Different Contemporary Management Issues Faced By Global Organizations Essay

Different Contemporary Management Issues Faced By Global Organizations - Essay Example The discussion is mainly focused on a particular management issue i.e. the effect of legislation on the current workforce and management. Changing legislation to the organizations and workforce is one of the major issues faced by the human resource management. Besides the federal legislation, each state owns specific employment law and regulations which affect the functionality of human resources. The changes in federal laws generally impact the HR management of large to medium-sized organizations. Human resources managers need to be well-versed with the challenges of these ever-changing employment and workforce legislation to reduce the liabilities of organizations in different aspects of human resources operations. The recent development of minimum wages law is providing some added pressure to different organizations. The US federal minimum wages act was first introduced during the depression of 1933. At that time the federal government increased the minimum wages from 25 cents to $7 per hour. By the year of 2013, the minimum wages for workers in small and medium US industries has increased by $9.47 per hour. Similarly, the federal law has conveyed that the minimum wages of employees in large industries need to be increased to $ 11 per hour by the end of 2015. Though the wage hike has been proved to be beneficial for the employee loyalty and motivation programs, it is also adversely affecting the overall expenses and profit margin of organizations. Various businesses in the US market are facing different challenges due to this rise in the wage structure. The HR management of the Subway franchisees in Seattle is worried about the increase in organizational cost by $250 per week in terms of employee salaries. The strategic managers of Washington Lodging Association are still very confused about the effect of this legislation on the overall business activity of the organization.

Conceptual Cognition and Problem Solving Styles Essay Example for Free

Conceptual Cognition and Problem Solving Styles Essay The article â€Å"Thinking† found in the Northeastern University Website presents insights regarding conceptual cognition and problem solving skills. It claims that although people may have similar concepts, we differ from each other by our conceptual cognition and problem solving styles. To elaborate, the author cites how people define concepts. It shows that people have similar concepts of things especially those perceived by sight. For instance, features including two eyes, four legs, two ears, one tail, barking, sharp teeth, etc., would definitely pertain to a dog. Likewise, a photo of a child smiling is an indication of a happy child, not a sad one. However, there are also some concepts in our society that have changed a bit but not entirely. Although they are modified through time, a certain degree of people’s cognition of the original concept remains the same. Take for example, marriage. In the past, the concept of marriage is limited to a man and a woman, but now the concept allows man to man marriage, so although the concept is altered a bit, the concept of togetherness and commitment still holds truth. Concepts are arranged into hierarchies. For instance, a bedroom is smaller than a house, and a block is smaller than a neighborhood. Applying it in the school context, there are students under one teacher, and there are teachers under one director, etc. Similarly, in the corporate scene, there are subordinates and supervisors. Moreover, concepts are formed by definition and prototype. We learn concepts as the environment define them for us. For instance as children, we were familiarized by our parents with the things in the house, such as a table and a chair. Later on when we went to our neighbor’s, we realized that tables can be in different forms or colors, but the role they play remains the same. Through definition and prototype, we obtain similar concepts of things around us. The issue of cognition is not much of a problem but problem solving styles are. The three methods to solve a problem include: trial and error, algorithms, and heuristics. In trial and error, one is bound to use more effort and time to arrive at the right answer. This method requires several trials and shortcuts, and does not guarantee giving the right answer. The second method is algorithm. An algorithm is a step-by-step procedure usually involving computations. Unlike trial and error, it is methodical and guarantees arriving at the correct answer. However, since it requires a procedure, it is more time consuming than the other. The third method used to solve a problem is heuristics. This method requires â€Å"speculative formulation†¦as a guide in the investigation or solution of a problem.† (Answers.com, n.d.). It posits that the background of the matter, ie religion, society be investigated upon in order to arrive at a conclusion. Although this method is not accurate and does not guarantee a definite answer, it leads to a certain conclusion or information related to the problem. Each of the methods has its own advantages and disadvantages. When combined, the three methods will help one arrive at a valid answer. For instance, when conducting research, it is not enough to present statistics of people experiencing a specific problem. One needs to dwell on observations, surveys, interviews, etc. to obtain a full view of the situation. Applying this to the classroom scenario, students should be taught how to apply and combine the three methods in order to facilitate problem solving tasks. Particularly, when teaching research, teachers should incorporate teaching and application of the three methods so that students will not only have options but arrive at definite and valid conclusions for their study. References Algorithm. Retrieved 5 August 2008, from http://www.answers.com/topic/algorithm Heuristic. Retrieved 5 August 2008, from http://www.answers.com/heuristic

Bag of Visual Words Model

Bag of Visual Words Model Abstract Automatic interpretation of Remote sensing images is a very important task in several practical fields. There are several approaches to accomplish this task, one of the most powerful and effective approach is the use of local features and machine learning techniques to detect objects and classify it. In such an approach, first, the image is scanned for local features and coded in a mathematically manipulatable form, then these local features are injected to a classifier to get the class of the object which contains these local features. In this thesis, bag of visual words model for detecting and recognizing of objects in high resolution satellite images is constructed and tested using blob local features. Scale Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT) and Speedup Robust Features (SURF) algorithms are used as blob local feature detector and descriptor. The extracted features are coded mathematically with Bag of Visual Words algorithm in order to represent an image by the histograms of visua l words. Dimension reduction technique is used to eliminate non-relevant and non-distinctive data using Principle Component Analysis (PCA). Finally, a single class Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier is used to classify the object image as a positive or negative match. We extend the typical use of BOVW by using an object proposals technique to extract regions that will be classified by the SVM depends on keypoints location clustering instead of sliding window approach. Besides enhance the resolution independency by using geospatial info extracted from the remote sensing images meta-data to extract real dimensions of objects during training and detection. The whole approach will be tested practically in the experiment work to prove that this approach is capable to detecting a number of geo-spatial objects, such as airplane, airports and cars. Introduction The remote sensing, images has been developed in quantity and quality and its applications. The image itself is not useful without analysis. The analysis is to generate information from the image.ÂÂ   One of the image analysis tasks is the detection of objects from the images, either man-made objects or natural objects. The automation of this task is very useful in real world applications, but it is very challenging. This can be one of the computer vision field problems. The methods that, use local features in object, recognition from visual data is very successful in recent researches. The benefits of using local features is immunity, to occlusion, and clutter, and with greatest significantly, no pre-step of segmentation, is required before local feature extraction. The accessibility of diverse feature extraction and descriptors algorithms lets local feature methods efficient. Furthermore, the large number of features, generated from images of objects is crucial advantage, of l ocal features. While the benefits of local features are useful, a feature has to cover some factors; like invariance to scaling, rotation, illumination, viewing direction slight change, noise and cluttering. Motivation The revolutionary technology used in new generation satellite systems is driving the development of new large scale data handling approaches in remote sensing related applications. Furthermore, the large image archives captured over the previous missions are now being used to produce innovative global products. In particular, the development of large-scale analytics tools to efficiently extract information and apply the achieved results towards answering scientific questions represents a big challenge for the research community working in the Remote Sensing field. One of the most useful analytic tools in remote sensing images is the object detection and recognition, either the man-made objects or natural ones as shown in Figure ‎1‑1 Figure ‎1‑1 Object detection as a Remote sensing image interpretation analysis There are a lot of challenges faced by the researchers like, but not limited to, enhancing the efficiency to process large data, developing the suitable techniques to detect and recognize various object types and develop tools and platforms needed to store, analyze, interpret and represent data and results. These challenges united experts of data science, algorithm development and computer science, as well as environmental experts and geoscientists, to present state-of-the-art algorithms, tools, and applications for processing and exploitation of a huge amount of remotely sensed data. The scope of these researches can be generalized as following: Studies describing advanced approaches to process large volume of multi-temporal optical, SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) and radiometric data. Studies discussing innovative techniques, and associated data processing methods for very large-scale data exploitation. Critical analyses of existing and innovative tools, methods and techniques for large-scale analytics to extract and represent information Results of case studies executed at different large spatial and temporal scales, also by using GRID and/or Cloud Computing platforms. Results of on-going national/international initiatives and solutions for managing, processing, and disseminating huge archives of Remote Sensing data and relevant results. Problem Statement This thesis addresses the problem of geospatial object detection and recognition from high resolution satellite images. The problem we are trying to solve is to decide if a given aerial, or satellite image, contains one or more objects, belonging to the class of interest, and locate the position, of each predicted object, in the image. The expression object stated in this thesis is any type of object may appear in the remote sensing images, including man-made objects which have sharp edges and are distinct from the background, for example a building, a ship, a vehicle. Our solution must be consider the challenges and difficulties of object detection in optical remote sensing images like visual appearance variations which caused by occlusion, viewpoint variation, clutter, illumination variation, shadow variation, etc. A general statement of the problem can be formulated as follows: Given a remote sensing image contains different objects, it is required to decide if one or more occurrences of a specific object class is existing in this image, and if so, detect locations of these objects, this needs to be successful in case of variation of viewpoint, occlusion, background clutter Objectives Model a methodology to solve the problem stated above that can features the following: Acquire training data of unlimited object classes. Read high resolution remote sensing images and able to analyze its data. Detect occurrences of trained object classes in the remote sensing images Demonstrate results as a geo-referenced data type. In this thesis, we will demonstrate a model to achieve these objectives, and assess its results compared to other state-of-the-art models presented in the recent researches. Thesis Layout The thesis is composed of five chapters, the first chapter presenting an introduction stating the motivation, problem definition and objectives, second chapter is discussing the literature survey about the problem and researches in the field, third chapter presenting a detailed explanation of the methodology proposed to solve the problem. Fourth chapter contains the experimental results of the model. Fifth chapter discusses and concludes the methodology represented in this thesis, then a few points is suggested as a future work.

When Marco First Appears, Miller Describes Him as a Square-built Essay

When Marco First Appears, Miller Describes Him as a Square-built peasant of thirty-two, suspicious, tender and quiet voiced.In the Light of Marco's Role in the Play, How Helpful Do You Find this Introduction to Him? When considering this question, it is necessary to somewhat challenge it; to whom is Miller's description meant to be helpful? As "A View From the Bridge" is a play, and therefore presented to an audience, we must presume that the description's intended use is to instruct an actor developing his character which is to be conveyed to an audience. Marco's role becomes more important throughout the play. In fact, his role assumes a certain duality. In one respect, he is the victim of Eddie's betrayal; he declares: "That one! [Eddie] He killed my children." In another respect, he is employed by Miller as a tool in the finality of Eddie's fate as his murderer. This increasing significance of Marco's role is not at first glance anticipated by Miller's introductory description as physically he appears to the audience as rather solid and the simplicity of the physical description helps to establish Marco as an initially somewhat simple character. However, the instructions that refer to Marco's emotions are more complex; "suspicious" and "tender"might appear contrasting, especially when juxtaposed contextually. However, with a Sicilian male typical attitude, they seem more compatible. Marco is reduced to tears at the prospect of sending his family money, and later will commit the arguably transgress act of murdering a man who had been his host, so acute is his anger on behalf of his starving, dependent family: "My wife- My wife- I want to send right away maybe twenty dollars." Marco almost ... ...ene is seen as a good man who is in charge of his family, and Marco, a "simple" Sicilian, who just came to America and was invited into the family by Eddie himself, is very exciting for the audience. It is therefore obvious in this scene that Marco is "suspicious" of Eddie. Furthermore, Marco's role as the tool Miller uses for Eddie's downfall, could not occur if Marco was not "suspicious". In conclusion, Miller's introductory description is only helpful to a limited degree both because of the nature of the text (it is a play) and because Marco will endure such great betrayals that they will change his character and actions. However, Miller gives the audience ideas about what sort of man Miller is describing, enabling the audience to anticipate the contrasts he may be serving to accentuate, such as the difference in attitudes between Rodolpho and Marco.

Ethics During Change Essay

As society has seen over the last few decades, ethics had not been at the forefront of organizational decision-making and change processes as it should have been. Unfortunately because of the actions or lack of actions by the few, many lives have been devastated and society’s view of corporate organizations has been severely damaged. Between government interventions, and organizational realizations, ethics seem to have become a focal point during the decision making and change processes. Most organizations realize that changes must occur to maintain, sustain, and grow, and the inclusion of ethical considerations is imperative to sound decisions and implementation. Organizations must make a commitment to themselves and society, to uphold a high level of ethical standards and behaviors, to ensure the view of the organization remains positive. Simply stated, ethics are beliefs individuals and organizations have that determine what standards or behaviors are deemed to be appropria te or inappropriate. According to Sonenshein (2009), there is a theory about the emergence of ethical issues during the change process (Sonenshein, 2009, p. 230). Sonenshein (2009) explains that the starting issues found in change are, â€Å"trigger points, ambiguity, and employee welfare frame† (Sonenshein, 2009, p. 230). Sonenshein (2009) further explains that the starting issues found during the implementation of change, refer to an individual’s sense-making about the organizational change (Sonenshein, 2009). Sense-making, according to Palmer, Dunford, and Akin (2006) â€Å"is a significant part of importance to understanding the change† (Palmer, Dunford & Akin, 2006, p. 190). When one does not have a clear understanding of the changes occurring, and the effect or consequences the change will have on him or her and the position held within the organization, emotions tend to become involved. One emotion described by Sonenshein (2009) is that an individual may perceive during the ch ange process, is â€Å"loss,† which he explains may also lead to an individual believing that he or she has been treated unfairly (Sonenshein, 2009, p.  231). To further add to ethical change issues, if the directives created for the change are not clear and concise, the interpretation of what is to occur can have multiple meanings and cause confusion. Ambiguity occurs when, â€Å"an organization has a vision but is not prescriptively clear on how to achieve it† (Palmer, Dunford, & Akin, 2006, p. 268). Palmer, Dunford, and Akin (2006) explain the importance of communication during change implementation as well as factors that help to create a sense of confusion. The three factors mentioned are, â€Å"message overload, message distortion, and message ambiguity† (Palmer, Dunford, & Akin, 2006, p. 268). The purpose of communication is to ensure each individual understands the changes to occur, the reasons for the change, and the effects expected from the change. The individual must have the ability to make sense of the change, understand the social impacts of the change, to ensure he or she is willing to â€Å"buy-in† to the change. The â€Å"employee welfare frame† is explained as a thought process some employees choose to use to determine the impact the organization’s change will have on him or her, and any inherent rights that may be infringed upon because of the change (Sonenshein, 2009). As explained by Sonenshein (2009), â€Å"poorly managed change efforts erode organizations relational health† (Sonenshein, 2009, p. 233). For an organization to achieve a successful change, the stakeholders must see the benefits associated with the change. The stakeholders must also have a clear view of the organizations vision and mission to accept and commit. Some organizations may take short-cuts in efforts to speed-up the change process; others may conceal information from employees and external entities that may be vital to gaining acceptance and commitment, thus damaging how the organization is viewed by stakeholders. Ethics in business must remain at the forefront of any decisions or changes during discussions or implementations. As seen, ethics in business is not confined to simply financial reporting; ethics encompasses every facet of organizational health and growth. References Palmer, I., Dunford, R., & Akin, G. (2006). Managing Organizational Change: A Multiple Perspectives Approach, 1e. Retrieved from The University of Phoenix eBook Collection database. Sonenshein, S. (2009, Jan/Feb). Emergence of Ethical Issues during Strategic Change Implementation. Organization Science, 20(1), 223-239. Retrieved August 23, 2013 from http://sonenshein.rice.edu/uploadedFiles/Publications/Sonenshein_emergence%20of%20ethical%20issues%20during %20strategic%20change%20Org%20Science.pdf

Does the Euro Crises prove that any of these member states: Greece, Ireland and Portugal should have not been allowed to join the euro?

Abstract The creation of the Eurozone following the Maastricht Treaty led to the region becoming one of the largest single currency areas in the world. However, at the heart of this project lay a series of inherent weaknesses. This paper discusses these weaknesses from the perspective of three countries: Ireland, Portugal and Greece. Each of these countries had their own particular economic and fiscal issues which would have exposed them to economic shock should the Eurozone experience a financial downturn. This was the case in 2008 when the US led financial crisis spread to Europe. This paper assesses that none of these countries were sufficiently prepared to join the Eurozone but also that they also possessed their own unique structural weaknesses which would perpetuate any financial crisis. It is for this reason that these three states would not have been allowed to join and also that they all sought bailouts in order to stop their domestic governments from bankruptcy. Introduction The development of the Eurozone represented a further attempt in the European Union to create increased economic and fiscal convergence and integration. The recent financial crisis has provided this new project with its first major test. This paper begins by reviewing the development and evolution of the Euro and the Eurozone. In doing so, it looks at the considered need for fiscal stabilisation at the international level. This section also highlights the various fiscal and economic mechanisms which were put in place prior to allowing any country to join the project. Subsequent to this the eligibility of three countries, Ireland, Portugal and Greece is considered. Here, the rationale for these countries joining, as well as reviewing the structure of their respective economies, is taken into consideration. Further to this, the question of whether these countries met the stabilising mechanisms prior to joining is assessed. This paper then highlights various other reasons why it may hav e been beneficial for them not to join the Eurozone. Finally, this paper reviews the recent meltdown in the Eurozone area and highlights that this event was precipitated by a structural weakness in both US as well as global financial markets which left these three countries exposed to debts sufficient for them to require bailouts and restructuring programmes which were indicative of shock therapy. This paper concludes that Ireland, Portugal and Greece should have been allowed to join the Eurozone since neither of these countries had met the eligibility criteria. In addition each of these states possessed their own structural weaknesses that ultimately would have exposed them to an economic downturn, regardless of the causation. Euro Evolution The Euro is the common currency which is used by the majority of member states of the European Union (EU). It originated in 1992 following the signing of the Maastricht Treaty which contained three aspects to combining and increasing EU governance. The Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM), as a vehicle for economic integration and financial convergence, was first muted in the late 1970s as a vehicle for furthering economic integration (Civitas, 2013), and represented the latest international drive towards economic stability. Originally known as the European Monetary System, it was wound up in 1992 with the development of the ERM (Civitas, 2013). Progression towards the ERM included the creation of an independent central bank, which was mandated to achieving and maintaining price stability across the Eurozone space; a Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) which consisted of an intergovernmental agreement which was conjoined with the EU legal framework, the aim of which was to limit member state fiscal deficits; and a no co-responsibility (in layman terms, a no bail out clause) which was enshrined within Article 125 of the Treaty (Europa, 1992). These mechanisms were considered to be decent fiscal instruments for EU and Eurozone governance and, as a result, member states did not consider that it was important to coordinate their economic policies. This latter aspect was forwarded by powerful member states such as the UK, France and Germany, which did not consider that they would have any benefit from these policies. For them, any subsequent domestic policy changes were considered to have a detrimental impact upon their finances (Campaign against Euro Federalism, 2013). However, as a precursor to Euro membership, aspiring member states need to comply with a pre-set series of fiscal guidelines. EU Member states which join the Eurozone must meet a series of convergence criteria (European Commission, 2014). These criteria are based on a series of fiscal; mechanisms which are utilised to restructure the economies of member states in order that the transition to conversion to the Euro are based upon macroeconomic indicators which are used to measure The convergence criteria are formally defined as a set of macroeconomic indicators which measure stability of prices and inflationary pressures; sound and sustainability public finances which includes an imposed limit on government borrowing as well as national debt in order that member states avoid possessing an excessive national deficit (European Commission, 2014). However prior to this, aspiring member states need to conform to the exchange-rate stability mechanism, through which participation in the ERM takes place for at least two years prior to membership without there being any evidence of a strong deviations from the ERM cr iteria (European Commission, 2014). A further factor in the progression towards joining the Eurozone for any aspirant state is an assessment of long-term interest rates. Indeed this latter criterion was a mitigating factor in the UK’s failure to adhere to ERM controls in the early 1990s (Civitas, 2013). More recently the Eurozone has been engulfed in a global financial crisis which began in the USA and spread to Europe via Iceland (this is discussed in greater detail later in the paper). The fallout from this particular crisis is yet to fully land. However, the Eurozone has progressed through a series of crises since the idea was first muted in the later 1970s and, more recently, via the sovereign debt crises of recent years. It is evident that the Eurozone is not an exact science and that there exist a number of structural issues at the heart of this project. Economic and Political Reasons for the Three joining the Euro The aforementioned group of PIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain) joined the Euro at its inception. This section discusses three of these states, Ireland, Greece and Portugal. Bardhan, Edelstein and Kroll (2011) noted that Ireland benefitted from a number from Eurozone membership. Additionally, it is noted that the period of economic convergence provided the country with an array of stabilising fiscal factors which led to the country becoming known as tiger economy (Bardhan, Edelstein and Kroll, 2011; BBC, 2011) but in 2008 the country was the first Eurozone country to fall in to recession (BBC, 2011). However this outcome was the end of a dream which, for Arestic and Sawyer (2012), was based upon a political aspiration of economic success as well as personal and national prosperity for the Irish population. Greece joined the Eurozone in 2001 (BBC, 2001). EU membership was previously extremely popular in Greece and its populace had experienced tough austerity measures in order to comply with the economic and fiscal mechanisms which were needed to ensure a successful transition to the new currency. Similarly, there was a political determination to join the new currency since it was seen that progression would provide increased international scope for the country (BBC, 2001). Lynn (2011) argues that the historic role, in terms of political development, of Greece was a contributory factor in the national rush to join the Eurozone and considered that this outcome was to be achieved at all costs. Schadler (2005) suggests that the at all costs caveat was provided by the austerity measures and the near compliance with pre-set regulatory fiscal criteria which ensured membership of this exclusive group. In effect, whilst Ireland had hoped for increased economic wealth and prosperity, Greek aspira tions largely concentrated upon gaining increased international respect and recognition. With regards to Portugal, it is noted that this country did not join the EU space until 1986 and, effectively, was a late comer to this political institution. This is of particular importance to its membership of the Eurozone since wholesale economic change first began thirteen years later as a precursor to Eurozone membership in 2002 (Porter and Prince, 2012). Porter and Prince (2012) argue that the country’s membership of the Euro came at the behest of a political leadership that had a largely uneventful foreign policy. They link the convergence with EU policies such as membership with the Eurozone with the decreasing influence within its former colonies (Porter and Prince, 2012). This includes the return of former territories to China during the same period as the shift in focus towards its near neighbourhood was taking place. To summarise, it can be evidenced that there were numerous reasons why Ireland, Greece and Portugal joined the Eurozone. These include increased pros perity and wealth as well as increased political clout and international recognition. Was the Convergence Criteria met by the Three? It is of particular concern that Ireland, Greece and Portugal required mass fiscal stimuli packages and bailouts in order to shore up their economies and protect the respective states from going bust. A central factor in this outcome, it can be argued is a failure of these three states to adhere to the fiscal criteria that membership of the Eurozone required in order to provide a secure transition to the new currency. As stated previously, aspirant Eurozone states were required to attain to a number of preset economic and fiscal controls which would have indicated their capabilities and successful transition to the Eurozone. Maduro (2012) holds a perspective which states that structural failings within the ERM, as well as the wider EU, failed to address the excessive cross-border flow of capital which was a contributory factor in the subsequent economic crisis. Mauro also highlights that a particular failure of the EU to implement the then existing rules relating to EU budgetary frameworks also impacted upon states abilities to progress to the Eurozone successfully. For Maduro (2012) this particular outcome was important to the success of the Greek model, as well as its subsequent economic crash, since it revealed that both the local and supra national system for monitoring public finances was not working as effectively as it should have. It is noted that Greek economic perfor mances were outside of the considered ERM requirements and that from 2000 to 2008, the budget deficit given to the European Commission was nearly three per cent of the country’s GDP. In 2001, it is also noted that Greece was warned by the European Central Bank ECB, that the country still work to do to if it was going to successfully be adpted into the Eurozone. This included developing the structure of its economy and bringing inflation under control (BBC, 2001). Nevertheless Greece did join the Eurozone despite having a series of noted failings within its central fiscal requirements. Bardhan, Edelstein, and Kroll, (2011) note that the Irish economy had been inflated by a large housing bubble. This helped inflate the Irish economy to a status of having near full employment by the turn of the century (Bardhan, Edelstein, and Kroll, 2011). However a party to this success proved to be the Irish commitment to the controls which had been placed upon it by the ERM. Regling and Watson (2010) argue that a failure of the ERM structure had a detrimental impact upon the Irish economy since the loss of fiscal independence was a mitigating factor on both the creation of the bubble as well as the failure of the Irish government to combat increasing inflationary, and other fiscal pressures. Regling and Watson (2010) blame this outcome on the structure of the ERM and highlight that a small nation requires having, as full as possible, fiscal controls. Portuguese compliance with ERM criteria provided a greater economic stimulus that had first been thought was possible (Constancio, 2005). This produced a similar outcome to the Irish economic experience of the ERM and realised a booming Portuguese economy. Constancio, (2005) also notes that subsequent pay increases outstripped inflationary pressures and this outcome provide to be decisive in the battle to retain control of this area of fiscal policy, particularly where an economic downturn would result in the possibility of rampant inflation. These outcomes, Constancio (2005) argued led to pay increases in Portugal outstripping their EU partners. Essentially this outcome was borne of the structural failings discussed earlier into this paper and were only exposed when these state were impacted by the financial crisis. In terms of the Eurozone qualifying criteria, it is to be noted that none of these three countries met the criteria for joining the Eurozone. Ireland, Portugal and Greec e, therefore were in good company and were aligned to the German, Spanish, Austrian et al experiences of convergence criteria which all failed to meet qualifying critiera. Indeed, , of all the member states only two, France and Luxembourg, were the only countries to satisfy all the convergence criteria (Arestis, Brown, Sawyer, 2001). Any other Reason why any of the Three should have not Joined the Euro The earlier discussions as to the reasons why these three states, Ireland, Portugal and Greece joined the Eurozone produced divergent responses and listed from economic reasons to political vanity and reshaping of foreign policy. These issues alone are not sufficient to realise the potential pitfalls should they experience an economic downturn, as was the case in 2008 onwards. Arestis and Sawyer (2012) noted that in the case of Greece the risks far outweighed the benefits. They compared Greece with Austria and recognised that both economic models were similar apart from Greece having a far lower wage economy that Austria. Austria, therefore, was capable of resisting economic shock. Had the Greek government recognised this potential risk then it is recognised that it would not have been in their benefit to join this monetary union. With regards to Portugal and Ireland, Constancio (2005) argues that these economies had not resolved the structural issues of boom and bust. AS a result ec onomic recession was a highly probable outcome in the event of an economic bust. In essence, therefore for reasons of due diligence it is arguable that neither of these staes should have joined the Eurozone. One other potential reason for not joining the Eurozone is the philosophical argument of losing sovereignty. After the ERM had its first crisis in the early 1990s, Palm (1996) noted that the loss of state sovereignty also meant the loss of fiscal control. Whilst this particular issue is discussed elsewhere in this paper, Palm (1996) specifically discussed the loss of fiscal control in terms of an absence of asymmetric county-specific economic shock which, he argued, would be a thing of the past. Instead Palm (1996) stated that it is entirely feasible that or counterbalancing methods would be needed in order to stop economic contagion since all member states would be affected in one way or another. With hindsight Palm (1996) is discussing the response to the Eurozone crisis of 2008 to the present day. It is unfortunate, therefore, that the three countries were unable to consider due diligence when considering their membership of the Eurozone. Had they have done so they would have r ecognised the exposure to the potential banking failures and acted accordingly. Euro crises The recent fiscal crisis in the Eurozone has highlighted that it is exposed to the international financial climate. The recent fiscal crisis began in earnest in the USA with a series of regulatory changes to the US banking system in the early 2000’s (Jickling, 2012). The collapse of US subprime lending facilities impacted on Europe, firstly in Iceland where its ballooning financial sector had been exposed to the debt crisis in the USA (Lewis, 2009), and latterly on other Eurozone member states which had been exposed to large banking debts and bad practices . This has included Cyprus and the PIGS group of nations, Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain. The latest crisis occurred in Cyprus where experiences there were in line with similar financial and economic failings within the Eurozone space. In each case, it can be evidenced that a number of structural failings as well as an inordinate exposure to risk have been causal factors in their particular fina ncial collapses Menendez, 2013). Indeed, Iceland subsequently possessed a national debt which was ten times its national GDP (Glitner, Landbanksi and Kaupthing, 2009). Jickling (2012) Argues that the underlying causal factors of the recent crisis in both the USA and in the Eurozone were structural and that, as a result, it can be evidenced that there were four factors which needed to be addressed. These factors are: imprudent mortgage lending, bursting of housing bubbles, the structural imbalance of global debt as well as issues relating to securitization (Jickling, 2012). Menendez (2013) notes that following the financial crisis the three countries, Ireland, Portugal and Greece were impacted further when they were faced within increased demand for higher interest rates on borrowing as well as reduced fees from issued bonds. This particular outcome also impacted upon the three mechanisms which were available to these countries (renegotiation, bond issues and monetization) when attempting to relieve themselves of the economic and fiscal burdens (Menendez, 2013). The resultant outcome was that the reform processes which they were able to utilise led to reform of their respective public sectors. Prior to this, Klein (2007) had argued that such an outcome would be indicative of the new model of international crisis management. Indeed with subsequent remedies for filling the vacuum caused by financial shortfalls becoming more autocratic and oppressive it is arguable as to whether the EU space witnessed for the first time a Bolivian style response to a financial crisis (Klein, 2007). Janssen (2011) argues that one possible solution could have been that the Euro is devalued however this would not have been beneficial to Germany since its economy is export driven. As such, the political shenanigans which led to the creation of the Eurozone, and which failed to realise the preset criteria for the vast majority of countries has continued to perpetuate the structural issues that reside at the heart of this institution. For Ireland, Portugal and Greece, however, the economic and fiscal issues remain. Conclusion In conclusion, the creation of the Eurozone has been some thirty years in the making and has been considered as a regional attempt at satisfying the need for a cross border fiscal control system. The ERM was developed in order to progress this ideal but failed to address a number of structural issues that resided within the international monetary system. As a party to this, the resultant exposure of the UK to fiscal issues resulted in this country leaving the ERM some twenty years ago. Since this time the project has developed and went live with a number of nations converting their currency to the Euro. As such the Eurozone was created. However the qualifying criteria of the Eurozone was not met by all but two countries and the subsequent exposure to the US banking crisis by Eurozone members left a number of them in need of financial bailout packages. This included Ireland, Portugal and Greece. These three countries were heavily exposed to this crisis as a result of their own structu ral issues which included booming economies and exposure to a credit bubble. When these bubbles burst, the Eurozone project was in crisis and, today, a number of issues remain unresolved. This includes how to restructure the economies of states that reside within the Eurozone. However as a result of the exposure of these three countries to the recent crisis, the failure to restructure their economies prior to joining, as well as their failure to adhere to all the preset compliances evidences that they should not have been allowed to join in the first place. This issue aside, with only France and Luxembourg satisfying the qualifying criteria the question of whether any other state should have been allowed to join remains a matter of debate. In conclusion, the Eurozone crisis which engulfed these three countries typifies the weakened global fiscal structure which led to the crisis in the first place. Bibliography Arestis, P., Brown, A., Sawyer, M. (2001) The Euro: Evolution and Prospects, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing. Arestis, P., and Sawyer, M. (2012) The Euro Crisis, London: Palgrave McMillan. and Institutions, London: John Wiley & Sons. BBC (2001) Greece joins the Eurozone, (online), available at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1095783.stm, (accessed on 29/10/14). BBC (2011), Europe’s PIGS: Country by country, (online), available at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8510603.stm, (accessed on 29/10/14). Campaign against Euro Federalism (2013) What is to Happen?, London: Campaign against Euro Federalism. Civitas (2013) European Monetary System, London: Civitas. Constancio, V. (2005) European Monetary Union and the Portuguese Case, (online), available at http://www.bportugal.pt/en-US/OBancoeoEurosistema/IntervencoesPublicas/Lists/LinksLitsItemFolder/Attachments/9/interv20050727.pdf, (Accessed on 29/10/14). Europa (1992) Treaty of Maastricht on European Union, (online), available at http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/institutional_affairs/treaties/treaties_maastricht_en.htm, (accessed on 28/10/14). European Commission (2014) Who can Join and When, (online), available at http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/euro/adoption/who_can_join/index_en.htm, (accessed on 28/10/14). Glitner, Landbanksi and Kaupthing (2009) Joint Quarterly Report, Reykjavik: Glitner, Landbanksi and Kaupthing. Jickling,M. (2012) CausesoftheFinancialCrisis,(WashingtonDC:CongressionalResearchService). Klein,N.(2007)ShockDoctrine,Toronto: KnopfCanada. Lewis,M.(2009)WallStreetonthetundra,(online),availableathttp://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2009/04/iceland200904?printable=true¤tPage=all, Vanity Fair, (accessedon28/10/14). Lynn, M. (2011) Bust: Greece, the Euro and the Sovereign Debt Crisis, London: John Wiley and Sons. Maduro,M.P.(2012)Democracy and Justice: The formula for a new EU and Euro governance, (online)availableathttp://network.globalgovernanceprogramme.eu/democracy-and-justice/, Network, (accessedon29/10/14). Menendez,L.(2013)TheSpreadoftheEuropeanSovereignDebtCrisis,University ofIowa:CentreforInternationalFinanceandDevelopment. Palm, F. (1996) The European Exchange Rate Mechanism and The European Monetary Union, (J), De Economist, Vol. 144, (2), pp. 305 – 324. Porter, D., and Prince, D. (2012) Frommer’s Portugal, London: John Wiley and Sons. Regling, K., and Watson, M. (2010) A Preliminary Report on the Sources of Ireland’s Banking Crisis, Dublin: Ministry of Finance. Schadler, S. (2005) Euro Adoption in Central and Eastern Europe: Opportunities and Challenges, New York: International Monetary Fund.