Competative Analysis: Puma, Reebok, Adidas and Nike Essay

Analyzing the prices of Puma and comparing with its competitor prices was discovered, that all of them are more or less on the same price levels – medium to high. Although, Nike and Adidas products are mostly expensive, while Puma is providing products for affordable prices. Today’s Puma is not only sport clothing and equipment, but also accessories. Puma nail polish, deodorant, shower gels and perfume are easy to find not only in Puma stores, but also in department stores. The other advantage of Puma’s prices could be its discount system – with the appearance of new collections, older ones are given good discounts. Promotion Puma is making a big effort on promoting themselves in many different ways. Nowadays it is hard to imagine a successful company without an official internet page, so one of Puma’s advantages is the fact that it not only has one, but also gives its customers to view and purchase their products online. Puma is also very keen on online customer service – delivery time is 2-7 days and has a 40 day return right. Products on discount are also available. A huge effort is made on organizing events not only for young people. The purpose of these events is simple – combining leisure time with sports: from most simple like ping-pong and darts to football, basketball, volleyball and golf. As its competitors, Puma is not lagging behind on organizing charity events and donating money in Children funds. Puma is also working together with United for Africa and Soles4Soles funds. Going eco-friendly is also one of Puma’s advantages. In order to reduce the environmental impact, Puma is dependent on the cooperation of other industry players. To tackle this issue, Puma has already started to gain support from national governments, environmental organizations, and representatives of science and industry to push for a shift in the current business paradigm towards a more sustainable approach. Puma has demonstrated that accounting for the environment is no longer a ‘holy grail’ objective, but simply makes good business sense. Image/Brand In the recent years the Puma brand has become a synonym of style, fashion and sport. Puma has elevated their brand image so that they now compete with fashion brands as well as their traditional sportswear. To extend their brand Puma has created concept retail stores that enable people to experience the brand in engaging and compelling ways. Adidas brand communicates the company’s goal of fusing sport performance and style competing very closely with Nike’s value proposition. â€Å"Sport performance†, â€Å"sport heritage† and â€Å"sport style† are the three different areas that Adidas has chosen to compete with the value propositions of their traditional competitors. Nike has developed a brand that has global reach trying to bring innovation and inspiration to every athlete in the world. They has partnered with the world’s most famous athletes to build their recognition and reach, perfectly demonstrating the power of image marketing. As well as Puma, Nike has extended their brand by creating concept retail stores. Nike differentiates themselves from Puma by focusing on â€Å"performance driven style†, whereas Puma focus on â€Å"lifestyle driven style†. Adidas tries to improve their performance through technological innovation similar to Nike’s brand. Through the years Reebok has developed a brand that focuses on the lifestyle as well as â€Å"having fun staying in shape†. Reebok is fresh brand, but not as trendy as Nike and Adidas. Like most of the other brands Reebok tries to promote themselves through famous athletes as well. They gain ground across all sports against its competitors. In recent years Reebok invested in innovative designs to make their sports footwear much more comfortable. Design Puma is a well-known brand, but, unfortunately, not one of the most preferred. To analyze consumer’s opinion about Puma and its products, a survey was made. Through interviews of 20 young people – age range 16-30 – who were asked to tell what they thought about Puma as a brand, their design and price of their products in comparison to their competitors, and their promotion effort. Looking at the answers separately, can be concluded that they are almost alike, but there are still a few outliers. Furthermore, customers were asked to advice what Puma should do to become more attractive. It was found out that most of the customers would recommend Puma to focus more on design and making the brand more competitive and visually recognized. The main â€Å"issue† for Puma when looking at the answers was that the customers prefer other alternatives, such as Nike and Adidas. This was mainly because of better and trendier design, which is targeting the â€Å"youngerà ¢â‚¬  target group better. Product The main products of Puma are sportswear, sport shoes and accessorize. Puma divides their products into 2 main categories: sports and lifestyle. Sports field includes clothing for sports such as: football, running, sailing, golf, motorsport and rugby. Lifestyle part includes: timepieces and body wear product collections, providing Urban Mobility. The main product of Puma – casual footwear is very different from their competitors: Puma shoes are more fashionable shoes, than athletic shoes. Furthermore, Puma has an Urban Mobility collection cooperating with world-renowned fashion designer Hussein Chalayan. These unique designed footwear, apparel, and accessories will help Puma to create a utility fashion sportswear, offering for the Mobile lifestyle. This look gives the advantage to their products to become more fashionable and trendy. Mission/Vision Puma cooperates with their main competitors – Adidas and Nike in order to achieve their mission for a better world for the generations to come, leaving behind Reebok. Puma’s mission and vision is to work in ways that contribute to the world by supporting creativity, sustainability and peace and by staying true to the values of being Fair, Honest, Positive and Creative in decisions made and actions taken. According to the aim they will keep on making the products for their customers to love, and at the same time bring that vision of a better world a little closer every day.

How Customer Service is provoded in business Essay

Costumer service is the ability of an organisation to recognise and consistently meet the costumers’ needs. Costumer service generally involves service teamwork and service partnerships so they can meet customer expectations and produce costumer satisfaction. Costumers contact an organisation when they need something, the main reasons are: * To complain * To request/ order a service/product * To obtain information * To ask for advice * To enquire about an order * To change an order or request * To report a problem to return and exchange goods * To ask for assistance or help The organisation I have chosen to study for this is the National Maritime Museum which consists of the Royal Observatory Greenwich, Queen’s House and National Maritime Museum. Together these constitute one museum working to illustrate for everyone the importance of the sea, ships, time and the stars and their relationship with people. A customer is anyone who has the right to ask or expect a service as part of a job role; this means there are two types of customers – internal and external. Internal customers are all the colleagues who need assistance to fulfil their obligations to their own customers; these include the supervisors, staff, staff teams and managers. External customers are those who contact or visit the organisation because of what it provides or supply’s as it is something they need. There are a wide range of external customers but only a few can apply to each business, some businesses have a wider range of external costumers compared to other businesses, such as a supermarket will have a wider range of external customers as it will sell a wide range of goods whereas a youth club or nursery will have a smaller rage of external customers as its only aimed at a certain age group. The National Maritime Museum has a wide range of customers and provides everyone access to its historical buildings and unique collectors; as a result the customers have a wide range of needs so they provide products and services to fit their needs. On any average day the museum staffs have to deal with * People wishing to research their family history in our archives * Ship model-makers wanting advice on details of a ship * Film companies wanting to use our buildings as a location for an advert or television drama * Domestic tourists wanting a fun day out * Foreign tourists wanting to experience British history * School and college groups wanting to investigate the Museum to help with their studies. The Museum has 7 main categories of customers which have their own special needs and interests and they are the following 1. Individuals – Casual Visitors – Special Interest Visitors – Individual Researchers 2. Families – Parents along with Young Children 3. Groups – Mixed age groups – Special Interest and Education 4. People from different cultures with different languages – Foreign and Domestic Tourists – People from Diverse Ethnic and Religious Communities 5. People with special needs – Blind and Visually Impaired – Deaf and Hearing Impaired – Learning Difficulties – Physical, Emotional or Mental Health Needs 6. Virtual users who access the Museum via our website – People who access the museum via the website 7. Internal customers – Members of Staff who Support the Work of Others The main three types of customers the National Maritime Museum focuses on are families, disabled visitors and groups. Families are an important target audience for the museum as it is a free family-friendly place to visit; it focuses of the key needs and expectations of family audiences which are: – it’s free – the price of tickets can be a barrier for many families, especially with the costs of travel and lunches – it’s fun and educational with lots to see and touch, like the All Hands interactive children’s gallery – there’s lots to do such as special activity workshops, storytelling and treasure trails – it’s easy to get to – only 20 minutes from central London, with good transport links The Museum also has family-friendly events which bring the Museum galleries to life including practical activities for 2-to-6-year-olds (weekly); trails revealing the secrets of their vast collection of objects; action-packed art and science workshops, and actors’ performances for all ages. Their family-friendly facilities include areas for changing and feeding babies, clean and accessible toilets, cafe and picnic areas and online activities in the E-Library and on the website. The Museum aims to increase the number of families who visit the National Maritime Museum by expanding programs of events, activities and special exhibitions for families, especially during weekends and holidays. All this makes the Museum more appealing to families. Along with individuals the Museum has also built up experience in providing for different type of groups who each have a different set of needs. Foreign language students – The Museum provides souvenir guides and essential visitor information on their website in different languages. This service targets both foreign tourists and domestic visitors with English as a second language. They also have non-Eurocentric displays and events which inform customers of the history of people and cultures from all over the world. Large Groups – For large groups coach parking is easily attainable, there are special discounts given to access the charging exhibitions, pre booked tickets make it easier for large groups to book easily and guided tours and talks are especially available for larger groups. Special Interest Groups – At the museum there are enquiry and research facilities accessible via the library, there are archives and online sources at hand and also special curator talks and tours for all the groups that have a special interest. Corporate and Private Hire Groups – There is event planning and support available for Corporate and Private Hire groups including venue hire and catering for those who want to use the museum for private hires and corporate reasons. Educational Groups – The museum provides curriculum recourses and educational talks along with support with visit planning and booking. They also have a lunchroom and cloakroom especially suited for school/ educational groups. Lastly the National Maritime Museum also focuses on developing access for all their visitors and users which includes those who are disabled. It continuously tries to exceed and improve the museums facilities to meet the basic requirements of those who are physically disabled, deaf and blind. They believe good, inclusive customer service is about understanding everybody’s special needs. For visitors with disabilities, the Museum has a range of access facilities as part of its customer service. o Installing new lifts and ramps o The Road Train service o Providing detailed information for disabled visitors o Providing alternative ways to access the Museum o Maintaining a policy of welcoming assistance dog They have added lifts to improve physical access around the Museum site. Members of staff are always at hand to help. The new lifts and ramps that have been installed provide flat or wheelchair access to all levels and galleries. Visitors may also borrow manual wheelchairs from admission areas. Special bookings for those who are disabled are also available by calling the bookings unit who will make any special arrangements. There is also information available online such as the availability of disabled car-parking, mobility buses and the access facilities on all their sites. It is also important that the customer information also describes areas that are not accessible – such as parts of the historic buildings of the Royal Observatory. This avoids frustration and disappointment on the day. Touch Sessions for Visually Impaired Visitors are also available. They have a number of alternative methods to accessing the Museum and its collections. For blind and visually-impaired visitors they provide: o Braille Guides o Raised drawing o Magnifying glasses o Large-print guides o Tactile maps o ‘touch packs’ They also run a program of pre-booked ‘touch talks and tours’ by Museum staff and guest speakers. The National Maritime Museum also has a sign-interpreted talk for deaf and hearing-impaired visitors. They have installed perimeter loops in the galleries, admission areas, information desks and key audio installations. They also run a program of pre-booked British Sign Language sign-interpreted talks and events. Customer service is important to the National Maritime Museum because without customers there would not be a business. Excellent customer service results in: * higher visitor numbers and greater customer diversity – Visits to the sites are increasing each year – provides a public service for groups of people who don’t traditionally visit or use cultural or heritage organizations like museums – Has an outreach community newsletter which has news and events for communities under-represented among the visitors * increased sales – The Museum generates increased income through shops, cafes and charging for special exhibitions – It also supplies hiring venues for corporate events and weddings and sales from the Picture Library. * increasing public image – The Museum has to compete with other organizations for people’s leisure, by providing excellent customer service it increases public image they do this using their website and leaflets * survival in terms of competition – Good customer service can give the Museum an edge over other tourist attractions or leisure facilities, as they compete for customers’ leisure time and money. * satisfied customers and greater job satisfaction for staff – As well as asking for feedback from customers and monitoring visit numbers the Museum pays a market research company to conduct surveys, the customers are asked to rate their experiences and satisfaction levels, this helps knowing the customer’s needs and satisfying them. – The staff also takes pride in being part of an organization which delivers high levels of customer service – Job satisfaction is increased by positive feedback from the customers * repeat business and customer loyalty – Museum donation box Analysis of feedback and visitor surveys indicates that 94% of visitors would recommend the Museum to their friends. – Excellent customer service results in strong customer loyalty and increased visitor numbers – especially repeat visits. The National Maritime Museum believes that to enjoy and learn from a museum’s collections, visitors must first feel welcome, secure and comfortable in their environment. Crucial factors include friendly staff to greet and help, clear signage, queuing systems, gallery plans and well-maintained washrooms and cloakrooms. Improvements to these areas can significantly increase word of mouth recommendations, repeat visits and time and money spent by visitors as competition for the public’s time and attention is intense.

Compensation policies and practices in any Saudi Company Essay

Compensation policies and practices in any Saudi Company - Essay Example The policy also holds that every employee should receive an employment contract specifying their levels of salary. This policy states that every employee of the company should receive a competitive salary and this is aims to ensure that the company is able to maintain a highly competitive workforce with high level of skills and expertise. Through this policy, it is able is able to establish a practice through which the appropriate salary is determined for all employees are therefore able to work competitively for the company. The second policy is the policy on range of salaries and on the method of payment. The range will be dependent on the level of qualification and the work experience that the employee has. The method of payment is monthly and will be dependent on the terms provided on the employment contract (PMU, 2013). Another policy that the company observes is the benefits policy which ensures that various benefits are offered to the employees. The benefits maintained in the benefits policy include an annual vacation for the employees, holidays for the employees provided by the company, offering insurance, savings and retirement plans for its employees, offering shipment for personal effects of the employees and assisting employees when undertaking their education. Another compensation policy that Saudi Aramco observes with regard to compensation of its employees is employee’s promotional policy which gives the well performing employees to higher levels in the company and this will entail a an increase in the amount of salary that the employee receives. The basis for promotion of the employees may also be upon the application for promotion by an employee. It may also be based on review of the academic records of the specific employee. Another compensation policy that south Aramco applies on its employees is overtime work policy. This policy ensures that the employees are compensated for the extra

Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Assignment Example Multi vary analysis provide full information on how a shift and a machine are factors, besides giving a full breakdown for one to determined which of the factors are involved, and from which sequence to the other without quantifying any of the factors ( Fay, M.P. & Proschan, M.A., 2010, pp. 1–39). It is indeed described as a perfect tool in the determination of where the variability will originate within the sequence of processes since it does not require manipulation of the independent variables or process parameters. Strengths of a multi-vary Chart is that: it provides visual alternatives to analysis of variance; they allow for the display of positional or cyclical variations in processes, and to study variations within a subgroup(s); and, providing an overall view of the factor effects based on the visualized sources of variations in a single diagram. For instance, the multi-chart below illustrates differences that exist between two call centers in terms of customer categor ies (green buttons), requests types (black and white symbols) and call centers (red buttons). It is epitomized that waiting durations are tentatively larger at M call center as compared to S call center. Instrumental variable (IV) Regression This is a broad approach of obtaining a regular estimator of the indefinite measurements of the population’s recession purpose whenever the regression, X, is correlated with the error term u. one has to think of the variable in X as having two parts: the first part that, for whatever reason, is correlated with u, and a second part that is not correlated with u. In case one has information that can allow him or her to effectively isolate the second section, to enable for a focus on the variables in X that bias the OLS estimates. Information based on movement in X that is uncorrelated with u is gleaned from one or more additional variables, known as the instrumental variables or in some cases, instruments. Therefore, instrumental variables regression applies the additional variables as tools of instruments in isolating the movements in X that are uncorrelated with u, which in turn permit consistent estimation of the regression coefficients. The main key to achieving successful empirical analysis using instrumental variables is through finding valid instruments. Instrument Variable can hence be used in addressing issues to do with threats to internal validity such as: omitted variable bias from a variable correlated with X but is unobserved, to obstruct its inclusion in the regression; errors-in-variables bias; and, simultaneous causality bias. T-Test This analysis tool evaluates if the means of two sets are statistically dissimilar to one another. The t-test is used for testing differences between two means. So as to use a t-test, the same variable has to be measured in varied groups, at varied times, or in comparison to a known population mean. The shared applications of the t-test analysis systems involve testing th e dissimilarities existing between independent clusters, and analysis the differences concerning depended sets. In a T-test analysis, statistical assumption made are that most of its cases have the form t is equal to Z/s, a case of which Z and s are data functions. One-way ANOVA A one-way analysis of variance is a method of testing the

Harry Potter And Fandom Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Harry Potter And Fandom - Essay Example In addition, this section will also showcase how the complexity of Harry Potter’s themes plays a key role in the reception and interpretation of the films. In the second section, the essay introduces the critics of the Harry Potter works and showcase how such criticism shapes the reception and interoperation of such movies.   In addition, the second section will be key in demonstrating how film critics may distort the messages that the initial author intended to convey and therefore the need for the authors to remain steadfast in explaining to their fans the themes in order to counteract the critics.   The section will also show how film critics are beneficial to the particular authors of the stories as the critics when positively taken help adjust and tailor such works to meet the readers and audience needs. The section uses the film's critics to uncover how the reception and interpretation are embedded on them.   The essay gives a small history of Harry Potter seven wo rks in order to give the insights into how they have been interpreted and subsequently understood by the audience and readers.  In the third section, the paper focuses on the interpretation of Harry Potter and Fandom.   Here, the interpretations of themes, styles are analyzed based on the outcomes from the proposed research.  The recommendation is made based on these results to either invalidate or validate the hypothesis earlier outlined in the proposal section.

The seriousness of Military Veteran Homelessness Essay

The seriousness of Military Veteran Homelessness - Essay Example â€Å"Roughly  56 percent  of all homeless veterans are African American or Hispanic, despite only accounting for 12.8 percent and 15.4 percent of the U.S. population respectively† (National Coalition for Homeless Veternas, 2011). The biggest problem of the military veterans in America is homelessness. About 50% of the veterans that had served in the military in the Vietnam era are homeless today. According to the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), most of the homeless veterans of the nation are men while the percentage of women is about 5. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) records a minimum of 131000 homeless veterans every night while the number of military veterans that are found to experience homelessness every year is 262000 (National Coalition for the Homeless, 2009). They generally come from urban regions and account for one third of the total population of homeless people in America. The homelessness and lack of employment is just as much a problem for the young veterans who have recently returned from Afghanistan and Iraq as it is for the old veterans that have served in the previous wars. They have their lunches and dinners in the soup kitchens and are desperate for finding jobs even if they have too do menial works (USA Today, 2007). Last, but not the least, the homelessness has led the military veterans to depression. A vast majority of these veterans are single and suffer from physical and psychological illnesses. Many are patients of depression and are addicted to substance abuse. One veteran said, I shed blood for this country and got the Purple Heart after a mortar blast sent shrapnel into my face and leg. But when I came back home from Vietnam I was having problems. I tried to hurt my wife because she was Filipino. Every time I looked at her I thought I was in Vietnam again. So we broke up. (Glantz, 2009, p. 1). Unfortunately, there is no proper system in place to cater for

Women's Suffrage Discussion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Women's Suffrage Discussion - Essay Example With regards to nationhood, voting rights gives a person the opportunity to exercise citizenship of that particular nation it doesn’t matter whether a common history, culture or language is shared with others. Women’s suffrage brought new rights since women issues became political issues and the issues were put to law. There were still shortcomings as they didn’t get equal citizens to men. Items such as military issues were not gained with voting rights. International events contributed to womens suffrage as there was a great change towards women’s suffrage between the end of World War I and World War II. Dr. Woodworth-Neys finds a pattern to womens suffrage in the American West as most women had voting rights prior to the passage of the nineteenth amendment as they had more choices. Suffrage proponents argue women voting would not protect the status quo since more women voting would increase the population of black voters. The status quo could be protected by increased white vote by white women in places like Texas. Other activists advocated for right reforms such as equal economic rights, protection of properties, divorce reforms, better education and opportunities. Both Professor Kuhlman and Professor Woodworth-Ney pointed that women suffrage politicized women issues and gave them more right. However, Professor Woodworth-Ney sees a pattern in women suffrage in American West while Professor Kuhlman does not find it. For instance, enactment of women voting rights in Texas would restore the status quo in America. Other concerns presented included, better education opportunities for women, divorce reforms and property protection rights. The concerns were addressed by women suffrage as women got a political voice. Granting women the right to vote was

The First, Second, Third Punic Wars Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The First, Second, Third Punic Wars - Essay Example The outcome of the wars established the enduring legacy of the Roman Empire as one of the greatest in the whole of history. The influence of the Punic Wars on Western Civilization The Punic Wars were important also for their influence on subsequent diplomatic and military strategies. Many theories pertaining to political and military strategy were conceived and codified during these three wars. These theories continued to be perused by later generations of leaders. The Punic Wars were also important for their impact on cultural and philosophical development in Europe. Since the Western Mediterranean region was such a cultural and intellectual melting pot, gaining control of it conferred prestige on the Roman Empire. The leaders of the Empire would in turn encourage the growth of arts and culture. It is no coincidence that the rise of the Roman Empire through victories in the Punic Wars happened during the Hellenistic era. It is as if the explosion of art, literature, philosophy, thea tre, architecture, music and science in Hellenistic Greece is a response to the ascendency of the Roman Empire through the Punic Wars. First Punic War: Winner, Loser, Gains and Losses At the beginning of the First Punic War, Rome only possessed a modest navy. On the other hand, Carthage held the most competent and experienced navy in the region. Since Rome can access Sicily only through its navy, Carthage was able to quell its initial forays. Though set back by these early defeats, the Roman military strategists rose to the occasion and started building a substantial fleet of ships to neutralize Carthaginian naval power. This enterprise proved to be a success and eventually Sicily and other contested territories was conceded by Carthage to Rome. The outcome of the First Punic War established Rome as a considerable imperial power in the Mediterranean region. As part of the reparations, Rome acquired a fair share of Carthage’s wealth, so much so that an indignant Carthaginian l eadership would carry its scars into the future. These hurt pride and perceived injustice would be the backdrop for further conflicts between the two empires. Rome and Carthage made several trade pacts after the war and they even agreed to an alliance to suppress King Pyrrhus of Epirus. As part of the war indemnity, Carthage was asked to release thousands of Roman prisoners of war. Large amounts of silver were also included as reparation. But Carthage’s economy and military were so devastated by the war that it was unable to fulfil its post-war pacts. This led to resentment from Rome and made further wars inevitable. Second Punic War: Winner, Loser, Gains and Losses The Second Punic War followed a similar pattern to that of the first. Although Carthage under the imaginative command of Hannibal made impressive forays into Roman held territory, the superior organization and adaptability of Roman forces eventually proved decisive. Hannibal’s crossing of Alps with an Eleph ant-ridden battalion was an impressive feat. Hannibal was able to dominate the country outside Rome on the back of his superior infantry. But the crucial fortress of Rome the city was never to be breached. Acting against Hannibal’s progress was the resolute support Rome received from its allies. Hence Carthage was once again defeated by the superior diplomacy, combat tactics and foresight of Roman leadership. But unlike the First Punic Wa

Role of women in Christian Leadership Assignment

Role of women in Christian Leadership - Assignment Example Some of these arguments are against women leadership in churches while others seek to justify the need to have women leaders in church. All quarters seek to justify their stand on the issue using the Bible as their basis (Scott, 2002, p. 27). In 1Timothy 2:12, Paul says he does not permit women to have authority over men in the church. He also bars them from teaching. According to him, a woman is to be submissive and silent. He goes further to quote the Genesis creation story and states that God created man first before the woman. He goes further to say that, it was Eve that first fell to temptation and not Adam. This may have formed the basis for his argument against women leadership in the early church. Going backwards, we see Paul stating the appropriate dress code for women as he sees it fit (1Timothy 2:9). This brings out yet another possible reason for Paul’s stand. He may have noted the danger in how women dressed in church and that is why he emphasized on how they were to dress. He possibly saw that in their quest to look good, women might end up overdoing it to the extent that it affects their ministry in the church. It may also form ground for competition among them thus causing them to deviate from their main roles of leadership. Such competition could be harmful to the church as it could escalate and cause division as they try to outdo each other. Yet another fear could be the possibility of women ignoring their ethical responsibilities as they engage more and more in leadership. This could be harmful to their family lives, as they could possibly want to carry their authority back into their homes, which would be against their traditional Laws where the man was the head of the family. We could also possibly say that Paul was referring to women in the past that had been in influential positions but were evil or deceiving. Women such as Jezebel (II Kings 9:10) and Delilah (Judges 16) may have contributed to the notion that given a chance, women could become evil and cause the downfall of man, which could translate to the fall of the church. Great men such as Samson, David, Solomon and even Adam all seem to have fallen or made wrong choices due to women. If Paul was drawing his conclusions from such events involving women, the he had some ground to argue for barring women from leading in the church. In the book of Corinthians, Paul reminds the church what the laws say about women and how they should not speak in front of the congregation. Any woman who had anything to ask was to ask her husband at home and not in the church. The laws considered it a disgrace for a woman to speak in church (1Corinthians 14:34-35). Paul was possibly insisting on this to ensure that there was order within the church. Paul’s letters to Timothy and The Corinthians came at a time when there were quarrels within the church. The letters served to reaffirm the laws to bring about order. In 1Timothy, People who have little understanding of th e laws and scriptures tend to be challenging Timothy’s authority within the church. These seem to be preaching erroneously to the people. Among these are probably women who interpret the scriptures in their own ways to justify their participation in leadership in the church. Paul seeks to help Timothy subdue feministic tendencies that may be cropping up in the Church. He writes to reaffirm Timothy’s authority in the church. Although Paul’s words come out strongly against women leadership, he does not discourage women participation in the work of evangelization. This is through women such as Priscilla who

Management and Organizational Behavior Case Study

Management and Organizational Behavior - Case Study Example r higher positions before sourcing from outside the company as evidenced by the promotion of Aaron Nelson and Kyle Christiansen from state billing office manager to the VP of Technology and director of the new unit of Medical Billing respectively (Case Study: Growth Pains at Mountain States Healthcare 1). Mountain States Healthcare was facing issues of high turnover in the recently consolidated medical billing directorate and was anticipating failing cash flow. These issues were drawing largely from the inflexibility of the leadership of Kyle Christiansen. Christiansen was instigating changes that were causing undesirable results especially on the employees working in his unit. Christiansen made promises to his employees when he rose to power but after two months, he was not delivering on these promises, and this made his juniors doubt his ability. The employees were aggravated over the cut-down of their work roles and flextime. Those in the offices that were being closed down were living for jobs in other companies. The software in the directorate was failing due to overloading. The postponement of issues addressed to Christiansen, his oversimplification of some, and excessive exertion of his authority demonstrated the ineffectiveness of his leadership (Case Study: Growth Pains at M ountain States Healthcare 3). The decision by the Board of Directors of Mountain States Healthcare to expand operations to states beyond Utah was a desirable aspect of the company’s management process. This is because the growth in profits would have led to the company outgrowing the potential of its initial market share. Additionally, the fact that this expansion would increase the profitability of the company’s shareholders showed that the board emphasized social responsibility. The decision to outsource consultancy services on the concern of how to cut on unnecessary administrative costs showed that the board’s management process aspired for objectivity (Case Study: Growth

The green revolution Essay Example for Free

The green revolution Essay The green revolution was the worlds introduction to modern agricultural and a time of vast improvements in the worlds fight in hunger. New technologies such as hi yield variety seeds Chemical fertilizer and agricultural machinery lid this revolution and are still a big part of the way we produce food for the world we live in today. The green revolution saved A lot of small developing countries throughout the world. Food is now a mass produced all around the world in fields and distributed to countries in need as well as countries whos people are willing to pay for foreign and exotic foods. The green revolution has one enemy, The reproductive rate of the human species is exceeding the rate and which we can make food to feed it.

A Study On Sharing The Wealth Philosophy Essay

A Study On Sharing The Wealth Philosophy Essay There are many people in the world who are currently living in horrible conditions that include malnutrition, hunger, and polluted drinking water. While these people are living in such horrible conditions, I am living a comfortable life and have a habit of taking advantage of certain luxuries that are available to me, but not to someone living in such unfortunate conditions. If a global tax was instated in an attempt to end hunger by contributing a mere one dollar a week, then I would be more than willing to support this movement. There are some others who would agree to and support this tax, but there are also some who disagree with this tax. Different individuals who would have varying opinions on this idea for a global tax are Thomas Pogge, John McMillian, Peter Singer, and Garrett Hardin. Thomas Pogge, as shown in his essay, World Poverty and Human Rights, would seem to agree with the notion of a global tax to help aid those in need. He writes that we have duties, not to expose people to life-threatening poverty and duties to shield them from harms for which we would be actively responsible (Pogge 319). In other words, he believes that those who live in wealthier nations should not allow other people to fall to illnesses if they can afford not to. This would include leaving people to just starve when one can contribute a small portion of our funds to them. Pogge also discusses the topic of how richer countries, such as the United States, strip these poorer areas of their own natural resources. He does mention that these countries to pay for it, but there is a problem with this payment. The payments we make for resource imports go to the rulers of the resource-rich countries, with no concern about whether they are democratically elected or at least minimally attentive to the needs to the people they rule (Pogge 320). Although the richer nations may be paying for the resources they take away, they are paying to leaders who may not share this payment fairly with those that they rule. With this idea in mind, perhaps Pogge would be even more supportive of this global tax if it could be guaranteed that the funds from the tax would be placed in the correct hands and those who need it will actually receive it. Peter Singer is another person who would agree to this notion of a global tax to an extent. In his essay, World Poverty and Hunger, he states that, I (Singer) begin with the assumption that suffering and death from lack of food, shelter, and medical care are bad (Singer 332). It would be an obvious conclusion to come to from this that he would agree that everyone (who can afford to do so) contributing something to people who are suffering from those things would be a good thing. This is ratified when he states that, if it is in our power to prevent something bad from happening, with-out thereby sacrificing anything of comparable moral importance, we ought, morally, to do it (Singer 332). Again, this would lead to the conclusion that he would be in favor of this tax. Although evidence would support that he would be in favor of the global tax, his argument soon gets more complex than that: If everyone in circumstances like mine were to give  £5, I would have no obligation to give more than  £5. If the conclusion were so stated, however, it would be obvious that the argument has no bearing on a situation in which it is not the case that everyone else gives  £5 (Singer 333). In other words, the wording of that statement means that not everyone would be obligated to give that amount of money. Therefore, by giving more than  £5 I will prevent more suffering than I would if I gave just  £5 (Singer 333). Although this is more of a real-world situation, there is evidence in these statements to come to the conclusion that Singer would redefine this global tax. Instead of everyone being taxed one dollar, everyone should instead give as much as they can to limit even more suffering. He continues to say, it follows that I and everyone else in similar circumstances ought to give as much as possible, that is, at least up tot he point at which by giving more one would begin to cause serious suffering for oneself and ones dependents (Singer 333). He would suggest that everyone who can should give as much as they can without causing suffering on themselves. However, despite the idea that Singer would prefer people to give as much as they possibly can, he would sti ll be in favor of the global tax as it is. As he says, At the very least, though, one can make a start (Signer 338). It is better to give something than nothing at all. Although there are those who agree with the notion of a global tax, there are also those who would not approve of this idea. One such person in John McMillan. In his essay, Antipoverty Wars he blatantly states that, Global poverty cannot be eliminated by sharing the wealth (McMillan 323). The global tax in question would be an example of this idea of sharing the wealth as McMillan puts it. Instead he believes that, The only real solution therefore, is economic growth, to expand the worlds total resources (McMillan 324). By growth, he means an increase in a nations income (McMillan 324). Something in this argument that cannot be ignored is the reasons he gives for the potential failure of redistributing the wealth to those in need. Let us do some hypothetical arithmetic. Imagine that the wealth of the millionaires is confiscated and distributed to everyone earning less than $2 per day. Dividing $25 trillion among 2.8 billion people would give $9,000 to each. (à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) It would be infeasible for many reasons, one of which is that taxing income at 100 percent would squash any incentive to earn it (McMillan 323). In this, McMillan states that even though it would give a substantial amount to those in need, it would not bode well to take all of the wealth that millionaires make. With the global tax in question, it would only require everyone to be taxed one dollar, not the entirety of a millionaires wealth like McMillan mentioned. Despite this, McMillan still states that he believes that economic growth is what should be focused on to increase the wealth in a country. Therefore it can be assumed that he would not agree to the idea of a global tax in favor for economic growth instead. In his essay, Living on a Lifeboat, Garrett Hardin is another individual who, like McMillan, would not agree that this global tax is a good idea. He writes this essay with the idea in mind of the lifeboat metaphor. He explains this metaphor as such, Metaphorically, each rich nation amounts to a lifeboat full of comparatively rich people. The poor of the world are in other, much more crowded, lifeboats. Continuously, so to speak, the poor fall out of their lifeboats and swim for a while in the water outside, hoping to be admitted to a rich lifeboat, or in some other way to benefit from the goodies on board (Hardin 340). In other words, the rich nations are separate from, and in better conditions than, the poorer nations. The poorer nations have overflowed and are now in the water and need a boat to get on in order to live. The decision now is whether or not to allow them onto our (the richer nations) lifeboat. Hardin believes that nobody should be allowed onto the lifeboat for many metaphorical reasons, and then backs them up with real-world reasons. The closest example that would align to this notion of a global tax would be the international food bank. One of his issues with this idea is that, the concepts of blame and punishment are irrelevant. The question is, what are the operational consequences of establishing a world food back? If it is open to every country every time a need develops, slovenly rulers will not be motivated (à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦). Others will bail them out whenever they are in trouble (Hardin 343). In other words, the leaders of these countries that are receiving aid will not be motivated to prepare for bad times or to help themselves. They will just become, essentially, lazy and not do anything to help themselves. They will become reliant on other countries to bail them out. The most anguishing problems are created by poor countries that are governed by rulers insufficiently wise and powerful (Hardin 344). Here is where Hardin claims that the rulers are not capable of properly leading these poorer countries and that is why they are not doing so well. To relate these ideas to the global tax would be to say that, since these countries are receiving aid now, they do not have to worry about what will happen later because they will become accustomed to thinking that they will always receive that aid when they believe it is necessary. The one dollar that everyone donates could help them get out of poverty, but it would not help them to stay out of it. My personal response to this global tax is a positive one. Despite Hardin and McMillans possible views on the idea, I still believe it would ultimately benefit poorer nations and lead to positive results. The biggest incentive for agreeing with this notion for a global tax is very simple: it is easily affordable. It would not involve drastic cuts from a paycheck that leaves one without money for the things that are necessary for them to live in a day to day society. If everyone contributed one dollar a week, it would not add up for each person individually. This idea aligns up with Singers argument. Since I have money to spare and can give without taking away from any necessities that I have, I should be willing to donate it to those who need it. Even though McMillan makes the argument that sharing the global wealth would not help these nations, I disagree. I disagree because of his proposal that economic growth is the key to a nations success. As both Pogge and Hardin point out, the leaders of these poorer countries are not always the most well suited or fair. Pogge states that the wealth that the economic leaders would get are not being shared with the rest of the nation. Hardin states that getting this aid would not encourage the leaders to start becoming dependent on their own land. This would lead to economic growth being very difficult. Also, as Pogge does mention, richer countries are coming and either buying or stripping a country of its natural resources. There resources are possible necessities that these poorer nations may need in order to actually grow. Another issue that prevents me to subscribing to McMillans theory is his example as to why spreading the global wealth is bad. The first is that it is purely based on the idea of completely taking away a millionaires profit for a year. In our example of a global tax, one dollar a week will hardly scratch the surface of a millionaires profit, and it would still provide positive results to those in need. McMillans theory also requires that this spreading of global wealth is only in place for one year. This global tax would be in place for longer than that one year. This means that it would have more of a chance of being effective and collecting more for those in need. Pogge brings up the point that not when richer countries purchase land or goods from the leaders of poorer countries, the wealth is not always distributed to the people. This is why I believe that the money that is taken from the global tax should be carefully moderated to ensure that it gets placed into the right hands. For this reason, I disagree with Hardins logic. Although the leaders may not always be the best suited, the money can still be distributed to those who need it by not providing it to those in charge. If this money is monitored, there should be no issue of this. A global tax of one dollar per person a week would be a huge benefit to those in the world who need the money and are living in horrible conditions. Taking into consideration of how the money gets distributed and that those giving the money do not place themselves in danger or in need, I agree to this concept of a global tax. Despite McMillans and Hardins views, I think it is a good idea to attempt to redistribute the funds in the richer countries by taking this very small step.

Overview Of Mergers And Acquisitions

Overview Of Mergers And Acquisitions The literature has observed and increasing investigation about MA in the las two decades Appelbaum et al., 2007 in response to a lot of MA activities along side with the complex situation that appear from the interaction of two parties (Gaughan, 2002). Definition of MA, in a broad sense, may be implied to many different type of transactions from alliences, purchase, cooperation, joint ventures, management buy-out nad buy-in, change of legal form and even restructuring (Picot, 2002, p.15). However, , Nakamura (2005) argues that using broad definitions could cause confusion and incorrectly comprehend everything from strategic alliances to pure mergers. Therefore, a narrower sense of MA definition is adopted as below. Merger is the creation of new holding company by combining of two firms (European Central Bank, 2000, Gaughan, 2002, Jagersma, 2005). Acquisition is purchasing shares or assets from another company in order broaden the influence of the management(European Central Bank, 200 0, Chunlai Chen and Findlay, 2003), when mutual agreement might not be necessary. Types of MA According to Nakamura (2005, p.18) Mergers are referred to as two types of merger by absorption or merger by establishment (Chunlai Chen and Findlay, 2003, Nakamura, 2005). The absorbing merger happens when one company buys all the stocks of another and the absorbed company stops from existing whereas Establishment merger happens when both firms merge to create a new one while the combined firms are dissolved (Chunlai Chen and Findlay, 2003). Moreover, Nakamura (2005) considered the merger by absorption as as de facto acquisition. Thus the term consolidation could also be used to refer to merger by an establishment (Gaughan, 2002). In acquisition, the acquiring company may try to acquire certain shares or assets of the target company. As a result, here are two type of acquisitions: Firstly, the assets acquisition (Chunlai Chen and Findlay, 2003) which occurs when a firm buys all or part of the target firms assets while the target firm stays as a legal entity after the process. Secondly, the share acquisition when a firm buys a significant share of stocks in the target firm which provides them managerial influence in the target company. Moreover, depending on the amount of acquired share of stocks then the acquisition is again classified into three types: (1) majority (50-99%), (2) minority (less than 50%) and (3) complete take over (100% of targets issued shares) (Chunlai Chen and Findlay, 2003, Nakamura, 2005). In fact, acquisitions and mergers are distinct with different outcomes regarding tax liabilities, legal obligations and acquisition procedures (Marren, 1993). However, there is not attempt to separate the acquisition transaction from the merger when speaking about the final outcomes when companies combine together. MA can be named Vertical, Horizontal o r Conglomerate (Gaughan, 2002, Chunlai Chen and Findlay, 2003). In horizontal mergers and acquisitions, the acquiring firms and the target firms are competing companies in the same field. Chunlai Chen and Findlay (2003) argues, because of the international restructuring of many industries, horizontal MA observed a rapid growth in recent years in response to liberalization and technological change. These figures are seen in industries like automobile, petroleum and pharmaceutical. A good example of mergers and acquisition in this category is the US76 Billion Dollars Merger between two enormous pharmaceutical companies, Smithkline Beecham and Glaxo (MANDA, 2007). Smithkline Beechams former CEO Jan Leschly, said, the aim of this transaction was RD synergy in order grab opportunities to drive high revenues since new technologies are emerging rapidly in this particular industry (Carey, 2000 in Harvard Business Review, 2001). However, the combination of companies in buyer-seller or client -supplier relationships is the Vertical merger and acquisition. Transaction cost and uncertainty is being reduced when the two involved firms downstream and upstream linkage within the value chain and to create benefits in the economic scope (Chunlai Chen and Findlay, 2003). Lastly, firms may try to reduce risks and achieve economies of scope by practicing conglomerate MA where the involving firms have different types of businesses. A good example is when General Foods in 1985 was acquired by Philip Morris for value of US5.6 Billion Dollars (Gaughan, 2002). Furthermore, Mergers and acquisitions can be called hostile or friendly'(Chunlai Chen and Findlay, 2003). The transaction is friendly when the board of executive of the target firm agrees to it. On the contrary, the transaction is considered hostile when it is done against the wishes of the target company board. Last but not least, MA can be also classified as cross-border or domestic with regards to where the involved firms are based or operate their work. In Domestic MA the involved companies come from the same country and operate within that same economical region or country. Accordingly, the cross-border MA are two companies are situated in different economies, or the two companies are working in the same economy but they belong to different countries (Chunlai Chen and Findlay, 2003). Appelbaum, S.H., Lefrancois, F., Tonna, R., and Shapiro, B.T., 2007. Mergers 101 (part two): training managers for culture, stress, and change challenges. Industrial and Commercial Training, 39 (4), 191-200 Gaughan, P. A., 2002. Mergers, Acquisitions, and Corporate restructuring. 3rd ed. New York: Picot, G., 2002. Handbook of international mergers and acquisitions: Preparation, Implementation and Integration Nakamura, H.R., 2005. Motives, Partner Selection and Productivity Effects of MAs: The Pattern of Japanese Mergers and Acquisition. Thesis (Ph.D.), Institute of International Business, Stockholm School of Economics. European Central Bank, 2000. Mergers and Acquisitions involving the EU Banking industry Facts and Implications [online]. Available at www.ecb.int/pub/pdf/other/eubkmergersen.pdf [Accessed 1 October 2007] Gaughan, P. A., 2002. Mergers, Acquisitions, and Corporate restructuring. 3rd ed. New York Jagersma, P. K., 2005. Cross-border acquisitions of European multinationals. Journal of General Management. 30 (3), 13-34 Chunlai Chen, Z., and Findlay, C., 2003. A Review of Cross-border Mergers and Acquisitions in APEC. Asian-Pacific Economic Literature, 17 (2), 14-38. Marren, H., 1993. Mergers and Acquisitions: a valuation handbook, Business One Irwin, Homewood, Illinois Institute of Mergers, Acquisitions and Alliances Research, 2007. Top Mergers Acquisitions (MA) Deals [online]. Available at http://www.mandainstitute.org/en/statistics-top-ma-deals-transactions.htm [Accessed 10 October 2007]. Investopedia ULD, [no date]. Advisor [online]. Available at http://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/advisor.asp. [Accessed 15 October 2007] Harvard Business Review, 2001. Harvard Business Review on Merger and Acquisition. U.S.A: Harvard Business school Publishing Corporation Motives and objectives of MA: Understanding the objectives of an MA can be shown in two perspective. These objectives are to fulfill managerial influence or to maximize the shareholders wealth. In the perspective of maximizing the shareholders wealth, the main target behind the transaction between the two companies is to create a maximization of wealth for the shareholders. This happens when the net current value of the investment is in a positive trend. Thus, the other managerial perspective of the MA can happen in order to maintain growth, risk diversification, use of previous skills and abilities and to avoid being taken over (Sudarsanam, 1995). The literature on MA has a significant effort in analyzing the motive behind its transaction. ON the other hand Trautwein (1990) and later Cox (2006) they made a good summary with different theories that you can see in the table below. The suggested motive under different theories, Trautwein (1990) mentioned that MA creators refer to value creation and the synergy in order to justify the MA action. Trautwein (1990) also mentioned that is little evidence found about the implied motive in both research and practice by the raider theory process. He also taped into the disturbance theory but it has no consideration for this dissertation as it is on macro-economic level rather that micro-economic. However, Gaughan (2002) explains MA motives in a more practical way by referring many theories supported with multiple case studies. So Gaughan has four main motive for the MA: MA is a mean for the companies to grow rapidly. Economic gains and return are hoped to be achieved by the MA firms Creating a large firm with the MA to gain a better market access which can promise lower capital cost and other financial benefits. Creating gains by applying a more superior managerial influence on the target business. Thus, it can be concluded that all the authors had common sense that motives can vary between different MA deals and it is difficult to simply justify with a singe theory or approach. Sudarsanam, S. (1995). The essence of mergers and acquisitions. Hemel Hampstead: Prentice hall Cox, R. A. K., 2006. Merger and Acquisition: A Review of the Literature. Corporate Ownership Control, Spring, 3 (3), 55-59 Trautwein, F., 1990. Merger Motives and Prescriptions. Strategic Management Journal, 11 (4), 283-295 Gaughan, P. A., 2002. Mergers, Acquisitions, and Corporate restructuring. 3rd ed. New York C:UsersJohabDesktopimage.png Challenges and problems of MA: According to Smith (2003),after analyzing many cases he argues that many MA s fail to achieve their objectives. Every firm has a unique culture, but there can be similar things between two firms depending on the company management, vision, size and objectives. However, when two firms will merge under one management, the organizational culture becomes a serious problem that needs to be dealt with. Challenges arise in MA from leadership,communication and cultural differences and not only from legal or financial problems. However, tremendous studies suggest that the success factors of MA mainly depend on culture. Moreover, managers should have awareness about the difference in culture between organizations and avoid the problems by maintaining good communication with the employees, stakeholders and customers (Dell et al. 2001, Kelly et al. 1999, Kearney 1999, Booz-Allen Hamilton 2001 inPautler 2003). Thus, many mergers fail during the integration process. This normally results due to cultural differences, management, strategy, lack of clear vision and communication delays (Nguyen, Kleiner 2003). So the challenges can be in three different parts: 1-Individuals: Whatever is the change in a company like routine or drastic like a merger, is always about the people(Todnem, 2005). The human factor in mergers and acquisitions in recognized as a very important base for it success (Boaten, 2006). The reason is that these individuals are the breathing and living organisms who bring life and prosperity into the company. They create the firms unique culture which is in its industry, management and nationality etc. Thus, this is a reason why persuading these people is very important to achieve the organizational goals and the desired synergy by the MA. Accordingly, Individual face many challenges during the MA. Some of the staged based on Fishers work the personal transition curve can be identified as follows. A-Fear of the unknown and anxiety: When the the short-term plans for the future are not clear, that brings anxiety for the employees which creates the fear of the unknown. Therefore, they will try to resist the change. B-Stress and threat leading to the depression: The lack of communication makes the individual feel lost and makes it impossible for them to understand their standing. Feeling ill or doing it as an excuse for a long absence from the company. Fear of the change and the involved uncertainty makes the employees feel threatened from the future and their job security. This even makes the employee look for different jobs instead of focusing on their own. Eventually the production goes down rapidly and the synergies start to dissolve. c-Integration and Acceptance: When the employees start accepting the facts and change gradually, integration takes place incrementally. Thus, through the process there will be increasing in the employee turnover which also causes a decrease in the intellectual capital and can lead to MA failure. 2-Lack of effective leadership: Starting from top level management to lower level employees, they all become worried about their job security. This can cause a decrease in the employee commitment to their job and the company they work for and reduced satisfaction at work which leads to a weak performance. The managers also lose their trust and start hesitating to take decisions. Lack of trust leads to isolation from other teams and managers. This leads to breakdowns in communications and creating more anxiety for the employees who need a good confidence and leadership from the executives. Moreover, the doubt in the managerial abilities leads to more resistance to any change that happens during the MA. 3-Cultural clash: As mentioned above, the culture is a very important aspect in any MA.the cultural differences in managerial system and values cause many problems for the employee to adapt successfully which result a culture clash. The culture problem is a phenomenon that created the bases of all the resistance Nguyen and Kleiner(2003) from the commitment problems, increasing turnover of the staff, company structure and reduces productivity which ultimately leads to the failure of the MA. Pautler, P.A. (2003) The Effects of Mergers and Post-Merger Integration: A Review of Business Consulting Literature, Bureau of Economics Federal Trade Commission Nguyen, H., Kleiner, B.H. (2003), The Effective Management of Mergers, Leadership Organisation Development Journal, 24(8), pp. 447-454 Todnem, R. (2005), Organisational Change Management: A Critical Review, Journal of Change Management, 5(4), pp. 369-380 Londros, G., Boateng, A. (2006) The role of culture in the merger and acquisition process. Evidence from the European chemical industry, Management Decision, 44(10), pp.1405-1421 Banal-Estanol, A., Seldeslachts, J. (2011) Merger Failures, Journal of Economics and Management Strategy, 20(2), p.589-624

Biography of Karl Marx Essay -- biographies Biography Karl Marx Essays

Biography of Karl Marx Few names evoke as strong a response as Karl Marx. Some consider him a genius and a prophet, while others see only evil in his ideas. Everyone agrees that Marx stands among the social thinkers with the greatest impact on the world's people. There are many people who pass into and out of our lives. It is those great people that are remembered forever. One great person is Karl Marx. He is an extraordinary person that has changed and shaped the way of the future. Marx had many great experiences and achievements throughout his lifetime for which he is remembered. On May 5, 1818, Karl Marx was born to father, Heinrich Marx, and his wife, Henriette. Karl was born in Trier, Prussia, where he lived throughout his childhood. His father was a lawyer and his family lived among the â€Å"petty-bourgeoisie.† 1 The bourgeoisie at this point in time was considered the middle class in society. The Marx family was Jewish, but later converted to Protestantism in 1824. In October of 1830, Marx enrolled at the Trier Gymnasium. At Trier Gymnasium Marx obtained his high school education. Following graduation from Trier, he decided to continue his education and go on to attend Bonn University as a law student in October of 1835. Here, Marx studied for only several months, and then enrolled at Berlin University in October of 1836. At Berlin University he also studied law, but majored in history and philosophy. While attending Bonn University, Marx decides to propose to Jenny Von Westphalen in the summer of 1836. Jenny Von Westphalen was Marx's love of his life. The two of them had played and grown up together throughout their childhood. According to Eleanor Marx, â€Å"Karl wai... ...in Neue Zeit 1897 <http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/bio/marx/eleanor.htm> (29 October 2001) 3. Marx 4. Lenin 5. Thomas, Paul, â€Å"Nature and Artifice in Marx,† History of Political Thought [Great Britain], 1998. 485-503 (29 October 2001) 6. Thomas 7. Thomas 8. Engels, Frederick, "Karl Marx," in Die Gartenlaube 1868 <http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/bio/marx/eng-1869.htm> (29 October 2001) 9. Lenin 10. Lenin 11. Unknown, "Draft of a Speech at the Graveside of Karl Marx," in La Justice 1883 <http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1883deat/justice.htm> (29 October 2001) Links: www.philosophypages.com/ph/marx.htm http://www.maoism.org/marx/marx_idx.htm www.stud.unisg.ch/~ajaritz/marx/marxh.htm www.lucidcafe.com/library/96may/marx.htm www.xs4all.nl/~aboiten/marx.html

Aunt Jennifers Tigers by Adrienne Rich Essay -- Aunt Jennifers Tiger

Aunt Jennifer's Tigers by Adrienne Rich Who is Aunt Jennifer? Does she even exist? I had to ask myself these questions before even going further into the poem. The answers opened the door to a deeper meaning behind Aunt Jennifer's Tigers. Based on Adrienne Rich's background I believe Aunt Jennifer did exist. However, Aunt Jennifer was not Rich's aunt. Aunt Jennifer represented women all over the world, particularly women in American, who were caught under the oppressive hand of a patriarchal society. Adrienne Rich was perhaps one of those women. Rich, one of the most influential poets of her time, dealt with controversial issues such as sexuality, race, language, power, and women's culture. Her passion in this area forced her to look and challenge the standard and the norm. The popular clichà © that refers to marriage as that old "ball and chain" takes on a more serious meaning with Rich as she reveals, through the simple lines of Aunt Jennifer's Tigers, a woman's struggles with expression, rebellion, and a society where power is defined as masculine. Aunt Jennifer's Tigers by Adrienne Rich Aunt Jennifer's Tigers prance across a screen, Bright topaz denizens of a world of green. They do not fear the men beneath the tree; They pace in sleek chivalric certainty. Aunt Jennifer's fingers fluttering through her wool Find even the ivory needle hard to pull. The massive weight of Uncle's wedding band Sit's heavily upon Aunt Jennifer's hand. When Aunt Jennifer is dead, her terrified hands will lie Still ringed with ordeals she was mastered by. The tigers in the panel that she made Will go on prancing, proud and unafraid. Rich begins her poem with a beautiful picture, setting the scene for the dream wo... ...it through masculine images. Those images were all she had ever known. Aunt Jennifer never got to see women standing strong and proud because they were simply women. She missed out on watching women become astronauts, businesswomen, artists, and policemen. The reason her needlepoint went "on prancing and proud and unafraid" was because the needlepoint represented all things masculine and therefore, had nothing to fear. In the end, Adrienne Rich showed that Aunt Jennifer represented every woman of her time. Ironically enough, she rebels using the oppressor's own language to feel a sense of triumph. Overwhelmed by gender roles, unable to communicate firsthand how they really felt, and torn between rebellion, expression, and society, Aunt Jennifer represses her fears and desires into the exotic tigers which go on living even after the weight of her world buries her.

The Impact of Race, Geographic Location, and Time on the Prevalence of Diabetes :: Descriptive Epidemiology Project, Diabetes

1. What is the outcome of interest? The outcome of interest for my epidemiology project is the prevalence of diabetes in a national population (United States), and how factors such as race, geographic location, and time, have an impact on the outcome. 2. Briefly define and describe your outcome. You may want to do a bit of research on some of the characteristics of your outcome. For example, what is diabetes? Or, how do we define cases of HIV, and what are some of the health implications? Diabetes is a disease in which blood sugar (or glucose) levels are above what they should be in a normal person. Through various biological processes, our body turns carbohydrates into glucose, or sugar, for our body to then use as energy. The pancreas, an organ that lies near the stomach, makes a hormone called insulin to help glucose get into the cells of our bodies. With diabetes, your body either doesn’t make enough insulin or can’t use its own insulin as well as it should. This causes sugar to build up in your blood (Basics about Diabetes, 2012). While there are three different types of diabetes (diabetes type 1, diabetes type 2, and gestational diabetes) men and women can develop diabetes at any age. Type 1 diabetes, which used to be called juvenile diabetes, usually develops in young people; but, type 1 diabetes can also develop in adults. In type 1 diabetes, your body no longer makes insulin or enough insulin because the body’s immune system, and other harmful substances, attacked and destroyed the cells that make insulin (Basics about Diabetes, 2012). Type 2 diabetes, which used to be called â€Å"adult-onset diabetes†, can affect people at any age, even children. However, type 2 diabetes develops most often in middle-aged and older people. People who are overweight and inactive are also more likely to develop it. In type 2 diabetes, fat, muscle, and liver cells do not use insulin to carry glucose into the body’s cells to use for energy—a term denoted as insulin resistance. While the pancreas initially keeps up with the added demand by making more insulin, over time, the pancreas doesn’t make enough insulin when blood sugar levels increase (Diabetes Fact Sheet, 2011).Gestational diabetes can develop when a woman is pregnant. Pregnant women make hormones that can lead to insulin resistance. All women have insulin resistance late in their pregnancy. If the pancreas doesn’t make enough insulin during pregnancy, a woman develops gestational diabetes.

Financial Performance Analysis

ABSTRACT Financial Performance: A subjective measure of how well a firm can use assets from its primary mode of business and generate revenues. This term is also used as a general measure of a firm's overall financial health over a given period of time, and can be used to compare similar firms across the same industry or to compare  industries or sectors in aggregation. Methods of Financial perfomance Analysis: Ratio Analysis: This is the method in which the ratio between two or more variables related to the business is compared. There are many ratios used to analyze financial statements: Liquidity Analysis Ratio: For example, the net working capital ratio is calculated between net working capital and total assets. †¢ Profitability Analysis Ratio: For example, return on assets ratio is calculated between net income and average total assets. Profit margin ratio is calculated between net income and sales. Earning per share is calculated between net income and number of outstandi ng shares. †¢ Activity Analysis Ratio: For example, asset turnover ratio is calculated between sales and average total assets. Inventory turnover ratio is calculated between cost of goods sold and average inventories. Capital Structure Analysis Ratio: The most important ratio is debt to equity ratio, which is calculated between total liabilities and total stockholder's equity. †¢ Capital Market Analysis Ratio: For example, dividend ratio is calculated between annual dividends per common share and market price of common stock per share. All these ratios are collectively used to carry out the financial analysis of business to assess growth, profitability, and solvency of a business. Remember that ratio analysis is as important as horizontal and vertical analysis and must not be overlooked.

Globalization and Its Impact Essay

Globalization has a major impact on the management of human resources in developing countries like India. The roles and responsibilities of Human Resource Departments are transforming as the modern business faces pressures of globalization. With accelerating globalization, organizations have had to change and new trends have set in even in the management of human resources. Globalization has forced organizations and their human resources to redefine their strategies. It is necessary for the management to invest considerable time and amount, to learn the changing scenario of the Human Resource Department in the 21st century. Now organizations need to place greater emphasis on attracting human capital rather than financial capital. In order to survive the competition and be in the race, HR Department should continuously update itself with the transformation in HR. Suitable HR Policies that would lead to the achievement of the organization as well as the individual’s goals should be formulated. The prime objective of the paper is to identify issues related with Globalization and its impact on Human Resource Development. The paper focuses on a number of outcomes of globalization, which promotes human resource development. It also states about several factors that inhibit the human resource development. Finally, the paper provides few strategy recommendations to develop human resources of developing countries in a changed situation of political economy of trade liberalization. Several articles of the renowned thinkers and practitioners are consulted to get a clear concept of the topic in respect to objectives mentioned above. Besides, different other publications were also consulted to make the paper informative and objective oriented. Keywords: Globalization, Human Resource Development, Management of Human Resources, HR Challenges, HR Policies ; Strategies. INTRODUCTION: Globalization is the closer integration of the countries and peoples of the world brought about by the enormous reduction of costs of transportation and communication, and the braking down of artificial barriers to the flows of goods, services, capital, knowledge, and human resource across borders. Globalization as an effective instrument of international exchange of goods and services has to have a human face, based on ethical consideration rather than on cut throat competition. It should play a positive role in reducing economic and social disparities within and among, the nations. It should be also effective tool for improving sustainable development. In the era of globalization, with the increasing competition, locally or globally, organizations must become more adaptable, resilient, agile, and customer-focused to succeed. And within this change in environment, the HR professional has to evolve to become a strategic partner, an employee sponsor or advocate, and a change mentor within the organization. In order to succeed, HR must be a business driven function with a thorough understanding of the organization dig picture and be able to influence key decision and policies. In general, the focus of today’s HR mangers is on strategic personnel retention and talents development. In today’s aggressive global market it has become necessary for organization to expand internationally to gain competitive advantage. Globalization has forced organization and their human resources functions to redefine their strategies. It is necessary for the management to invest considerable time and amount, to learn the changing scenario of the Human Resource Department in the 21st century. In order to survive the competition and be in the race, HR Department should continuously update itself with the transformation in HR. Suitable HR Policies that would lead to the achievement of the organization as well as the individual’s goals should be formulated. HR Practitioners of every organization and also for those who have significant interest in the area of Human Resource Management should realize the growing importance of human resource and understand the need to build up effective HR strategies. Peoples are important assets. Placing this value on employees, requires the organization to emphasize on human resource practice, including reward for superior performance, measures of employee atisfaction, careful selection of employees, promotion from within, and investment in employee development. Just taking care of employees would not be enough; new HR initiatives should also focus on the quality needs, customer-orientation, productivity and stress, team work and leadership building. The researcher has thrown light on the emerging HR trends and discusses HR issues in various industries like Financial Services, IT, Power, Healthcare etc. It is valuable for practicing HR managers of every organization and also for those who have a significant interest in the area of Human Resource Management, to realize the growing importance of human resource and understand the need to build up effective HR strategies to combat HR issues arising in the 21st century. INCREASING IMPORTANCE OF HRM The human resources management approach which has been gaining the attention of management professionals during the last decade has become the need of the hour due to various reasons. Widespread industrial unrest, growing trade union influence on work force, strained worker management relationship, increasing gulf between management and their people, emergence of militancy in trade unionism, and the growing conflict in the industrial relations scene have resulted in the workers getting out of gear of the management in many organizations in India. This has made the managements to think in terms of carrying their workers with them. Convincing the workers of the management’s concern for them may, perhaps, go a long way in getting along with them and ensuring their better performance. This has naturally resulted in the present human resources movement. Humanization of work environment in countries like Japan, quality of work life movement in countries like United States, and the quality circles approach in India itself have initiated action to attain better organizational commitment among the work force. The human resources approach is in consistency with these movements. Changes in business environment have substantially affected the approach to manpower. Technological changes are prominent among them, computer revo1ution, introduction of microprocessor, CNC machines in manufacturing operations, mechanization and automation of office operations, quick communication systems like satellite communication and facsimile introduction or robots, electronic revolution, and such other new developments have revolutionized the vital areas of business. Operational efficiency or manpower must cope with such a revolutionary change in the technology which necessitated a new approach to manpower. Globalization of business is another important aspect of change which takes place in the business environment of today necessitating a human resources approach to manpower. It is not only those Indian firms operate and compete abroad, but they have to compete with multinationals and foreign firms in India itself. Business philosophy, skills, expertise, efficiency and particularly global corporate citizenship philosophy fostered by internationally successful firms necessitate Indian firms to deliberately update their perspective to suit the internationally emerging trends. In conformity with the human resources approach emerging globally, Indian managers must also foster a human resources philosophy to guide their management practices. A widespread feeling now influences at least some management practitioners that the technological development has gone to the extent of machines taking over the human jobs. For example: highly skilled milling, grinding and lathe machines are replaced by CNC machine tools which can take over, not only manual functions but even the intelligent human functions and Robots can lake up human functions in place of real human beings. Increasing influence of illusions tend to reduce the importance of human role. In fact no machine can replace man. The more the technological development, the greater would be the dependence on man. One simple error a computer makes can lead to havoc, where skill and intelligence of man are indispensable. Greater the technological development, greater skill and technical capability are required of people who operate. Obviously greater human approach to people would be required. Moreover installation, monitoring of machines, production, operation, maintenance and controlling the operations need large number of trained and skillful people. Technicians, repairers and service people are also necessary. The more the technical development and automation, the more would be the dependence on human beings. There would, therefore, be greater need for humane approach to manpower. Similarly use of more capital intensive methods would result in greater productivity of men necessitating greater motivating and greater human resources approach of management. Large scale production, increasing effects of recession, technical and technological developments and so on have opened up new training needs for the people at work. Human resources development programmes have therefore; become the need of the hour. Government policy of importing technology has also necessitated introducing new facilities and avenues for training and development. Fresh initiatives and emphasis on research and development in the realm of industry also led to a new policy of human resources development to cope with the increasing demand for technically capable people. Resultantly a need arose for a new approach to human resources.

Should Student Loan Debt Be Forgiven?

Most Americans would agree that higher education is important. Compared to years ago, when a high school education was acceptable in most jobs, a college degree is now required in the majority of positions. But what if you can’t afford to get a degree? What then?For many, student loans are the only way to finance one’s education. Paying out of pocket simply isn’t a reality for most, so they rely on state and national government to provide them the funds to attend school, buy textbooks, and even pay for room and board. Sign on the dotted line, and suddenly a subsidized or unsubsidized loan shows up as a credit on your student account.Any overage is paid to you by check to cover incidentals. This process gets repeated every semester, for as long as you attend school. It all seems very easy and acceptable – until you graduate (or don’t graduate, whichever the case may be).The day you leave school, a six-month clock starts ticking toward your first paym ent. Oh wait, you mean school costs money? Sadly, some aren’t able to secure a position right away that can allow them the economic capability to start making payment on their loans. It can take up to two years for some college graduates to find a job.In the meantime, those loans are still due and payable. There are all sorts of possibilities for repayment: income-sensitive plans, unemployment deferments, graduated payments, and even forgiveness programs for certain occupations like nurses, teachers, and public servants.But what about the rest of the debt holders? What happens to them if they can’t make their payments? Student loan debt today approaches $1 trillion dollars, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Even more frightening, the Wall Street Journal reports about 40% of student loan holders are in default or have delayed their payments.Student loan debt has now actually surpassed total credit card debt in the US. There are numerous calls to act ion for possible solutions to this problem. The main issue I have with them is they don’t actually take into effect HOW we got into this position, or how to avoid it from happening again in the future. As part of his re-election bid, President Obama introduced his solution, referred to as the 10-10 plan. This plan allows graduates to only pay 10% of their total income as loan payments, and forgive whatever is left after 10 years.This plan requires a borrower to have a financial hardship, and the payment amount, based on 10% of income, is readjusted yearly. In many cases, this forgiveness will amount to somewhere around 80% of the original loan amount. That seems an awfully steep penalty for the US to pay, simply because they think they can.These borrowers are now, hopefully, out in the work world making a reasonable income so they are actually likely to be able to make payments. Forgiveness at that point is not really necessary. In an income-sensitive repayment plan, the rate of the payment goes up, based on the income of a borrower increasing as well.Rather than forgiving the remainder owed, cutting interest rates or lowering the payment amount seem like better solutions in that they provide assistance to struggling borrowers, but ultimately the debt is repaid.There are others calling for an all-out bailout, similar to the AIG or GE bailout, designed to boost the economy. The hope is those with forgiven loans will put that money back into the economy, at least in the short term. But who’s to say that’s where they’ll put their money? What happens to the next round of graduates? They’ll be graduating with a forgone conclusion that their loans will be forgiven as well.And why not? That’s what a plan like this would lead them to believe. Mitchell Weiss, adjunct professor at the University of Hartford's Barney School of Business in Connecticut, believes any kind of credit is ultimately issued on a sort of trust. â€Å"If I loan you some money, I trust that you're going to pay it back to me,† he says. â€Å"Wholesale forgiveness, amnesty – whatever you want to call it – will fundamentally undermine a process that is thoroughly integrated within our society. † Moreover, it doesn't really solve the problem, says Professor Weiss.A Facebook page started by an angry law school graduate without means to repay his loans has sparked a petition to support a one-time, across the board loan forgiveness. Started by Robert Applebaum, the group calls for an economic boost by forgiving all outstanding government loans.In the petition, Applebaum says, â€Å"Forgiving the student loan debt of all Americans will have an immediate stimulative effect on our economy†. â€Å"With the stroke of the president's pen, millions of Americans would suddenly have hundreds, or in some cases, thousands of extra dollars in their pockets each and every month to spend on ailing sectors of the economy .†Basically, the already strained government would be taking the hit for billions of dollars, based on the hope that this money would find its way back to our local and national economy. The main problem I see is you cannot guarantee this is what will happen. It sets the whole Federal Loan system up for collapse. HR1330 is another bill recently introduced, which could provide some much-needed relief for borrowers. Instead of a bailout, this kind of plan would allow interest-free deferments to borrowers who become unemployed or who are enrolled in the current 10-10 plan.Important to note is that it does limit the forgiveness afforded to new borrowers. But here again, it’s a very short term solution to a very long term issue. People on both sides, and somewhere in the middle, generally have strong opinions about the long-term benefits or non-benefits of a plan like this. CNBC reports the problem with a plan like this is three-fold: â€Å"The losses must be borne by someo ne, likely the taxpayer†. Basically, the money to bail out college graduates from repaying their loans has to come from somewhere. It can also be called a â€Å"moral hazard†, in that it rewards or implicitly encourages imprudent behavior.Also, a one-time bailout of the current loan-holders could strongly encourage future graduates to rely on the possibility of another bailout in the future. As a returning college student with a mountain of student loan debt of my own, I see the problem from the borrower’s perspective. As a Business Management student, though, I also see it through â€Å"Economic Eyes†. At the risk of sounding old and maternal, I think forgiveness only allows the problem to keep repeating for my generation, my children’s generation, and those to come.In the same mentality that I would never buy my child a car outright, for fear they’d have no ownership in it or respect for it, I simply don’t believe that bailing out bo rrowers is a good solution either.I fear we teach our children that so long as there are mountains of others in the same predicament, there is government relief available. The price is ultimately paid in the form of even more national debt. Yes, an economic boost might be favorable in the short term, but the long term effects of that boost will be felt for years afterwards.

Accounting and Tax

The world is increasingly adopting an extremely commercial approach to operations (Paulson 99). Every aspect in the economic environment and social systems is increasingly becoming more commercialized as the capitalistic mental has taken over a number of key areas in operations (Paulson 99). The role played by taxation and accounting systems is on the increase due to commercializations and liberalization of operations and markets. Different modes of operations and complexity in modern operations have led to the need for development of different modes of accounting and taxation (Paulson 99).Original definitions and systems are being replaced by new ones that are deemed to be more relevant to modern day operations. The policies supported by political leaders with regards to these economic factors are seen to be important to the perception that the voters have on them. The overall public, due to improvements in information systems and education levels, have become more aware of the impo rtance of good and relevant policies to not only the development of the economy but to individual development.It is no longer left for the professionals to understand the complexities and changes in accounting and information systems be it at the policy or implementation level for ordinary citizens are continuously seeking to know more on these concepts (Paulson 73). This paper looks at some of the current trends in accounting and taxation systems in the US. and the impact they have on the development of US. as a nation. The paper looks at a issues in Private and public Company Financial Reporting and their convergence with the international standards.The other areas that the paper addresses are Cost or Equity Method of Accounting, Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, Importance of Segregation of Duties, Income tax accruals, Deferred Income taxes and McCain's Vs Obama's tax plan. Introduction Developed economies and especially America's are highly reliant on the development of the business s ector (Pratt & Niculita 22 ). The business sector in some of these developed economies contributes immensely to their large domestic income levels. Financial reporting is an aspect that is integrated into every business system be it profit or non-profit making.Financial reporting is a very important aspect in ensuring accountability and developing the confidence that is of high importance in a capitalistic economy that are characterized by high levels of competition. Financial reporting does not in itself guarantee success in business but helps in providing information that is critical in the development and implementation of economic decisions. Company Reporting The standard used in financial reporting in the US is the GAAP standard (Talbott 63).The main reason behind financial reporting for public entities is to meet the needs of external stake holders who due to their positions lack the ability to get the information. Even though the external users of company financial reporting may have access to information, most private companies still choose to prepare the general financial statement. Even though the GAAP financial accounting standards are aimed at providing the end user with the required information, the management of the company often finds such documents to be of great importance (Talbott 63).Many private companies implement a system where the financial statement include an independent accountant report which is drafted after the report has been audited, reviewed or compiled. The government is not directly responsible for the formulation of the accounting standards in most developed countries and it was until 2002 that the federal government intervened largely on accounting standards (Talbott 35). This non-interference is common system in most countries under common law where it is believed that the private sector is well informed and has a good resource backing.It should be noted that the GAAP is not a law that has to be followed though some key fin ancial authorities have made it compulsory for public companies to adhere to standard (Ricardo & Kolthammer 53). It should be noted that the GAAP standards for the private sectors are set by different bodies which operate under different assumptions, principles and constraints from those of the public sector. The basic objective in financial reporting is providing information; this is done by making a number of assumption, application of a series of principle and subjecting a number of constraints.Assumptions ? The business entities are assumed to be separate from its owners and other related businesses. In preparation of financial records personal expenses are kept separate from company revenues and expenses (Ricardo & Kolthammer 51). ? Another key assumption made is that the business will continue operating indefinitely. This assumption is made to justify the validation of asset capitalization, depreciation and even amortization. This going concern assumption is only overridden wh en it is certain that the company will be liquefied (Ricardo & Kolthammer 51).? Since one of the objectives in the preparation of financial records is to ensure ease of evaluation a measure must be used. In the US, a monetary unit that is assumed to be stable is used as the unit of record. It is accepted by the FASB that the nominal value of the dollar unadjusted to take care of the inflation should be used as the main unit of measure (Ricardo & Kolthammer 51). ? A major assumption in the preparation of financial records is that the economic and financial activities of a company can be divided into time units. This is the time period principle (Ricardo & Kolthammer 51).There are a number of principles that have been adopted by the FASB in preparing financial records. The principles govern how the actual preparation of the records will be handled. Some of these principles include: ? Companies are required to account and report on the basis of acquisition prices rather than current ma rket prices. This principle applies to all recordings be they assets or liabilities (Ricardo & Kolthammer 54). This principles ensures that the information provided is reliable by eliminating bias that would have otherwise been accrued by using the perceived value.However, there are changes in this system as a number of debts and securities are being reported on the basis of their fair price or market values. ? Principle number two is referred to as the revenue principle and it requires companies to record revenues either when they are realizable and earned or when they are realized. This accrual approach to accounting eliminates recording at receip (Ricardo & Kolthammer 54)t. ? The matching principle dictates that the expenses and the revenues have to be matched as long as there is sufficient ground for pairing.Expenses are only recognized when the product or service that they have help create earns some revenue (Ricardo & Kolthammer 54) The principle further states that if a situa tion should arise where no connection can be established between an expense and a revenue then the expenses can be charged on the existing period. This system is useful in ensuring accuracy and robustness in evaluating actual performance and profitability levels because the principle clearly shows how much was spent in earning a given revenue.? The disclosure principle is one that governs the amount of information that can be disclosed. According to this principle, the amount of information that can be disclosed should be based on a trade off analysis (Ricardo & Kolthammer 54). Disclosure of large information is often associated with increased cost in the preparation and use of the financial records. Therefore, the information disclosed should be enough for judgment while ensuring that the costs are kept low. Information in the financial records are either presented in the main body of the statement, notes or as supplementary material.A number of constraints have also been placed in coming up with financial records and reports. The constraints are aimed at reducing errors and ensuring reliability. They include: ? The objectivity principle which states that the financial records should be based on objective evidence (Ricardo & Kolthammer 54). ? The significance of an item is only considered when it has been reported. The materiality principles therefore considers information to be of significance if it can in one way or the other affect the decisions made by a reasonable human person (Ricardo & Kolthammer 55).? There is also need for consistency in the accounting principles used by a company. The companies should ensure that they use the same principles year in year out. ? When choosing between two alternatives the prudent principle states that the solution that is likely to understate the income and assets should be given first priority (Ricardo & Kolthammer 55). Comparison Even though the differences may not be clear a key differences arises in the aspect of stakeholders. The investors will always want to be informed on how their investments are fairing on.In a private company, systems may be developed where the investors who are often few and closely related can access financial records and the performance of their investments at particular times (Einhorn 23). Furthermore, the private nature of such businesses exempt them from mandatory disclosure and there are no restriction on the materials they can disclose. However, the story is quite different in public companies where disclosure is a must. Public companies are of national interest and therefore issues regarding their financial status affect a considerable proportion of the general public (Lewis & Pendrill 32).Development in financial systems are aimed at protecting the investors from the failure of such financial institutions. The law therefore dictates that such companies must disclose their financial records and in so doing the materials disclosed should be such that they provi de enough information as per the investors' requirements (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development 35). Therefore, while a private company financial records may only be a page the public companies often develop booklets and mountains of documents as their financial records.In general, preparation of financial records in public companies is more resource intensive relative to private company due to the time and financial resources that have to be channeled to the preparation of the rather comprehensive records. The similarities are countless. The principles employed, assumptions made and constraints are generally within the GAAP principles (Haber 24). The principles are within the stated framework and therefore bears a lot of similarities.Disclosure is stressed on by both private and public companies for the sake of their investors. In either case, the importance of financial reports to the management of the companies and to creditors who may require the company's financial information is of equal importance. Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 The area of financial disclosure and development of financial reports is of key concern to the entire economy. The government and the legislative system is often concerned with the overall wellbeing of the people; at least that is what they have made people believe.Disclosure and financial reporting is an area that is of key importance to the overall development of not only the company whose records and transactions are being disclosed but also to other companies that may be related to the said company in one way or the other. The federal system broke its liberalization of the accounting systems when in 2002 it enacted the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (Hamilton & Trautmann 44 ). The act was aimed at protecting the investors and was enacted into federal law in 2002.Previously issues regarding financial disclosure and preparation of financial records were governed by standards rather than law. The move was aimed at dealing with the increase in the levels scandals that hit a number of major corporations namely Tyco and Worldcom among others (Shanley 21). These scandals were very costly on investors and had a major bearing in the capital markets as share prices dropped considerably. The effects of the scandals were felt by both participants and non-participants as the confidence in the stock markets suffered and irrecoverable blow.The reforms that were brought by this act are considered the most far reaching changes in the business environment in decades. These new legislations did not affect the private sector and were aimed at developing enhanced standards for the public sector players including public accounting firms (Shanley 49). Its adoption was a controversial step and led to major divisions on its perceived benefits. A number of people who were and still are for its implementation state that it has led to an increase in investor confidence on the stock market while ensuring better standards and controls for corporate accounting standards.The act led to the developments and enaction of PCAOB which is charged with regulating, inspecting and ensuring relevant disciplinary measures are taken against accounting firms that are ascertained to have flawed some of the principles and standards set by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (Pratt & Niculita 85 ). Some of the key features of Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 include: ? The first title establishes the PCAOB as a board that will provide the required oversight for accounting firms that provide audit services.This first title also creates a central board that is tasked with ensuring procedure compliance by the boards, registration of auditors, definition of processes and procedures for compliance, quality control and management and enforcing compliance as per its mandate that are provided for in the act (Einhorn 19). ? The second title establishes the standards that will ensure the independence of external auditors so as to minimize the risk of conflic t of interest. This title also puts up new auditors approval qualifications, partner rotation and reporting requirements.One of the notable features of this second title is that it bars audit firms from providing non-audit services for same clients (Einhorn 19). ? The responsibility for accuracy and completeness of financial records is placed on senior executives. This third title further defines how the external auditors will be expected to interact with the audit committees. A quarterly certification of the integrity of the financial reports by the corporate executives is required by this title (Einhorn 19). ? The fourth sections requires the inclusion of off balance sheet transactions and transactions of corporate officers.This is to ensure enhanced financial reporting and ensure accountability at the highest levels of corporate leadership. The fourth title further requires the placement of internal controls that will ensure the accuracy of the financial reports. Timely reporting in case of change in financial conditions which must also be accompanied by a review of SEC or its agents, is advocated for by this title. ? The fifth section includes measures that are aimed at restoring the confidence of the investors on the reports brought forward by securities analysts (Einhorn 77).The code of behavior for the security analysts are defined in this section and they are further required to disclose any conflict of interest that may be in their knowledge. ? The sixth section is closely related to the fifth as it defines practices that will help in the restoration of investor confidence. The SEC's authority is also defined in this chapter and their power to bar securities professionals from dealing is brought into proper perspectives by definition of cases where their power is applicable (Einhorn 22).? The seventh section places more emphasis on the manner in which research that is aimed at enforcing actions against violators will be conducted. The reports and reas ons that have been identified as being of importance in the research include the effects of consolidation on accounting firms, securities violation, role of credit rating agencies and enforcement actions. This chapter further suggested investigations on whether the investment banks played a role in obfuscating the financial positions of some of the corporations that failed.? The eighth title describes the specific penalties for fraud by either manipulating, destroying or altering financial records. This title further defines the penalties associated with interfering with the course of investigation while providing a considerable level of protection for whistle blowers. ? The ninth title increase the penalties associated with white collar crimes and conspiracies to commit financial crimes. One of the key recommendations of the title is that stronger punishments should be provided for financial crime offenders.A key addition is that failure to certify corporate records is declared a c riminal offense (Einhorn 19). ? The chief executive officer or the senior most corporate officer is required to certify and sign the company's tax returns in the tenth title. ? The definition of corporate fraud as a crime within the law is found in the eleventh title. Record tampering is also included as a criminal offense and the specific penalties are also defined in this section. Sentencing guidelines are revised in this chapter and the penalties are made harsher.SEC is also given the power to freeze large or suspect payments (Einhorn 18). There are a number of factors that led to the adoption of the rather controversial measures towards ensuring disclosure and accuracy of financial records. Prior to the implementation of the SOX the auditing firms were self regulated (McAlevey 45). There was considerable levels of conflict interest as they were involved with companies in more than one way. They were therefore not in a position to challenge the companies on financial matters for it may have led to poor work relations in other areas they were involved in.Audit committees were also blamed for the crisis that led to the development of the SOX as they did not perform their responsibility as investor representatives with maximum efficiency (McAlevey 56). A number of causes for failure and collapse of some of the corporations were in the line of negligence of duty and lack of the required expertise in handling business complexities. Management also had a considerable degree on audit committees and thus the integrity of their reports was questionable even before they were presented. The SEC was underfunded before the American public realized its importance to the overall development of the economy.The federal allocations to this programs have since doubled as a way of ensuring that they effectively deal with issues and threats to the financial stability of public corporations. Securities analysts had multiple roles that presented a conflict of interest (Niskanen 1 23). The security analysts could make recommendations on whether to sell or buy and at the same time provide financial assistance for companies who are in need of financial assistance. There is the possibility that the analysts could make decisions and recommendations that will ensure that he unfairly gains from the deals.Misleading bank practices may also lead to confusion by other investors. For instance, when a number of banks lend money to a corporation other investors may assume that the financial position of such a company is guaranteed (Griffin & Walton 10). When such companies collapse as it was the case in Enron, investors in the bank and those who had invested in the corporation suffer losses. Moreover, stock volatility coupled with the bonus and stock option practices increased the pressure on companies to manage their earnings. Segregation of DutiesOne of the major recommendation of the SOX was the need to segregate duties (Griffin & Walton 29). The need for segregation is often seen to be associated with increased accountability as the overlaps associated with non-segregation are eliminated. Furthermore, the risk of inappropriate action on individuals or groups is minimized since each and everyone has clearly defined roles and failure in their part can be traced to them. The first step in ensuring accountability is adopting a segregation approach. The segregation of jobs must be adopted by the entire organizations and documentation of its adoption ensured.Segregation of duties is not all about the physical implementation of tasks since the flow of finances has to be described fully, clarifications made and assurances that no one person has overall control over all aspects in any financial transaction made. The process of formulating such a diverse and rather complex system of operations requires time and expertise if the systems is to achieve any success. It is worth noting that though the implementation of the system may be near perfect, if the i nitial formulation is done ineffectively the whole systems will lack in aspects that may prove to be critical in ensuring its success.The organization has to be studied and analyzed before any changes are proposed. Since these are changes that are per the requirement of the law for public institutions there is little that organizations can do to avoid implementing this law (Griffin & Walton 92). The organizations must analyze their processes and their outcomes including their behavior. The qualifications of the available human resource has to be ascertained and the organization's ability in implementing a segregated approach ascertained.A thorough analysis of the collected information will ensure the development of teams and allocation of responsibilities for each and every member of the organization who will then be answerable on all issues relating to these responsibilities they have been assigned. The implementation of such a system is as important as the formulation phase. The a pplication of relevant controls and milestones to be met will ensure that the developments achieved as a result of the implementation of such systems is quantified and relevant corrections or improvements made to ensure continued success.The controls should ensure that whistle blowers and those that are unwilling in promoting illegal activities are protected from the wrath of ‘criminals ‘(Griffin & Walton 24). Therefore, the adoption of systems that will ensure whistle blowers are protected should go in line with the formulation and implementation of the segregation approach. Convergence to International Standards The implementation of the SOX led to improvement in laws and policies regarding financial disclosure that made them more similar to international standards.Furthermore, there is increased effort by the FASB, which develops accounting standards for local use to converge the standards to the IASB (Eisen 42). It should be noted that even though the IASB standards are increasingly being adopted by a number of countries the FASB has significant control on their standards. One notable difference in the standards is that the LIFO systems is not used in the international standards while they are allowed by the US. Standards, thus reporting of income statements takes on different format which may affect the analysis of financial statement by investors and stakeholders (Eisen 42).Moreover, the international systems is more principle based when compared to the US systems which can be considered to be rule based. The FASB bases their approach on the fact that the real accounting world has infinitely many exceptions and a principle based system will never be able to give a full description of actions that may be employed in all situations (Eisen 43). Equity Method of Accounting Accounting is a diverse area of study that is continuously changing as per operations requirements (Eisen 34).Financial irregularities and fraud has taken on a new dimension an d thus the accounting principles and procedures have also been forced to change in order to address the change in financial trends. Investment in common stock is one of the fastest growing areas, many investors are channeling their resources to acquiring common stock and IPOs have become national events while the capital markets is one of the most highly traded market there is. The equity method of accounting is used for investments in common stock if the investor possesses over one fifth of the outstanding voicing stock of another company in which he has significant influence.Generally accepted accounting principles require that reporting using the equity method when an investor corporation has significant control over the operations and finances of an investee corporation. Significant influence is determined by representation on the board of directors, active participation in formulation of policies, intercompany transactions, interchange of managerial personnel and dependence on technology. It is generally assumed that an investor has significant control if over 20% of the outstanding common stocks of the entity are in his possession.This holds true unless there is sufficient evidence to prove otherwise (Eisen 100). The equity approach to accounting reflect more on the economic aspects than the legal aspects involved in investing in legal stocks of other companies. When the equity approach to accounting is employed, the initial records of the stock investments is done at cost. The investments accounts will then have to be adjusted to ensure that the investor share of income and losses after the date of acquisition are up to date. This investor share is used in coming up with the net income of the investor in the period as reported by the investee (Eisen 51).The methods is in line with the accrual method of accounting for its implementation ensures the recognition of revenues when they are earned and losses when incurred. Dividends received by the investors are not reported as dividend income but are a reduction on the carrying amount associated with investment. Therefore, the application of equity methods of accounting ensures that investments accounts give a reflection of the investors equity relative to investee net assets. An exception to this rule of revenue recognition is the recognition of revenue without change in working capital (Eisen 34).In the investors statement of income, the proportion of the share of the net income of the investee is reported as a single line entry except inn situations where the investee possesses extraordinary materials that would affect the investor's net income statement. Such materials would be reflected as extraordinary materials in the investor's income statement. The method therefore eliminates intercompany profits and losses (Eisen 43). Any excess paid for shares over their book value of the purchased subsidiary must be identified and if need be amortized or depreciated (Eisen 90).In cases wher e the investor owns over half of the investee's outstanding stock a consolidated financial statement for the group is presented (Eisen 110). The relationship is considered an affiliation as the investee can exercise control over the operations of the investee (Eisen 111). The equity method is used in the presentation of financial reports for unconsolidated subsidiaries in a consolidated financial report. If the parent company is preparing unconsolidated reports then the investments in the subsidiaries are reported through the use of equity accounting.The application of equity accounting methods is continuously being adopted in accounting circles due to an increase in corporate ownership. Capitalism is characterized by increased investments in joint ventures and therefore it is becoming common place for major corporations and private investors to have stake in more than one company. Multinational companies may have considerable influence on local companies whose stock they posses and therefore the application of equity accounting finds relevance in such cases. Income tax accruals and Deferred Income taxesOne of the most important decisions that has to be made by businesses before they start operations regards the basis of their bookkeeping which can either be on an accrual or cash basis. The accrual system is where the income is recorded as when it is earned without considerations on whether it will be received or not. The expenses are also recorded as per when they were accrued without considerations on whether they will be paid. Taxpayers are not necessarily required to use a specific method by the Internal revenue service (IRS) (Eisen 32).However, the stock markets and other bodies may require public companies to strictly use the accrual basis in stating their incomes (Eisen 60). The IRS requires that the method used when a taxpayer first files his tax returns should be used consistently thereafter and any changes in the system must be approved by the IRS. I f an investor own more than one business the use of different methods of accounting is allowed, though they must be kept separate from each other as each business is treated as separate entity.Even though the use of any method is allowed there are restriction to the use of the cash method in that corporations with a gross receipt of over $5 million excluding the S corporations, partnerships that partners with such corporations and tax shelters are all excluded from the use of cash system of accounting (Eisen 22). When using the accrual method, incomes must be reported in the tax year they were earned and expense deducted in the same manner. The time of payment is disregarded in either case and has no bearing on the nature of the results.For taxation purposes, income is reported when earned, due or payment is received depending on which one comes first. Therefore, recording of income is done when events that lead to their reception have occurred and the amount associated with the rev enue or expense can be determined with pinpoint accuracy. Advance payments for services that will be received later are charged in the same years that they are received. This scheme changes if there is an agreement that the completion of the service will be in the next fiscal years thereby the recognition of the income is included in the next years records.The postponement of advance payments cannot go beyond one year. If any part of the service will go beyond the next year, all advance payments will have to be recorded in the year the receipt will be made and none of it would appear in the next year's records. Advance rent income can only be recorded in the years that they are received and can never be postponed. If a business provides a business agreement for a property that it owns, advance income associated with such property can be postponed.However, this is only applicable in cases where the business also earns income from properties that do no have service agreements in their course of operations. There are a few special rules that have been formulated with regards to handling advance payments regarding agreement for future sales. Under normal considerations the payments are recorded when they are received but this is not so in this alternative system. Under the alternate system the advance payments in earlier years and the recordings include payments in gross receipt according to the rules of the method used.Furthermore, it is advisable to record the advance payments in the years that any part of the advance payments has been included. Under the accrual system expense are reported when liability has been fixed, the amount involved has been determined clearly and economic performance has occurred. If expense is incurred in receiving a service, economic performance is considered to have been incurred when the service is provided. When property has been delivered, economic performance is said to have been incurred (Pratt & Niculita 102 ).For expenses that are related to interest, the passage of time marks economic performance. In areas of compensation of services, economic performance is said to have occurred when the contractors are rendering their services. Moreover, under the accrual system expenses are only deductible in the years they apply though they can still be charged on the years they are paid if the benefits they generate are applicable for a time of over one year. If business expenses or interest are owed to persons related as per the definition of related in income tax, and the related person handle