EMPLOYMENT AND DISCRIMINATION LAW 2009-10 Essay

EMPLOYMENT AND DISCRIMINATION LAW 2009-10 - Essay Example The test for less favourable treatment is clearly an objective one and the question that is to be asked is whether the complainant would have been treated differently more favourably had it not been for his sex. Thus, the tribunal must ask what the ‘conscious or subconscious reason for treating the claimant less favourably was’ (Nagarajan v. London Regional Transport)1. The decision of less favourable treatment is for the tribunal to decide and it is not a difficult one. In order to determine less favourable treatment, a comparison with an actual or hypothetical comparator is to be made, however it is necessary that the relevant circumstances of the complainant and the comparative group are same or not materially different. Thus, in Shamoon v Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary2, it was stated that From s.63A and Igen v Wong3 it is clear that the evidential burden to show facts from which Employment Tribunal can conclude that the employer has committed an act of discrimination and if such burden is met then the legal burden shifts to the employer who has to show that the reason for the treatment was not related in any way with claimant’s sex. Thus, if an inadequate explanation is provided the Employment Tribunal must fina that the employer committed an act of unlawful discrimination. In the current scenario it is quite evident that Graham has received less favourable treatment on the ground of his sex and this is clear from what has been said by IRU in their reason for rejecting Graham. Furthermore, if a hypothetical comparator is drawn then in the same circumstances a woman would have received more favourable treatment and thus direct discrimination is established. The remedies that might be available to Graham are a recommendation that IRU should take action so as to reduce the effect of the discrimination. Further, he could receive compensation which could include pecuniary losses if any and injury to feelings. For the

International Trade and Comparative Advantage Essay Example for Free

International Trade and Comparative Advantage Essay ? In spite of the strong theoretical case that can be made for free international trade, every country in the world has erected at least some barriers to trade. Trade restrictions are typically undertaken in an effort to protect companies and workers in the home economy from competition by foreign firms. A protectionist policy is one in which a country restricts the importation of goods and services produced in foreign countries. The India, for example, uses protectionist policies to limit the quantity of foreign- produced sugar coming into country. In general, protectionist policies imposed for a particular good always reduce its supply, raise its price, and reduce the equilibrium quantity. Protection often takes the form of an import tax or a limit on the amount that can be imported, but it can also come in the form of voluntary export restrictions and other barriers. Tariff rates on dutiable imports have fallen dramatically over the course of history. A tariff is a tax on imported goods and services. A tariff raises the cost of selling imported goods. It thus shifts the supply curve for goods to the left. The price of the protected good rises and the quantity available to consumers falls. Protectionist policies reduce the quantities of foreign goods and services supplied to the country that imposes the restriction. As a result, such policies shift the supply curve to the left for the good or service whose imports are restricted. In the case shown, the supply curve shifts to S2, the equilibrium price rises to P2, and the equilibrium quantity falls to Q2. One of the most common protectionist measures now in use is the antidumping proceeding. A domestic firm, faced with competition by a foreign competitor, files charges with its government that the foreign firm is dumping, or charging an unfair price. Under rules spelled out in international negotiations that preceded approval of the World Trade Organization, an unfair price was defined as a price below production cost or below the price the foreign firm charges for the same good in its own country. While these definitions may seem straightforward enough, they have proven to be quite troublesome. A quota is a direct restriction on the total quantity of a good or service that may be imported during a specified period. Quotas restrict total supply and therefore increase the domestic price of the good or service on which they are imposed. Quotas generally specify that an exporting countrys share of a domestic market may not exceed a certain limit. In some cases, quotas are set to raise the domestic price to a particular level. A quota restricting the quantity of a particular good imported into an economy shifts the supply curve to the left, as in. It raises price and reduces quantity. An important distinction between quotas and tariffs is that quotas do not increase costs to foreign producers; tariffs do. In the short run, a tariff will reduce the profits of foreign exporters of a good or service. A quota, however, raises price but not costs of production and thus may increase profits. Because the quota imposes a limit on quantity, any profits it creates in other countries will not induce the entry of new firms that ordinarily eliminates profits in perfect competition. Voluntary export restrictions are a form of trade barrier by which foreign firms agree to limit the quantity of goods exported to a particular country. Although such restrictions are called voluntary, they typically are agreed to only after pressure is applied by the country whose industries they protect. A voluntary export restriction works precisely like an ordinary quota. It raises prices for the domestic product and reduces the quantity consumed of the good or service affected by the quota. It can also increase the profits of the firms that agree to the quota because it raises the price they receive for their products. In addition to tariffs and quotas, measures such as safety standards, labeling requirements, pollution controls, and quality restrictions all may have the effect of restricting imports. Many restrictions aimed at protecting consumers in the domestic market create barriers as a purely unintended, and probably desirable, side effect. These standards tend to discourage the import of foreign goods, but their primary purpose appears to be to protect consumers from harmful chemicals, not to restrict trade. But other nontariff barriers seem to serve no purpose other than to keep foreign goods out. The conceptual justification for free trade is one of the oldest arguments in economics; there is no disputing the logic of the argument that free trade increases global production, worldwide consumption, and international efficiency. But critics stress that the argument is a theoretical one. In the real world, they say, there are several arguments that can be made to justify protectionist measures. One argument for trade barriers is that they serve as a kind of buffer to protect fledgling domestic industries. The desire to maintain existing jobs threatened by foreign competition is probably the single most important source of todays protectionist policies. Some industries that at one time had a comparative advantage are no longer among the worlds lowest-cost producers; they struggle to stay afloat. Cost cutting leads to layoffs, and layoffs lead to demands for protection. The model of international trade in perfect competition suggests that trade will threaten some industries. As countries specialize in activities in which they have a comparative advantage, sectors in which they do not have this advantage will shrink. Maintaining those sectors through trade barriers blocks a nation from enjoying the gains possible from free trade. A further difficulty with the use of trade barriers to shore up employment in a particular sector is that it can be an enormously expensive strategy. That shifts the supply curve slightly to the left, raising prices for countries consumers and reducing their consumer surplus. The loss to consumers is the cost per job saved. One reason often given for the perceived need to protect Indian workers against free international trade is that workers must be protected against cheap foreign labor. This is an extension of the job protection argument in the previous section. From a theoretical point of view, of course, if foreign countries can produce a good at lower cost than we can, it is in our collective interest to obtain it from them. But workers counter by saying that the low wages of foreign workers means that foreign workers are exploited. This objection, however, fails to recognize that differences in wage rates generally reflect differences in worker productivity. Further, we have seen that what matters for trade is comparative advantage, not comparative labor costs. When each nation specializes in goods and services in which it has a comparative advantage measured in the amounts of other goods and services given up to produce them then world production, and therefore world consumption, rises. By definition, each nation will have a comparative advantage in something. Exports restrictions are the limitations on the goods and services exported to foreign country by the government. These limitations are imposed to prevent a shortage of goods in the domestic market when it is more profitable to export. As a part of foreign policy for a example as a competent of trade sanctions. Government also promotes exports by making following incentives policies under EXIM policy like Duty Entitlement Passbook (DEPB), Export Promotion Capital Goods, Special Economic Zones (SEZ’s) etc.

Discussing the challenges faced by financial institutions in managing risk

Discussing the challenges faced by financial institutions in managing risk When discussing the challenges faced by financial institutions in managing risk, it is important to have a consistent definition of the term risk. Risk can be defined as the volatility of a corporations market value. Risk management involves the protection of a firms assets and profits. Moreover, not only does it provide profitability but also other advantages like being in line with obedience function toward the rule, increasing the firms reputation and opportunity to attract more customers in building their portfolio of fund resources. Cebenoyan and Strahan (2004) suggest that the benefits of advances in risk management in banking may be greater credit availability, rather than reduced risk in the banking system (p.19). This means that banks will have a greater opportunity to increase their productive assets and profit. Only those banks that have efficient risk management system will survive in the market in the long run. They can follow a four-step routine to reduce their risk exp osures and achieve their risk management objectives, as shown below. Figure 1 steps for implementing risk management To properly manage risks, the bank must firstly identify and classify the sources from which risk may arise at both transaction and portfolio levels. Risks inherent in lending activities include market risk, liquidity risk, credit risk and operational risk. Market risk is the risk arising from adverse movements in the level or volatility of market prices of equities, interest rate instruments, currencies and commodities. Banks are always facing the risk of losses in on and off-balance-sheet positions arising from undesirable market movements. The fundamental role of banks in transforming of short-term deposits into long-term loans makes them inherently vulnerable to liquidity risk. The FSA has defined liquidity risk as: The risk that a firm, though solvent, either does not have sufficient financial resources available to enable it to meet its obligations as they fall due, or can secure them only at an excessive cost. Another risk that banks face is credit risk. It is the risk that can be incurred if the counterparty fails to meet its obligations in a timely manner. Loans are the most palpable source of credit risk in many of the banking systems; however, other sources of this risk originate through other activities of banks such as acceptances, trade financing, interbank transactions, financial futures, foreign exchange transactions, swaps, equities, options, bonds, and in the extension of commitments and guarantees, and the settlement of transactions. Operational risk, as its name suggests, is a risk arising from execution of a companys business functions. The Basel Committee has defined operational risk as: the risk of losses resulting from inadequate or failed internal processes, people and systems, or external events, such as the failure of computer systems or error and fraud on the part of staff. Apart from those risks mentioned above, the Federal Reserve System has recognised two other risks: legal risk and reputational risk. Legal risk is the risk of loss caused by sanctions or penalties originating from court disputes due to breach of contract and legal obligation. Another legal risk relates to regulatory risk, i.e., the risk of loss resulting from sanctions and penalties pronounced by a regulatory body. Reputational risk may be defined as the risk of loss caused by a negative impact on the market positioning of the bank. It can be seen as the blowing up of an initial loss, arising from credit, market, liquidity or operational risks. However, banks hardly pay attention to these categories of risks. Once identified, the risks should be evaluated to determine their impact on the companys profitability and capital. This entails measuring them by using various techniques ranging from simple to sophisticated ones. For example, market risk can be measured by using Value at Risk. This stage also calls for estimating three dimensions of each exposure: the potential frequency of losses that exposures have produced or may produce, the potential impact on the organisation if a loss should occur and the potential variation in losses that will occur during the exposure period. Accurate and timely measurement of risk is necessary because with these types of data the risk manager can determine which exposes are most serious and which deserve the most immediate attention. After measuring risk, bank managers should establish and communicate risk limits through policies, standards, and procedures that define responsibility and authority. In other words, these limits should serve as a means to control the risks associated with the banking institutions activities. There is a variety of mitigating tools that banks may employ to minimise the loss exposures. These tools may be diversification, securitization and even derivative such as withdrawal option, Bermudan-style return put option, return swap, return swaption and liquidity option. The final step involves appraising the operation of the program regularly to be sure that it is achieving planned results. It helps the managers to evaluate the wisdom of their decision-making. To efficiently monitor risk, all material risk exposures should be identified and measured again. To facilitate this procedure, banks should put in place an effective management information system (MIS) that will provide directors and senior managers with timely reports on the operating performance, financial condition and risk exposure of the firm. If corrective action is indicated at this stage, the first three steps should be repeated. 2.1 Corporate Governance in the banking sector Corporate governance is a term that is now universally invoked wherever business and finance are discussed. Its purpose is to coordinate a conflict of interest among all parties relationship within the company and to develop a system that can reduce or eliminate the agency problems arising from the separation of ownership and control (OECD, 1997). Agency problem occurs when the agents of an organization (e.g. management) use their power to satisfy their own interests rather than those of the principals (e.g. shareholders). It may also refer to simple disagreement between agents and principals. For example, the board of directors may disagree with shareholders on how to best invest the companys assets, especially when it wishes to invest in securities that would favour their interests. Not merely does the term corporate governance carries different interpretations, its analysis also involves diverse disciplines and approaches. One of the most quoted definitions of corporate governance is the one given by Shleifer and Vishny (1997): corporate governance deals with the ways in which suppliers of finance to corporations assures themselves of getting a return on their investment. The Cadbury Report, however, defined corporate governance as the system by which companies are directed and controlled (para 2.5). Additionally, it recognised that a system of good governance allows the board of directors to be free to drive their companies forward, but exercise that freedom within a framework of effective accountability (para 1.1). The Hampel Report, whilst accepting the Cadbury definition of corporate governance, also noted that the single overriding objective of companies is the preservation and the greatest practical enhancement over time of their shareholders investment ( para 1.16). In a similar vein, Charkham (1994) identified two basic principles of corporate governance: That management must be able to drive the enterprise forward free from undue constraint caused by government interference, fear of litigation, or fear of displacement. That this freedom- to use managerial power or patronage- must be exercised with a framework of effective accountability. Nominal accountability is not enough. In the banking sector, however, corporate governance differs greatly with other economic sectors in terms of broader extent of claimants the banks assets and funds. In manufacturing corporations, the issue is to maximise the shareholders value but in banking, the risk involved for depositors assumes greater importance due to the fact that almost every bit of banks investment are financed by the depositors funds. If it goes bankrupt, it will be depositors savings that the bank will lose. Indeed, Macey and OHara (2001) states that a broader view of corporate governance should be adopted in the case of banking institutions, arguing that because of the peculiar contractual form of banking, corporate governance mechanisms for banks should encapsulate depositors as well as shareholders. Arun and Turner (2003) also support this argument. Further, the involvement of government in banking is discernibly higher compared to other economic sectors due to the larger interests of the public (Capri o and Levine, 2002; Levine, 2004). Rational depositors require some form of guarantee before depositing their wealth in banks. Yet, it is relatively difficult for banks to provide these guarantees to them because communicating the value of a banks loan portfolio is quite impossible and very costly to reveal. As a consequence of this asymmetric information problem, bank managers can have an incentive to invest in riskier assets than they promised they would ex ante. To assure depositors that they will not expropriate them, banks could make investments in brand-name or reputational capital (Klein, 1974; Gorton 1994; Demetz et al 1996; Bhattacharya et al 1998), but these schemes give depositors little confidence, especially when contracts have a finite nature and discount rates are sufficiently high (Hickson and Turner, 2003). The opaqueness of banks also makes it very costly for depositors to constrain managerial discretion through debt covenants (Capiro and Levine, 2002, p.2). As such, government interventions provide the lacking assurance to economic agents in the form of deposit insurance. Nevertheless, although the government provides deposit insurance, bank managers still have an incentive to opportunistically increase their risk-taking, but now it is mainly at the governments expense. Apart from supporting the argument that a broader approach to corporate governance should be adapted to banking institutions, Arun and Turner (2003) also argue that government intervention do restrain the behaviour of bank management. The Bank for International Settlements has defined the governance in banks as the methods and approaches used to manage banks through the board of directors and senior management which determine how to put the banks objectives, operation and protect the interests of shareholders and stakeholders with a commitment to act in accordance with existing laws and regulations and to achieve the protection of the interests of depositors. The Table 1 below shows the general principles concerning corporate governance issued by the Basel Committee specifically for bank boards and senior management. Principle 1 Board members should be qualified for their positions, have a clear understanding of their role in corporate governance and be able to exercise sound judgment about the affairs of the bank. Principle 2 The board of directors should approve and oversee the banks strategic objectives and corporate values that are communicated throughout the banking organisation. Principle 3 The board of directors should set and enforce clear lines of responsibility and accountability throughout the organisation. Principle 4 The board should ensure that there is appropriate oversight by senior management consistent with board policy. Principle 5 The board and senior management should effectively utilise the work conducted by the internal audit function, external auditors, and internal control functions. Principle 6 The board should ensure that compensation policies and practices are consistent with the banks corporate culture, long-term objectives and strategy, and control environment. Principle 7 The bank should be governed in a transparent manner. Principle 8 The board and senior management should understand the banks operational structure, including where the bank operates in jurisdictions, or through structures, that impede transparency (i.e. know-your-structure). Table 1- Principles of corporate governance for bank boards and senior management 2.2 Corporate Governance Mechanism According to agency theory, the corporate governance mechanisms reduce the agency problem between investors and management (Jensen and Meckling, 1976; Gillan, 2006). Traditionally, governance mechanisms can be classified as internal and external. Llewellyn and Sinha, (2000) states that internal corporate governance is about mechanism for the accountability, monitoring, and control of a firms management with respect to the use of resources and risk taking. The main internal monitoring mechanisms are the board of directors, the ownership structure of the firm and the internal control system (Gillan, 2006). Whereas, external corporate governance controls encompass the controls external stakeholders exercise over the organisation and its primary external mechanisms are the takeover market and the legal/regulatory system. However for the purpose of this paper, we will mainly focus on some internal corporate governance mechanism such as the board of directors, more precisely on its independence and financial knowledge. Corporate governance best practices have also stressed in particular the key role played by the audit committee in reviewing a firms internal control system. Internal control systems contribute to the protection of investors interests by providing reasonable assurance on the reliability of financial reporting, the effectiveness of operations and the compliance with laws and regulations (COSO, 1994; 2004). As such, we will also draw some attention on the importance of an audit committee. 2.3 The boards independence The popular media as well as corporate governance experts have characterised boards largely as rubber stamps for management. They are the link between the shareholders of the firm and the managers entrusted with undertaking the day-to-day operations of the organisation (Monks and Minow, 1995; Forbes and Milliken, 1999). As stated in principle 4 above, bank boards should properly supervise the work of managers. Which type of directors performs better this duty than independent director? In fact, such directors can bring additional experience as well as clarity of thought to deliberations independent of views of management. Moreover, since their careers are not tied to the firms CEO, outside directors are believed to be more powerful in keeping efficiently the firms top management (Fama, 1980; Fama and Jensen, 1983), and so could be associated with better performance. Some papers do support this theory. Baysinger and Butler (1985), being among the first studies, find that the relative independence of boards has a positive effect on the firms average return on equity by comparing 266 major US businesses over a ten-years period. Kesner (1987); Weisbach (1988); Rosenstein and Wyatt (1990); Peace and Zahra (1992); Ezzamel and Watson (1993); MacAvoy and Millstein (1999); Brown and Caylor (2004) and Ho (2005) also show that shareholder returns are enhanced by having a greater proportion of outside directors on the board. Research by Brickley, Coles, and Terry (1994) shows significantly higher returns to firms announcing poison pills(rights issued to shareholders that are worthless unless triggered by a hostile acquisition attempt) when outside directors dominate the board. Other studies supporting the benefit of the boards independence are Dechow and Sloan (1996); Beasely (1996) and Klein (2002) who state that as outside membership on the board increase s the likelihood of financial statement fraud decreases. There is also Black et al. (2006) who reports that firms with 50% outside directors have approximately 40% higher share price by studying 515 Korean firms. And more recently, Staikouras C. K., Staikouras P. K. and Agoraki M. K. (2006) find that the percentage of independent directors is positively related with performance measured by Tobins Q on a sample of European banks. On the other hand, others find no convincing evidence that the level of outside directors on the board do add value to corporate performance. For instance, Fosberg (1989) finds that firms whose board is composed of a majority of outside directors do not have a higher performance as measured by the firms ROE or sales. Similarly, Hermalin and Weisbach (1991) find that non-executive directors have no impact on corporate performance in their sample of 142 NYSE firms. Pearce (1983) also find no relationship, as too Changanti et al. (1985) in their study of board composition and bankruptcy. The lack of relation between these two components has also been confirmed by Klein (1998), Bhagat and Black (2002) and Hayes, Mehran and Scott (2004). Other scholars refuting the effectiveness of outside directors on the board are Subrahmanyam et al. (1997) and Harford (2000) for the acquisition transactions, Core et al. (1999) for CEO compensation and Agrawal and Chadha (2005) for earnings restatements . It is normally the board of directors which overviews and approves the risk management policies. But, few papers have tried to link its independence to the firms risk management practices and hedging. By analysing a sample of bank holding companies, Whidbee and Wohar (1999) find that the likelihood of using derivatives seem to increase with the presence of external directors on the board but only when insiders hold a large proportion of the firms shares. Borokhovich et al. (2004) demonstrate that firms most active in hedging risk, especially when making use of interest rate derivatives usage, are those whose boards are dominated by external directors. Conversely, Dionne and Triki (2004); Mardsen and Prevost (2005) point out that outside directors has no impact on the firms risk management policy. Given the mixed empirical findings, it is quite difficult to assert whether the board independence contribute to corporate performance and the effectiveness of risk management. Although Fields and Keys (2003) assert that there is overwhelming support for independent directors providing superior monitoring and advisory functions to the firm, a unique and clear sign concerning the effect of the boards independence on any decision including the risk management one could not be predicted. 2.4 The financial knowledge of the board To adequately perform their supervision role, the board of directors must have financial knowledge (which relate to principle 1). Indeed, when board members are generalists and lack the technical financial knowledge to understand the complicated reports presented to them, they could vote for motions that increase the risks facing of the firm to a large extent. The company may collapse in this way and therefore hinder the shareholders interest. Because of the banks dominant position in the economy; they should possess some financial expertise directors on its board so as to make better decisions that will not lead the firm to go bankrupt. However, given its importance, the research on the value of the boards financial knowledge is quite scarce. At times, reports recognising the benefits of the boards independence also recommend financial literacy/expertise for directors in monitoring the firms performance. In fact, Booth and Deli (1999) and Guner, Malmendier and Tate (2004) suggest that commercial bankers on boards provide the financial skill needed to enable the business to contract more debt. Thus, this states that financial directors do add value to the firm. There is also Rosenstein and Wyatt (1990) who provide evidence that positive abnormal returns associated with the addition of an outsider to the board are higher when the latter is an officer of a financial firm. Later on, Lee, Rosenstein and Wyatt (1999) do come to the same conclusion. However, they were unable to make any statistically difference among the reaction of the three categories of financial directors they consider: commercial bankers, insurance company officers and investment bankers. Moreover, Agrawal and Chadha (2005) discover that the probability of earnings restatement is lower in firms whose boards have accounting or financially knowledgeable independent directors. To the best of our knowledge, researches on the boards financial knowledge have only been related with the firms performance and not specifically on its impact on risk management practices. As mentioned earlier in this study, the board of directors is usually responsible for the firms risk management policies. In other words, risk management is at the core of any board members charter. Financially knowledgeable directors will obviously make better decisions on risk management practices since they will have the technical background to understand the sophisticated financial tools involved in the risk management transactions. As such, firms whose boards are composed of financially knowledgeable directors engage more actively in risk management. 2.5 The audit committee The audit committee is intended to provide a link between the board and the auditor independent of the companys management, which is responsible for the accounting system (IOD, 1995). The chief objectives of an audit committee are to improve the quality of financial reporting, to reduce the potential authority for the non-executive director, to improve the channel of communication with the external auditor and, perhaps most importantly, to review the adequacy of the companys financial control systems. Tricker (1984) defines audit committee as being an important vehicle for ensuring the supervision and accountability at board level. As such, audit committees are very important in banking to safeguard the shareholders interest as well as the public trust. Just as for the board of directors, independence is also considered important for audit committees because outside directors can exercise their voice and be seen to make a valuable contribution since they are free of any influence arising from the firms CEO. Thus, the reported empirical evidence supports this argument. Klein (2002) shows that independent audit committees reduce the likelihood of earnings management, thus improving transparency. In addition, Abbott, Park and Parker (2002) argue that firms with audit committees comprising entirely of independent directors are less likely to have fraudulent or misleading reporting. Ho (2005) states that there is a strong positive link between independent audit committee and corporate competitiveness and also with return on equity after analyzing the international companies from 1997to 1999. Brown and Caylor (2004) do provide evidence that audit committees comprising of independent directors are positively related to dividend but not to operating performance. On the other hand, some authors find a negative relationship or simply no relation at all between independent audit committee and the firms performance. Hayes, Mehran and Scott (2004) prove that the firms performance measured by the market to book ratio is not affected by the proportion of outside directors sitting on the audit committee. Agrawal and Chadha (2005) do come to the same conclusion by indicating that independent audit committee members are unrelated to earnings restatement. There are also Beasley (1996) who finds no apparent correlation between audit committees and financial statement fraud, and Klein (1998) who reports no relation between share prices and the audit committees composition. Yet, Carcello and Neal (2000) report a negative relationship between the probability of receiving a going-concern report and the proportion of outsiders on the audit committee. According to BÃ ©dard et al. (2004), each member of the audit committee should possess a certain level of financial competency. Moreover, corporate governance literatures argue that there should be at least one member of the audit committee with accounting background. Audit committees with such characteristics are expected to provide effective monitoring as they possess the skills needed to understand what is going on in the organisation. Agrawal and Chadha (2005) show that firms whose audit committees have an outside director with accounting background or financial knowledge are less likely to report earnings restatement while Abbott, Parker and Peters (2002) discover that the absence of a financially competent director on the audit committee is highly associated with an increased in financial misstatement and financial fraud. Xie, Davidson, and DaDalt (2003) find that the presence of investment bankers on the audit committee decreases discretionary accruals in a firm. Defond, Hann and Hu (2004) and Davidson et al. (2004) show that the market has a positive reaction following the appointment of directors with accounting /auditing experience on audit committees board. The audit committees are also responsible for evaluating the risk exposures and the measures taken to monitor and control these exposures. To our knowledge no paper has tried to link audit committees composition with risk management practices. Because of the mixed and conflicting argument on independence, it is difficult to attest whether audit committees independence encourage more corporate hedging. Risk evaluation and risk management tools are quite difficult to use. Understanding them requires a good grasp of mathematics and statistics. Therefore, we expect firms whose audit committees members are qualified as financial expert to engage more actively in risk management practices. Furthermore, The Cadbury Report has insisted that all listed companies should have an audit committee comprising of at least three members. This is to encourage firms to devote significant director resources to their audit committees so that audit committees monitor the firms management more efficiently. However, several studies support the idea that large boards can be dysfunctional. Larger audit committees may be plagued with free rider, communication problem and monitoring problems. Therefore, as long as the increase in the audit committees size does not pose these types of problems, firms complying with this requirement are expected to report a higher hedging ratio. Often, corporations, especially financial ones, create another committee named risk monitoring committees. These types of committee are often responsible of the risk monitoring of the firm. However, this does not imply that audit committees are no longer responsible for evaluating and managing risks. They must still discuss and evaluate risk management processes. In other words, audit committees are there to review risk management processes proposed by the risk monitoring committees. As such, same characteristics as audit committees should be applied to these types of committees to fulfil their duties well.

Marriage Essay -- Married Relationships Family Families Essays

Marriage What does marriage mean? By definition, marriage is â€Å"the legal union of a man and a woman as husband and wife† (Webster’s Dictionary). Most people claim that they want their marriage to last a lifetime. Because over half of all marriages in the United States end in a divorce, most people lack the understanding of what it takes to stay married. I believe that couples should become more aware of the commitment that they are making when they enter into marriage. Men and women should get to know one another completely before deciding to get married. Important issues such as religion, finances, career, and whether or not to have children should be discussed so that the couple can learn each other’s views regarding the issues to determine compatibility. For example, Br...

Culture Specific Syndrome

ultural Bound Syndromes Culture-bound syndrome The term culture-bound syndrome was included in the fourth version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 2000) which also includes a list of the most common culture-bound conditions (DSM-IV: Appendix I). Included in DSM-IV-TR (4th. ed) the term cultural-bound syndrome denotes recurrent, locality-specific patterns of abnormal behavior and troubling experience that may or may not be linked to a particular DSM-IV-TR diagnostic category.Many of these patterns are naturally considered to be illnesses, or at least afflictions, and most have local names. Although presentations conforming to the major DSM-IV-TR categories can be found throughout the world, the particular symptoms, course, and social response are very often influenced by local cultural factors. In contrast, cultural-bound syndromes are generally limited to specific societies or culture areas and are localized, folk, diagno stic categories that frame coherent meanings for certain repetitive, patterned, and troubling sets of experiences and observations.In medicine, a culture-specific syndrome or culture-bound syndrome is a combination of psychiatric and somatic symptoms that are considered to be a recognizable disease only within a specific society or culture. There are no objective biochemical or structural alterations of body organs or functions, and the disease is not recognized in other cultures. While a substantial portion of mental disorders, in the way they are manifested and experienced, are at least partially conditioned by the culture in which they are found, some disorders are more culture-specific than others.The concept of culture-bound syndromes is very controversial and many psychologists, medical doctors, and anthropologists reject the concept. The identification of culture-specific syndromes: A culture-specific syndrome is characterized by: categorization as a disease in the culture (i . e. , not a voluntary behavior or false claim); widespread familiarity in the culture; complete lack of familiarity of the condition to people in other cultures; no objectively demonstrable biochemical or tissue abnormalities (symptoms); the condition is usually recognized and treated by the folk medicine of the culture.Some culture-specific syndromes involve somatic symptoms (pain or disturbed function of a body part), while others are purely behavioral. Some culture-bound syndromes appear with similar features in several cultures, but with locally-specific traits, such as penis panics. A culture-specific syndrome is not the same as a geographically localized disease with specific, identifiable, causal tissue abnormalities, such as kuru or sleeping sickness, or genetic conditions limited to certain populations.It is possible that a condition originally assumed to be a culture-bound behavioral syndrome is found to have a biological cause; from a medical perspective it would then be redefined into another nosological category. Western medical perspectives: An interesting aspect of culture-specific syndromes is the extent to which they are â€Å"real†. Characterizing them as â€Å"imaginary† is as inaccurate as characterizing them as â€Å"malingering†, but there is no clear way to understand them from a Western scientific perspective.Culture-specific syndromes shed light on how our mind decides that symptoms are connected and how a society defines a known â€Å"disease†. In contrast, culture-bound syndromes are generally limited to specific societies or culture areas and are localized, folk, diagnostic [comma sic] categories that frame coherent meanings for certain repetitive, patterned, and troubling sets of experiences and observations.Medical care of the condition is challenging and illustrates a truly fundamental but rarely discussed aspect of the physician-patient relationship: the need to negotiate a diagnosis that fits the wa y of looking at the body and its diseases of both parties. The physician may do any of the following: Share the way the patient sees the disorder, and offer the folk medicine treatment, recognize it as a culture-bound syndrome, but pretend to share the patient’s perspectives and offer the folk medicine reatment or a new improvised treatment, recognize it as a culture-bound syndrome but try to educate the patient into seeing the condition as the physician sees it. The problem with the first choice is that physicians who pride themselves on their knowledge of disease like to think they know the difference between culture-specific disorders and â€Å"organic† diseases. While the second choice may be the quickest and most comfortable choice, the physician must deliberately deceive the patient.Currently in Western culture this is considered one of the most unethical things a physician can do, whereas in other times and cultures deception with benevolent intent has been an a ccepted tool of treatment. The third choice is the most difficult and time-consuming to do without leaving the patient disappointed, insulted, or lacking confidence in the physician, and may leave both physician and patient haunted by doubts (â€Å"Maybe the condition is real. † or â€Å"Maybe this doctor doesn’t know what s/he is talking about. †).Root-work/Obeah: DSM IV-TR (2000), states that a set of cultural interpretations that ascribe illness to hexing, witchcraft, sorcery, or the evil influence of another person. Symptoms may include generalized anxiety and gastrointestinal complaints (e. g. , nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea), weakness, dizziness, the fear of being poisoned, and sometimes fear of being killed (voodoo death). DSM IV-TR site roots, spells, or hexes can be put or placed on other persons, causing a variety of emotional and psychological problems.The hexed person may even fear death until the root has been taken off, or eliminated usually throu gh the work of the root doctor (a healer in this tradition), who can also be called on to bewitch an enemy. Roots is found in the southern United States among both African-American and European American populations and in the Caribbean societies. Obeah (sometimes spelled â€Å"Obi†) is a term used in the West Indies to refer to folk magic, sorcery, and religious practices derived from Central African and West African origins. Obeah can either be a form of ‘dark' magic or ‘good' magic.As such, Obeah is similar to Palo, Voodoo, Santeria, root-work, and hoodoo. Obeah (another name used in the Caribbean society) is practiced in Suriname, Jamaica, Haiti, the Virgin Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, and Belize, the Bahamas, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Barbados and many other Caribbean countries. Obeah is associated with both benign and malign magic, charms, luck, and with mysticism in general. In some Caribbean nations Obeah refers to African diasporic folk reli gions; in other areas, Christians may include elements of Obeah in their religion.Obeah is often associated with the Spiritual Baptist church. Origins: In Jamaica, slaves from different areas of Africa were brought into contact, creating some conflicts between those who practiced varying African religions. Those of West African Ashanti descent, who called their priests â€Å"Myal men† (also spelled Mial men), used the Ashanti term â€Å"Obi† or â€Å"Obeah† — meaning â€Å"sorcery† — to describe the practices of slaves of Central African descent. Thus those who worked in a Congo form of folk religion were called â€Å"Obeah men† or â€Å"sorcerers. Obeah also came to mean any physical object, such as a talisman or charm that was used for evil magical purposes. However, despite its fearsome reputation, Obeah, like any other form of folk religion and folk magic, contains many traditions for healing, helping, and bringing about luck in love and money. Elements (key features/symptoms) According to Hughes, Simons &Wintrob, 1997 study, knowledge about a culture-bound syndrome, can address the relationship between the culture-bound syndrome and the more familiar psychiatric disorders, such as those in DSM-IV.These researchers call this the comorbidity question on the assumption that studying the culture-bound syndrome's patterned relationship to psychiatric diagnoses is a more fruitful approach than attempting prematurely to subsume it into the DSM diagnostic categories. Systematic research has identified strong correlations between culture-bound syndromes and criteria for psychiatric disorder, but there is rarely a one-to-one relationship between culture-bound syndrome and psychiatric disorder. The culture-bound syndromes often coexist with a range of psychiatric disorders, as many psychiatric disorders do with each other.The comorbidity question brings culture-bound syndrome research in line with current approaches in psychiatric research. Differences in the symptomatic, emotional, and contextual aspects of cultural syndromes, in turn, may signal different comorbid relationships with psychiatric diagnosis or even the lack of such a relationship. Opinion The extra ordinary addition of culture-bound syndromes in DSM-IV provides the opportunity for improving the need to study such syndromes and the chance for developing a research to study them.The growing ethnic and cultural diversity of the U. S. population presents a challenge to the mental health field to develop truly cross-cultural approaches to mental health research and services. This addition will give researchers the chance to study the relationship between culture-bound syndromes and psychiatric diagnoses. In my opinion a research program based on key questions is still unanswered, which is understanding culture-bound syndromes within their cultural context and to analyze the relationship between these syndromes and psychiatric disorde rs.Reference DSM -IV-TR Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (2000). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (4th ed. ). Washington, DC: Author. Hughes CC, Simons RC, Wintrob RM: The â€Å"Culture-Bound Syndromes† and DSM-IV, in DSM-IV Sourcebook, vol 3. Edited by Widiger TA, Frances AJ, Pincus HA, Ross R, First MB, Davis W. Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Association, 1997, pp 991–1000 Retrieved July 29, 2009 from American Journal of Psychiatry.

AfricanAmericansIn the Early U essays

AfricanAmericansIn the Early U essays African American in the early Republic Wright R, Donald.  gAfrican Americans in the early Republic, 1789-1831. h Harlan Davidson Inc. Wheeling, Illinois. 1993 Thesis- African Americans were intricate parts of early American society. With their help a nation was born founded on the princplies of Liberty, Freedom and Justice. Though these unalienable rights were not to be extended to African Americans. Authors Purpose-  gThe purpose behind  gAfrican Americans in the early Republic h is to show how African Americans lived their lives in a nation divided. Divided along lines of White and Non-White, North and South, Pro-Slavery and Anti-Slavery. Wright shows the forced exodus from the northern end of the southern states to the cotton plantations in the Deep South. Wright describes a nation trying to find itself, a nation based on freedom that would enslave over two million people. Slave Migration- Life was rather stable for African Americans before the American Revolution. Yes, they were slaves but there were strong family ties to their kin along with their owners. Slaves usually lived their whole life in the same town. After the war things started to change and cotton was one of the main reasons. New strains of cotton which were easier to pick the seeds from and the invention of the cotton gin increased the demand for labor, revitalized the slave trade. In 1808 the importation of slaves was banned in the United States. With an increasing number of slaves needed to work the Sugar and Cotton Plantations in the south. Those begin a great exodus of African Americans slaves to the Lower South from the Upper South. In the 1820s 15,000 a year were bought and moved to work in southern plantations and by 1830s this number jump to 25,000. This led to the distribution of life for African Americans along with the forcible break up of many families. Slave Unrest-The United States was spared the slave revolts that the Caribbean isla ...

Assess the importance of economic factors in the rise to pow essays

Assess the importance of economic factors in the rise to pow essays After the abdication of the Kaiser, Germany became a republic. The Weimar Republic, which came to existence in 1919, lasted 14 years until 1933 when Hitler and the Nazis took control of Germany. The rise of Hitler and the Nazis and the consequent fall of the Weimar Republic were due, in part, to the economic crisis of 1929. It was also because of political problems and the appeal of the Nazis that allowed the Nazis to rise to power. Germanys economic problems started during the First World War They had borrowed large amounts of money to pay for the war. It was assumed that she would win and, therefore, loans could be repaid from reparations imposed on the allies. Due to shortages, inflation began during the war years and the value of the mark began to fall. They hoped the economy would eventually stabilise but it did not and inflation continued. Reparations added to Germanys economic problems but the effects were less severe than sometimes claimed .To cover the cost the government simply printed more money. Inflation, which was already bad, became hyperinflation. The economic crisis of 1923 had a devastating effect on German people. German currency became virtually worthless. The Wall Street Crash was a disaster for the German economy. Prices and wages fell and unemployment rose dramatically as more firms went bankrupt. By 1932 over 6 million people were unemployed. The government had to decide whether to spend its way out of the crisis through a programme of the works or cut back on government spending. It chose the latter. This did not go down well with the public. As a result more people voted for the extremist parties, especially the Nazis. There were also political reasons why the Nazis rose to power. There were uprisings from the left and the right against the Weimar Government. The Spartacist Revolt attempted to take over the government but was stopped by the Freikorps. On the right some of the army were ...

Starting a Street Team

Starting a Street Team Every writers dream is to find as many readers as possible, but finding readers takes valuable time away from writing. The idea having an army of readers working to promote your book sounds too good to be true. But, is it? You can develop your own street team to grow your readership. But how? This is what I learned from my first street-team: Start a closed Facebook group for your street team. Use this group to promote your book before its release and during the first week. They in turn share on their own social pages. Send an invite to as many of your most active followers/fans as possible to join the private group. We like thinking we are on the inside of something. It is fun to connect with other readers who really like the authors work. Update the street team on the progress of the release, give date and goals, i.e., 100 verified reviews on Amazon in the first week, etc. Â  They are going to buy/read anyways, you are just asking them to do it quickly. I read the last book in one day (release date) and had my review posted on the second day. Encourage them to ask friends and associates to read/review as a favor, etc., share the goal of 100 reviews needed for a favored author. The idea is that people flock to a blockbuster movie, and this is no different, plus they get the enjoyment of reading! Books are always better than movies. Provide your input/commentary on posts Encourage one person to take the lead. They will keep the group on target without you having to do everything. Â  A short Good morning post to the group each morning acts as a reminder to the others to reach out in some way. Consider giving your galley copies to the group to read and post reviews on Amazon, Barnes Noble, Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, and more. They can pass them on to other reader/reviewers to help your pre-and post-release numbers. Let your publisher know if your street team members belong to NetGalley so they can download a copy of your book to read and review. Post frequently to the street team group leading up to the book release (one month before the release through the end of the first week) to give encouragement/praise. Encourage them to post photos, advertisements, and promotional ideas on their private social pages, too. Add any of the other things you have already been doing to promotebut make the group the first audience for your ideas, etc. It is a fluid group that will adapt to any ideas you share. Marketing our work is the hardest part of being an author, but it is not impossible. Using a street team will make that much easier. You will make a few new friends and connect with more readers who love your work. Isnt that our goal, after all, expanding our readership?

Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 5

Ethics - Essay Example This paper evaluates the two approaches to defining â€Å"ethically bad life†: deontology and teleology. The paper examines each of the two approaches in detail and identifies which of the two can best be used to identify an â€Å"ethically bad life†. The tests the thesis that teleology and the end in question is always the most important thing but it must be done on the backdrop of absolute rules. Deontology The principle of deontology asserts that what is bad and what is good is definite and made up of universal laws which define what is right and what is wrong. The foremost philosopher who propounded the theory of deontology in modern ethics is Immanuel Kant. Kant argued that deontology is â€Å"a moral theory centered around the idea of unconditional duty-based commitment† (Cherkasova, 2012: 2). In other words, what is bad and what is good are absolute. This means that they are definite and they are stated clearly. Thus, an individual taking a decision must r eason and identify what is good and do it. Failure to do what is defined universally as good means an individual has done what is bad. The word deontology is derived from the Greek word â€Å"deon† which means â€Å"duty† (Morrison, 2009). ... Hence, an individual acting in a way and manner that affects a given set of rules has the obligation to identify what is required of him and do it according to the standard of the moral rules and codes. â€Å"Duty is the basic element of all moral actions†, the deontological school of thought assets (Johnstone, 2009: 3). The classical deontology school of thought bases its standard of deriving laws from divine authorities and other spiritual laws (Johnstone, 2009). Thus, what is bad is based on what authoritative religious sources state. Over the years, the deontological school of through grew to embrace nationalistic ethics and systems and today, national laws, moral ethics and international standards form the basis of the definition of â€Å"moral duties† in deontology. Corrigan and Farrell therefore identifies three main features of deontology as a tool for defining what as an ethically bad life (2012). They are: 1. Objectivity: This means that morality is based on u niversal and clear-cut rules and principles and an individual must choose the moral rule that applies in the situation. In this case, the sentiments and/or personal feelings of the individual do not matter. 2. Standardization: Morality sets a standard of what is right and what is wrong. And it applies equally to all people irrespective of their circumstances or situations and hence, what is bad is based on the ability to meet the standard required. Failure to reach the standard makes an act bad. 3. Reasoning: An individual must evaluate all his actions and reason to find what is good and what is bad and do what is good. This is done through critical evaluation of the action and activity (Carr, 2009). Teleology Teleology is an opposite to deontology

E-Commerce Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

E-Commerce - Essay Example and use a variety of e-commerce applications, which make their businesses more efficient and help them to meet the most sophisticated customer needs. Generally, e-commerce applications cover a variety of systems and techniques, which businesses and entrepreneurs can use to meet their business and consumer objectives. Supply chain management, e-tailing and procurement, auction, commercial websites, and search engines are widely used to promote the popularity and efficiency of online businesses. In this context, a supply chain is, probably, the most popular and well-known form of e-commerce application. A supply chain can be generally defined as â€Å"a set of relationships between a number of companies who have a symbiotic relationship with each other in that one company supplies commodities or services to other companies which, in turn, supply commodities or services to other companies, and so on† (Kalakota & Robinson, 2005). That e-businesses all over the world apply to the benefits of supply chains is not surprising, for the latter have already become a conventional form of making business and an efficient instrument of establishing close relationships between suppliers and customers, as well as between them and their partners. However, supply chain management solutions would not suffice, to bring e-commerce to the current point of evolution: today, businesses and entrepreneurs online can use a variety of other applications, including e-tailing and procurement. E-tailing is a popular form of making business online, which implies the use of archetypal solutions similar to those at Amazon.com. E-tailing is the general form of selling goods online, and is often treated as a synonym to e-commerce, e-business, and business-to-customer transactions online. Amazon is, probably, the brightest example of how e-tailing works in practice: Amazon encompasses a variety of different applications and solutions that allow customers making purchases online, tracking their

The Broadway Cafe Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Broadway Cafe - Case Study Example One of the major significances of Porter’s five forces model is its ability to predict even the future challenges and opportunities of an organization. â€Å"Porter's 5 Forces tool is a powerful tool for understanding where power lies in a business situation because it helps you understand both the strength of your current competitive position, and the strength of a position you're considering moving into† (Porter’s Five Forces, 2011) According to Michael Porter, Threat of new entrants, bargaining power of supplier, bargaining power of buyers, threats of substitute products, industry rivalry or competition etc are the five forces which shapes the present and future of an organization. (Porter’s Five Forces Model, 2009). The figure given below illustrates the Porter’s five forces theory. (Porter’s Five Forces Model, 2009) In the given case study, Broadway cafe is struggling to survive in the current business climate, even though they had good business and reputation in the past. This is entirely because of the lack of modernizations undertaken in Broadway Cafe based on the changing trends in business and management. Broadway cafe is trying to operate their business with their older management and business methods which were big successes in the past. However, such older methods may not be successful at present because of the changing needs and life styles of the current customers. This paper analyses the given Broadway Cafe case study based on Porter’s five forces model and provide some suggestions for the rebuilding process of Broadway Cafe for the twenty first century. Analysis of Broadway Cafe with respect to Porter’s Five Forces Model According to Porter, substitute products are one of the major challenges for a product manufacturer or service provider. In his opinion, substitutes are those products which can offer a real alternative to a particular product. The Broadway cafe offers many different kinds of specialized coffees, teas, a full service bakery, and homemade sandwiches, soups, salads etc. All these products offered by Broadway cafe had a unique taste and identity in the food market earlier. However, the entry of new recipes and other food items caused big problems to Broadway cafe in recent times. The traditional food habits changed a lot and instead of the conventional restaurant or cafe items, fast foods conquered the food markets at present. Instead of nutritious people started to attract towards food items which offered greater tastes and convenience in usage. For example, the traditional food items like the Broadway’s homemade sandwiches, soups, salads etc have given way for fast food items from KFC, McDonald’s etc because of the greater tastes offered by these items. Threat of new entrants is the second factor which may affect the business of an organization according to Porter. Globalization and Liberalization have brought many new business groups to America and a substantial number of such new entrants are the restaurant groups from different countries. America is a country in which different people from different parts of the world are working and staying together. This diverse population may have their own preferences for food items and hence new food services companies find immense opportunities in America at present. It is easy for a foreign company to establish businesses in America at present because of the liberalized norms for establishing a business. Under such circumstances, Broadway cafe cannot survive in the market with the help of their traditional

Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 217

Assignment Example Issues arose when it came to the income statement. Although Gabel Boarding School not for profit organization meaning its primary organizational objective is not profit maximization, the school is heading towards the dark end. The financial statements indicate that the company spends more than it earns in one trading period. When there are many expenses that the income, the school generates the chances of the operations of the school getting paralyzed are very high. The financial statements of Gabel Boarding School also indicate that the biggest source of funds for the school loans from banks and other financial statements. Ideally not for profit organization do not get their revenues from their activities but donors and investors. Donors and investor are parties interested in the good will of the project. Loans tend to drain all the funds from the operations and the little income the school gets. Another issue with the financial statements of the school is that there are many miscellaneous expenses. The miscellaneous expenses generate not revenues for the school and thus act as a fiscal restraint. Not for profit organizations usually have their income statements include few details. They add up all items from their expenditures and record them as one item. Their statements have a particular audience who are the donor and investors. Because of the audience they attract they only list important activities of the organization, unlike Gabel Boarding School where all items are in the list (McCarthy, Nancy and John 132). The first recommendation that the school must work on immediately reduce their expense accounts. Reducing the expense account does not necessarily mean that the school stops carrying out its operations but instead either raise the revenues they have from other sources or get rid of activities that are no a must do. The best way to reduce expense from the organization’s activities is to have a checklist (McCarthy, Nancy and

International market entry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

International market entry - Essay Example It is important for the various industries to market some of these devices in international market. After welcoming the commodity, it is sure that entering the market will be easy as the technology devices will be used to simplify their works in those areas. It is important to go through the marketing of the ipad 4, one of the acclaimed devices in the hospitality industry, in Italy as this represents international market entry of the commodity. The country, Italy, has been a democratic nation for 46 years now; thus, the political environment is reputable for the marketing of the product. This is from the fact that with the democracy, the government does not inhibit the citizens from purchasing products at will. Moreover, the democracy also allows the United States, the producer of the ipad, to venture into the Italian market easily and consequently have increased sales of the ipad (Fleisher, 2008, 169). The fact that the country has a well laid out judicial system is also important f or the marketing of the new ipad. This is from the fact that there is control on the decisions that powerful politicians make. An example is a politician who may talk ill of the ipad and tell people not to purchase it. Such cases are few - the concept of freedom and independence is incorporated in the Italian market. One factor that may come as a disadvantage in the marketing of the ipad is with regards to the tax tariffs that the country has. Lately, Italy has set its tariffs very high in an effort to boost its economy. With the increased tariffs, the country will have reduced imports and – consequently – the goods within the country will increase in sales. With this the standards ought to increase and make the economy of the country boost. The issue of tariffs was induced by the executive arm of the government and has been a major hindrance to the sale of products. This factor is bound to affect the marketing of the product in the country (Henry, 2009, 48). Shifting focus to the economic aspect of the country, Italy’s economy is rated eighth largest in the world. This has been effective in ensuring that the circulation of products in the country is well above average. Moreover, this means that most citizens in the country are stable thus being in a position to market the ipad. This brings down the fears that one may have when introducing the ipad into the Italian market. It is also important to understand the fact that country’s economy is not stagnant but rather on the rise from the various measures taken by the government such as increased taxation (Cohen, 2011, 68). This ensures that the citizens of the country are always up and busy to ensure that they achieve their goals while living a comfortable life. Introduction of the ipad into the market would work great to ensure that these people are always informed on the changing market trends by using the device. This acts as a positive impact on the sale of the ipad, and so there is the need to introduce it into the Italian market. The transport sector is one other factor to consider with regards to the marketing of the ipad in Italy. Italy’s economy has been stable, and ensuring infrastructure development is a key aspect in the country. Italy has well established roads that generate a huge income for the government. The fact that these roads are in great conditions ensures the

Segregation of Church and State Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Segregation of Church and State - Essay Example r, p. 2-6).At present the separation of church and state1 is a predominant rule of United State's government and some other democracies. It tries to defend religious liberty and to avert unfairness or elimination on the basis of religion. In the United States, the partition of church and state has roots in the First Amendment to the Constitution. Additionally,The amendment maintains that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. " Courts have ruled that this amendment prohibits government from assisting an official or favored religion, or hindering with the practice of belief. (Hamburger, p. 21-89) Furthermore, various other countries, counting Australia, France, with Japan, also back division of church and state. Several countries, for instance the United Kingdom, continue separation in some regions but distinguish particular religions as reputable (national) churches.

Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 217

Assignment Example Issues arose when it came to the income statement. Although Gabel Boarding School not for profit organization meaning its primary organizational objective is not profit maximization, the school is heading towards the dark end. The financial statements indicate that the company spends more than it earns in one trading period. When there are many expenses that the income, the school generates the chances of the operations of the school getting paralyzed are very high. The financial statements of Gabel Boarding School also indicate that the biggest source of funds for the school loans from banks and other financial statements. Ideally not for profit organization do not get their revenues from their activities but donors and investors. Donors and investor are parties interested in the good will of the project. Loans tend to drain all the funds from the operations and the little income the school gets. Another issue with the financial statements of the school is that there are many miscellaneous expenses. The miscellaneous expenses generate not revenues for the school and thus act as a fiscal restraint. Not for profit organizations usually have their income statements include few details. They add up all items from their expenditures and record them as one item. Their statements have a particular audience who are the donor and investors. Because of the audience they attract they only list important activities of the organization, unlike Gabel Boarding School where all items are in the list (McCarthy, Nancy and John 132). The first recommendation that the school must work on immediately reduce their expense accounts. Reducing the expense account does not necessarily mean that the school stops carrying out its operations but instead either raise the revenues they have from other sources or get rid of activities that are no a must do. The best way to reduce expense from the organization’s activities is to have a checklist (McCarthy, Nancy and

Segregation of Church and State Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Segregation of Church and State - Essay Example r, p. 2-6).At present the separation of church and state1 is a predominant rule of United State's government and some other democracies. It tries to defend religious liberty and to avert unfairness or elimination on the basis of religion. In the United States, the partition of church and state has roots in the First Amendment to the Constitution. Additionally,The amendment maintains that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. " Courts have ruled that this amendment prohibits government from assisting an official or favored religion, or hindering with the practice of belief. (Hamburger, p. 21-89) Furthermore, various other countries, counting Australia, France, with Japan, also back division of church and state. Several countries, for instance the United Kingdom, continue separation in some regions but distinguish particular religions as reputable (national) churches.

The Handmaids Tale Essay Example for Free

The Handmaids Tale Essay Gilead’s totalitarianism regime uses religion to meet the ends of the regime, rather than the regime being a means to serve God. ‘Soul Scrolls’ is a place where Handmaid’s purchase one of five prayers to be read to them, before being recycled. Offred’s prayer is a distortion of the Lord’s Prayer which is ostensibly much more personal to her. Offred describes ‘Soul Scrolls’ as ‘a franchise’. This suggests the presence of business and technology in Gilead, reinforced by the idea that the Handmaid’s accounts are debited and that the regime is everywhere. This concept of business is continuous throughout the novel, for example the ‘ceremony’ previously discussed is portrayed to be a business transaction. ‘Franchise’ has connotations of something which is unavoidable. Everybody knows it and everybody has access to it, and it’s the same everywhere you go – it’s incredibly impersonal. Gilead uses ‘Soul Scrolls’ as a means of controlling the Handmaids. There is no flexibility because there is no choice in prayer – there are only five prayers to choose from, which seems quite artificial. In only offering five exact choices – ‘health, wealth, a death, a birth, a sin’, it prevents people praying for anything else. Despite the fact that the Handmaid’s can mentally think of other prayers, they can never articulate this because their freedom of speech is subverted to the state of Gilead. ‘Birth’ and ‘death’ are rites of passage and for the Handmaid’s; it’s the only two things they can be certain of. They exist simply for the purpose to bear children, and constant reminders of the consequences if they fail to conceive are that they will eventually die. With only 5 prayers available, this creates uniformity which shows how Gilead manipulates religion, because in reality, prayer should be different for everyone. The concept of Christianity is based on the relationship between God and the person. Prayer is theoretically supposed to be a means of personal communication, a way to thank God, and to wish for things to happen. ‘Soul Scrolls’ is not personal. ‘The machines talk’ and by speaking in a ‘toneless metallic voice’, Gilead is taking all freedom from the Handmaid’s minds, and this autonomy removes any need for a thought process, which means the Handmaid’s cannot threaten the Gilead regime by thinking for themselves. ‘Soul Scrolls’ allegedly teach the Handmaids’ what they should think. However, their soul is a part of them and they should already know what they want to think, but the absence of this suggests the influence and power of Gilead. The idea that the Handmaids’ minds are also controlled is emphasised by this because Gilead doesn’t let them develop, it uses machines and the role of people such as aunt’s and commanders to brainwash them. Regardless of the Handmaids’ being unable to express their thoughts, since God is omniscient he should know what they’re thinking. However, in articulating their thoughts they could confirm their own beliefs to themselves in a pragmatic way. It forms a part of positive thinking in the concept that the more you repeat it the better a chance they have of getting what they want. There is also a value in articulating feelings to people you love because it’s comforting. God is a conscious living entity aware of people’s love. Nevertheless, Gilead completely restricts this because the Handmaids’ have been brainwashed for so long that it’s wrong to think and to have these feelings, and so this restricts the power that the Handmaids’ could have. ‘Soul scrolls’ is only one way communication from the machine to the Handmaid, and this stops them developing thoughts, making the ‘Soul Scrolls’ simply another way of controlling the Handmaids. ‘Soul Scrolls’ are described by the Wives to ‘help their husband’s career’, which shows the machines to be pragmatic and simply a way to get ahead and follow the regime. ‘Soul Scrolls’ also suggests that the regime is manipulative because it shows a yearning for money and power in charging for the prayers to be read, and in controlling the Handmaids’. In buying prayers, it’s a sign of faithfulness to the regime, which implies that the regime has completely replaced religion and which emphasises that the Commander is thought to be like a God. Gilead completely distorts the meaning of prayer because with ‘Soul Scrolls’ it’s not about connecting with God, and in prayer you should want to pray which is not what this is about. Atwood’s repetition of ‘punching in the numbers’ reinforces this sense of autonomy and contempt for the regime, because it appears repetitive and tedious. Offred describes it as having ‘roll upon roll’ of prayers, which shows Gilead believes in quantity not quality, further emphasising the concept of business and money. Gilead’s regime is described as indestructible. ‘The window of ‘Soul scrolls’ is shatterproof’, which suggests that for the regime to have protected the franchise, they must have feared there would be dissenters. It suggests that not everybody in Gilead accepts it but they don’t dare to express this because of the consequences. There is reference to the spies in ‘Soul Scrolls’, ‘each machine has an eye painted in gold on the side’, which shows their superiority and that the Handmaids’ are always being watched – there is no escape and this is yet another means of controlling them. Offred tries ‘to remember’ what the place sold before and realises it was a lingerie shop. This takes away the feminist aspect of women because Gilead attempts to strip women of any wants and thoughts, to make them only want to bear children. If a lingerie shop existed in Gilead’s society as it were then, it would be considered corrupt, which is ironic because Gilead itself is a mire of corruption. The concept of a patriarchal society is reinforced in that ‘most of the stores carrying things for men are still open’. Offred’s parody of the Lord’s Prayer, which takes place by an empty garden (similar to how Jesus prayed alone in the Garden of Gethsemane), articulates Offred’s feelings of abandonment and despair. Line by line, such as ‘Who Art in the kingdom of heaven’, she regurgitates the sentiments of the Lord’s Prayer, typically used at ceremonies (the irony being in comparison to her experience of ceremonies), and in private commitment to express needs and hopes. Offred dwells on metaphors of ‘heaven’, ‘hell’, ‘daily bread’, and ‘forgiveness’, from which arises a vision of the absent chandelier where her predecessor attached a noose. This shows Offred’s despair because throughout a hopeful prayer she arrives at the conclusion that dying is the only option. Offred tediously recites the recurrent line from a tombstone in Gilead’s cemetery, and despite her attempts to remain ‘In hope’; Offred suffers so much isolation that her prayer becomes a desperate cry for spiritual nourishment. Offred concludes with a plaintive rhetorical question, ‘How can I keep on living? ’ which emphasises her unhappiness within Gilead and her want to end it all. Offred continually refers to God as ‘You’, which shows her yearning to be personal with God and to have a personal relationship. Atwood refers God as ‘you’ because it personifies God showing Offred as trying to talk to him personally. She wishes she knew ‘Your name’, which implies she needs God to answer her. She describes her thoughts as ‘hell we can make for ourselves’, which suggests that the hell is Gilead itself. Offred is uncertain about her capacity to find out about what’s happening in Gilead. ‘The Fall was a fall from innocence to knowledge’ is a reference to Adam and Eve’s loss of innocence after they disobeyed God and tasted the Tree of Knowledge. Offred applies this to herself because Gilead teaches that knowledge is dire and that they will no longer be innocent if they think such knowledge (the irony being that they were never innocent in Gilead’s corrupt regime). This suggests that if Offred was to find out about what was happening, this would be a sin, and this also reinforces Gilead’s influence in terms of how they brainwash the Handmaids’ with bible stories. Offred avoids the ‘traditional’ posture of praying ‘I don’t even close my eyes’. This is because it would draw attention to her and also shows that she is afraid of the consequences if she was found to be personally praying, and so this informal prayer becomes her only way of communicating with God. The ‘equal darkness’ even when her eyes are closed implies that nothing goes away because it’s too hard. However, there is potential optimism within Offred. ‘Or light’ suggests that there could be hope for Offred, except that Gilead takes this hope. This informal way of praying seems like she’s not fully committed but she still wants to pray because she’s desperate. ‘Soul scrolls’ is very impersonal in comparison to Offred’s own prayer. All thought process is removed, unlike how Offred can reflect in her mind during her own prayer. In her own prayer, despite Offred not being completely committed, she does get the opportunity to think about what’s happening in Gilead. In ‘Soul Scrolls’, Offred cannot do this because she may be caught and also because the autonomous voices prevent her from thinking. Offred’s own prayer becomes much like a desperate cry for help and the purpose of her prayer is to portray to the reader just how distressed she is. On the other hand, Offred commits to ‘Soul Scrolls’ because she has too since it’s a sign of faithfulness to Gilead’s regime, and if she didn’t, it would seem suspicious, even if she doesn’t believe in doing it. However, both do criticise Gilead, with ‘Soul Scrolls’ expressing the pointlessness of it, and her own personal prayer expressing how Gilead is a hell. In her own personal prayer, Offred has hope for two way communications, and although his name is not known, God does offer some kind of contemplation for Offred, as she works her way through her feelings. ‘Soul scrolls’ is simply a one way communication because prayers are printed and read to the Handmaids’ before being recycled, which shows the uniformity of this prayer. Offred’s own prayer is also in a sense a rebellion from the constraints of Gilead, because although this isn’t her aim, it does go against what Gilead teaches – that she should not be thinking for herself. When Offred visits ‘Soul Scrolls’, she is complying with the ways of Gilead simply to stay out of trouble. In conclusion, Offred’s personal prayer is much more personal than ‘Soul Scrolls’, and despite it being a distorted version of the Lord’s prayer, it does signify her desperation for salvation from the regime. ‘Soul Scrolls’ is something Offred simply goes along with because she has no choice but too, and this offers her no answers to her thoughts because of how autonomous and controlled it is.

Future Advancements of Hyperspectral Imaging

Future Advancements of Hyperspectral Imaging Liam Zarebski Preserving forensic traces at a crime scene is a crucial part of collecting evidence It is important that these traces are detected and identified in a way that is as non-destructive as possible. One technology that has great potential to serve as a future analytical tool in forensics is Hyperspectral Imaging (HSI). Due to its non-contact method of analysis, the speed at which it can gather and process information, and the ease with which the results can be interpreted, HSI proves itself to be an excellent alternative to many forensic techniques used today. Hyperspectral Imaging combines conventional digital imaging and spectroscopy to gather and process information from across the electromagnetic spectrum. Every object in the world will reflect and absorb various wavelengths of radiation differently. These interactions can be measured and used to identify different chemical and material properties. This can be thought of as every object having their own unique spectral fingerprint. HSI is particularly useful as it could also be used to analyse chemical changes that have occurred within the sample, which can help with estimating age. Currently, HSI is mainly used for analysing fingerprints. Producing a multispectral image allows one to see details that would otherwise be invisible, even after dusting for prints. This creates a more detailed image than standard photography could produce and reveals elements which would otherwise have gone unnoticed. As HSI can identify the chemical composition of a sample, it could also be used to rapidl y identify the residue that created the print. It is also used in questioned document analysis to identify whether handwritten or printed documents have been altered by analysing the ink used. In Fire Investigation, HSI can detect flammable liquid residues in quantities as small as a microliter that have soaked into surfaces. While HSI technology has existed for around 20 years and is used in forensics today, it is becoming increasingly more relevant due to the rapid decrease in size of hyperspectral sensors, the decrease in the cost, and the increase in image processing power. In the future, it is possible that all the power of hyperspectral imaging will be integrated in regular digital cameras or even smartphones. This would open up a world of new possibilities within forensic science. Crime scene investigators could go into a crime scene and gather information about the size, age, density, and chemical composition of a sample as easily as they could take a photograph of it. This would mean that the chance of a sample being destroyed or contaminated would be drastically reduced as CSI would not even have to come into contact or move the traces to get an accurate analysis of what those traces are. If there are particular crime scenes where events have occurred that pose dangers to investigators, (eg. Cri me scenes involving explosives), a remote controlled robot could be equipped with a HSI system so that investigators can take the samples they require in a non-destructive matter without stepping foot in the crime scene. By using HSI instead of traditional methods, the process of identifying and analysing forensic traces would be drastically sped up. In addition, HSI requires little to no sample preparation, further increasing the speed at which progress can be made and thus improving the chances of the case being solved successfully. Another advantage of Hyperspectral Imaging is that the results are easy to interpret even if you dont come from a scientific background. Consequently, when the results are presented to a jury in court, they will quickly be able to understand the data and make an informed decision. If need be, additional processing steps can be taken when analysing the HSI data without having to re-examine the physical evidence. The main problem for Hyperspectral Imaging in forensics is that crime scenes tend to be very complex which can make image analysis difficult. Sunlight, external light sources, reflections from surfaces and shadows are all variables that can cause inaccuracies in readings. To combat this, specialized algorithms are required during the processing of information in order to distinguish which variables have been caused by non-uniform illumination. With image processing technology as a whole becoming more advanced, and several forensic science applications of HSI recently being explored successfully, it is easy to imagine HSI replacing some old techniques and becoming an integral part of crime scene investigation in the not too distant future. Despite the challenges that will be faced with interference and unknown variables, it is likely that the technology will be refined and the techniques will be modified so to maximize the effectiveness of the technology, and allow future investigators to analyse useful traces non-destructively. Hyperspectral imaging has many uses in forensics but it also has a vast number of uses in a wide variety of fields: in agriculture, where HSI can be used to detect animal proteins in cattle feed to avoid mad cow disease; in medicine, for early diagnosis of diseases; in mineralogy, to rapidly identify minerals in geological samples; and in astrology, to identify materials and chemicals present on distant planets. There are many examples of HSI being used in professional environments however it is also a possibility that it will end up becoming integrated with the technology used by the general public on a daily basis. Roughly two billion people on earth use smartphones, most of which come equipped with built in digital cameras. In the future, it is possible that these cameras will be built with components that can be used to detect other electromagnetic waves than just visual light. Using cloud computing, a library of different spectral signatures could be created and made available to the public and used for reference. Access to such a technology could prove to be particularly useful when it comes to monitoring ones own health. People would be able to use their phones to scan fruit and find out whether or not it is fresh depending on its sugar content and moisture levels; people could also use it to check if perishable foods are still safe to eat or to check whether or not their milk has gone off. Many smartphones nowadays can measure how many steps you walk a day and your heart rate, but a phone equipped with hyperspectral imaging technology would be able to detect biochemical changes due to dis ease development like cancer cell metabolism. A non-intrusive retina scan could be performed in the comfort of your own phone merely by taking a photo of your eye, or a suspicious looking mole could be checked out and diagnosed all within an application. Sources: http://www.hyspex.no/hyperspectral_imaging/http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S03790738http://www.colorado.edu/physics/phys1230/phys1230_fa01/topic7.html12004495http://www.chemimage.com/webinars/HSI-Basics-6-14-11/CI_Intro_HSI_Webinar0614.pdf http://arrow.dit.ie/schfsehart/97/

Mad Cow Disease is Not a Large Cause for Fear :: CJD MCD BSE Prion Diseases Bovine Spongiform

Mad Cow Disease: A Cause for Fear? Abstract: Mad Cow Disease, a disorder well known and well feared, is not as deadly as most people believe it to be. In fact, most people know little of this disease and what little they know usually turn out to be false facts. MCD is a prion-based disease where an infected protein converts healthy proteins into the infectious state. There is no cure and the disease is fatal but to this year, there have been little over 150 cases of the human version of the disease, variant Creutzfeldt - Jakob disease, world-wide. Thus, MCD does not deserve the fear and attention that it commands. Although the name, Mad Cow Disease is instantly recognizable by everyone today, few people know it for what it actually is. However, no matter how little they know about this disease, everybody acknowledges the deadly capabilities it possesses. Personally, I find it interesting and feel it only natural that, as humans, we fear what we do not entirely understand simply because we know what will happen. It is only natural that we feel threatened at the first sign of danger. Thus, it is important to inform others about Mad Cow Disease so that they will at least know what they fear. Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, commonly known as Mad Cow Disease, first appeared around 1985 in Great Britain as a result of the special animal feed that consisted of ground up sheep fed to the cattle. Between the years 1992 and 1995, a major BSE outbreak occurred in Great Britain, which caused the country's beef industry to suffer. Since 2003, the United States have only had three reported incidents of mad cow disease in humans[8]. A prion is a disease-carrying agent that is composed entirely of proteins. It is the cause of numerous diseases in mammals, all of which target the brain specifically. Also note that all prion-based disorders are fatal and that there are currently no known cures for any of them. All known prions induce the formation of an amyloid fold, in which the protein polymerizes into an aggregate consisting of tightly packed beta sheets[3]; thus, converting into its infectious state. BSE is a prion-based disease where the infectious protein causes other prion proteins in the brain to misfold and change into the infectious state. This process continues until it forms protein aggregates, which are large clumps of mis-folded proteins which in turn form plaque, giving the appearance of â€Å"holes† in the brain. Cows with this disease show signs including changes in mental state and abnormalities in posture, movement and sensation[4].

Assisted suicide :: essays research papers

Assisted Suicide   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Kovorkian’s killing spree targeted people with disabilities. The problem is that there are many doctors and nurses out there that are doing the same thing or at list supporting this issue. I agree that in some rather rear cases assisted suicide can be an act of compassion and can offer the chance of living this earth with some dignity and on one’s own terms. It sounds wonderful and in a perfect world it would be easy to determine when that would be the best thing for one’s self, a loved one or a patient. However, in the real world, there are a few things we must do first, in order to be able to make such determination. First, we must make sore that only one person never makes this decision. Such decision should be made by the patient, in collaboration with family members and loved ones and with the advice and help of one or more medical doctors. Second of all we must consider a few other things; one that the people involved in such decision ha ve the patients best interest at heart, two, we have to take in consideration the ability to reason of all the people involved. Three, we should make certain that they are able to put all other feelings that might influence this decision aside. Nevertheless, we are to consider the religious beliefs of all that are involved and how these beliefs might influence them. Moreover I think every family should have a plan just in case we will ever be faced with such situation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Decisions like this rise far to many question of where to draw the line between right, wrong, between compassion and crime, and other highly sensitive alike issues. Therefore we must have a system in place, which will never allow any one person to make such decision. If we ever allow only one person to make this decision, patients will ask for assisted suicide because they are depressed and in too much physical pain, doctors will assist patients in suicide based on their medical opinion (which might be wrong) and other opinions such as cost of medical care or organ donation. Moreover, family members will have the opportunity to make such decision based on anger, frustration, and financial problems or simply because it otherwise be too painful to watch a family member suffer. Because my mother haze a heart condition and went through a heart surgery already, we have talked about all the â€Å"what if’s†.

Peter Kolchin, American Slavery

For the past quarter century Edmund S. Morgan has been one of the most prolific and respected authors of early American history. This is an excellent, in depth survey of Virginia?s colonial experience, with an emphasis on how the seemingly contradictory institutions of slavery and equalitarian republicanism developed simultaneously. Indeed, Morgan argues that Virginians? definition of freedom, and their very ability to establish a republican political system, rested upon the creation of African slavery. Morgan shows that institutionalized slavery did not necessarily have to become part of British colonization; the earliest Englishmen to dream of a colonial empire hoped for the establishment of a utopian community in which natives could benefit from enlightened English governance that recognized the inherent rights of all men. Early English explorers even helped to organize revolts against the Spanish by their slaves in Latin America, and while they were motivated by their own interests in doing so, they clearly were willing to treat their slave co-conspirators as equals. However, the utopian phase of colonization died with the failed settlement at Roanoke in the 1580s. The founders of Jamestown quickly learned racism towards the Indians, whom Morgan speculates they goaded into warfare out of frustration at their own inability to support themselves. The settlement eventually became prosperous as the colonists learned to produce tobacco for market, but it was hardly the ideal society envisioned by the founders. Labor shortages were endemic, as to make a profit planters needed to control a large number of indentured servants. Unfortunately (for the planters), laborers needed only to serve for a limited period before setting up business for themselves, and thus creating competition for the planters. To check this competition, planters made it difficult for freedmen to buy lands of their own (land was plentiful, but acreage with access to shipping had been almost totally monopolized by the large planters), which resulted in freedmen foregoing planting, and becoming lazy, shiftless, and at times rebellious. Moreover, planters treated their indentured servants so poorly that as news of their condition drifted back to England, fewer of the mother country?s poor were willing to indenture themselves, especially as the burdens of overpopulation were being reduced at home.