QUESTION What issues of the convention of ministerial responsibility Essay

QUESTION What issues of the convention of ministerial responsibility do the facts of the above scenario raise - Essay Example The office bearers are answerable to the parliament in general and the constitution of UK is strong enough to keep a check on everyone who has power and who is holding the offices in various ministries. To ensure the departments and governing bodies work properly, the government has a set of rules, and the responsibilities of these ministries are known to the general public. Thus if anyone goes against the norm, it is noticed and pointed out by the general public. The scenario created in the case is a very interesting one. First, the family minister who is supposed to protect the family unit and its respect is having an extra marital affair. Then the minister of social welfare is not willing to accept her fault and as a result lots of people are kept waiting for their social welfare funds. Thirdly, the prime minister simply finds it easy to ignore the no confidence vote!!! If for a moment one believes that this could happen in the UK government and House of Commons, it means that there practically would be no constitution to stop the powerful from destroying those who are powerless against them. Well, thanks heavens, this is not the case in general. The case is a piece of fiction which is too far fetched. In the past we do have examples of ministers who have abided by the rules and legislations provided to them by the constitution. Constitution for any elected government is the supreme authority. With the constitution in place, the ministers have the guideline for them to work upon. The Crichel Down Affair (1954) is one case that proves the importance of ministerial responsibility. : "Crichel Down was a piece of farmland in Dorset compulsorily bought by the government for defence use. Commander George Martin, son of the original farmer, wanted to buy the land back in the 1950s now that it was no longer used by the MoD. However the Ministry of Agriculture resisted, wanting to use the land for experimental farming in a time of rationing and agricultural development. However, Martin, a former equerry in the Royal Family, had very influential friends and stirred up much trouble in the local Conservative Party and government backbenches. There followed a public inquiry which criticized the department's decision and civil servants, especially their methods. It was seen as an example of an over-powerful state. Finally Dugdale announced that Martin could buy the land back and told the House of Commons he was resigning." Dugdale's resignation went down in history as an h onourable, even heroic, one: a minister taking responsibility for civil servant's actions. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministerial_responsibility) The issues raised by the scenario: Keeping this incident in view, the question that comes to my mind to carry forward this debate is that what are the measures taken by the government to ensure that the ministers are able to meet their responsibilities Is it just natural that the personal affairs of a minister can be a real concern in the dispensation of his or her public duties What are the ministerial ethics we are looking for Do the media have any role in pointing the faults of ministers out to them Also, we need to know if collective Ministerial Responsibility myth or a reality With reference to the scenario stated, an extra marital affair, which is specifically in the personal interest of the

Policy proposal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Policy proposal - Essay Example The death of Laci and her unborn child was cited extensively in the Congressional and Senate debates on the bill. The bill was passed by a Republican-controlled House. It has been a Republican policy to recognize the life of a fetus as long as it is attached to the uterus. Thus, pro-life Republican members of Congress merged their agenda with Laci’s case to energize the government agenda in the house. The Unborn Victims of Violence Act covers the rights of unborn children in the light of criminal violence. The act allows the judiciary to treat the mother and the unborn child as separate entities while dealing with violence against pregnant women (Abrams par. 1). The act also provides that human life begins after implantation in the uterus. Thus, any fetus attached to the uterus is considered a member of the Homo sapiens species. The act allows investigations on the impact of injuring a pregnant woman to the unborn child. Suspects of killing a pregnant woman should be tried on two charges of homicide. In this case, the judiciary would treat the mother and the child as separate legal entities. However, the Unborn Victims of Violence Act does not consider the legal or illegal acts of a mother that harm the unborn children. The uncovered aspects include abortion. As such, a mother cannot be tried for abortion under this law (Congress 6329). Making the bill into law involved several players. The players in this bill include members of Congress, the President, interest groups and political parties. The bill was sponsored by individual members of the Congress. Melissa Hart (R-Pa) moved the bill in the House of Representatives. The house of representatives was the first house to introduce the bill and also debate it. The proposal was sponsored by Senator Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) in the Senate. The bill was tabled in the Senate after adoption and debate in the lower house. The movers of the motion were acting on their beliefs towards life,

Enron and the role of tone at the top in fraud

Enron and the role of tone at the top in fraud Research and review the Enron case against the concept of tone at the top. Produce a referenced report and bibliography which demonstrates specifically how the conduct of the senior leadership in Enron shaped the dominant culture of the company and how this contributed towards an acceptance of the use of Fraud for personal gain within Enron. The central purpose of this report is to examine and review the Enron case; the most profiled, serious white collar crime reported in the world today. The report shall specifically look at the how the companies ‘tone at the top’ contributed to their failure and also how the demeanour of the senior leadership within the company shaped the culture of the company and how this contributed towards an acceptance of the use of Fraud for personal gain within Enron. In the business atmosphere it is important for there to be a trust between management and employees, and that either party does not abuse their positions for personal gain, as doing so can often have detrimental effects on a business as proved by Enron. The eventual demise of the Enron Corporation was a result of a lack of ethical corporate behaviour, corporate greed and the utilisation of special purpose entities, which were used to hide financial debt. A large contributing factor to the fall of Enron was down weak tone at the top of the company. However other factors such as mismanagement of risk and over extension of capital resources, philosophical differences in management, involvement in mark to market accounting, earnings to assets failures and the tone set by the management of the company to overestimate assets to meet targets for greater bonuses also contributed to the failure of the company. To remove competition – Ir. in Jacobs? He was bought out using the employees’ pension fund, a move which is morally wrong. People to mention Jeffrey skilling – CEO of enron Ken Lay – background? Little management experience and qualifications 1999 – annual report – Ken Lay – we support employees Cressey – fraud 3 elements – pressure, opportunity and rationalisation. Arthur Anderson their accounting company – desperate to gain contracts in the competitive market. They became involved in the Enron scandal and even shredded important documents which were requested by investigators later on. ‘Tone at the Top’[1] refers to the moral construct which is formed in a workplace. ‘The tone is set by top management, the corporate environment within which reporting occurs.’[2] ‘Tone at the top is described as†¦. ACFE’ Examples of good tone at the top – following the code of ethics Zero tolerance to crime and fraud within a company Good tone at the top of an organisation reduces the likelihood of rationalisation for ‘unethical’ behaviour, creating an honest and trustworthy work environment. Good tone at the top doesn’t always lead to a successful business, however it gives a business a better chance. Don’t cover anything up. Example IBM suffered a bad spell, were honest and open about it and discussed how they could improve the situation. Enrons code of ethics, which integrity, respect, communication and excellence. Enrons bad tone at the top Enrons foundations wernt based on the marketing of a successful product, but a free market which they thought they could abuse. poor business ethics including the ‘rank or yank’ scheme which enron employed, employees were ranked on their performance and would dismiss the bottom 15% if they didn’t improve within the consecture 6 months. This strategy meant that employees were scared of loosing their jobs, therefore didn’t question business practises and were even often forced to make unethical decisions for themselves. Employees rationalised their actions, as they had to commit fraud in order to meet targets and keep their job safe. Enron recruited young employees who had just graduated, who were ‘impressionable’ and who needed the job, therefor would not question or report the operating style of the company. Enon needed contant funding to provide high returns with little risk. It has been discovered that an organisation can be dictated on the upper management’s attitude towards integrity and ethical values; this suggests that if the manager’s outlook can dictate employee’s views, it therefore can increase or decrease the chance of fraud occurring within the business. Corporate greed often destroys a company,[3] as it did with the Enron Corporation. In the mid 1990’s Enron was the dominant energy company in the United States, and one of the leading companies in the world and later on in 2001, they went onto filing for bankruptcy. Enron went bankrupt the way that most companies fail, investing in projects that are too risky, and therefore they were unable to keep up with the debt obligations of the firm. (niskanen, 2005, p. 2). High level managers in mark and skillings teams were taking advantage of huge compensation packages for having completed deals through questionable practises. , however the firm’s success was down to an elaborate scam ran by executives of the company. The rapid suc ­cess and the pos ­i ­tive scrutiny the com ­pany was receiv ­ing from the press and finan ­cial ana ­lysts, supplemented fuel to the company’s com ­pet ­i ­tive cul ­ture. Jefferey Skilling a company executive ran a staff of executives who used loopholes, mislead financial information and used deception to hide billions of pounds of debts they were in from previous failed projects and deals. The culture at Enron was that any ‘ethical wrongdoing is to be hidden at any cost; deny, play the dupe, claim ignorance, lie, quit’.[4] Enron used a technique called ‘mark to market’ this is an accounting technique which is used by recording the price/value of a security on a daily basis to calculate the profits and losses, this allowed Enron to project earnings from long term energy contracts as their current income, this was how they distorted their balance sheets to inflate their revenue by manipulating projections for future revenue. This technique made it difficult to see how the company was making money, and therefore stock prices remained high for the company however Enron wasn’t paying high taxes, therefore this method allowed the company to make money without bringing in taxable money, by doing this the company had wiped out ‘$70 billion of shareholder value but also defaulted on tens of billions of dollar of debts’[5] This approach increased the pressure at the top of the company, the company used bonuses to push employees to keep the business going. The organisational culture for the company was seen as a ‘dysfunctional corporate culture’ whose main focus was on profit gains through the means of bonuses. practice was carried out at all levels of the organisation, disregarding the quality of cash flow or profits, in order to achieve a better rating for their performance tables. This meant that stakeholders and lenders saw inaccurate figures. fraudulent reporting and accounting was to ensure that the business kept up with the stock price value. This practice enabled employees within the organisation and executives to receive large bonuses.[6] These are common features that indicate that tone at the top failed in the Enron’s business environment and it also produces evidence that moral ethics can affect a whole organisation. If cor ­po ­rate lead ­ers encour ­age rule defiance and fos ­ter an intim ­i ­dat ­ing, aggres ­sive envi ­ron ­ment, it was indisputable that the eth ­i ­cal bound ­aries at Enron eroded away to noth ­ing. In 2001, Richard Grubman an Analyst from Wall Street discovered that Enron weren’t producing their balance sheets or financial statements. The CEO of Enron Jeffrey Skilling responded to this by saying, â€Å"Well, thank you very much. We appreciate it†¦ a–hole!†[7] This comment made gives a picture of the culture ran within the organisation and also gives an idea of the tone at the top of the company, that executives who ran the company didn’t have high standards of civility or integrity. When their malpractice was discovered Lay and Skilling argued that they were participating in ‘normal business practice’,[8] however their defensiveness towards the situation intensified the awareness of such ‘Gaming the system’.[9] The failure of the Enron Corporation identified certain judgements which need to be considered with regards to business ethics, the issue isn’t the fact that fraud was classed as acceptable in that business environment. The occurrence of disreputable practices and the systematic temperament of the misinterpreting and reporting of financial reports in the case lead the UK and US to implement regulations to stop this behaviour happening in other businesses. Accord ­ing to Schein (1985) there are five pri ­mary mech ­a ­nisms that a leader can use to influ ­ence an organisation’s cul ­ture atten ­tion, reac ­tion to crises, role modelling, allo ­ca ­tion of rewards, and cri ­te ­ria for selec ­tion and dis ­missal. Schein’s assump ­tion is that these mechanisms rein, force and encour ­age behavioural and cul ­tural norms within a business environment. However the exec ­u ­tives at Enron used the five mech ­a ­nisms to rein ­force a working cul ­ture that was morally indecent, exposing the company and employees to degen ­er ­a ­tion, lying, cheat ­ing, and stealing. Rafraf commented that the executives in the company were solely focused on profit and gains in the short term and not achieving long sustainable business goals or profits,[10] he suggested this was their main focus, regardless of business ethics.[11] A previous employee commented that executive Jeffery Skilling was ‘driven by the almighty dollar.’[12] It was evident in the Enron case that employees were ‘overconfident’ therefore it has been suggested that this behaviour can often lead to fraudulent behaviour to become or stay successful.[13] The company went under investigation after scrutiny from its own employees who whistle blew as they didn’t like the way that the business was being ran as the activities that were undertaken to stay successful were unethical, morally wrong and illegal. A former employee commented, â€Å"We are such a crooked company.’[14] Executives such as Kenneth Lay soon started to sell off their own shares whilst also pocketing some money.[15] Whilst in the meantime Lay was telling workers in company to buy shares as they were incredibly low, this supports that it was executives within the company who determined this crooked culture within the organisation. The company executives were charged for fraud and money laundering. Tone at the top failed at Enron, as business procedures show that morale ethics can affect the whole organisation. Business ethics were not evident in the company, regardless of position in hierarchy. Tone of the Top allows a business to have control over itself, the stronger the tone at the top, the more likely the business is to be successful, however it has been suggested that organisations who rely too much on tone at the top give businesses too much independence. The reason for Enron’s failure was due to the lack of tone at top, ethical values and morals also didn’t play a role in the decisions which were made at the expense of the business, employees and customers. This particular case of failure in business highlighted the fact that when tone at the top is not implemented into a business, employees often follow the decisions made even if they are ethically immoral, this can be down to personal circumstances and a need for the job. There are regulations in place t hat deter organisations and employees from committing this white collar crime and also the criminal law prosecution. The Enron case highlights how an organisation can quickly sink if they lack tone at the top, however the case failed to provide a message against ‘gaming the system’[16]. Tone at the top is imperative in a business that wishes to be successful, as otherwise the company can be led astray by an individual who has no business morale and lead the company into committing fraud to make the company successful. Conclude The poor tone at the top at Enron allowed the management to profit through their illegal business practises. This was also the case for many employees who were taught in an environment that allowed for personal gain, from illegal activities. Enron had a code of ethics, which was evidently not followed. code of ethics, Honesty and integrity. Followed by all ranks of a company to set a good ‘tone at the top’, ethical behaviour. National commission on fraudulent financial reporting suggests; identify and understand the factors that lead to fraudulent financial reporting, design and implement internal controls within the company, which detects/prevents this behaviour. Integrity is an important characteristic to behold, as compliance goes hand in hand. This attitude encourages whistle blowers and deters staff from using rationalisation and justification to commit fraudulent behaviour. The main element in the fraud triangle, therefore reducing the likeliness of fraud within a company. A culture of narcissm fostered at Enron, rewarding individuals for unethical practises, such as CFO chief financial advisor Andrew Fastow who created an illegal scheme Chewco to hide enrons mounting debt. Mark and skillings dispute to which business model to follow, accounting scandals emerged to the public in 2001, finally brought Enron to the ground. Enron culture developed – trait theory Stogdill found leadership changed depending on situations encounted, 5 major leadership traits intelligence, self confidence, determination, integrity and sociability (northhouse, p. 19) Traits worked together to provide effective leadership, balance between individual leader n situational factors needed to influence group member behaviour and develop healthy organisational culture. One or more of the traits are lacking in the leader, problems can arise in the social exchange between leader and group members. Impacting in a negative manner the development of organisational culture. Enron: absence of key trair – integrity. Enrons leadership did not live out the ethics they claimed to have valued. Mixed deontology and universal ethical egoism help to understand how the culture of narcissm at enron developed from an ethical framework. Trait and transformational theories help us to make sense of what went wrong at enron from a leadership perspective. Bibliography Journals Kershaw. D, Evading Enron: Taking Principles Too Seriously in Accounting Regulation [2005] The Modern Law Review 594-625, 596 King. A, Tone at the Top: Why Investors Should Care [2013] Strategic Finance 25-31, 28 McBarnet. D, After Enron Will Whiter Than White Collar Crime Still Wash? [2006] British Criminology Journal 1091, 1098 Rafraf. T, From Thriving to Surviving: The Bad Apple Conduct at Enron [2002] Journal of Business Ethics 1-19. Schrand. C, The Slippery Slope to Fraud [2010] 1-5 Websites Annual Fraud Indicator 2012’, Home Office, March 2012 p8 http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/agencies-public-bodies/nfa/annual-fraud-indicator/annual-fraud-indicator-2012?view=Binary/> accessed 28st March 2014 Enron Online Blog, Jeff Skilling is Not Crazy for Calling Grubman an Asshole (Enron Online Blog ) http://enron-online.com/2011/07/21/jeff-skilling-is-not-crazy-for-calling-grubman-an-asshole/> accessed 28st March 2014 Inman. P, UK is weak on tackling white collar crime and short sellers, says HBOS chairman (The guardian 2008) http://www.theguardian.com/business/2008/jun/27/hbosbusiness.regulators> accessed 30th March 2014 Partnoy. F, The Unregulated Status of Derivative Enron: Testimony at Hearings before the US Senate Committee on Government Affairs (Financial Sense 2002) www.financialsense.com/editorials/2002.partnoy.htm> accessed 24th March 2014 , The Enron Scandal (Socialism Today 2002) http://www.socialismtoday.org/63/enron.html> accessed 28th March 2014 Willet. B Always. T, For Investors, X Marks the Spot, Whether They Choose To See It Or Not (Fallstreet 2002) www.fallstreet.com/enron> accessed 30th March 2014 Unknown, Tone at the Top, ethical dilemmas (Corporate Compliance Insights 2012) http://www.corporatecomplianceinsights.com/tone-at-the-top-ethical-dilemmas/> accessed 27th April 2014 B Jensen, Accounting Fraud (Bob Jensens Enron Quiz 2012) http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudEnron.htm> accessed 27th April 2014 Unkown, How Cooking the Books Works Read more at: http://www.caclubindia.com/forum/how-cooking-the-books-works-75658.asp#.U2OHc4FdXHQ (Caclubindia 2010) http://www.caclubindia.com/forum/how-cooking-the-books-works-75658.asp> accessed 27th April 2014 Unknown, Enron Ethics — The Culture of Enron (Business School 2010) http://business.mattprindle.com/leadership-skills/enron-ethics-the-culture-of-enron/> accessed 26th April 2014 Wang , The Effect of Tone at the Top on Internal Auditors (Tone at the Top Assessment 2012) http://cbe.anu.edu.au/media/2429892/wangancaar.pdf> accessed 27th April 2014 1 [1] Treadway Commission, Setting the Tone (COSO 2013) http://www.coso.org/NCFFR-Summary.htm> accessed 01st April 2014 [2] [3] [4] B Willet T Always, For Investors, X Marks the Spot, Whether They Choose To See It Or Not (Fallstreet 2002) www.fallstreet.com/enron> accessed 30th March 2014 [5] F Partnoy, The Unregulated Status of Derivative Enron: Testimony at Hearings before the US Senate Committee on Government Affairs (Financial Sense 2002) www.financialsense.com/editorials/2002.partnoy.htm> accessed 24th March 2014 [6] P Clauss, T Roncalli G Wesiang, Risk Management Lessons From Madoff Fraud [2009] 505-543, 507 [7] Enron Online Blog, Jeff Skilling is Not Crazy for Calling Grubman an Asshole (Enron Online Blog ) http://enron-online.com/2011/07/21/jeff-skilling-is-not-crazy-for-calling-grubman-an-asshole/> accessed 21st March 2014 [8] D McBarnet, After Enron Will Whiter Than White Collar Crime Still Wash? [2006] British Criminology Journal 1091, 1098 [9] [10] [11] T Rafraf, From Thriving to Surviving: The Bad Apple Conduct at Enron [2002] Journal of Business Ethics 1-34, 19 [12] R Simms, Changing an Organizations Culture Under New Leadership [2000] Journal of Business Ethics 65-78 Vol 25, 67 [13] C Schrand, The Slippery Slope to Fraud [2010] 1-4, 2 [14] , The Enron Scandal (Socialism Today 2002) http://www.socialismtoday.org/63/enron.html> accessed 28th March 2014 [15] P McAfee, the Real Lesson of Enrons Implosion: Market Makers are in the Trust Business [2004] The Economists 1-8 Vol 1 Issue 2, 4 [16] D McBarnet, After Enron Will Whiter Than White Collar Crime Still Wash? [2006] British Criminology Journal 1091, 1098

The Uncertain Future of Cloning :: Science

The Uncertain Future of Cloning One of the most crucial aspects of today’s society is the advancement of scientific capabilities. There are many people in the world today that would not be alive if it were not for science. Over the last four decades there have been tremendous improvements that have enhanced the ease of human life. With all of these scientific improvements, there are still those that oppose the results that occur from science. One of the more controversial scientific advancements is the application of cloning into human life. The question that arises for those in the scientific field is, how can science improve, while staying within the boundaries of what the majority wants? Many scientists would like to be able to practice their trade freely, without the limitations set by the government. There are also some scientists that are eager to clone a human being. Most people agree that cloning does have positive affects on human life. The belief is that cloning will open the door for new medical improvements and cures. The scientists lobbying for cloning believe it will eventually enable them to reproduce injured, or non-functioning body parts. A couple that is unable to reproduce on their own using conventional methods, would be able to create their own offspring by cloning. A reference in defense of cloning, that also confronts inaccurate beliefs of many people states, â€Å"Neither evolution nor the old-fashioned human sex act is in any way threatened, nor is the family or human society. Most fears about human cloning stem from ignorance† (Pence). While scientists do not want any limitations set on their work, many people feel that there are not enough limits set on the scientific field. Although there are multiple advantages to cloning, there is equal or more opposition. Some people believe that cloning of human beings takes the place of God, which makes the procedure unethical. One excerpt in opposition of cloning states, â€Å"The natural processes of evolution are thwarted, because natural selection is by-passed. This may seem attractive in thoroughbred horses, but in humans it really may be that only the rich are able to clone themselves† (Dileo). After multiple failures to clone a lamb, scientists were finally successful.

Indigenous Culture Website Reviews

Question Response Website #1 URL:Â  https://sites.coloradocollege.edu/indigenoustraditions/sacred-lands/3483-2/ Name of Indigenous culture/religion presented in Web site Indigenous People of Arctic Russia What is the main purpose of the website you found?The main purpose of the article was to educate about the people of Arctic Russia. It goes into detail about the oppression of the people and the plan to erase the culture that they hold as an important part of their lifestyle. It also explains the current events that are happening between the state and the indigenous people.What roles and observances are sacred to this indigenous group? The roles that are sacred are the shamans and the sacred sites within the environment that they are located.How, if at all, has the culture or religion of this group changed or evolved over time? Throughout the years, the culture has suffered many ups and downs. The loss of the traditions was beginning to happen due to the interference of people not native to the land or the tribe settling in the area. The state also passed laws and in result has taken land and other resources from them. Currently efforts are being ta ken to re-energize the resources that were taken from the indigenous people and save some of the resources were not destroyed throughout the years.Has modern society (Western Culture) had an impact on this indigenous group? Western society played a part with the destruction of the resources in Northern Siberia. With the help of the Europeans, both were mainly responsible for the depletion of the land due to petroleum and hydroelectric mining.What is one thing you learned about this indigenous group from the website that surprised you or that you found interesting?The one thing I’m surprised in is the similarities the indigenous people of Serbia and Native of the United States. Both live off the land and had similar problem with the resources.What, in your opinion, makes this website authoritative? Because everybody knows about the native Americans but little is known about the natives of Russia and the trail and tribulations.Question Response Website #2 URL: http://australia. gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/austn-indigenous-cultural-heritageName of Indigenous culture/religion presented in Web site Australian Indigenous cultural heritageWhat is the main purpose of the website you found? The purpose is to explain the religion, culture, and the way of life of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.What roles and observances are sacred to this indigenous group?The land is sacred to both cultures. The belief they have is the land is sustained and is sustained by the people.How, if at all, has the culture or religion of this group changed evolved over time?The culture has changed with the introduction of the European culture and the result of the decrease of the culture with the introduction of Christianity.Has modern society (Western Culture) had an impact on this indigenous group? With the introduction of metal, glass and metal within the culture from the Europeans, they understood the ease with using the materials versus just using rock.What is one thing you learned about this indigenous group from the website that surprised you or that you found interesting? I’ve learned that their traditions and way of life is one of the oldest cultures in the world. The culture currently exists today in Australia and there are more than 500 different nations that exist.What, in your opinion, makes this website authoritative? In my opinion is for the tourist that plan to go there for vacation. The site goes into the culture that the aborigines has to offer but not much into the past between the people and the country.

Arabian Nights Essay

In The Arabian Nights, a collection of Arabic folktales, Shahrazad uses the â€Å"ËÅ"Chinese box effect’ to connect her stories to one another in order to continue telling the story to King Shahrayar. The tale of the Husband and the parrot has number of tales that are related to each other tales and to the original story in many complex ways. The subtales of The Story of the Fisherman and the Demon focus on a particular theme, trust, with relations between the characters and the analogy of the situations. A close reading of The Tale of the Husband and the Parrot reveals this particular tale told by King Yunan to the vizier is placed in the book particularly to increase the importance of trust. By linking the tragic death of King Yunan to his distrustful action, Shrazad ultimately tries to convince King Shahrayar to make the right decision: not to kill Sharazad herself and other women. The tale makes an analogy with the tale of the King Yunan and the sage Duban. It parallels the king to the husband and the sage to the parrot. The parrot appears as â€Å"intelligent, knowledgeable, smart and retentive,† (p. 41) just like the sage is described in the story. By listing these adjectives about the parrot, the king emphasizes the parrot is a trustworthy bird that should not be killed. On the other hand, the king thinks the wife, who is â€Å"splendidly beautiful that she was perfect itself† (p. 41) and does not let her husband travel and leave her behind, should not be trusted. King Yunan suggests that the vizier is playing a trick on him like the husband â€Å"had been tricked by his wife† (p. 42). The effect of this clear analogy between the tales is that it leads the readers to expect the king not to kill the sage because â€Å"the same thing will happen,† (p. 42) meaning that the king will have regrets if he kills the sage. The purpose of this particular tale is to strongly advise the virtue of trust. Against expectation, King Yunan kills the sage just like the husband killed the parrot in The Tale of the Husband and the Parrot. In both cases, the main characters regret what they have done. King Yunan does not take his own advice: â€Å"Don’t do what you will regret afterward† (p.41). Instead he kills the sage, which he regrets afterwards which destroys the expected ending of the tale. Then, the readers start to wonder what significance this one-page tale has in The Story of the Fisherman and the Demon. As the tale  of the King Yunan and the sage Duban proceeds, the significance of the tale of the husband and the parrot becomes clear. As a result of King Yunan mistrusting the sage and lacking the confidence in his belief, the king dies of a tragic death. By presenting this tragedy of the king who made the wrong choice by trusting the jealous vizier, the story emphasizes the importance of making a morally correct decision and having a faith in it. If the tale of the husband and the parrot had not been in the story, the king would not have had the choice that was morally right and therefore would not have shown his indecisive nature. The existence of the correct decision that the king should have made causes the death of the king to be more tragic which reveals a stronger message to trust in others that have good conscience and believe in oneself. Another role of the Tale of the Husband and the Parrot involves its purpose to the original situation of Shahrazad and the king. The king has a big difficulty in trusting women due to his wife’s unfaithfulness, like the husband’s distrust of the parrot and the King’s distrust of the sage in the tales. The main goal of Sharazad is to convince the king to make the decision with his good conscience not to kill the women he mistrusts. She suggests that the king should â€Å"not do what he will regret afterward,† because â€Å"the same thing will happen to† him (p. 41) as did to the husband and King Yunan. The tale of the King Yunan and the Sage Duban is used as Sharazad’s prophecy that applies to the king Shahrayar if he determines not to trust her. The tragedy teaches King Shahrayar a strong lesson of the faith in moral judgment and the trust in people with good conscience. The amazing influence of the â€Å"ËÅ"chinese box effect’ in the whole book can be well observed in the Tale of the Husband and the Parrot. The fact that this tale does not influence King Yunan’s decision of the sage enhances the misfortune hence making the theme of the whole story even stronger. The close relation of characters in the sub-tales allows the advice of the tale to affect the characters in all of the tales as well as the ultimate target of Sharazad’s persuasion, King Shahrayar. Sharazad influences King Shahrayar’s decision upon trusting women and his morality in the process of telling stories that are related to the theme, trust.