the basis of the ensuing chapters of the dissertation. There is a decided lack (although not a total absence) of appropriate citation to substantiate your many authoritative statements in the problem spec. Literature Review Current literature on the National Engineering Contract 3 (NEC3) includes legal cases, commentary or how to use guides and finally but not exhaustively research by construction and engineering academics and/or professionals. This literature individually covers the different aspects of design liability and the NEC3. Need to make more substantial to provide a structured overview. The NEC3 is endorsed and recommended by the UK Governmental Office of Government Commerce for use on all public sector construction projects. And because the majority of current construction and engineering work is in the public sector at present it is getting a lot of use and therefore it is important that those using it fully understand it. To that end Eggleston (2006) has written a comprehensive commentary on the NEC3. His commentary explains how each NEC3 contract is uniquely put together to meet the employers needs by assembling clauses from the option structure and by particularisation in accompanying documents. This commentary is particularly useful in that it helps the reader use the contract by providing step by step instructions to ensure the basic building blocks of the contract are set up correctly. A good example of this is the five steps that an employer must follow in order to create a set of NEC3 conditions for a particular contract. Egglestons (2006) commentary is an overview of the entire suite of NEC3 contract documents and gives a brief definition of the clauses. It does not give instruction of which combination of options and clauses to use but instead informs the user how to incorporate their chosen selection into a working document. On the down side the book does not give you enough legal analysis and only refers to a handful of cases and to this end does not highlight sufficiently what the repercussions of not getting it right are. This means unless the professional using it is fully versed or doesnt follow a commentary such as Egglestons to the letter they could end up in hot water regardless of what secondary clauses they think are in place to limit liability. Using Egglestons (2006) definitions of clauses and with cross reference to an NEC3 contract it is apparent that it is the secondary options X15 limitation of contractors liability for design and X18 limitation of liability are the most relevant to this proposal. This is because they are the clauses that can be included if agreed between the client and contractor to pre-determine the level of liability. Need to insert what Eggleston says Difference between two clauses and what they limitContradiction with works information Express catch all sentences added under Option Z or included in works info Egglestons thoughts on silent position Gaafar and Perry (1998) have written an insightful paper that is relevant to the proposed aim of this proposal. They based some of their findings on communication with an unnamed author involved in the development of the NEC. From this they discovered that these optional clauses came about due to legal advice that was given to avoid the term fitness for purpose and to the eventual adoption of the notion that the employer would either define the extent of his requirements for performance through the works information or would limit the liability through the choice of an optional clause. The term fit for purpose is very open to interpretation and could be a reason why it was left for the employer to fully define their requirements. Gaafar and Perry (1998) were unable to find a precise definition for the term fitness for purpose and concluded from comparing correspondence and discussion with unnamed legal academics and professionals that no such definition exists. This is hard to accept as regardless how many legal academics and professionals were contacted it is precedence set in the courts that establishes a meaning for the term not the legal academics and professionals opinion. It may be the case that these legal academics and professionals are unaware of any relevant case law and it is unlikely that they exhausted all published volumes. In addition Gaafar and Perry (1998) may have narrowed the question posed to the legal academics and professionals too much and a definition may exist in a non construction and engineering context that could be applied if the princi ples are the same. In addition to correspondence and discussion Gaafar and Perry (1998) also carried out a survey to determine the desirability to be able to adjust the level of liability. They highlight that 30% of clients questioned in the survey said that a fitness for purpose liability is not desirable as they recognise the practical and commercial problems it can cause. Gaafar and Perry (1998) expand on the description of these problems reiterating that professional designers do not have to carry a professional liability higher than reasonable skill and care and therefore no higher level of insurance cover exists. This means that the contractor can not obtain cover either and because of this if a fitness for purpose obligation exists and the design is carried out by a professional designer under a subcontract, the contractor can not pass this liability down to them. This leaves the contractor carrying a large uninsured risk. This unexpected result in their findings gives strong support to their re commendation of using a contract that allows liability to be tailored to an individual contractual situation. The theory and supporting research is comprehensive, however, the raw data is not given and it undermines their reasoning, as it is impossible to determine the significance of the results without knowing the sample size, methods used, the context and appropriateness of the questions. Gaafar and Perry (1998) was published in the International Journal of Project Management and looks at a number of problems associated with the interaction of legal elements and contractual provisions. They look at, but do not directly compare, a number of standard forms of contract and their individual advantages and disadvantages when the limitation of design liability is the key issue. The paper concludes by recommending the use of the NEC contract as they suggest it provides a spectrum of liability. Despite their suggestion of using a contract that allows a spectrum of liability they importantly acknowledge that a strict liability and obligations under the Sales of Goods Act 1972 and the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 exists and is difficult to sign away. This difficulty in signing away rights is also made reference to when they discuss liability under tort and the inclusion of express clauses to limit liability. These important points included by Gaafar and Perry (1998) are relevant to this proposal as they have a bearing on how effectively liability can be limited. Professor J. Perry and Dr H. K. Gaafar are academics at the School of Civil Engineering, the University of Birmingham and for this reason their assumptions on NEC3 in practice are likely to be based on 3rd part information and not their own practical experience within the construction and engineering environment. It is also worth noting that The Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 (HGCRA) states that parties cannot sign away certain rights under UK law and current precedence will determine what obligations exist regardless of whether a clause was included to limit liability. The HGCRA forms the basis of the current UK law and as such must be treated seriously and acknowledged as the presiding authority on set aspects of construction projects. It is also important to note that the HGCRA is 13 years old and largely based on the report by Latham (1994), as such developments have happened in the way contracts are worded to either incorporate it or find ways around it. Egan (1998) suggests that a move to partnering and mutual cooperation will do away with a need for contracts. In this situation a strict liability will be implied by current UK law and legislation and as discussed a fit for purpose obligation will be the default situation. If clauses intended to limit design liability are not effective then Eagans (1998) view that; designers should work in close collaboration with other participants in the project will protect the contractors and reduce the risk as they will be fully aware of the requirements and ultimately able to deliver the end product that is fit for purpose. This work by Egan (1998) is a very theoretical academic view and 11 years on has not fully been adopted despite moves to create more trust through partnering, however, it does provide an alternative view to the confrontational and aggressive stand many contractors and clients are adopting in the economic down turn. Wallace (1995) states his opinion that the obligation to construct a work capable of carrying out its intended use overrides the obligations to comply with specification given in the works information. If this is the case even though a contractor may have produced a design that complied with all the works information, if the end result is not fit for purpose they are then responsible. This goes back to the implied obligation discussed earlier and responsibility of the contractor to request more information and highlight lack of clarity in the works information. They may have done everything including reasonable skill and care to produce a design that complies with the works information but if the works information was inadequate they were liable for not correcting this fault and therefore liable for not producing a design that could deliver. Wallace (1995) published this work a year after Latham (1994) and in a climate where a more progressive approach to construction was the new way of thinking, however, it ignores this work and focuses on fact and the law as it stood at the time. This is not a bad thing but when applying Wallaces work to contracts such as the NEC3 it does not always directly apply and extrapolation of the legal principles is necessary, however most are still the same and the book is still widely accepted and used. Jackson and Powel (1992) conclude that the particular obligations of a contractor to his client are generally of a different nature from those owed by a professional man to his client. They make the point that this does not expressly state that the contractors obligations amount to a fitness for purpose requirement. However they imply in the passage, my complaint against him is not that he has failed to exercise reasonable skill and care in carrying out the work but that he has failed to supply what was contracted for, that a higher level of liability than reasonable skill and care exists and that the precise level of liability is governed by what is stated in the totality of the contract. Jackson and Powel (1992) is considered to be an accepted legal text and the authors experts in their field. This opinion is supported by the fact that the book has been quoted in the courts. A good example being; Lady Justice Butler-Sloss in the Court of Appeal regarding the case of Sansom and Mona ghan v. Metcalf Hambleton Co (1997) (Was it a construction law case? Was the case to do with design liability?) EGCS 185 who quoted the book as being a helpful summary. This use in 1997 is important as it is post HGCRA and although it is 17 years old has many useful interpretations that are still relevant. For example, the concept mentioned above regarding totality of the contract is very similar to the commentary detailed in Eggleston (2006) 14 years later regarding liabilities imposed by the entire contract. In relevance to this proposal then, if the book and the authors are deemed to be an authority on the subject of negligence their implications above regarding totality of the contract carry significant weight. This would suggest that secondary clauses under NEC3 are not necessarily going to limit a contractors liability to reasonable skill and care. In addition to the above works, NEC itself provides literature in both on its website and in published form, and despite the inherent bias it may carries is worth reviewing. The bias is there because the NEC has an invested interested in portraying the NEC3 in a positive light to increase sales, however, it is useful for reference to clarify technical points and attain original copies of contract wording. What is clear is that each of these commentaries focuses on a particular area of a contract or takes a view from one particular party and at present there is nothing comprehensive to show all the interrelationships of NEC3 contractual clauses and UK law and legislation. As a result unless the employer compiling the contract or contractor entering into an NEC3 contract fully understands the full ramifications of the options and clauses chosen they should seek professional legal advice. As described by Gaafar and Perry (1998) these interrelationships are very complicated especially to the non legal professional. Gaafar and Perry (1998) try to bypass the need to understand all these complicated interrelationships by developing and suggesting the use of a Spectrum of Liability, however, as acknowledged by them no contract currently exists that fully allows for this. As stressed by Latham (1996) though and indeed acknowledged by Gaafar and Perry (1998) there are certain obligations and im plied responsibilities that cannot be signed away and a strict liability is imposed unless express clauses are used to support this flexible spectrum. Only the NEC3 contract comes close, however, the effectiveness of secondary clauses to control levels of liability is difficult to determine due to the complex legal interrelationships mentioned above. To establish whether liability can be controlled in an NEC3 contract this dissertation will use arguably the main aspect that has most bearing design liability and seek to demonstrate the following conjecture: A contractors design liability can be limited to reasonable skill and care under NEC3 by use of secondary clauses. Can expand to 2500 or 3000 words In final submission should include a statement in the summary to the literature review as to where the dissertation sits in relation to the main authors outlined in the introduction to the literature review. Methodology To manage the presentation of this dissertation it has been split into a number of chapters. The overall dissertation will form a piece of work that can be useful to all construction and engineering professionals who are considering entering into an NEC3 form of contract. Chapter 1 will be derived from the problem specification, literature review and methodology that form this dissertation proposal. Chapter 2 involves carrying out extensive secondary research. This will take the form of investigation into legal precedence that exists for cases with relevance to a contractors design responsibility and associated liability under NEC3. In addition to this, investigation into accepted academic views, professional interpretation of NEC3 clauses and commentary on UK statute and legislation is necessary. Combined this will form a theoretical perfect world view of design liability and act as the control for this research. Chapter 3 will explore construction professionals understanding of design liability under an NEC3 form of contract. To do this a statistically sufficient number of construction professionals will be interviewed. The questions are designed to be comprehensive enough to generate the desired responses but have been deliberately left open ended to ensure they do not lead the interviewees in a certain direction or stifle responses. The benefit of this is that a greater insight into the interviewees experience and knowledge is gained and helps determine how much weight to assign the responses. The results will then be summarised and initial statistical processing carried out to allow them to be analysed. The open ended nature of the interview questions also gives the opportunity for contractors problems that are not covered by the interview questions to be picked up and acknowledged and be compiled into the summary conclusions. Chapter 4 will seek to substantiate or disprove the conjecture made in Chapter 1 by comparing the differences between the control in Chapter 2 and the summary conclusions made from the interview results in Chapter 3. Depending on the outcome of this comparison will determine the recommendations made in this dissertation that aim to benefit construction professionals thinking of entering into an NEC3 form of contract. Chapter 5, the final chapter seeks to bring together all the conclusions made in the above chapters into a final summary. The outcome of the comparison in Chapter 4 should identify how effective the NEC3 form of contracts intentions are in regards creating a contract that is able to limit design liability by the inclusion of secondary clauses or whether other factors come into play and greater care and legal advice is needed before a contractor signs up to an NEC3 form of contract. The comparison will also determine whether any of the additional problems or negative experiences identified by the construction professionals in the interviews is real or merely perceived due to lack of understanding of UK law and of the NEC3 contract in general. If they are merely perceived, the recommendations made in this work should allow them more confidence when deciding whether or not to sign up to a given NEC3 contract. They would then be able to make an informed decision as to whether an included clauses attempt to limit liability under NEC3 would safeguard them or whether they would be exposed and need to adjust their price to suit the increased risk of what is effectively an imposed fit for purpose design liability. Need to justify research method. This justification is done by reference to established research methods authors. You make only one reference to Blaxter et al but it does not really get to the bottom of what you are doing and why. You do not eliminate other methodologies. Do other authors agree? A good methodology will compare the recommendations of three or four research methods texts. You might like to look at some of the following: 1) Dissertation Research and Writing for Construction Students Dr S.G. Naoum Butterworth Heinneman 808.066624 NAO 2) Research Methods in Construction Fellows Lui 3) Hart, C. 2005, Doing Your Masters Dissertation, SAGE Publications Ltd., London 4) Preece, R. 1994, Starting Research: An Introduction to Academic Research and Dissertation Writing, A Cassell Imprint, London 5) Blaxter, Hughes Tight 2006, How to Research, Open University 6) Questionnaire Design, Interview and Attitude Measurement A.N.Oppenheim Continuum 300.723 OPP The methodology should be introduced by a statement about the theoretical perspectives being employed, e.g. you are approaching this dissertation from a legal and contractual perspective by way of offering appropriate practical advice to the industry Need to justify structure. Justification for the structure requires cerebral argument and includes some linking text between your discussion on the content and format of each chapter. Remember the chapters should be based on the issues to be addressed as identified in the problem specification, so your justification of the structure could be based upon the logic of dealing with those issues. References Blaxter, L., Hughes, C. and Tight, M. (2006). How to Research 3rd Ed. Open University Press. Maidenhead. Eagan (1998). Rethinking Construction. Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions. London. Eggleston, B. (2006). The NEC3 Engineering and Construction Contract 2nd Ed. A Commentary. Blackwell Publishing. [Online] Available from: http://books.google.co.uk/books Accessed 07.07.09 Gaafar, H, K. and Perry, J, G. (1998). Limitation of design liability for contractors. International Journal of Project Management Vol. 17, No. 5, pp. 301-308. Elsevier Science Ltd. Institution of Civil Engineers (2006). ICE Legal Note Liability for Latent Defects. Institution of Civil Engineers. London. Jackson and Powell (1992). Professional Negligence 3rd Ed. Sweet and Maxwell. London. Latham (1996). Housing Grants and Regeneration Act 1996. London. Available from: http://www.opsi.gov.uk/ Accessed 22.08.09 Murdoch, J. and Hughes, W. (2005). Construction Contracts 3rd Ed. Law and Management. Spon Press. Oxon. Wallace, D. (1995). Hudsons Building and Engineering Contracts, Volume 1, 11th Ed. Sweet and Maxwell. London. Uff, J. (2005). Construction Law 9th Ed. Sweet and Maxwell. London. Bibliography Blaxter, L., Hughes, C. and Tight, M. (2006). How to Research 3rd Ed. Open University Press. Maidenhead. Dissertation Creation. Dissertation Help How to Write and Structure a Dissertation Proposal [Online] Available from: http://www.ukdissertations.com Accessed 07.07.09 Eagan (1998). Rethinking Construction. Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions. London. Eggleston, B. (2006). The NEC3 Engineering and Construction Contract 2nd Ed. A Commentary. Blackwell Publishing. [Online] Available from: http://books.google.co.uk/books Accessed 07.07.09 Gaafar, H, K. and Perry, J, G. (1998). Limitation of design liability for contractors. International Journal of Project Management Vol. 17, No. 5, pp. 301-308. Elsevier Science Ltd. Institution of Civil Engineers (2006). ICE Legal Note Liability for Latent Defects. Institution of Civil Engineers. London. Latham (1996). Housing Grants and Regeneration Act 1996. London. Available from: http://www.opsi.gov.uk/ Accessed 22.08.09 Murdoch, J. and Hughes, W. (2005). Construction Contracts 3rd Ed. Law and Management. Spon Press. Oxon. The Guild of Architectural Ironmongers (2004). Commercial and Contract Law. Uff, J. (2005). Construction Law 9th Ed. Sweet and Maxwell. London. Additional useful paragraphs; If the NEC3 contract is set up for the contractor to have design responsibility, then the contractors design must comply with the works information. Even if the optional clause to limit liability is used, the performance specification given in the works information will override it and therefore the contractors liability may or may not be interpreted as fitness for purpose depending on how the works information has been drafted with a strict liability imposed. Results Ques

Oppression and Spiritual Deterioration in William Blakes Poem London E

Oppression and Spiritual Deterioration in William Blake's Poem London London I wander thro' each charter'd street, 1 Near where the charter'd Thames does flow, 2 And mark in every face I meet, 3 Marks of weakness, marks of woe. 4 In every cry of every Man, 5 In every Infant's cry of fear, 6 In every voice, in every ban, 7 The mind-forg'd manacles I hear: 8 How the Chimney-sweeper's cry 9 Every blackning Church appalls, 10 And the hapless Soldier's sigh, 11 Runs the blood down Palace walls. 12 But most thro' midnight streets I hear 13 How the youthful Harlot's curse 14 Blasts the new-born Infant's tear, 15 And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse. 16 "London" by William Blake is a short poem packed with meaning. The poem has two related themes. The first explores the spiritual decay and slavery of the people of London. The second examines the oppression of certain disadvantaged groups and the implied apathy of the oppressors. Blake crafts a skillful poem with masterful use of layered word meaning, irony, repetition, and visual and audible images. Layered meanings become apparent in the first two lines where Blake writes of the "charter'd street" and the "charter'd Thames." Based on the various definitions of charter and chartered, Blake could be speaking ironically of the "privileged" streets where the harlots and chimney sweepers live. Blake may also be using chartered to encompass all of men. Chartered can describe a branch established by a sovereign, and, in this sense, London on the "charter'd Thames" may be one branch of man, representing all men under a spiritual curse. Finally, charter denotes contracts between men for business pu... ...e of an oppressed and an oppressor. Possibly, the youthful harlot is a prostitute because she has no other work or has no family. Indirectly, husbands and the men of London in general are accused for their lack of responsibility. The men either pass venereal disease to the harlot or carry it home with them, apparently unconcerned about the results of their actions. The actions of these men have led to what Blake calls the loudest and most prevalent cry of the poem--the sound of the fall of the family. In conclusion, Blake points out the spiritual deterioration of his time in "London." He sees what is plainly visible but goes unnoticed by other men. He becomes the wanderer, the poet-prophet, the voice of experience crying for all to take note and mend their ways. Work Cited Abrams, M. H. , gen. ed. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 5th edition

Reaction Paper on Management Ethics Essay

Management, when studied and applied has a broad spectrum. Not only do we have to consider the profit of an organization, but we also have to consider whether an organization and their production of goods lead to meeting the needs of the common good efficiently and effectively. Based on Peter Drucker’s Agency theory, â€Å"Management is the organ of institutions; one which converts a mob into an organization, and human efforts into performance. This basically speaks of the skills and competencies of the workers and their effectiveness and efficiency to give an output that meets the desired and quality accepted outcome. During our first meeting, we were asked which one between effectiveness and efficiency will we prioritize provided that circumstances come. Sure, both are significant in accomplishing a goal but in the event that we have to prioritize one, which one will be it? I remember answering efficiency because based on my experience as a nurse; we cannot achieve effectiveness without being efficient with a certain task. We were taught about being efficient in every nursing skill that we do because we are dealing with the lives of the people. In contrast to my nursing background, I further understood that in business, sometimes the priority is effectiveness because in an organization, meeting a deadline is sometimes synonymous to the credibility of the team. On the one hand, in defining skills, it is the application of knowledge to be able to do a job suitable for the goals and concepts one (specifically a manager) has created. To understand the three types of management skills that we’ve learned during the class discussion, which are technical skills, human skills and conceptual skills, it was presented in a pyramid wherein on top is the Top Management who acquires the conceptual skills, next is the Middle Management who acquires the people skills and at the bottom of the pyramid is the Supervisory Management who fundamentally has all the competencies for the technical skills. As I view this model, the top management is the one who comes up with a concept of a project and delegates it to his subordinates. There should always be a captain of the ship in order to move forward and meet the demands of the company. The captain should be able to acquire not only leadership skills but also the ability to plan, organize and come up with ideas that will guide his team in achieving their specific goals. His position does not mean he knows nothing about the technical skills, it just means that he is less required in the technical field; less entailed to do the technical skills because he needs to supervise the organization from his view on top. However, his workers or the people underneath him are in-charge of the technicality of getting the concepts done to provide sustainable and efficient goods and services. On the other hand, the differentiation of Mainstream and Multistream approach as discussed by Dyck in his Management book is a guide for all Managers in handling his organization including his production having the 4 M’s (Man, Machine, Material, and Method) to help him achieve his company’s goals. Basically, in Management, Multistream approach is the more ideal way to lead one’s organization as compared to the Mainstream approach. Multistream comprises the ethics of business that points out to the production of goods and service for the common good. Multistream approach, in relation to SMART goals, means it has to always be meaningful besides being profitable. The goal being significant should appeal to the interests of both the company and its stakeholders. Moreover, it should be decided as a team, giving a chance to everyone involved to participate in the decision-making. I think that a Multistream approach in Management makes a successful company because the Manager considers the entire company, even his manpower, in planning, organizing, leading and controlling the organization. He does not only think of the profit but also think of how it will benefit them and their customers as a whole. The gain of the company is also his gain in a holistic sense, giving meaning to the dignity of all the workers, and giving them credits and rewards for great jobs they accomplish. This particular approach concisely means putting the ethics of business at the center of the goals which are set to meet the standards of customers, stakeholders and the company itself. To add, the Law of the Situation according to Mary Parker Follett states that managers must continuously analyze the unique circumstances within their organizations and apply management concepts to fit those circumstances. A manager should be flexible to changes and adjustments for further improvements. Take for example a company who has had a meeting regarding a concept of a project wherein the team has participatively agreed on certain terms and conditions; and has provided their own inputs in order to achieve their goals. During the intervention of the plans, certain circumstances have occurred and problems have encountered; and maybe things may not be followed according to plan, a manager can still be consistent in such a way that he continuously uses the Multistream approach in accepting and reacting to changes with optimism and set new or additional goals in order to sustain the demands of the concepts. Some circumstances are unavoidable and are out of the team’s control so the best way to manipulate the condition is to improve and be critical in arriving with decisions based on the ethical values of business management. Moreover, despite the pressure of the circumstances involved, re-setting and adjustment of plans in a Multistream perspective will continuously benefit not only the manager himself but the company as whole. It will also drive everyone to succeed on the target profit because the approach made was systematically for everyone and not only for the personal gain of the manager. In relation to the ethical views of business management as perceived in the two short films, Catholic Social Teaching is a very instrumental guide in most corporations. According to Stefano Zamagni, even non-Christians and nonbelievers consult the Social Teachings of the Church. The social teaching involves human dignity wherein each and everyone is a living image of God, recognizing every individual as unique. There is also what we call rights, specifically human rights which are the universal rights. Furthermore, the social teachings involved in Radical Idealism vs. Socialism–union of principles to improve and not to favor—are the justice in the society, adherence to the common good (in which a manager cannot sacrifice the good of a community for the good of one person), solidiarity to the poor, and subsidiarity. The film also defined terms we normally use on a daily basis which we tend to neglect beyond its basic meaning. For example, it defined company as an economic endeavor to produce products in an efficient way. It is not a community of capitals but a community of people. It is also a community of work where people establish relationships and they are responsible for the work they are doing. Furthermore, it is an asset to everyone and not just to satisfy one person. To simply conclude, the principles that the Catholic is teaching are a guide to every business universally. The ethics of business always inspire the managers in decision making towards a good goal. This is also what conspires a company to be led to a Multistream perspective of management. Not only a company’s goal is to profit and receive recognitions and incentives but they also seek to provide its community the goods and services they need and they can enjoy. Companies owe the public a good service so to be able to meet the community’s expectations including that of the stakeholeders, they, in all aspects must abide to the principle of the Catholic Social Teachings and always take note of the rights of every human being has. This will guide the leaders to operate in such a way that it meets the standards of the Multistream approach and be able to help create a community of workers who are equally rewarded, achieving a common and unified goal, and establishing healthy relationships towards co-workers and towards the stakeholders, suppliers, and customers.

Financial Analysis on Coles Myer & Woolworths Essay

Introduction Coles Myer Limited (CML) and Woolworths Limited (WOW) are two major Australian companies with extensive retail interest and listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. They are Australian public companies which operate a number of retail chains. CML is Australia’s second largest retailer, behind WOW. It operates a number of chains of retail outlets which are including Coles Supermarkets, Bi-Lo, Liquorland, Pick ‘n Pay Hypermarket, Kmart, Officeworks, Target, Harris Technology and Coles Express (Wikipedia, 2006) . WOW is currently the largest retail company in Australia and New Zealand by market capitalisation and sales. WOW operates in Australia through several retail banners such as Woolworths and Safeway Supermarkets, BWS, Dan Murphy’s, BIG W, Dick Smith Power House and Dick Smith Electronics (Wikipedia, 2006) . The purpose of this report is to analyse financial performances of the two publicly listed companies in last 5 years by using series of calculation tools include horizontal analysis and financial ratios. Also as a recommendation, we will advise investors to buy or not buy the two companies’ shares according to the results of the performance analysis. Financial Condition (See Appendix 1 & 2 for ratio details) 1. Overview The WOW’s revenue has increased every year, one year as great as 149.90 % in 2005 (see appendix 11 for details). In 2001, revenues were 20915.1 million while in 2005 revenue has increased to 31352.5 million. Since revenue increased, the net profit obviously has increased as well. Net profit rose 84.70% from 2001 to 2005. The Horizontal Analysis (Appendix 11 &; 14) indicates WOW is a very successful company and earning money. CML’s revenue has increased 52% and the net profit rose 314% from 2001 to 2005, the growth was tremendous because it occurred in typical connection with the restructuring of the method of financing a foreign operation (Financial Report, 2005). 2. Liquidity Current ratio This ratio represents the financial liquidity of the company. ‘The current  ratio compares the assets a company can quickly convert to cash to the liabilities it must pay in the near term’ (Vance, D. E. 2003). The higher the ratio, the more liquid the company is. For CML, there was a slight increase of 0.04 from 2001 to 2002. Then it followed by an obvious fall from 1.37 to 1.09 during period from 2002 to 2005. This represents that one-unit current liabilities is secured by 1.37 units of current assets in 2002 and 1.09 units, nearly one current asset for one current liability, in 2005. From the perspective of WOW, the ratio starts from 0.81 up to 0.84 then declined to 0.81 and finally dropped to 0.82 during this period of time. The current ratios are all less than one, indicating that one current asset will prepare for the payment of more than one unit current liability. That leads to high liquidity risk in the business operation. If there is an emergency to WOW, it wi ll encounter the problem of repayment. Quick ratio Quick ratio is similar with current ratio, but more conservative than current ratio, because in numerator, inventory is excluded from current assets, and in dominator, bank overdraft is excluded from current liabilities. ‘The quick ratio addresses the issue of whether current assets could cover current liabilities if inventory were found to be worthless’ (Vance, D. E. 2003). WOW experienced a slight increase from 0.2 to 0.26 in this period of time. In contrast, CML experienced a modest fluctuation and end up with 0.28 in 2005, the lowest one in 5-year time and the highest one is 0.41 in 2003. Generally, the quick ratios of CML exceed the ones of WOW. Cash flow ratio Cash flow ratio will analyse the ability of repayment on current liabilities from the perspective of the operating cash flows. Vance, D. E. (2003) states that it is another way to think about the risk of leading to, or investing in a company. These two companies both experienced a drop on this ratio from 2004 to 2005, 0.35 for WOW and 0.3 for CML in 2005. 3. Financial leverage Equity ratio & debt ratio Equity ratio and debt ratio are both designing for capital structure and they are negatively related with each other. The cost of equity is higher than the cost of debt, but shareholders will not require companies to repay them dividends and principals any time. However, companies must pay the debt holders interests and principals each year. And increasing leverage ratio will result in increasing the return to shareholders, yet at the same time, it will increase the repayment commitments and then raise the risk to company and shareholders. CML’s equity ratio increased to 0.4 and correspondingly debt ratio decreased to 0.15 from 2001 to 2005. Generally it is a good trend, even though there has been a decrease in equity ratio in 2005 from 0.45 to 0.40 and an increase in debt ratio from 2004 to 2005, it may be due to the acquisition from US group KKR. However, in 2005, equity is almost three times debt, which means the capital structure is still in good condition. On the other hand, WOW experienced a different trend that its equity ratio has decreased from 0.30 to 0.25, and debt ratio has significantly increased from 0.13 to 0.32 between 2001 and 2005. WOW raised funds heavily on interest-bearing liabilities and consequently takes higher risk than CML due to higher leverage ratio. Times interest earned & fixed charges coverage ‘Times interest earned ratio examines the ability of the business to meet its regular financial commitments’ (Harvey, McLaney and Atrill 2001). Fixed charges coverage ratio is very similar to Times interest earned ratio. These two ratios assess the profitability of company and the ability of interests and principal repayment. CML experienced a significant increase on these two ratios from 3.48 to 12.04 and from 6.81 to 16.64, even though there was a slight drop between 2004 and 2005. However, WOW experienced an obvious fall to 11.82 and 12.25 on times interest earned and fixed charges coverage  respectively. In 2005, compared with WOW, CML showed a better financial performance on the ability to repay the interests and principal. Average payment period CML experienced a decreasing trend on average payment period from 45.29 to 38.69. In contrast, WOW experienced an increase from 19.41 in 2001 to 37.78 in 2003, and a decrease to 34.77 in 2005. Compared with WOW, CML has a longer payment period. It means CML can hold its money more time and do some investments. 4. Assets management Sales turnover This ratio indicates assets management efficiency that one unit asset can generate how much sales. From the perspective of CML, the sales turnover gradually increased from 2.9 in 2001 to 3.94 in 2005. On the other hand, WOW maintained stable on about 4.5 sales turnovers. We can see that WOW managed its assets more efficiently than CML did. Average inventory turnover period This ratio assesses the efficiency of inventory management whether company reduce the inventories as fewer as possible. The fewer inventories, the more free cash flow company has to invest on other assets. Both WOW and CML experienced a decrease on inventory turnover period from 39.64 to 29.64 and from 59.45 to 41.38 respectively. It indicates that CML managed its inventories less efficiently than WOW did. 5. Profitability Return on sales WOW return on sales remained constant, 4% of sales. For CML, it maintained  stable, nearly 2% of sales. Obviously, WOW has a higher operating profit margin, and then a better profitability performance maybe due to the more efficient costs control. Return on assets ‘It is used to measure whether assets are being productively employed’ (Vance, D. E. 2003). This ratio indicates how much profit one unit asset can generate and how profitable company is as a whole. WOW and CML are both in the increasing trend, 0.17 and 0.1 respectively in 2005. In term of this ratio, it showed that WOW is more profitable than CML Return on equity & earning per share These two ratios reflect the return to the shareholders and the value increase for the shareholders. WOW and CML both experienced an increase on the return to the shareholders, yet the WOW’s increase of the return is more stable than CML’s. In 2005, in term of return on equity, WOW stayed with 37% of the equity, yet CML just 16%. Conclusion The two companies have been doing quite well in recent years as can be seen from the increasing profitability. The table in Appendix 15 indicates a comparison of the two companies according to the above discussion. CML has a better performance on liquidity and financial leverage but WOW managed Assets and Profitability better than CML. Recommendations On 8th September 2006, WOW’s closing share price is $20.80 and CML is $13.70. Based on the financial analysis above, we can conclude that WOW has maintained a constant financial performance in last 5 years, but their growth is not rapid. However, Simpson (2006) states that ‘At present Coles Myer is earning a 13 per cent return on capital invested in stores, compared  with 24 percent by Woolworths.’ Therefore, I recommend potential investors buy shares from WOW for a short-term. According to CML news released in March and June, CML had acquired Sydney drug stores Pty Ltd (CML News Release, 2006) and Hedley Hotel Group (CML News Release, 2006). CML will expand the pharmacy business further more and have a different strategy than WOW if the regulations change in the future becomes true. CML also will expand their liquor business to compete WOW as well. Thus, I believe that the potential financial growth of CML will be a lot higher than what it is right now and I su ggest investors put their money on CML for a long-term investment. References 1.Wikipedia 2006, Coles Myer Ltd, Wikipedia Free Source Organization, viewed 10 September 2006 2.Wikipedia 2006, Woolworths Ltd, Wikipedia Free Source Organization, viewed 10 September 2006 3.Financial Report, 2005, Coles Myer Ltd., pp 19 4.Vance, D.E. 2003, Financial Analysis and Decision Making, McGraw-Hill, United States of America 5.Harvey, D, McLaney, E and Atrill P 2001, Accounting for business, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford 6.Simpson, K. 2006, Market waits for higher Coles bit, The Age, 8 September 2006, front page of Business Section 7.News Release 2006, ‘Coles Myer Acquires Pharmacy Direct’, Coles Myer Ltd., 31 March 2006 8.News Release 2006, ‘Hedley Hotel Acquisition Complete’, Coles Myer Ltd., 14 June 2006

Suicide in the Trenches by Siegfried Sassoon and Green Beret by Ho Thien Essays

Suicide in the Trenches by Siegfried Sassoon and Green Beret by Ho Thien Essays Suicide in the Trenches by Siegfried Sassoon and Green Beret by Ho Thien Paper Suicide in the Trenches by Siegfried Sassoon and Green Beret by Ho Thien Paper Essay Topic: Literature Both these poems are based around the theme of war, however they are set in different periods of time. Suicide in the Trenches deals with the stresses that war can inflict and how tragic it can sometimes be. It focuses on the life and death of a soldier boy. Throughout the poem the poet emphasises the simplicity of the boy. The poem has a simple layout and rhyme scheme, Sassoon is probably trying to suggest the simplicity of the soldier boy and how simple the life of a soldier in the trenches would have been. Green Beret is more recent and is based on the Vietnamese war. It tells the story of a Vietnamese boy who is being threatened with the death of his father to give information about the Vietnamese people. Throughout the poem the poet suggests how the brutal actions of the soldiers only seem to make the resistance force greater. Both of these poems differ from each other but they both show the tragedies involved in war. The poets in both poems use different methods to show their ideas. In Suicide in the Trenches the poem is structured in quatrains and the poems layout is very simple. I think that Sassoon used the quatrains and a simple layout to emphasise the simplicity of the simple soldier boy. I also think that he may have used this layout to imitate the life of a soldier, as soldiers are thought to be orderly and neat. Sassoon uses a title which prepares us for a poem containing grown up men, however, when we read the first line we get the image of a young boy. This shows us that the young boys involved found the war it so dreadful that some even took extreme measures to get away from it. In contrast, Thien uses a narrative approach and relates to events in order as though it was a story. The first long stanza focuses on what happened and the last short stanza focuses on how the resistant forces werent defeated, suggesting how brave the boy was for keeping quiet. I think that Thien finally revealed the silence of the boy so that the reader remained intrigued in the poem and it kept up the suspense. Green Beret is in free verse and both stanzas are unevenly spread. I think that this is because Ho Thien wants us to know that the Green Beret soldiers may be unfair and that the boy and the Vietnamese people are very much in charge of their own decisions and that they wont give information away about their people, no matter what consequences are involved. At the end of the poem Thien even compares the Vietnamese people to fierce animals, like tigers across the High Plateau. I think that Thien uses tigers so that we get the impression that the Vietnamese are like predators and that they are quiet when the move making it very hard for the Americans to find or detect them. The lengths of the poems also vary dramatically. Green Beret is rather long, which is probably because the poet wants us to know that the war went on for a long time and that it may have been very awkward for the Americans to get information. In the second stanza we get the impression that the brutal actions by the American forces only makes the resistant forces stronger and when the poet mentions wall of steel we can imagine how strong the resistant forces must be. Whereas, when we look at Suicide in the Trenches we can see that its much shorter indicating that suicide was part of life in the trenches. It also gives us the impression that the soldiers would have got over these tragedies quickly and that suicide was part of everyday life. The rhyme scheme and rhythm are significantly different when we compare both poems. In Suicide in the Trenches the rhyme scheme is rather straightforward; aabbcc (This again shows the simplicity of the soldier boy. ) The rhythm functions to make the poem easy to read and remember. However, when we reach lines seven and eight, the rhythm changes; He put a bullet through his brain. No one spoke of him again. I think the poet used these two lines to emphasise the brutality and the harsh reality of war. I also think it shows how desperate war really was. In both poems the poets use the language differently. In Green Beret Thien gives a sense of realism by adding dialogue, it also gives a true sense of how Green Beret spoke. When he commands kill the old guy in front of the boy we see how heartless and unsympathetic that Green Beret really is. The poet describes the boy as frail and slight, this shows that the boy may be quite malnourished and that he may be rather vulnerable. At the end of the poem Thien describes the Vietnamese army as tigers. He probably used this particular word as tigers are a sneaky and strong type of an animal and perhaps he wanted the reader to know that they are strong and quite a formidable force. Thien also uses repetition like eyes. I think that he uses eyes so much through the poem as eyes can show a persons emotions very effectively. When we find out that the boy has the eyes of a hurt animal, we take the boys side and we feel sympathetic towards him. When we look at Thiens choice of verbs they really stand out and put a strong image in the readers head. Thien uses verbs like commanded and roared, I think that Thien used these verbs as they show the brutality of Green Beret and that he is rather ruthless. In the poem Green Beret speaks to the boy in broken English, tell us where or we kill father. I think this is to show that Green Beret thought that the boy was stupid or inferior and by communicating to him this way he would understand what he is saying. By way of contrast, when we study the language used by Sassoon there are no similes, metaphors and very few adjectives used. I think that Sassoon used this technique as war is already brutal and by using very few of these words is presents war as it is and how desperate it was. I think that both of these poems were written for a wide audience; children to adults and they are to show the true horrors of the war. Green Beret was to show the things going on during the Vietnam War, and it almost exalts the Vietnamese people and shows that they werent so weak after all. As we see that the little boy is willing to let his father be killed for the people of his country. On the other hand, Suicide in the Trenches outlines how horrific war can be and it shows that war is fought mentally as well as physically. In conclusion, both of the two poems have a lot of differences but they are still very alike each other as they both still portray the harsh brutality of war. But the two poets have used different techniques and methods to present their ideas and they have the same sadness in their tone. I think that both poets have been very effective with the techniques used as both poems contain a lot of strong emotions. I personally preferred Green Beret as I thought it gave a convincing insight into the war and it showed how brutal it was. It also showed how one small boy could save all his people and how mentally strong he was. Although I thought that Suicide in the Trenches was more effective as it portrayed a lot of emotion and it gave a much different view on war and showed the different mental stresses it contained and how desperate war really was and is.

International Terrorism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

International Terrorism - Essay Example The essay "International Terrorism" talks about the complex aspects of human experiences based on negative features that are imposed on them - terrorism. This is because terrorism captures emotions based on politics, philosophy, psychology, military strategies, and history to bring about negative experiences to the world. The term international terrorism denotes the use of violence by international or foreign parties against civilian populations of another nation in an attempt to cause panic. Those that perpetrate the acts of terrorism are known as terrorists and they operate in covert means, normally, unless their attacks require attention. In order to draw attention or even gain publicity, terror attacks are done overtly and in public with the knowledge of the elite or even security forces. The security forces, in cases of overt attacks, are usually backed into a corner and are unable to take action either due to lack of information or great risks of intervention. International ter rorism requires the use of cell groups to plan and carry out terrorist attacks in foreign nations, where they even recruit members from the home nation. In addition, international terrorism is taking a new form or face that involves the use of loose organization in conducting and executing attacks. This is through self-financed groups, which are part of an international network that works together in isolated cases. The groups thrive on a different basis such as religion to carry out their attacks or even make their voices known. or heard. Such groups include radical Islamists, who use Islam as their religion and claim to be marginalized on a global scale or even have their rights infringed. For this reason, the Islamists carry out attacks in nations that have strong ties with the host nations that oppress them or even those that infringe their rights directly. This can be seen in the case of the September 11 attacks in the year 2001 in the United States, which is an example of an i nternational terrorist attack in the United States, which was executed through suicide attacks aimed at various installations in the nation. A passenger jetliner that was hijacked en route to Los Angeles from Boston was flown into New York’s World Trade Center into one tower while a second plane was flown into the second tower later. The attack was conducted in the presence of the terrorist who were onboard and with his or her own pilots. This one attack is evidence of international terrorist attacks that are believed to originate from radical Islamists from the Middle East and the perpetrator being a Saudi man who was anti-western, Osama bin Laden (United States Institute of Peace, n.d). One of the reasons that international terrorism has escalated is because of the proliferation of weapons that include weapons of mass destruction. These are especially found in the case of Iran and North Korea that are believed to finance and sponsor international terrorism as they have acce ss and run uranium enrichment; for nuclear weapons. The production of these nuclear weapons has also seen new trends in international terrorism, where international terrorists have been noted to attempt at acquiring chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons (Perl, 2007). One such international terror attack that used weapons of mass destruction occurred in Kurdistan; and was executed by Iraqis in an attempt to wipe out all Kurdish people that spoke the Kurdish language. The gas caused the death of roughly 5000 civilians and it was seen as a means of multiplying force, where it killed civilians instead of targeted soldiers

Battle of Waterloo Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Battle of Waterloo - Research Paper Example Since the achievement of such an objective is rarely feasible in practicality, although theoretically plausible, the theory of warfare attempts to teach and calculate the moral factors such as the mistakes which the enemy is likely to make; or the impression which can be created to intimidate the enemy forces. Written almost two centuries ago, by a renowned Prussian thinker and theorist, Carl von Cluausewitz, these highly controversial yet oft cited set of principles commonly referred to as the "Principles of War" present a comprehensive summary of the tactics and strategies that can be used during war. These principles have proved to be highly effective over the years, and are adopted by nations worldwide, owing to fact that they encompass all the moral as well as psychological aspects of warfare (Clausewitz, Graham, 2008). This paper on Principles of War: Battle of Waterloo discusses and analyzes the nine principles of war with regard to and as applied in the Battle of Waterloo. Th e Battle of Waterloo: Brief Overview The Battle of Waterloo was fought between the Imperial French army commanded by Emperor Napoleon and the Seventh Coalition - which comprised of an Anglo-allied army commanded by the Duke of Wellington; and the Prussian army commanded by Gebhard von Blucher. It was fought on June 18, 1815 near Waterloo which is in present-day Belgium. Napoleon’s army was defeated by the combined forces i.e. the Seventh Coalition and the Anglo-Allied army, and is considered to be historical since it marked the end of Napoleon’s tyrant rule, and his hundred days of return from exile (BBC History, 2011). The battle was historical since the mighty French emperor and military leader Napoleon’s rule came to an abrupt end after his defeat at the hands of the combined armies led by the British, German, Belgian, Dutch and the Prussians. The principles of war discussed in the following section, aims to discuss, examine, and analyze the various strategie s used by the combined forces against Napoleon’s army, that eventually led to his fall. The nine principles of war: 1. The Principle of Objective: â€Å"No one starts a war—or rather, no one in his senses ought to do so—without first being clear in his mind what he intends to achieve by that war and how he intends to conduct it†. Karl Von Clausewitz (in Mahnken & Maiolo, 2008, pp. 2) The principle of objective refers to the fundamental purpose of the war / military operation, which must be clearly identified, defined and attained in an effective manner. The two parties involved in the battle included Napoleon’s army on one hand, and the allied forces comprising of the British, the Belgians, the Germans, and the Prussians on the other. The basic objective of Napoleon was to continue his accession and dominance, and restore his power after his exile, in the year 1815 and to defeat the allied European forces which had begun to reassemble their armies in a bid to overthrow Napoleon’s rule. Napoleon’s objective was to destroy the efforts of the allied forces, prevent them from gaining more support and expanding their existing coalition, and destroy the British, Prussian, Dutch, and Belgian armies before they could gather more support and assistance from other powers. On the other hand, the basic objective of the allied forces was to stop the emperor’s (Napoleon’s) accession, and overthrow him and thus bring a halt to his reign by defeating him and to end his tyrant rule as the emperor of France. 2. The principle of Offensive: This principle entails the retention, seizing of and exploiting the initiatives of the enemy by launching an offensive