Evaluate The Impacts Of Foreign Direct Investment Economics Essay

Evaluate The Impacts Of Foreign Direct Investment Economics Essay Globalization has changed companies international activities over the year all over the world for well developed and developing countries (Stefanini2006). Globalization; countries worldwide dissemination of the material and spiritual values à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹are considered as beyond national borders, among countries in the economic, political and cultural values, variable gain, resolution of ideological distinctions based on the polarization of different cultural values, beliefs and expectations and better recognition of the intensification of these relations, as well as homogeneity of the differences reached a development that would be correct.  Another way, globalization of economic, political, social and cultural fields, some common values à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹beyond the local and national boundaries are defined as the spread around the world. Globalization has been seen important improvement around the world countries and economies, creating greater unity in international business and finance and rapidly accelerating the integration of developing countries into the global economy. Wit and Meyer(2005) suggested that in analysis of globalization has crucial importance which are Globalization of companies, businesses and economies. However, these trends have not in any sense been universally positive for all the countries. There are many reasons that globalization has negative impacts to different countries well developed countries have seen benefit of globalization while poor and developing countries and economies have been faced negative effect of globalization. The globalization is not just expand to investment to other countries because it is effected the host countries economical social existing and future condition such as employment rate, GDP, increase technological skills and integration and cross border cooperation. Emerging and developing countries try to attract to invest foreign investment with such as new regulations, law, reduce to borders to have global competitive advantage to attract business firms because one of the most crucial issue of development is the investment for the countries. It is not always to possible to cover all needed investment by internal resources. The process of globalization, particularly foreign capital flows to developing countries is of great importance for the development and to attract and growth foreign investment is a great change to host countries especially in the developing countries. The multinational companies have reached significant transnational trade helping by improvement of services, technologies. Foreign direct investment (FDI) decision of the firms is one of the crucial issues in term of the host country such as the market and political situation and certainty, benefits and alternatives shapes the entre strategies. Foreign Direct Investment Definition of Foreign Direct Investment FDI can be descried that activities of a business of beyond the borders of the home country and the manufacturing plant to establish of existing production facilities by increasing its capital to a subsidiary of a FDI in the different country. In the worldwide perception, foreign direct investment (FDI) is delicate to economic situation of the countries. Allen and Edward (2008) mentioned that the inadequacy of data for surveillance remains an issue in many countries. FDI growth factors demand less of the monitoring and compliances to lure the investment leading to more exposure. It was reported by The World Bank (Investing Across Borders 2010) that in 1970 global FDI total $13.3 billion and in 2007 it was $1.9 trillion however in 2009 the economic rescission affected all type business trade and FDI in developed countries dropped 41% contrast in developing countries it was 35%. There is many benefits and disadvantages of FDI in the host countries. Business firms has facilitated many new jobs, develop the skills, new technologies on the other hand impact of FDI is not always positive for example competition with local business, environmental labour right issues, undermining local government(Navaretti and Venables 2004) Foreign Direct Investment(FDI) influences the economic performance and is given various advantages to firm thus reach cheap raw materials and natural resources in different geographies, cheap cost of manufacturing process, weak labour and health safety regulations, less taxing. FDI decision is one of the most important issues companies need to carefully reviews the conditions of the host country, in line with the market situation in which competing firms choose the way of investment. There is factors directly affecting foreign direct investment (FDI) desions such as political balance, low rates, indused policies. According to Sun(2009) linkages between domestic and foreign firms can also affect the export performance of domestic firms, which provides yet another explanation for increased competition for FDI among host country governments. There are two basic understanding of the effect of FDI, one of them is considered that this effect is positive and other second believe refused it however spillover effect is still important matter for these two sides. (Aitken and Harrison 1999) Navaretti and Venables (2006) mentioned the FDI effect host and home countries in variety of ways and it can be structured in three way firstly product market effects these are the quantity and quality of home and host country and also competitive conditions of multinational and local companies. Secondly factors market effects can be expand as capital and labour and thirdly spillover which is effects of technological improvement in host country. FDI Theories Vernon (1966) as cited by Bora (2002) examined Product life cycle model seeks to bridge international trade theory and individual firm`s perspective of investment in product development and mentioned that there different level in the product life cycle in different multinational companies. The theory basically concerned that foreign direct investment (FDI) is major way to transfer new innovations and technology and assume three level of product life cycles. Caves(1971) as cited by Jones and Wren(2006) studied Hymer`s theory and linked Hymer`s theory of international production to the then current theories of industrial organization on horizontal which is firm`s product in foreign market and vertical integration which is different stage of production. Dunning (1997) developed OLI(ownership, location initials of internationalization) theory also known as eclectic theory. According to the eclectic theory multinational companies invest and acts to advantages of ownership advantages, location advantages, and internationalization advantages. Domestic and foreign companies can achieve competitive advantage in markets that are closely related to benefits. Foreign direct investment (FDI) studies regarded to positive effect of employment in host countries and emerge of economy. Chen (2000) mentioned that foreign direct investment(FDI) helps to improve knowledge skills and assistance to progress new technologies and adaptation to new ideas marketing and business strategies and also make attractive to other investors in host country. Foreign Direct Investment in China China`s historical changes is an important example to progression communism and imperialism systems. Chinese communists have transformed their socialist ideology into a new national project that de ¬Ã‚ nes modernisation in globalist terms.(Harris 2005) Zhilong(2002) mentioned that China began to implement the opening-up policy and actively utilise foreign direct investment (FDI) after Deng Xiaoping had come into power, which means that China did not open its domestic market until the early eighties. During the three decades from 1949 to 1979, China absolutely forbade foreign investments and hardly took foreign loans. Since agreement to the WTO in 2001 FDI growth dramatically and China has become biggest FDI share comparing in developing countries according to WTO(2008) China has become the world`s third largest trader and manufacturer. WTO(2009), export of Chinese goods has determined that the first order and export of commercial services ranked Fifth in the world also China has become one of the largest importer in the world. One of the most well developed country Germany has ranked second in export of merchandise and export of commercial services was third. This report shows that Brazil and India other most emerging countries in FDI.   Euromonitor (2010) indicates that China`s export were valued Chinas exports were esteemed at US$119.9 billion in April 2010, up by 30.5% year-on-year and increase 24% than last year. The reason of increase of export was mainly growing machinery and electronics sales to USA, the EU and Japan.  In addition in April 2010, imports went up 49.7% year-on-year to US$118.2 billion however The annual expansion in imports slowed compared to March 2010, when imports increased by a robust rate of 66.2% year-on-year to US$119.4 billion. In April 2010, China, open 7.2 billion U.S. dollars recorded in the previous month, according to the first time since 2004, recorded a trade surplus of $ 1,700,000,000. However, compared with a year ago, Chinas trade surplus shrank 87.0% in April of 2010. Muyuan(2011) argued that after earthquake in Japan there will be negative impact of FDI in China because Japan is the second foreign direct investment(FDI) country in China after Hong Kong. Japan FDI was $4.1 billion in 2010 and this figure corresponds to 3.9% of FDI in China. However China`s economic growth is not just depend on FDI there is significant foreign exchange reserves and surplus even though it was believed that there will be long term impact of Japan FDI rise of economic growth in China. The massive expansion of the Chinese economy growth can be described as a miracle comparing the improvement global export and has become an economic power in the world. Chinese companies ranked top list of leading global business firm over the years. Since economic development people lifestyle, consumer behaviour has changed in China. There is huge movement to rural area to big cities even though largest population still remains in the rural areas. There is different studies have defined FDI in different ways for instance according to Chen(2000) foreign direct investment defined as investment in which a firm acquires a substantial controlling interest in a foreign firm or sets up a subsidiary in a foreign firm or sets up subsidiary in a foreign country and also is one of the strategy to getting multinational. There is different ways to invest other countries such as licensing, franchising, joint venture, exporting, greenfield investment, merger and acquisitions. Foreign Direct Investment in Brazil FDI has crucial role in progress and improvement of Brazil economy and being attracted by many multinational firms. Over these progresses Government policies has been changed to make suitable to invest by firms. Euromonitor(2010) confirmed that Brazil has second foreign direct investment(FDI) inflow in the world. According to the central bank foreign direct investment in Brazil (2009) totalled $25.9 billon. The impact of FDI on Brazilian economy has been helped a number of ways for instance improvement policies, economical situation, political stability and increasing the countries reputation over the years. The growth of FDI has changed and increased productivity level, competitiveness and become more ease up since 1990s in Brazil. The spillover effect influence existing market and productivity of other firms also and it is more likely that products becomes cheaper The foreign investors create outflow of personnel, management styles from the foreign firms to host companies. Moran(2004) mentioned that Citibank`s training program influend the financial sector and become a leading example to train their own employees in Brazil. FDI is not effect employment level also it may affect technological improvements which is called spillover effect which is transferred by firms and effect productivity, effiency and econimal growth.(Jones and Wren 2006) The growth of FDI has changed and increased productivity level, competitiveness and become more ease up since 1990s in Brazil. Conclusion This essay aims to give an overview of foreign direct investment with main theories and examples from variety of countries. Activities of multinational companies effect in both home and host countries in the global world and also these activities have some advantages impact in short and long term prospects and significant effects on both sides. Over the past decades emerging countries have changed and improved existing economical and political situations to attract by and become very attractive for FDI and gain competitive advantages especially such countries China, India and Brazil become major host countries for international companies. Foreign direct investment has been effected economy, investment trade ,structure, envoriment and labour in host countries.

Financial and Management Accounting

Fall 2012 Master of Business Administration- MBA Semester 1 MB0041 – Financial And Management Accounting – 4 Credits (Book ID: B1624) Assignment Set – 1 (60 Marks) Note: Each question carries 10 Marks. Answer all the questions. 1. Explain the process involved in accounting. 2. The salaries paid in 2004 is Rs. 5,00,000; Salaries outstanding is Rs. 20,000; Salaries paid in advance for 2004 is Rs. 30,000. What is the actual salary expenditure for 2004? Which accounting principle is involved in this and explain that principle. 3. Find the value of the following: a.If the total assets are Rs. 87,000 and the liabilities are Rs. 47,000, find out the amount of capital. b. If the capital of proprietor is Rs. 4,00,000 and the total assets are Rs. 6,00,000, what is the amount of liabilities to outsiders? c. If creditors are Rs. 56,000, bank overdraft is Rs. 1,00,000, and outstanding expenses are Rs. 8,000, what is the total amount of assets? d. Fixed assets are Rs. 70,000 a nd current assets are Rs. 1,00,000 and the creditors are Rs. 30,000. What is capital? 4. Enter the following transactions in the single column cash book of Gopichand.March, 2003 1st. Commenced business with cash 20000 2nd. Bought goods for cash 5000 3rd. Sold goods for cash 4000 4th. Goods purchased from Ravi Kumar 10000 10th. Paid to Ravi Kumar 7000 14th. Cash sales 8000 18th. Purchased furniture for office 4000 22nd. Paid wages 500 Fall 2012 25th. Paid rent 600 30th. Received commission 4000 30th. Withdrew for personal purpose 1000 Cash balance 170000 Hint: Goods Purchased from Ravi Kumar is a credit purchase. 5. Find out the missing figures. Office stationery 5000 Purchased during the year Closing stock 8000 25000 ? 3000 Opening stockConsumables 6000 ? 24000 Consumed for the year ? Hint : Office stationery consumed for the year =27000 Consumables purchased during the year = 22000 6. Explain the tools of management accounting. Master of Business Administration- MBA Semester 1 Fall 2012 MB0041 – Financial and Management Accounting- 4 Credits (Book ID: B1624) Assignment Set – 2 (60 Marks) Note: Each question carries 10 Marks. Answer all the questions. 1. Compute trend ratios and comment on the financial performance of Infosys Technologies Ltd. from the following extract of its income statements of five years. in Rs. Crore) Particulars 2010-11 2009-10 2008-09 2007-08 2006-07 27,501 22,742 21,693 16,692 13,893 Operating Profit (PBIDT) 8,968 7,861 7,195 5,238 4,391 PAT from ordinary activities 6,835 6,218 5,988 4,659 3,856 Revenue (Source: Infosys Technologies Ltd. – Annual Report) Hint: The Revenue and Operating Profit (PBIDT) have almost doubled in four years. The PAT from ordinary activities has increased by 77. 26% in the same period. 2. What is fund flow analysis? What are the objectives of analysing flow of fund? From the following balance sheets of Joy Ltd. prepare a cash flow statement under indirect method. Liabilities 2005 2006 Equi ty share capital 3,00,000 4,00,000 8% redeemable pref. share capital 1,50,000 1,00,000 General reserve 40,000 70,000 Profit and loss 30,000 48,000 Proposed dividend 42,000 50,000 Sundry creditors 55,000 83,000 Bills payable 20,000 16,000 Provision for taxation 40,000 50,000 6,77,000 8,17,000 Goodwill 1,15,000 90,000 Land and building 2,00,000 1,70,000 80,000 2,00,000 1,60,000 2,00,000 Stock 77,000 1,09,000 Bills receivable 20,000 30,000 Total Assets Plant Sundry debtors Fall 2012 Cash 15,000 10,000Bank 10,000 8,000 Total 6,77,000 8,17,000 Additional Information a) Depreciation of Rs. 10,000 and Rs. 20,000 has been changed on plant and building during the current year. b) An interim dividend of Rs. 20,000 has been paid during the current year. c) Rs. 35,000 was paid during the current year for income tax. Hint: Cash flow from operating activities Rs. 1,25,000; Cash flow from investing activities (Rs. 1,20,000); Cash flow from financing activities (Rs. 12,000). 3. Calculate the cost o f raw materials purchased from the following data: Opening stock of raw materials Rs. 10,000Closing stock of raw materials Rs. 15,000 Expenses on purchases Rs. 5,000 Direct wages Rs. 50, 000 Prime costs Rs. 1, 00,000 Hint: Cost of Raw Materials purchased is Rs. 50,000 4. Distinguish between absorption costing and marginal costing 5. The Anchor Company Ltd. produces most of its electrical parts in its own plant. The company is at present considering the feasibility of buying a part from an outside supplier for Rs. 4. 50 per part. If this is done, monthly costs would increase by Rs. 1,000. The part under consideration is manufactured in department 1 along with numerous other parts.On account of discontinuing the production of this part, department 1 would have somewhat reduced operations. The average monthly usage production of this part is 20,000 units. The costs of producing this part on per unit basis are as follows. Material Rs. 1. 80 Labour (half-hour) 2. 40 Fixed overheads 0. 80 Total costs 5. 00 Should the company produce this part or should it buy from an outside supplier? Fall 2012 Hint: Differential costs 7,000 per month Favouring making of the parts 6. Explain the essential features of budgetary control. 0. 35 er unit

Strategic Management Case Study Module 7

Strategic Management Module 7 Case Study Daryl L. Young Thomas Edison State College Strategic Management Module 7 Case Study Housing Bubble and Its Burst Case Study Question 1: Explain the cause of the housing bubble and its burst in the mid-2000s. To what extent is this problem the result of ethical failure? Housing Bubble No single cause can fully explain the crisis but, in my opinion, the two major bases were legislation that promoted homeownership and subprime mortgages. To fully understand the environment that spawned the housing bubble, we’ll have to travel back to the 1930s, when the country was in the midst of the Great Depression.During this time frame, homeownership represented only about 40 percent of the U. S. households (Thompson, Peteraf, Gamble, Strickland, 2012, p. c-423). Following severe mortgage market disruptions, widespread foreclosures, and sinking homeownership rates, the government created the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), Fannie Mae, the Federa l Home Loan Bank (FHLB), and several decades later Freddie Mac to help promote secure and sustainable homeownership for future generation of Americans (Reforming America’s Housing Finance Market, A Report to Congress, 2011, P. 5).A Subprime Mortgage is a type of mortgage that is normally made out to borrowers with lower credit ratings; a conventional mortgage is not offered because the lender views the borrower as having a larger-than-average risk of defaulting on the loan; lending institutions often charge interest on subprime mortgages at a rate that is higher in order to compensate themselves for carrying more risk, as defined by Investopedia. com, 2013. In 1994, subprime mortgages represented approximately 6 percent of total mortgage loans originated but by 2005 the percentage grew to 37. (Thomson et al. , 2012). Private firms like Countrywide, and others, issued more than 84 percent of the subprime mortgages in 2006 (Swift, 2011). Fast-forward to the 2000s and the effect s of federal legislation over 60 years increased homeownership to nearly 70 percent (Thomson et al. , 2012) coupled with an explosion of subprime mortgages, and appreciation of homes values resulted in the housing bubble. Housing Bubble Burst As there are several factors that created the bubble, there are just as many that were responsible for its burst.The most significant factors were the repeal of a major component of the Glass-Steagall Act and a weakened housing market. First, lets look at the Glass-Steagall Act. One of the components in the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 separated investment (brokerage) and commercial banking activities (investopedia. com, 2009). The clause stipulated that banks would be allowed to take deposits and make loans, brokers would be allowed to underwrite and sell securities, but no firm would be allowed to do both due to the conflicts of interest and risks to insured deposits (Rickards, 2012). In 1999, President Bill Clinton and Republicans led by Sen.P hil Gramm repealed part of the Glass-Steagall Act, removing barriers that prohibited any one institution from acting as any combination, at the behest of big banks (Rickards, 2012). Secondly, the U. S. economy began to weaken, with declining demand for housing, which caused home prices to plummet and appreciation in home prices came to an end, and in most cases reversing (Thompson et al. , 2012). Homeowners, investors, and financial institutions did not have enough capital supporting their investments to absorb the resulting losses (Reforming America’s Housing Finance Market, A Report to Congress, 2011, P. ). Homeowners were faced with foreclosure when they lost income during the economy slowdown or seen their payment on Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARMs) rise to a point of unaffordability (Thompson et al. , 2012). In 2008, credit markets froze. Our nation's financial system – which had outgrown and outmaneuvered a regulatory framework largely designed in the 1930s †“ was driven to the brink of collapse. Millions of Americans lost their jobs, families lost their homes, and small businesses shut down (Reforming America’s Housing Finance Market, A Report to Congress, 2011, P. 5). Countrywides’ RoleCase Study Question 2: Evaluate Countrywide’s role in the subprime mortgage debacle. Was the company’s conduct unethical or illegal? Countrywide’s Role From 2005 to 2007, Countrywide was the leading subprime lender in the country issuing $97. 2 billion in subprime mortgages (Bloomberg Business Week, 2009) but only led in market share by 2 percent. The bottom 16 subprime mortgage-issuing firms accounted for $363. 5 billion in mortgages (reference chart 1). Countrywide was responsible for 10 percent of a $1 trillion problem. Conduct Unethical or Illegal Countrywide practices were illegal.Countrywide was charged with predatory lending practices (Thompson et al. , 2012) and later reached a multi-state settlement for $8. 68 billion (Huffman, 2008). â€Å" Countrywide’s lending practices turned the American dream into a nightmare fore tens of thousands of families by putting them into loans they couldn’t understand and ultimately couldn’t afford,† said Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. , a co-leader of the negotiations for the states (Huffman, 2008). Countrywide settlement became the largest predatory lending settlement in history, dwarfing the nationwide $484 million settlement (Huffman, 2008).Case Study Question 3: Using this case as an example, who benefits and who gets hurt when a company engages in unethical or socially irresponsible behavior? In the long-term, no one benefits from this behavior. In this case study, the companies, shareholders, consumers, and global economy all suffered from the irresponsible behavior of many in the financial sector. Between June 2007 and November 2008, Americans lost more than a quarter of their net worth (Wikipedia. org, 2013). T otal retirement assets dropped by 22 percent, from $10. 3 trillion in 2006 to $8 trillion in mid-2008 (Wikipedia. org, 2013).As with most unethical or irresponsible corporate behavior there are no long-term winners. References Denning, S. (2001). Lest We Forget: Why We Had a Financial Crisis. Forbes. Retrieve from: http://www. forbes. com/sites/stevedenning/2011/11/22/5086/ Huffman, M. (2008). Countrywide Settles Predatory Lending Charges for $8. 68 Billion. Consumer Affairs. Retrieved from: http://www. consumeraffairs. com/news04/2008/10/ countrywide_settlement. html Investopedia. (2013). Definition of Housing Bubble. Retrieved from: http://www. investopedia. com/terms/h/housing_bubble. asp#axzz2NRrhirhT Rickards, J. (2012).Repeal of Glass-Steagall Caused the Financial Crisis. Economic Intelligence. Retrieved from: http://www. usnews. com/opinion/blogs/economic- intelligence/2012/08/27/repeal-of-glass-steagall-caused-the-financial-crisis The Department of the Treasury. (2011). Refo rming America’s Housing Finance Markets, A Report to Congress. Retrieved from: http://www. treasury. gov/initiatives/Documents/ Reforming%20America's%20Housing%20Finance%20Market. pdf Thompson, A. , Peteraf, M. , Gamble, J. , Strickland III, A. (2012). Crafting & Executing Strategy, The Quest for Competitive Advantage. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Intention and Motive in Criminal Law - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 4 Words: 1072 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Law Essay Type Narrative essay Tags: Criminal Law Essay Did you like this example? Critically assess the ways in which the judges have differentiated between the concepts of intention and motive in the criminal law In lay terms à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“intentionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“motiveà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  are often employed interchangeably and without apparent distinction. This cannot be said to be so in the criminal law. Smith[1], commenting upon intention, states: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“It might be expected that the meaning of such a fundamental term would have been settled long ago but this is not so. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Intention and Motive in Criminal Law" essay for you Create order The cases are inconsistent, judicial opinion has recently changed and there is still some measure of uncertainty.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  It is perhaps significant that none of the leading criminal law text books allow either intention or motive an indexed category of their own, referring the reader instead to the fundamental concept of mens rea. However, it should be noted that mens rea may not be equated with intention still less with motive. Mens rea is itself incapable of a single definition. Every crime has its own mens rea which must be ascertained from the words of the relevant statute or the appropriate case law. The term refers to that element of a criminal offence which relates to the mental state of the defendant. Different crimes require different mental states ranging from intention and knowledge to recklessness and negligence. In R v Maloney[2], the House of Lords made it clear that intention should in the vast majority of cases be afforded its ordinary meaning. Lord Bridge s tated (at p.926): à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦when directing a jury on the mental element necessary in a crime of specific intent, the judge should avoid any elaboration or paraphrase of what is meant by intent, and leave it to the juryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s good sense to decide whether the accused acted with the necessary intentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  This has not, however, prevented the judiciary from indulging in much soul-searching over the meaning of the term. The classic case relating to the requisite intention to commit the crime of murder was for a long time Hyam v DPP[3] in which the majority of the House of Lords held that foresight of high probability of serious bodily harm was a sufficient mens rea for murder even though such a state of mind did not even amount to an intention to cause grievous bodily harm. Thus it may be observed that so far as the requisite intention to commit murder is concerned, the mens rea in this case à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“malice aforethou ghtà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  can be possessed by a defendant who does not à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“intendà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  deliberately to kill in any accepted sense of the term. Notwithstanding the simplicity of the approach in Maloney (supra), further direction has been found to be necessary in cases in which the result was not the defendantà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s actual purposes even though the outcome was a highly probable consequence of his actions. Herring[4] cites the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“oft-quoted exampleà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  of the person who plants a bomb on an aeroplane hoping to destroy items which he has insured. He will not necessarily intend the death of the pilot even though this is an almost inevitable consequence of his actions. In R v Nedrick[5], Lord Lane CJ proposed that the jury be directed that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“they are not entitled to infer the necessary intention, unless they feel sure that death or serious bodily harm was a virtual certainty (barring some unforeseen intervention) as a res ult of the defendantà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s actions and that the defendant appreciated that such was the caseà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ . This was the subject of challenge in the leading case of R v Woollin[6] in which the certified question was whether in murder a direction such as that proposed by Lord Lane CJ was necessary and, if so, whether such a direction was necessary in all cases or whether it was only necessary in cases where the sole evidence of intention was to be found in the actions of the defendant and their consequences for the victim. That case involved a defendant who killed his infant son by throwing him onto a hard surface in a fit of temper. The judge at first instance directed the jury that if they concluded that the appellant had appreciated that there was a substantial risk that the child would suffer serious harm they were entitled to convict him of murder. An appeal to the Court of Appeal was unsuccessful but the House of Lords quashed convictions of both murder and mansla ughter on the basis that where it was not the purpose of the defendant to cause death or serious harm, he should not be found to have the requisite mens rea unless the outcome was a virtually certain consequence of his actions and he appreciated that to be so. This concentration upon purpose may make it appear that intention should be regarded as very similar in meaning to motive. However, it remains the case that the two concepts should be very clearly distinguished. It was stated in Maloney (supra at p.926) that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“intention is something quite different from motive or desireà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ . This is not to say, however, that a consideration of motive is entirely unhelpful. Smith (Op. Cit., p.96 supplies the example of a defendant who puts poison in his uncleà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s tea with the intention of killing him in order to inherit his money. That author suggests that the motive (to inherit the money) should be entirely distinguished from the actus reus and the me ns rea and that motive is therefore à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“by definitionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  irrelevant to criminal responsibilityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ . It is submitted, however, that Herring (Op. Cit., p.143) supplies a pragmatic and preferable analysis. He suggests that where a person who has put rat poison into a persons food who happens to expect a legacy upon that personà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s death, the jury is far less likely to believe that the administration of the poison was an absent-minded mistake rather than an intended act. Thus, while the courts have ostensibly tended to eschew considerations of motive in assessing the existence of intent, it is submitted that an examination of the rationale behind a personà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s actions can often provide a useful tool in assessing their purpose and thus their true state of mind allowing an appropriate conclusion to be drawn as to the presence or otherwise of the requisite mens rea. Bibliography Herring, J., Criminal Law, Text, Cases and Materials, (2004) Smith, J., Smith Hogan, Criminal Law (10th Ed., 2003) Westlaw 1 Footnotes [1] Smith, J., Smith Hogan, Criminal Law (10th Ed., 2003), p.70 [2] [1985] AC 905 [3] [1975] AC 55 [4] Criminal Law, Text, Cases and Materials, (2004), p.144 [5] [1986] 1 WLR 1025 [6] [1999] AC 82