Analyzing the present state of Jamaica Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Analyzing the present state of Jamaica - Essay Example However, the founding of Jamaica was officially articulated to the discovery made by the Spanish explorer called Christopher Columbus in the 15th century1. He discovered that Jamaica comprised of over 200 hundred villages of the indigenous population in the southern part of the country. Thereafter the British proclaimed the Jamaican colony and Spanish conceded defeat, as they were militarily weak to engage in a battle with the British. Therefore, Henry explored further into the northern parts and established British settlements after realizing that the colony had rich soils that would promote agricultural projects. From a critical analysis of the book â€Å"The present state of Jamaica†, the following discussion explains on the tremendous exchanges in the Jamaican history that resulted to distinct cultures, political systems, economic practices, and social exchanges through demographic dimensions. Spanish colonies were the most established in the Caribbean islands since their founding by Christopher Columbus in the early 1450s. On occupying Jamaica, the Britons realized that all the surrounding colonies belonged to the Spanish and were prosperous in all their economic, social and cultural environments. The Britons lacked financial capabilities to ensure that all activities ran in accordance to the desired set of plans. This period whereby the British tried to weigh out the surrounding circumstances and the possible methods of achieving success in the colony is directly relative to invasions they made in the Spanish rich territories. A young Henry Morgan engaged in the military in his early age, gained experience and turned out to be an aggressive privateer, and through him most of the Britons in Jamaica benefited from the ambushes he laid against the Spanish territories the Spanish. He owned ships and privateers who reflected aggression in all expeditions that Henry termed as profitable2. The book referred to as the present Jamaica is a reflection of the activities aged before 1665 in Jamaica and the extent at which they shaped the subsequent environment in the country. These intercultural relations are born of Captain Morgan’s invasions, and the British military slavery practices in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Jamaican colonial masters traded in slavery in order to yield enough manual labor for farming. Most of the slaves were from the African continent while the rest comprised of the South Americans, Asians, and the indigenous population of Jamaica3. Throughout the past 6 centuries, Jamaica has been a hub for many of the world’s notorious pirates, a factor articulated to the practices of Henry Morgan. Ancient practices continually passed through generations and the country’s current culture of Jamaica is comprised of notorious and aggressive individuals, many of whom are youths. The rise in crimes and indulgence in drugs, and the considerable praise heaped on the legendary Captain Morgan reflect to the c urrent practices. In the 15th century, the British were well established and had begun to rear a wide variety of domestic animals ranging from fowl, flocks of sheep, horses, mules, and wild birds of whose products would be of vital use at their homes. The masters argued out that all the present animal and food variety were of better quality compared to those present in their homeland, Britain. As the colony continuously amassed strengths and engaged in worthwhile economic activities, their Spanish predecessors would make surprise attacks, but all were combated by the military

Silent and Shadow Reports for BHP Billiton Essay

Silent and Shadow Reports for BHP Billiton - Essay Example Used as models are the silent and shadow accounts from Tesco and HSBC, written by the aforementioned authors, and available at http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~csearweb/aptopractice/silentacc.html The same style and format are adapted and applied to BHP Billiton, as follows. Silent Report Mission and Policy Statements We are the world’s largest diversified natural resources company. Our corporate objective is to create long-term shareholder value through the discovery, acquisition, development and marketing of natural resources. We pursue this through our consistent strategy of owning and operating large, long-life, low-cost, expandable, upstream assets diversified by commodity, geography and market. This strategy means more predictable business performance over time which, in turn, underpins the creation of value for our shareholders, customers, employees and, importantly, the communities in which we operate. We are among the world’s top producers of major commodities, inc luding aluminium, energy coal, metallurgical coal, copper, manganese, iron ore, uranium, nickel, silver and titanium minerals, and have substantial interests in oil and gas. We continue to invest in the future. Corporate Governance Statement The objective of BHP Billiton is to create long term value for shareholders through the discovery, development and conversion of natural resources, and the provision of innovative customer and market-focused solutions (Corporate Objective). The role of the BHP Billiton Board is to represent the shareholders and to promote and protect the interests of the Company. It does so by governing the Group. The Board has developed processes relating to: A. its own tasks and activities (Board Membership and Process) B. the matters specifically reserved for Board decision-making, the authority delegated to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), the accountability of the CEO for that authority, and guidance on the management of the relationship between the Board and the CEO (Board and CEO Relationship); and C. the boundaries on CEO action (CEO Limits). Compliance with corporate governance BHP Billiton complies with the governance standards in our home jurisdictions of Australia and the UK, and with the governance requirements that apply to us as a result of our New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) listing and our registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the US. There are summarised in the Corporate Governance Statement, the Remuneration Report, the Directors’ Report and the financial statements. Business principles and values The implementation of the Group’s strategy and our ongoing performance depends on the quality and motivation of our people. Our purpose is to create long-term shareholder value through the discovery, acquisition, development and marketing of natural resources. Our strategy is to own and operate large, low-cost, expandable, upstream assets diversified by commodity, geography and market. Our focus on the safety and health of our workforce, our fundamental drive for sustainability across all our business operations, our concern for the environment and communities within which we work, and our management of operational risks are reflected through our remuneration policy and structures. Board and committee structure The Board will always have a majority of Directors who are non-executive and are judged by the Board to be independent of judgement and character and free of material relationships with the Group and other entities and people that might influence or would be perceived by shareholders to influence such judgement. The Board will have the balance of non-executive and executive Directors that is effective for the promotion of shareholder interests and the governance of the Group. The