...Conflict Diamonds and the Kimberly Process What this case is about was that ion the 2000’s, a common concern emerged among members of the diamond industry, the United Nations, several governments and Human Rights campaigners who all wished to end the trade in Conflict Diamonds which were gemstones that were being mined or stolen by rebels fighting internationally recognized governments. To end this, they embarked an unusual collaboration called the Kimberly Process. The Kimberly Process was a scheme for tracking diamonds all the way from the mine to the jewelry shop, so that consumers could be assured that the gems they were buying were conflict free. 1. Conflict Diamonds are diamonds that are illegally traded to fund conflicts. In recent times, conflicts in some of the poorest parts of Africa have often focused on rebels controlling their country’s natural resources and assets, for example, oil, wood, minerals and also diamonds. They are diamonds that had originated from areas controlled by forces or factions opposed to legitimate and internationally recognized governments, and are used to fund military action in opposition to those governments. Conflict diamonds came to the attention of the world media during the extremely brutal conflict in Sierra Leone in the 1990s. The groups that were benefited from the trade in conflict diamonds were the combatants, including the Revolutionary United Front. Diamonds played a key role in obtaining funds to provide these...
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...Conflict Diamonds in the early 2000s, a common concern emerged among members of an oddly matched group : the diamond industry, the united nations, several goverments, and human rights campaigners. All wished to end the trade in conflict diamonds, gemstonesthat are mined or stolen by rebels fighting internationally recognized goverments. The $6 billion a year diamond industryhas long been dominated by the De Beers Corporation. Founded in south Africa by Cecil Rhodes in the 1880, the beers strategy has been to own as many diamond mine as possible and to sell its rough (uncut) stones exclusively to a small group of preferred dealers at prices set by the company. To maintain its control over supply, De Beers operated buying offices all over the world, “sweeping up” diamonds produced in mines operated by others. The result, for many years, was a virtual monopoly. De Beers has also been a shrewd marketer, pouring millions of dollars over the years into advertising. Using the slogan “a diamond is forever”, the company cultivated and association between diamonds and romance. The company first promoted solitaire engagement rings, later, it shifted its marketing focus to the so called eternity ring, a band of multiple smaller stones aimed at older married couples. In the early 1990s, event in several diamond-rich African nations converged to tarnish the gem’s carefully cultivated image of love and purity. During the cold war, many partisans in civil conflicts in Africa received funding...
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...Conflict Diamonds What are conflict diamonds? What groups benefited from the TRADE in conflict diamonds? What groups where hurt by it? -Conflict diamonds are gemstones that are mined or stolen by rebels fighting internationally recognized governments. -The groups that were benefited from the TRADE in conflict diamonds were the combatants, including the Revolutionary United Front. -The groups that were hurt by it were diamond COMPANIES, such as De Beers. What three sectors were concerned with the problem of conflict diamonds? What was the interest of each, and in what ways did their interests converge? -The three sectors that were concerned with the problem of conflict diamonds were the rebels, the diamond COMPANIES, and human rights organizations, including the United Nations. -The interest of the rebels WAS TO MAKE MONEY. The interest of the diamond COMPANIES was to keep their image pure. The interest of the human rights organizations was to keep people safe. Their interests converged in that they developed the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme. Do you believe that any of these three sectors could have addressed the problem of conflict diamonds unilaterally? Why or why not? -I don’t think that any of these three sectors could have addressed the problem of conflict diamonds unilaterally because they would never see eye to eye. -However, the human rights organizations and the diamond companies could work together to solve the problem. Do you believe Kimberley...
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...Mgmt. 328 Conflict Diamond Case Study Raw diamonds are making their way from deadly jungles to hands and necks all around the world. It is unfortunate that these resources from third world countries are being exploited for the sake of vanity. Diamonds are not just a symbol of love anymore but are also becoming a symbol of mutilated body parts and crisis. While lives are being taken and children are being exploited, there are fortunes being made by transnational corporations. All the while these poor African people working in the mines under horrendous conditions are only getting paid maybe a dollar a day. As long as there is wealth to be made this crisis may never come to an end. So, a question arises as to who are the key players and how can they help stop conflict diamonds or even worse, how are they contributing. There may very well be those that are trying to help stop conflict diamonds such as the World Diamond Council, United Nations and possibly others such as reporters just like we see in the movie ‘Blood Diamond.’ However, it is almost clear that all other stakeholders are only contributing. For example, Multinational Enterprises it seems only care about the huge profits they make and perhaps look the other way in order to have middle men working to smuggle these diamonds and pass customs. These MNEs’ have the most power in this situation and will continue to make large profits if nothing is done now. Consumers also contribute to conflict diamonds due to the...
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...Conflict Diamonds and the Kimberly Process Conflict diamonds are gemstones that are mined or stolen by rebels fighting internationally recognized governments. The groups that benefited from the trade of conflict diamonds were the combatants, including the Revolutionary United Front. Diamond companies such as De Beers were hurt by the conflict diamonds. Three sectors that were concerned with the problem of conflict diamonds were the rebels, the diamond companies, and human rights organizations such as the United Nations. The rebels were interested making money. Diamond companies obviously wanted to keep their images pure. Human rights organizations wanted to keep people safe. Thus the interest was joined together and the Kimberly Process was developed. I do not think any of these three sectors would have acted unilaterally because they would not have agreed on everything. The Human Rights Organizations and the diamond companies would have been able to work together. They had the same goals in mind and were seeking the same end to the situation. The Kimberly Process will be successful to a certain point. As with anything that is put into place, there are those that will find the weaknesses and the ways to get around them. De Beers will continue to support and push for the sealed, numbered tamper proof container. The rebels will find ways to smuggle diamonds around the countries that are being monitored and into them illegally. Human Rights Organizations are...
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...according to the rubric so I decided to go with something that has interested me since seeing a movie on it a couple years back. Blood diamonds are one of Africa’s largest problems and have been for many years now. The point my article stresses are that blood diamonds are one of the largest sources of income for rebel groups in Africa. “Conflict diamonds continue to fund the rebel groups, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) and the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), both of which are acting in contravention of the international community's objectives of restoring peace in the two countries.” Many innocent civilians are murdered by these rebel groups and it all reflects to the main point of how these rebel groups are staying in business. I think that there is also another point of view which would be the pro’s of this conflict. Some of them would be that the blood diamonds keep many jewelry and diamond companies in business because it helps them to offer a far more variety of diamonds to their consumers. Also it keeps the market saturated with diamonds so if there were no conflict diamonds then it would sky rocket the price of the few diamonds that exist and that would effect the industry due to the fact that many advanced countries like the U.S, Asia, Europe and etc are very large consumers to these diamonds. I would like to research this topic a lot more because it generates a lot of injustice and oppression within the country of Africa and...
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... A symbol of prestige and love around the world has caused horrific violence across the diamond-rich nations of Africa. Diamonds, the hardest and most powerful substance known to man, are mined or stolen to fund armed conflict by rebel groups seeking to overthrow West African governments. During the 1990s diamonds obtained by rebel groups, conflict diamonds, made up twenty percent of the diamond market. After a decade long battle, the diamond industry, national governments and civil organizations collaborated to combat the illicit trade of conflict diamonds with the Kimberley Process. Sector Interest In this case, the diamond industry; countries with legitimate diamond businesses and retail operations; and nongovernment organizations collaborated as major sectors to end trade of conflict diamonds. The diamond industry’s main interest in the Kimberley Process was to develop a certification scheme that guaranteed customers that diamonds were conflict-free. Countries with legitimate diamond businesses and retail operations were concerned that economies would be affected and retail sales would decline. Nongovernment organizations called for an end to the violence and civil war. Collaborative Partnership for Problem Solving The major sectors in this case concerned with conflict diamonds could not have resolved the issue unilaterally because of individual weaknesses. Experts...
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...Beers and the Conflict Diamonds De Beers is the most recognizable name in the diamond industry and since it was established in 1888 by Cecil Rhodes; the company have been linked to the “blood diamond” trade because for a long time they had the control of supply and demand of the diamond industry. De beers dominated the diamond market for the best part of the 20th century, but the creation of synthetic diamonds and the discovery of new diamond deposits in other countries have created new challenges and De Beers have been obligated to deviate from their traditional ways of doing business. Q1. The diamond industry is exclusive in comparison to other industries because of the nature of their product. Diamonds are unique and the competitive rivalry is limited to only a few producers. The diamond industry has been able to create a high demand of their product because they have the ability to control the supply. Other industries such as electronics and technology face stiff competition and do not have the ability to control the market as the diamond industry does. Industries other than the diamond industries offer a great deal of alternatives for their services and products, but when it comes to the diamond industry; the alternatives are somewhat limited. While other industries struggle to stay afloat; the diamond industry continues to grow and presents an attractive opportunity for investors. Q2. I believe that anyone or any company that purchase conflict diamond has no regards...
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...Constitutional CD Project You are an up and coming music artist who is about to release your first CD. One of the major things that has inspired you is the Constitution, specifically the amendments (you loved Ms. Wunderlich’s class that much!). For this assignment, you will create a CD that lists your song titles. The song titles will all reflect the chosen amendments below. (i.e. you do not need to do all 27 amendments…just the ones listed below). Also, your CD will only include the song titles, NOT the whole song. To create your CD, think of a particular type of music you want to do (country, classic rock, hip/hop, rap) and create a cover that represents that theme. Then , look at what each amendment discusses and create the title of a song that would be about that amendment. For example, a song about the first amendment might be “I say, I say, I say what I want” which reflects the idea of freedom of speech. You may not use the name of the amendment as a song title. For example, I do not want to see Track 1: Freedom of Speech, Track 2: Right to Bear Arms. When you list your song titles, the track numbers must match the number of your amendment. For example, a song about women voting needs to be track #19. *Your CD must be of high quality and well put together and colorful. CD’s that are written in pen or pencil on lined sheet of paper will not be graded. To reiterate, this is what you will turn into me: CD with 19 song titles that match their amendment numbers...
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...adverse effect of diamonds on the people of Africa. It also addresses the real price of diamonds which it believes to be the lives of millions of Africans. Additionally, it examines the response from the United Nations and question if enough is being done to crack done on the sale of blood diamonds. The famous phrase “Diamonds are Forever” is known to most people all over the world. What most people do not know is where most of these diamonds are coming from and how they came to become perfect gestures of love and romance. Looking at a clear cut diamond ring, it is hard to imagine the possibility of thousands of innocent people being murdered, tortured, and forced to mine for these stones; unfortunately that is the case in Africa. Diamonds in West Africa have been used for the last 30 years to fund rebel groups and their desire to take control of their nations by violence and intimidation. In such conflicted regions of the world, diamonds lose their connotation of beauty and elegance and are stained with blood. In this paper, I will discuss the many ways in which “conflict diamond” has brought nothing but poverty, suffering and war to the West African people. I will further explain what world organizations such as the United Nation have done in order to counteract the adverse effects of the conflict diamond on the African community, and the extent to which such efforts have been successful. Conflict diamonds are diamonds illegally traded to fund conflict in war-torn...
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...Antitrust September 17, 2009 Tonight’s Agenda Role Call Review of Last Week, Current Events Antitrust Case Study: DeBeers Wrap Up Review of Last Week “People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and division, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices.” -- Adam Smith “Perfectly Competitive Market” Consumers well-served. Receive goods at lowest price possible. Society able to choose among competing good with maximum efficiency. Firms that do not produce what consumers want at a fair price are quickly eliminated. Highly restrictive model applying stringent standards. Antitrust Perfect competition model is essentially static. Real world markets are extremely dynamic. Perfect competition model is unsuitable as a benchmark. Antitrust Laws Promote a competitive economy by prohibiting actions that restrain, or are likely to restrain, competition and by restricting the forms of market structure that are allowable. Limit the activities of firms that have legally obtained monopoly power. Intended to provide a general statutory framework to give the Justice Department, the FTC, and the courts wide discretion in interpreting and applying them. The Development of Antitrust Laws Trust was a device for pyramiding control over several operating companies. The Sherman Antitrust Act (1890)...
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...Report on Argyle Diamonds and the Diamond Industry 1 INTRODUCTION India was the only known source of diamonds before the eighteenth century when diamonds were discovered in Brazil. The modern diamond industry was born in 1867 when diamonds were discovered in the Kimberley region of South Africa. The De Beers mining company was formed and they controlled 80-90 per cent of the rough diamonds entering the diamond market. The De Beers share of the diamond market fell in the 1990’s when the Soviet Union moved to a free market economy as Russian diamond mining companies were selling their diamonds on the open market. The Central selling Organisation (CSO) controlled by De Beers is responsible for regulating the price of diamonds on the market and marketing a large percentage of the world’s diamonds. The CSO protected the dominance of the diamond cartel but this monopoly was challenged by Argyle Diamonds when they refused to renew their marketing contract with De Beers. Argyle has been characterised by low value coloured diamonds, however their highly sought after pink diamonds has successfully differentiated their products from other diamonds the in the market (Vinciullo, Annear and Disbury, Not dated). 1.1 AIM OF THE ASSIGNMENT The aim of the assignment is to research and analyse the diamond industry and to evaluate Argyle Diamonds’ strategic position in the diamond industry. 1.2 OBJECTIVES OF THE ASIGNMENT • To research and evaluate competition in the precious...
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... De Beers Introduction For generations, diamonds have been marketed as tokens of power and love. For some however, diamonds have a more utilitarian appeal. Easily concealed, immensely valuable and largely untraceable, stones from rebel-held mines have raised billions of dollars on world markets to finance revolution in Angola, Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). For years these "conflict diamonds" have encourage rebel leaders to arm and equip their armies in violation of UN weapons and financial sanctions. Diamond monopoly De Beers is notable for its monopolistic practices throughout the 20th century, whereby it used its dominant position to control the international diamond market. The company used several techniques to exercise this manipulation over the market: Firstly, it persuade independent producers to join its single channel monopoly, it flooded the market with diamonds similar to those of producers who refused to join the cartel, and lastly, it purchased and stockpiled diamonds produced by other manufacturers in order to price control through supply. In 2000, the De Beers forced to change the model, due to certain unavoidable factors such as the decision by producers in Russia, Canada and Australia, to distribute diamonds outside of the De Beers channel, thus effectively ending the monopoly. The De Beers family of companies started operating under a set of guiding rules known as the Diamond Trading Company Best Practice Principles (BBP)...
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... Incorporated in 1999 as a Delaware corporation, Blue Nile Inc.is the leading online retailer of high quality diamonds and fine jewelry. Blue Nile offers its products for sale through the bluenile.com website in over 40 countries and territories throughout the world. The company is headquartered in Seattle, Washington and employs 206 employees as of December 2012. The objective of Blue Nile is to offer high-quality diamonds and fine jewelry at competitively attractive prices and at the same time providing useful information and guidance throughout their purchase process. High end jewelry shopping has in fact taken a surprising turn as more and more customers order them online at websites like bluenile.com instead of vising a brick and mortar store. Blue Nile is definitely not the only online jeweler. It has competitors like diamonds.com, whiteflash.com and successful retailers like amazon.com have also tapped this market in the recent years needless to say that the competitive market is intense and highly fragmented with brick and mortar stores also selling a big percentage online. While barriers to entry is high in this industry due to high capital costs, regular brick and mortars are entering this online market due to the ability to keep costs down while reaching a huge market. Threat of substitutes is really low which is a significant advantage to all diamond jewelers. The bargaining power of customers is medium as there are many options for purchase. However as people...
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...Organizations The De Beers Diamond Corporation Dr. Beth Kane Business 475: Business and Society January 28, 2014 The De Beers Diamond Corporation is a multinational diamond mining, hops, trading, and manufacturing business. In this paper the nature, structure, and types of product this corporation is involved well be analyzed. As with every large corporation stakeholders salient stakeholders are involved with the shaping of the companies direction, three key stakeholders relationships and roles will be evaluated. There are five key points for primary stakeholders wielding influence inside the corporations mainframe and the evidence of this behavior at De Beers. During the building and development of most businesses there are social issues that arise to challenge the structure and integrity of the corporation, De Beers faced this as well. This paper will detail the issue in which De Beers faced as well as the corporate and social changes that were wrought from the situation. This paper will also cover a hypothetical situation were a first person narrative of the roles of forming a stakeholder coalition. During this hypothetical situation the leader role will explore three (3) potential holdups for the the forming of a stakeholder coalition. The De Beers Diamond Corporation is a privately owned multinational conglomerate established in 1888 by Cecil Rhodes. Rhodes invested money made from renting water pumps to diamond miners into buying mining...
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