Controversial Speech Topics

Speeches can be intimidating, and that feeling of being â€Å"on stage† seems all the more concerning when you have to talk about a controversial subject. The most important factor to consider when planning your controversial speech is choosing a good topic that fits your personality. You will know if a topic is a good fit for you if it meets certain criteria: The topic stirs an immediate emotional reaction in you.The emotional reaction is ​not so strong that you risk â€Å"losing it† if someone disagrees!You can think of at least three important facts or subtopics to help you take a  stand and organize a sound case. Use the topics below as inspiration for your assignment, whether you are planning to write a controversial speech or an argument essay. Each  topic is followed by a brief prompt, but that prompt is not the only way to approach your topic. The list is designed to inspire ideas. You may choose a different approach to one of the topics. Controversial Topics to Write About Abortion—Under what circumstances should it be legal? You may want to consider age and health issues.Affordable Care Act—Is an individual’s access to healthcare a legitimate concern of the federal government?Adoption—Should citizens from wealthy countries be able to adopt children from Third World countries? Should gay couples adopt?Age Discrimination—Should the government create policies to ensure that employers don’t discriminate based on age?Airport Security Measures—How much privacy are we willing to sacrifice in the name of flight safety?Animal Rights—When we promote animal rights, do we restrict human rights? What is the proper balance?Arms Control—Whos responsible for controlling arms trades around the world?Arms Trading—What are the ethical implications?Birth Control—What concerns do you have about age? Access? Affordability?Border Control—What measures are ethical?  Bullying—Are we a ll guilty in some way? How can we reduce bullying?Crimes on College Campuses—How can students stay safe?Censorship—When is it necessary for public safety?Chemical Weapons—When are they ethical? Are they ever?Child Labor—Where in the world is this a problem today? Is it your problem?Child Abuse—When is it OK to step in?Child Pornography—Is individual privacy more important than child safety?Cloning—Is cloning ethical?  Common Core—What is the truth? Is it dumbing down our students?Conservation—Should the government promote conservation?Cutting and Self-Harm—When should you say something if you suspect cutting is  happening?Cyber Bullying—When are we guilty?Date Rape—Are we doing all that we can? Do we blame victims?Death Penalty—Is it ever okay to kill someone? When is it okay in your opinion?Disaster Relief—Which measures really work?  Domestic Violence—When should we speak up?Drinking and Driving—Do you know someone who pushes the boundaries?Drug Trade—Is the government doing enough? What should change?Eating Disorders—What if you suspect a friend has a problem?Equal Pay—Are we making progress?Euthanasia / Assisted Suicide—Where are the ethical boundaries? What if a loved one was facing this choice?Fast Food—Should the government have a say about fast food menus?Food Shortages—Do we have an ethical obligation?Foreign Aid—How much of a role should your nation play?Fracking—What about your own backyard?Free Speech—Is this more important than public safety?Gang Violence—How can it be reduced? What are the causes?Gay Rights—Are we making progress or are we regressing?  Gerrymandering—How much should we control when it comes to drawing lines?GMO Foods—How do you feel about labeling? Should we label all modified foods?Global Warming—Where is science? What do you think?Government Surveillance—Is it OK for the government to spy in the name of public safety?Gun Laws—What does that amendment really mean?  Habitat Destruction—Should the government protect animals from human encroachment?Hate Crimes—Should hate crimes result in stiffer penalties?Hazing—When does fun and tradition become dangerous behavior? Who decides this?Homelessness—How much should we do for the homeless?Hostage Release/Trade—Should the government ever negotiate?Human Population—Should it ever be controlled? Are there too many people on the planet?Human Trafficking—Are governments doing enough to protect the innocent? Should they do more?Internet and Gaming Addiction—Are teens at risk? Should there be limits to teen access?Juvenile Delinquency—When should teen criminals be treated as adults?Illegal Immigration—What is the most ethical response? Where should we draw lines?Legalizat ion of Marijuana—What is the impact?Mass Shootings—Is this a mental health problem or a gun control problem?Media Bias—Is the media fair and balanced? How has the internet made things better or worse?Medical Records and Privacy—Who should have access to your medical information?Meth Use—How do we educate young people about the hazards?Military Spending—Do we spend too much? Too little? Is this a safety issue?Minimum Wage Increase—What should be the minimum?Modern Slavery—How do we end it?  National Rifle Association—Are they too powerful? Not powerful enough?Obesity in Children—Should this be a government concern?Outsourcing Jobs—When do we dictate to businesses about outsourcing, and when do we be â€Å"hands off?†Photobombing—Is this a privacy concern? Are there legal issues to consider?Poaching—How do we protect endangered animals? What penalties should be in place?Prayer in School s—Whose business is this? Does the government have a say?Prescription Drug Use—Are teens over-drugged? What about younger children?Racial Profiling—Have you been a victim?Racism—Is it getting worse or better?Rape Trials—Are victims treated fairly? Are the accused?Recycling and Conservation—Do we do enough? Is it anybody’s business what you do?Same-Sex Marriage—Is this a problem or a non-issue?Selfies and Social Media Images—Is self-image becoming a mental health issue?Sex Trade—How can we stop this?Sexual Promiscuity—When is it dangerous? What should we do?Sexting—How is this dangerous and destructive?School Vouchers—Should they exist?Social Networking and Privacy—Who has the rights to your image? Your reputation?Stand Your Ground Laws—How much is too much  when it comes to self-defense?Standardized Tests—Are they fair?Stem Cell Research—What is ethical?Teen Depre ssion—Who is in danger?Teen Pregnancy—Is education effective enough?Teens and Self-Image—What is harmful?Terrorism—How do we fight it?Texting While Driving—Should it be illegal?Violence in Movies—Is it harmful?Violence in Music—Is this art?Violence in Schools—Are you safe? Where do we draw the line between freedom and safety?Violence in Video Games—What are the effects?Water Shortages—Who has rights to water?World Hunger—Is it our obligation to feed others?

Private Prisons and Interest Groups Essay - 2660 Words

Private Prisons and Interest Groups Privately owned prisons began to emerge in the mid-1980s. These prisons emerged because of the ideological imperatives of the free market, the huge increase in the number of prisoners, and the substantial increase in imprisonment costs. (1) Proponents of privatized prisons put forward a simple case: The private sector can do it cheaper and more efficiently. Corporations such as Correction Corporation of America and Wackenhut promised design and management innovations without reducing costs or sacrificing quality of service. (1) Many interest groups comprised of correctional officers, labor works, and a few citizen groups strongly oppose the privatization of the prison system. I will identify four†¦show more content†¦At the press conference, ACU released a report that was conducted by ACU Department of Research and Collective Bargaining Services. This report documented private prisons high incidence of violence, riots and inmate escapes. This report also documents that priv ate prisons promise savings for taxpayers, yet there is no evidence that these savings exist. (3) Similar press conferences took place May 12, 1998 in numerous state capitals across the country. In January 1999, Correctional Corporation of America converted its corporate structure into a real estate investment trust, or REIT, called Prison Realty Trust. A REIT is a company that gets a huge federal tax break for owning real estate. The tax break is not supposed to go to companies that own businesses, including prisons. However, CCA believed that they had found a way to get the tax break while operating their private prison business. ACU has sent letters to the IRS and the Treasury Department outlining their belief that Prison Realty should not qualify as a REIT and that CCA is exploiting a tax break that was suppose to stabilize real estate ownership. (4) Aside from letter writing campaigns and informing the public and the press, AFSCME Corrections United also supports legislature ag ainst the privatization of prisons. One important piece of legislation is the Public Safety Act (H.R. 979) At ACUs lobbyingShow MoreRelatedJuvenile Detention Centers : A British System Of Punishment922 Words   |  4 Pagesoffenders across the U.S. Jails are smaller than prisons housing short term offenders or individuals waiting for trial and are run by local governments, such as cities or counties (J.F., 2014). Prisons and penitentiaries are much larger facilities that are run by the federal government and house more serious offenders for longer periods of time (J.F., 2014). Juvenile detention centers are basically prisons for individuals not old enough to be held in jail or prison (J.F., 2014). Military confinement facilitiesRead MoreMedia Framing Of Disadvantaged Groups1560 Words   |  7 Pages Media Framing of Disadvantaged Groups Erin Peck COM 355 – Media and Society Colorado State University – Global Campus Eva Fisher August 27, 2014 â€Æ' Media Framing of Disadvantaged Groups Political ideologies are voiced, preached and discussed daily by various mass media outlets. Whether their headlines are worded to encourage certain perceptions or accusations, or if guest speakers are invited to share their opinions on a multitude of topics, mass media can more often than not set socialRead MorePrivatization Within The Criminal Justice System Essay1510 Words   |  7 Pagespermeates every level of the criminal justice system, from incarceration to probation. Many states have turned to private institutions in an attempt shed operating costs, while also increasing effectiveness throughout the criminal justice system. 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The non-profit public interest group, PR Watch, reported in 2012 about a foreboding incident in which CCA had participated in drug raids of an Arizona high school. The local police were provided with drug sniffing dogs by CCA. The school went into a prison style â€Å"lockdown† in which students were forced to line up against the wall and were not allowed to leave the building. This is part of a theme in which private prisons are specifically targeting adolescents to fill theirRead MoreThe Growing Prison Industrial Complex1700 Words   |  7 Pages The growing Prison Industrial Complex is an intricate web of profit-maximizing business endeavors at the expense of the livelihood of people of color in the continental United States and abroad. With immigration from Mexico and Latin America increasing each year and definitions of who is â€Å"legal† becoming more constricting as the Obama administration cracking down on illegal border crossing, undocumented immigrants are the fastest growing prison population. This research projects aims to look howRead MoreAdvantages Of Private Prisons701 Words   |  3 PagesHook. Private prisons provide extra capacity for inmates to prevent or lessen the overcrowding of government-run prisons. When incarceration rates rose too quickly for government-run prisons to provide space for inmates, private prisons seemed to be a good solution. In addition to solving overcrowding, privatization was adopted by many states as an attempt to save money. Companies such as Civicorps and GEO Group--the two largest firms operating private prisons--make bids to operate prisons in exchangeRead MorePrivate Prisons Are The Operation Of A Prison1365 Words   |  6 PagesThe need of private detainment facilities has immediately created all through numerous years. Private jails are the operation of a jail by a privately owned business under contract with a nearby, state, or potentially central government, frequently as a revenue driven business. With the gigantic development inside the prison masses coming to fruition because of the War on Drugs and extended usage of confinement, correctional facility clog and expanding costs ended up being logically dubious for neighborhoodRead MoreIs Prison Privatization Really a Long Term Fix? Essay1698 Words   |  7 PagesPrison Privatization is a term used for which local, state and federal correction facilities hire companies from the private sector to run prisons and provide prison-related services. Some private companies are contracted only to provide things such as medical care, counseling, food services, and maintenance within publicly owned jails and prisons. Today, more and more private companies are being contracted to not only design and build, but also to operate new jails and prisons on both the stateRead MoreStakeholder Analysis Essay1335 Words   |  6 PagesPRIVATE PRISON CORPORATION OF AMERICA Nowadays, we are facing a major experiment in privatization. For example, private companies have entered the business of managing public schools, or religious schools. Also, they even run in prison industry. Among them is Private Prison Corporation of America, which is growing fast in prison industry in the United States. Especially, immigration detention business has brought up massive profit for Private Prison of America. Therefore, corporation is planning

Flow of Theory Free Essays

Do you think an employee’s productivity is affected by whether they are satisfied or unsatisfied as an employee? Explain your answer. Yes, I think an employee’s productivity is affected by whether they are satisfied or unsatisfied as an employee. As employees spend most of their time at work, the employees’ identity is closely linked to their Jobs. We will write a custom essay sample on Flow of Theory or any similar topic only for you Order Now Employees have feelings; they must feel satisfied or feel that the Job is treating them fairly. When they feel that they are being appreciated, they become satisfied and hence they tend to outperform unsatisfied employees in terms of labor retention, attendance and work quality. However, satisfied employees are not always more productive than unsatisfied employees. 2. In general terms, describe strategic HRM and its importance in the organization. Strategic HRM is defined as the development and implementation of human resource processes to facilitate the achievement of the organization’s strategic objectives. Strategic HRM allows an organization to make informed and purposeful actions. Because of strategic HRM, the company now has a clear common vision of why an organization exists which enables better and more effective HRM decisions. HRM ctivities are now also able to expand awareness of possibilities, identify strength and weaknesses, reveals opportunities and points which are needed to evaluate the probable impact of internal and external forces. A strategic HRM plan which is well designed will allow the HR department to be prepared to cope with changes in external and internal environments. 3. In the past decade, there have been rapid, turbulent, and often strained developments in the relationship between employers and employees. Describe these developments and what they mean to HR managers. New trends and changes have occurred in telecommuting, outsourcing, HRM practices, family medical leave, child care, spousal relocation assistance, pay for skills, benefit cost-sharing, union- management negotiations, testing and many other HRM areas of interest. These trends arise due to the rise of new lifestyles and an aging population. Because of these reasons, HR managers need to use new and flexible approaches without jeopardizing the survival of the organization. HR managers in the current time have to cope with changes and still contribute to the organization. How to cite Flow of Theory, Papers

Organisational Strategy & Talent Management-Samples for Students

Question: Discuss about the Organizatioal Strategy and Talent Management. Answer: Talent management is an important tool for human resource management. In an organization, talent management is used to recruit, retain and develop the most talented human resources within the organization. Talent management is important for an organizations success. It is a well-known business strategy to attract the top talent in order to beat the rivals in the corporate cat race. When the stakeholders are told that the organization is dedicated towards talent management, it means that they will take effective steps to develop the talent of the employees. With the help of training and development, the employees talents and skills will be refined and polished so that it can be used for attaining the goals and objectives of the organization. Relationship between organizational strategy and talent management:- Talent management is a very crucial organizational strategy in the 21st centurys global business sector. Talent management is done through a number of management initiatives such as planning, organizing, staffing, directing and controlling the workforce to the optimum level. Talent management shares a very special relation with an organizations strategy. The strategy of any organization is to build up a commendable business empire and to build up such, an organization would require sufficient amount of talented employees (Armstrong Taylor, 2014).Here, the role of the talent management initiative becomes very specific. The sole substantial task of the talent management initiative is to professionally groom the new employees and to effectively train the existent employees. Talent management initiative helps in inculcating the practice of organizational behavior in an organization. Through the model of the organizational behavior, employees learn to work effectively as team members or as individuals and the employees also learn to observe the professional decorum in the organization. In addition to this, employees learn to participate and provide good business suggestions in the organizations decision-making process and to successfully overcome any organizational challenges. All the aforementioned things, collectively, help to realize the organizational strategy of a company. The organizational strategy for increasing the operational efficiency is often aligned with the developing the talent of the employees, so it can be said that talent management is a part of organizational strategy. Talent management is the tool that is used to increase the efficiency of the employees. The stakeholders of the organization will be informed that the talent and skills of the employees are the key elements that are required to achieve the organizational goals of heightened profitability and massive efficiency, so it is definitely a part of the organizational strategy. The organization will ensure the stakeholders that the talent management of the potential employees of the organi zation will be highly beneficial for the organization and the organizational strategy. (Silzer Dowell, 2010). Conclusion It can be concluded that the talent proficiency of the employees are very crucial in achieving the goals and objectives of an organization. It is a process by which the talented employees are recruited and retained within an organization. Organizational strategic planning is required in developing the skills of the employees as their collective efforts and efficiency would help the organization to meet its goals. As a result, it can be said that the relationship between the organizational strategy and the talent management is extremely relevant and apposite. References Armstrong, M., Taylor, S. (2014).Armstrong's handbook of human resource management practice. Kogan Page Publishers. Berger, L., Berger, D. (2010).The talent management handbook: Creating a sustainable competitive advantage by selecting, developing, and promoting the best people. McGraw Hill Professional. Collings, D. G., Mellahi, K. (2009). Strategic talent management: A review and research agenda.Human resource management review,19(4), 304-313. Silzer, R., Dowell, B. E. (Eds.). (2010). Strategy-driven talent management: A leadership imperative. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Taoism Essays (616 words) - Taoism, Chinese Philosophy, Tao, Laozi

Taoism The original form of Taoism is sometimes called philosophical Taoism or classical Taoism. Taoism never even had a name until Buddhism came to China. It was nameless. Lao Tzu even states that ?Tao? is only used because it is the closest word in meaning. Nothing can be said about the Tao without taking away from the meaning. When Taoism finally was acknowledged, it changed from its strict philosophical path to a religious one, with its own priests and holy men. For many centuries Taoism was just a way of life followed by peasant, farmer and gentleman philosopher and artist. They reflected and mediated. They learned from the highest teacher, nature. They meditated using the energy moving through their bodies and mapped out the roads and paths it traveled upon. Each man and woman was his or her own priest. The connection with the divine or Tao was the sacred trust of each individual. Taoism was said to have been created by the father of Taoism, Lao Tzu, which means ?Old Sage.? Lao Tzu was born in 1321 B.C. He was the keeper of the archives at the imperial courts. The legend has it that he went to the west border at age 80, sad because men were unwilling to follow the path of natural goodness. At the western border, a guard named Yin Xi asked Lao Tzu to record his teachings to him. Lao Tzu then wrote the Tao Te Ching. In Lao Tzu's view things were said to create wei or unnatural action by shaping desires or yu. The process of learning the names called ming used in the doctrines helped people to decide which what good and evil, beautiful and ugly, high and low, and "being" (yu) and "non- being" (wu). He believed that those who seek for and follow the Tao are strong of body, clear of mind, and sharp of sight and hearing. Followers of the Tao do not load their mind with anxieties of the world, and are flexible to change. This meant that wanting and desire was unneed ed because it was part of the Way. To abandon knowledge was to abandon names, distinctions, tastes and desires. Thus spontaneous behavior (wu-wei) resulted. Wu-Wei, which is a major theme in Taoism, is to do things in such a way that it does not seem like there is any effort involved. To do this meant to exist without conscious thought just like nature exists. It is letting go of the worldly thought and action so that the Tao might enter. Later in 399 B.C followed Chuang Tzu, who was labeled as the next great voice after Lao Tzu. Chuang Tzu developed even further what Lao Tzu had written about. He adapted what Lao Tzu taught about mystical learning and perspectives. Chuang Tzu's writing was more developed and clearly stated then Lao Tzu. He also emphasized the place humans have in nature. He believed that people should be at peace while moving with the world. He thought that different emotions lead to certain actions like compassion leads to courage or humility leads to leadership. Taoist ideas and images inspired the Chinese to love nature and to occasional retreat to it from the cares of the world to rest and heal. It also inspired an intense affirmation of physical life from health, well-being, and vitality, to even immortality. Taoism took a turn toward the occult. Some Taoists searched for "isles of the immortals," or for herbs or chemical compounds that could ensure immortality and magic but Taoists were more interested in health and vitality the search for immortality. Bibliography: Feibleman, James K. Drugs: Interactions. New York, New American Library, 1976

Parallel Structure Exercises

Parallel Structure Exercises Parallel Structure Exercises Parallel Structure Exercises By Mark Nichol Previous posts on this website have discussed syntactical errors that result in a lack of grammatical balance between equivalent words and phrases; this post lists the various types of mistakes that lead to flawed parallel structure. You are invited to fix each sentence before reading the explanation. Absence of One Word Most sentences with faulty parallel structure merely lack one word that, once added, repairs the damaged equivalence. The multiple examples in this section illustrate an array of problematic sentence constructions. 1. More diverse corporate leadership will lead to better decision-making and products and services that are more relevant to customers. The adjective better refers only to decision-making, not to products and services, which share a distinct phrase that, like better, qualifies a benefit; inserting to before those terms to match the preposition preceding â€Å"better decision-making† clarifies that the sentence has a compound predicate: â€Å"More diverse corporate leadership will lead to better decision-making and to products and services that are more relevant to customers.† This problem also occurs in sentences that feature an in-line list (a succession of equivalent words or phrases, set off by identical punctuation marks, that appear within the horizontal structure of a sentence rather than being formatted vertically, like items on a shopping list). Often, a compound predicate is mistaken for an in-line list, which requires insertion of a supporting conjunction and deletion of an intrusive punctuation mark. 2. Crowds fled in panic, taking shelter in shops, hotels, or leaping off the elevated pavement onto the beach below. This sentence is formatted as a list, implying that people employed one of three methods to escape danger- resorting to shops, hotels, or the beach. However, only two survival strategies were employed: taking shelter in one of two types of business establishments, or leaping onto the beach. The sentence, therefore, must be slightly revised to refer collectively to shops and hotels as two examples of the implied category â€Å"structures in which to seek refuge†: â€Å"Crowds fled in panic, taking shelter in shops or hotels or leaping off the elevated pavement onto the beach below.† 3. The contraception app has become a popular alternative because it doesnt involve taking any medicines, inserting devices, or hormone patches. Here, the three alternative contraception methods must be treated with the same structural support- because verbs accompany medicines and devices, â€Å"hormone patches† requires equivalent treatment: â€Å"The contraception app has become a popular alternative because it doesnt involve taking any medicines, inserting devices, or using hormone patches.† 4. Those complaints ranged from water dripping from ceilings and walls, gas leaks, electrical shorts, and stopped-up toilet bowls- or no toilet bowls at all. Often, a â€Å"from . . . to† construction is flawed because in the assembly, to has been omitted, but it is required to complete the equivalence: â€Å"Those complaints ranged from water dripping from ceilings and walls to gas leaks, electrical shorts, and stopped-up toilet bowls- or no toilet bowls at all.† (Note that no punctuation interrupts the from . . . to continuum; this is true even if to is employed more than once.) Better yet, however, when the order of words or phrases in the list does not obviously express an ascending significance, employ a simple list structure that omits from and to: â€Å"Those complaints included water dripping from ceilings and walls, gas leaks, electrical shorts, and stopped-up toilet bowls- or no toilet bowls at all.† Incorrect Word Order The sequence of words, rather than an absence of words, can impede logical syntax. 5. Employers frequently have resource needs, both as part of digital-transformation initiatives and other projects. â€Å"As part of† applies only to â€Å"digital-transformation initiatives,† not to the corresponding phrase â€Å"other projects,† so â€Å"as part of† must be repeated before the latter phrase: â€Å"Employers frequently have resource needs, both as part of digital-transformation initiatives and as part of other projects.† Better yet, simply transpose both and â€Å"as part of† so that the phrase applies to both corresponding phrases: â€Å"Employers frequently have resource needs, as part of both digital-transformation initiatives and other projects.† Absence of One Word and Incorrect Word Order Sometimes, a sentence is flawed in both respects. 6. The cynic in me believes it’s rarely done for aesthetic reasons but for strictly commercial ones. This sentence requires a counterpoint to rarely, and because that adverb and its opposite must share the verb done, the verb must precede both adverbs: â€Å"The cynic in me believes it’s done rarely for aesthetic reasons but often for strictly commercial ones.† Insertion of Extraneous Word Here, a superfluous repetition of a preposition disrupts a sentence’s parallel structure. 7. These processes can be used to evaluate internal controls to prevent and detect drug diversion in inpatient and outpatient pharmacies, research facilities, and in clinical and procedural areas. Repeating the preposition in before each example of a place where drug diversion can occur is a valid (but unnecessary) alternative to allowing a single iteration to support the entire list, but this sentence is flawed in that it does not succeed in applying either choice- either â€Å"research facilities† must be preceded by in, or, as shown here, the instance of the preposition before the final list item can be omitted: â€Å"These processes can be used to evaluate internal controls to prevent and detect drug diversion in inpatient and outpatient pharmacies, research facilities, and clinical and procedural areas.† Incorrect Inflectional Form Occasionally, the error is the wrong inflectional form of a word, rather than omission of a necessary word or insertion of an extraneous one. 8. It has chosen to reach settlements rather than levying civil monetary penalties in all but the rarest of cases. Here, to match the bare inflectional form reach, levying must be pared down to levy: â€Å"It has chosen to reach settlements rather than levy civil monetary penalties in all but the rarest of cases.† Misuse of â€Å"As Well As† The phrase â€Å"as well as† is often misunderstood to be a conjunction. 9. This type of assessment helps further inform management’s overall risk tolerance, target fit, valuation assessments, as well as the overall strength of the target. â€Å"As well as† is not equivalent to and or or, so when the last item of an in-line list is preceded by that phrase, rephrase the sentence so that â€Å"as well as† and what follows constitute a clause separate from the list (and insert a conjunction before what is now the final list item): â€Å"This type of assessment helps further inform management’s overall risk tolerance, target fit, and valuation assessments, as well as aiding in measuring the overall strength of the target.† Alternatively, do so but replace â€Å"as well as† with an additional conjunction (â€Å"This type of assessment helps further inform management’s overall risk tolerance, target fit, and valuation assessments and aids in measuring the overall strength of the target†) or incorporate the clause into the list (â€Å"This type of assessment helps further inform management’s overall risk tolerance, target fit, valuation assessments, and measure of the t arget’s overall strength†). Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Definitely use "the" or "a"â€Å"As Well As† Does Not Mean â€Å"And†Dealing With A Character's Internal Thoughts

Analysis of Oath of the Horatii

Analysis of Oath of the Horatii Essay French artist, Jacques-Louis David’s painting, Oath of the Horatii, is one of the most recognizable works of the nineteenth century. This painting is important in the history of French painting. Oath of Horatii was painted in Rome in the style of Neo-Classicism (Kumskova). The French artist oil on canvas painting demonstrates a dramatic portrayal of the Horatii brothers swearing their allegiance to the state as their father stands with swords held high for them to grasp. This painting also depicts a scene about a dispute from a Roman legend about a dispute between two warning cities, Rome and Alba Longa, which stresses the importance of masculine self-sacrifice for one’s country and patriotism when the three Horatii brothers are about to go to war for their country (Wikipedia). The dà ©cor of this Neo classic painting is reduced to a more abstract order, which is architectural space: massive columns and equally massive arches opening out onto a majestic shadow (Wikipedia). The three archways are proportioned in size and space, which also corresponds into three groups. Instead of, Jacques-Louis David opening his painting out onto a landscape or an expansion of the sky, he closes it off to the outside (Kumskova). David’s choices of the architecture and lack of landscape helps make the piece of art more personal and historic. The dà ©cor not only enhances the painting’s true value, but provides the viewer with a well blended array of colors. The choice of colors are limited, but well balanced. David’s color selection seems to consist of red, blue, brown, white, black, and flesh tones. The vibrant red of the cloak of Horatii draws the viewers to the center (Kumskova). The Horatii brothers clothing are of red, white, and blue as they prepare to patriotically fight for the glory of Rome (Wikipedia). Yet, the women in the corner with a sullen mood have earth tone colors. In addition, the scene is closed off from the rest of the world by shadowy recesses among the columns. Throughout Oath of Horatii, the use of shadow helps add depth in the basic colors and give variations of hue. The Oath of Horatiis use of dull colors show the importance of the story behind the painting and also demonstrates the neoclassical art style, which employs the principles of designs. The storyline of Oath of the Horatii is a landmark composition, symbolically and pictorially. The painting is set against a dark, muted classical background that emphasizes the true background and emotion of this masterpiece. The theme of the painting has a patriotic and neoclassical perspective. The atmosphere is softened by shades of green, brown, pink, and red, which are all very discreet. The light in the setting takes on a brick toned reflection, which encircles David’s figures with a mysterious halo as a result (Kumskova). Besides the storyline of the three Horatii brothers, viewers can see the side of the painting that show the women and children of the family mourning the sons’ departure, which intertwines with the dark toned colors of the painting. David’s placement of figures and forms in the canvas act as a way to tell the story of this history’s painting , but most importantly offers more subtle hints to what happens next (Kumskova). David’s ‘The Oath of Horatii’ is one of the hallmark paintings of the neoclassical movement in which artists looked to antiques of Greece and Rome to inspire their generations like David (Wikipedia). Bibliography: Kumskova, Marina. David, Oath of the Horatii, 1784: Analysis. N.p., 13 Mar. 2013. Web. 19 Mar. 2015. Oath of the Horatii. Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 17 Mar. 2015.

SWOT analysis of Nike Company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

SWOT analysis of Nike Company - Essay Example The Nike Corporation traces its origin back to early 1964 through the noble efforts of the then Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight (Richard 4). The Nike Corporation began as â€Å"Blue Ribbon Sports† and later developed for fourteen years before becoming the modern day â€Å"Nike Inc.† The name â€Å"Nike† was derived from the Greek word â€Å"Nikn† meaning the Greek’s goddess of victory. Through its own brand, The Nike Corporation markets its products in association with Nike Golf as well as Nike Pro (Deanne 11). As one of the five hundred companies that are headquartered in the Oregon State, the Nike corporation ranks as the leading brand with the highest value among the sports businesses (Richard 5). Being one of the sources of the market to the labor industry, the Nike Corporation registered one of the highest numbers of employees by recruiting more than 44000 personnel as servants (Deanne 24). The step in the field of employment moved The Nike Corporation miles in the satisfaction of their dreams for the provision of inspiration to the athletes and the public in general. The Nike Corporation has a mission statement which is, â€Å"To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world.† Alongside the full realization of the mission statement, The Nike Corporation has also recorded some of the greatest profits as a business firm (Richard 7). For instance, within the fiscal year 2012, The Nike Corporation registered excess revenue of US$24.1 billion as at the end of May (Deanne 14). Furthermore, the brand itself is valued at US$10.7 billion hence ranks the best brand among all other sporting business. In the environmental stewardship, The Nike Corporation holds one of the best records as regards its performance in the environmental conservation policies of the state (Deanne 16). This fact is provided from the rese4arch activities conducted by an environmental conservation body  in England based on their Nike Grind program that greatly promotes environmental stewardship. In addition to the Nike Grind, The Nike Corporation has also launched more of such programs that aim at environmental conservation such as Nike’s Reuse-A-shoe program (Richard 9).

Dirty Pretty Things Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Dirty Pretty Things - Movie Review Example The movie develops to a scene where Okwe is given a task to repair a broken toilet by Juliette, who is a prostitute, and this leads to making of a horrendous finding. Okwe decides to report to the manager Sneaky, and he is blackmailed in order to remain quiet (Bradshaw, 1). Nonetheless, it gets to a point where he discovers other illegal business, which influences him into seedy London underworld. In contrast, Senay is also influenced by his endeavor to finance her escape to America. It is evident that these two immigrants are influenced into illegal businesses due to their problems such as poverty, fear of being deported (Roger, 1). Therefore, this movie is able to present the interrelationship of the nature of the capitalist system, immigration, and crime (Rovi, 1). For instance, the capitalist system is evident by the fact the Okwe is has medial training, but he is forced to work as a taxi driver instead of seeking formal employment. The aspect of immigration in the movie is prese nted by the fear that these two characters portray due to the risk of being deported. Furthermore, they are influenced into crime due to poverty they are subjected to since they are illegal immigrant without ability to seek good employment. ... The aspect of poverty in this movie is presented by the couch space that is rented by Okwe in the small flat of the chambermaid, who is called Senay; in fact, she hails from Turkey, where she fled due to an arranged marriage. There are other characters such as Guo Yi, who is involved into poker games at the mortuary where he works. Moreover, there are others such as Ivan and Juliette, who is a prostitute (Rovi, 1). In this case, the movie focuses on presenting main characters who are subjected to poverty and they are forced to be involved in unpleasant jobs to earn their stay in London. However, there are other characters, who are Londoners existing in the movie either as customers or immigration officials. The aspect of capitalism is also presented by the effort by Okwe to work in two jobs, whereby be drives a minicab during the day and in a hotel during the night, and he buys illegal herbs at a local cafe (Roger, 1). These illegal herbs are meant to keep him more or less awake in o rder for him to work without sleep. There is another attribute of faithfulness portrayed by Okwe, whereby he remain faithful to his wife in Nigeria by the fact that he desist to engage in any form of sexual relationship with Senay despite living in the same house; in fact, she like him but Okwe never gets carried away (Bradshaw, 1). These characters are presented with ability to make little money from activities such as supplying room service sandwiches after the hotel kitchen are closed. Nevertheless, it is evident that they make a significant contribution to the Western economy as shadow workers. They also operate through a network of contact and support in London underworld; in fact, members of this network

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Essay Example for Free

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Essay A good sales-person is one who possesses personality traits that is in their innate nature to interact with others. These are often difficult to teach but can be developed with time, depending upon the individual’s motivation to excel in their field of work. This forms the intrinsic motivation. However, the motivational tendencies of an individual sales-person alone are insufficient as it is also dependent upon extrinsic motivational factors. (Luke Ali 2011). It is a force that can spur or discourage an individual from achieving the fullest potential in any field. It can take the form of monetary or non-monetary benefits, which encompasses the extrinsic motivation of the sales-person (Luke Ali 2011). Knowing the fact that monetary incentives have been deeply entrenched as the basic method of reward for employees; it must not be assumed that relying on this method solely will be effective. Companies have to consider immaterial benefits to motivate its staffs. What is motivation? Motivation is to initiate action on a certain task. It is to expand a certain amount of effort on that particular task and to persist in expanding effort over a period of time. Therefore motivation is a driving force that pushes people to work, put in effort in their work and working harder than the rest. How to motivate your sales force to have great performance? It’s not just about the paycheck. Effective incentive compensation management is based on an understanding of basic human motivation—on the importance of trust, self-esteem, social recognition and improved chances to fulfill one’s potential (Bakosh 2007, 3). Leadership Many people assume salespeople are motivated by money, and while this is largely true, its absurd to think they are motivated only by money. Salespeople are still human and while commission bonuses and sales spiffs will probably remain an important part of most sales compensation plans, studies consistently show that financial incentives never have the same lasting impact as an employee who is passionate about his work and it is a simply not possible to be passionate about something that you think is inferior. Besides instilling natural passion into your sales team, a salesperson who truly believes in his product or service is far more likely to sell with integrity. Good teamwork is crucial to job satisfaction because it gives employees a sense of accomplishment when the objective is attained. Inspirational sales leaders are well aware that different individuals have different motivations and needs, and they vary their own style accordingly. An especially effective leader with consciously assesses each sales representative’s â€Å"ideal level of energy†, and creates productive â€Å"stretch† for each person according to the level of tension at which each performs at his or her personal best. He inspires some representatives mostly through positive reinforcement—â€Å"you can do it, you’re the best†Ã¢â‚¬â€and others mostly through constructive criticism, each according to their individual profit le and preference. Compensation Plans A well-designed compensation plan is crucial for the success of a company, and must not be overlooked. It has the ability to motivate or de-motivate an employee. In truth, it is valid to imply that, in this context, an effective plan can inspire the sales-person to generate more revenue for the success of a sales company .Hence, when designing the plan it involves the consideration of multi-factorial elements (Growth Process Group 2011). Every step has a purpose and needs to be taken into account. The sales behaviour goals are often misinterpreted by organisations, hence resulting in the failure to motivate their employees. Lastly, the design guidelines encompass the classification of the job and its entitled incentives (Growth Process Group 2011). Compensation Plans †¢Salaries are fixed amounts per month or year for performing a role. †¢Commission is a payment based on the value of sales achieved. This constantly motivates the sales-person especially since his income is strictly dependent on his sales. †¢Salary-plus-commission plans offer an incentive above a basic salary that provides a high-degree of flexibility securing salary and profits but also surpass one’s performance (Tokarev Sergey 2010). †¢Bonuses is based on one’s achievement and not working hard alone. It is the results that matters and bonuses should not be restricted to keep employees from producing results. (Lee Ann Obringer 2011) †¢Long-term incentive plans like profit-sharing plan reward employee for their performance over a continued period of time. This helps retain, motivates employees and even improve their commitment. Maslow’s hierarchy needs Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a motivational theory that illustrates that lower-needs need to first be satisfied before higher-needs can be pursued in a hierarchal sequence. Therefore, after a need is satisfied, it will cease to motivate an individual who will inevitably seek for the next higher-need. Each level requires different actions to meet these needs in order to effectively motivate. In relation to the compensation plans above, monetary benefits may only fulfil the lower needs for an individual. Ultimately, when these needs are achieved, it’s effectiveness in motivating individuals will gradually dwindle. Non-monetary benefits will then be necessary to satisfy the individual’s higher needs, in accordance to Maslow’s hierarchical system. Only through this, can companies sustain long-term motivational effects for its employees. In relation to the compensation plans above, monetary benefits may only fulfil in the lower needs for an individual temporarily. Ultimately, when these needs are achieved, non-monetary benefits will take precedence to satisfy the individual’s higher needs, in accordance to Maslow’s hierarchical system. Only through this, can it sustain long-term motivation effects. Yet, it is necessary to be weary that while Maslow’s theory has helped in the understanding of the application of compensation plans, applying this concept workplace can be tacky as different employees can be driven by different needs. Furthermore, there are insufficient evidences to substantiate the support of the hierarchy theory because its relevance to one job might not apply likewise to another (NetMBA 2010). A sales force specific hierarchy of motivational factors- Maslow hierarchy of motivation. By understanding how an integrated and holistic approach to motivation works the importance of trust, of self-esteem, of social recognition, of improved chances to fulfill one’s potential—traditional incentive compensation management strategies can be rethought and implemented in ways that improve the performance of the sales force and help the entire company achieve high performance (Bakosh 2007, 3).

The Kathmandu Valley and the Constant Terror of Earthquakes Essay

The Kathmandu Valley and the Constant Terror of Earthquakes One important climatic feature that plagues the South Asian region of the Kathmandu Valley is earthquakes. A few severe earthquakes have taken place in the country's history and caused many deaths and nearly irreparable damage to impoverished Nepal. The residents of the Kathmandu Valley experience small tremors nearly every day, whether they can feel them or not. The world and the nation is waiting for the 'next big one' to terrorize the small country. The Kingdom of Nepal is a landlocked nation that geographically lies between India and China. The narrow country also located at the boundary between the Indian and Tibetan tectonic plates and is thus extremely susceptible to earthquakes.[1] The entire kingdom falls into highly seismic zones, including the mountains. The Himalayan mountain range was even formed by the collision of the Asian and Indian plates that started about 50 million years ago, and ended with the subduction of the Indian plate underneath Tibet.[2] The Universities of Alaska and Colorado, in order to help these poor nations, have made precise measurements in both the Nepal Himalayan range and Tibetan Plateau since March of 1991.[3] The researchers have discovered that the Indian plate moves 53-63 millimeters closer to Asia at the same time as Tibet moves the same direction by 34-39 millimeters each year.[4] Therefore, Nepal is rowed about 19-24 millimeters per year.[5] As these steady movements have continued throughout the years, and slip events have also occurred causing great earthquakes on a north-sloping surface underneath the Himalayan mountains.[6] And as lakes long ago occupied the Kathmandu Valley,... ...ismological Centre. [9] GeoHazards International: A Nonprofit Working Towards Global Earthquake Safety. ÒA Nonprofit Organization Kathmandu Project.Ó http://www.geohaz.org/contents/projects/kathmandu.html. [10] GeoHazards International. [11] GeoHazards International. [12] National Seismological Centre. [13] National Seismological Centre. [14] Shakya, Naresh Man. [15] GeoHazards International. [16] GeoHazards International. [17] Shakya, Naresh Man. [18] Asian Disaster Reduction Center. ÒChapter 3: Nepal.Ó National Society for Earthquake Technology- Nepal (NSET). 2003. [19] Asian Disaster Reduction Center. [20] Asian Disaster Reduction Center. [21] Asian Disaster Reduction Center. [22] Asian Disaster Reduction Center. [23] Asian Disaster Reduction Center. [24] Asian Disaster Reduction Center.

3-Day Exercise Activity Analysis Essay

In this paper I will discuss my current exercise habits as well as discussing my Physical Activity Tracker results. I will also talk about how I can ultimately improve my exercise habits and how I can incorporate a workout routine into my everyday living and be able to use it throughout the entire year. My current exercise habits as of the present moment are none sadly to say. I am one of those people who do not work out. I come from a long line of people in my family who is very over weight. My mother and aunt as well as my sister suffer from high blood pressure and diabetes. I know that the fact that those things run in my family puts me at an even greater risk for acquiring both of those ailments. I have dieting on numerous occasions as well as work out. I am a single mother of 4 children and I also work full time as well as attend classes here online. It is really hard to stick to any kind of plan that includes diet and exercise, however I know that if I do not take action soon then it will ultimately be too late. I also worry about my middle daughters weight as well because she takes after my side of the family and she also has type 2 diabetes because of her weight so I think that creating a workout routine followed with a diet will have a positive effect on myself as well as my children. Looking at my Physical Activity Tracker my activity level over a 3 day period was very minimal and just included house work. It was described as light intensity activity and that does not count toward MIE minutes. The total number of calories that I had burned within that 3 day period was only 6,789 which when broken down comes out to a total of 2,263 calories burned per day. My weekly goal for physical activity was 150 minutes of aerobic activity per week and 2 days of muscle strength training every week. However I did not meet any of those goals at all. I know that I need to take more indicative when it comes to working out daily if I plan to get in shape and lose any weight at all. I believe that the changes that I need to make in my everyday life to be able to actually follow through with a workout routine and have more energy to be able to do so is to eat more healthier foods first of all, like green leafy vegetables and fruits along with taking my vitamins so that will help with my energy level. I know that I also need to start drinking water as I do not drink any at all right now and I know that that is very unhealthy. I think that just getting up and taking a walk around my neighborhood on a day to day basis will help. I think that I will start just by walking around a couple of blocks at first and then slowly increase that to 4 blocks and so on and so forth. I think that walking would be a great way to start but I also believe that doing some sit ups and leg lifts after I get my energy level built up after I start my walking regimen would really benefit me as well. When I was a teenager I had a daily routine of doing 50 sit ups a day along with 50 leg lifts. I did that for a whole year straight and I lost so much weight not to mention inches off of my waistline. I think that I will also look into joining a gym so that when it is cold outside I can go there and walk on the treadmill as well as use the other equipment, I have a friend that goes everyday faithfully and I think that working out with a partner would help get me more motivated as well. I intend to get in shape this year because I am not getting any younger and I know that my health is essential if I want to be here to be able to see my children grow up.

Everyday Hero Essay

When I think of the word hero, I think of the countless Spiderman figures lying at the bottom of my brother’s toy chest, or even Prince Charming rescuing Sleeping Beauty from her seemingly endless slumber. However, what usually does not come to mind, are the true real life heroes that I believe posses higher superpowers than the Incredibles ever could. Though they do not have the ability to fly or read minds, one way or another, these people have helped someone in a tough situation. A true hero can be anyone from the firefighters at the station to your older sister living in the room next door. They may have helped to save your life, or merely helped you get through your math homework last night. Whatever the case, one quality that all true heroes must possess is the ability to be an example of goodwill in the world. A hero will help someone because they want to, not because they have to. Though they are not perfect, no one is, a hero will continue to put others first when the y know that it is most important to do so. Three years ago, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. The news came as an utter shock to everyone, considering the fact that she was one of the healthiest and most active members of my family. She played tennis and practiced yoga at least four times a week; always ate healthy and organic foods, and on top of all this, there was barely any history of breast cancer on our family tree! Though her case was not as bad as others, it still required her to undergo weeks of arduous chemotherapy and radiation. Through her darker days, she herself would be the one to calm me down and reassure me that everything would be okay. The night before my mother’s surgery, I started to cry, scared and frustrated with what was happening around me. Though she was also frightened and anxious, my mother was the one to comfort me and explain that a plastic surgeon did not actually turn people into plastic, as I had imagined. Even during her most bleak and miserable moments, she put everything aside and reached out to help me deal with her pain. For this, she is my hero. No, she is not Superwoman, or a firefighter,  or even your everyday do-gooder; but she’s my mom, and that is good enough for me. This just goes to show that a seemingly ordinary woman can be a hero to someone in her own way. Heroes are everyday characters, and if you look hard enough you will find the hero in your own life. This I believe.

The Congressional Committee System

The Congressional Committee System The congressional committees are subdivisions of the U.S. Congress that concentrate on specific areas of U.S. domestic and foreign policy and general government oversight. Often called the â€Å"little legislatures,† congressional committees review pending legislation and recommend action on that legislation by the whole House or Senate. The congressional committees provide Congress with critical information related to specialized, rather than general subjects. President Woodrow Wilson once wrote of the committees, â€Å"It is not far from the truth to say that Congress in session is Congress on public exhibition, whilst Congress in its committee rooms is Congress at work.† Brief History of the Committee System Today’s congressional committee system had its beginnings in the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946, the first and still the most ambitious restructuring of the original system of standing committees as used in the First Continental Congress in 1774. Under the 1946 Act, the number of permanent House committees was reduced from 48 to 19 and the number of Senate committees from 33 to 15. In addition, the Act formalized the jurisdictions of each committee, thus helping to consolidate or eliminate several committees and minimize conflicts between similar House and Senate committees. In 1993, a temporary Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress determined that the 1946 Act had failed to limit the number of subcommittees any single committee could create. Today, the rules of the House limit each full committee to five subcommittees, except for the Appropriations Committee (12 subcommittees), Armed Services (7 subcommittees), Foreign Affairs (7 subcommittees), and Transportation and Infrastructure (6 subcommittees). However, committees in the Senate are still allowed to create an unlimited number of subcommittees.   Where the Action Happens The congressional committee system is where the action really takes place in the U.S. law-making process. Each chamber of Congress has committees set up to perform specific functions, enabling the legislative bodies to accomplish their often complex work more quickly with smaller groups. There are approximately 250 congressional committees and subcommittees, each charged with different functions and all made up of members of Congress. Each chamber has its own committees, although there are joint committees comprising members of both chambers. Each committee, going by chamber guidelines, adopts its own set of rules, giving each panel its own special character. The Standing Committees   In the Senate, there are standing committees for: agriculture, nutrition, and forestry;appropriations, which holds the federal purse strings and is, therefore, one of the most powerful Senate committees;armed services;banking, housing, and urban affairs;budget;commerce, science, and transportation;energy and natural resources;environment and public works;finance; foreign relations;health, education, labor, and pensions;homeland security and governmental affairs;judiciary;rules and administration;small business and entrepreneurship; andveterans affairs. These standing committees are permanent legislative panels, and their various subcommittees handle the nuts-and-bolts work of the full committee. The Senate also has four select committees charged with more specific tasks: Indian affairs, ethics, intelligence, and aging. These handle housekeeping-type functions, such as keeping Congress honest or ensuring the fair treatment of American Indians.Committees are chaired by a member of the majority party, often a senior member of Congress. Parties assign their members to specific committees. In the Senate, there is a limit to the number of committees on which one member may serve. While each committee may hire its own staff and appropriate resources as it sees fit, the majority party often controls those decisions. The House of Representatives has several of the same committees as the Senate: agriculture,appropriations,armed services,budget,education and labor,foreign affairs,homeland security,energy and commerce,Judiciary,natural resources,science and technology,small business,and veterans affairs. Committees unique to the House include House administration, oversight and government reform, rules, standards of official conduct, transportation and infrastructure, and ways and means. This last committee is considered the most influential and sought-after House committee, so powerful that members of this panel cannot serve on any other committees without a special waiver. The panel has jurisdiction over taxation, among other things. There are four joint House/Senate committees. Their areas of interest are printing, taxation, the Library of Congress, and the U.S. economy. Committees in the Legislative Process Most congressional committees deal with passing laws. During each two-year session of Congress, literally thousands of bills are proposed, but only a small percentage is considered for passage. A bill that is favored often goes through four steps in committee. First, executive agencies give written comments on the measure; second, the committee holds hearings in which witnesses testify and answer questions; third, the committee tweaks the measure, sometimes with input from non-committee members of Congress; finally, when the language is agreed upon the measure is sent to the full chamber for debate. Conference committees, usually composed of standing committee members from the House and Senate who originally considered the legislation, also help reconcile one chambers version of a bill with the others. Not all committees are legislative. Others confirm government appointees such as federal judges; investigate government officials or pressing national issues; or ensure that specific government functions are carried out, like printing government documents or administering the Library of Congress. Phaedra Trethan is a freelance writer who also works as a copy editor for the Camden Courier-Post. She formerly worked for the Philadelphia Inquirer, where she wrote about books, religion, sports, music, films and restaurants. Updated by Robert Longley

Favorite Brand Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Favorite Brand - Research Paper Example The brands quality is evidenced by celebrity endorsing it, particularly by the athletes. For instance, Lance Armstrong chose to wear Oakley products in the Winter Olympics in 2006. Also, in 2010, the miners who got trapped in a mine for seventeen days in Chile were offered Oakley sunglasses to protect their retinas after reaching the ground during the saving pursuit. The military, Hollywood stars, and royalties are also among the users of Oakley products. Eldridge (2011) asserts that, Oakley products are not only worn for fashion purposes, but owing to the quality thereof. Indeed the fusion of science with art has enabled athletes redefine what is thought to be impossible physically. The exclusive research and technology as evidenced by the ideal balance 3-point frames, which are calculated at providing the user with optimum optical alignment, comfort and stability makes the Oakley brand stand out. The pressure points inherent in ordinary frames are obviated from Oakley frames while facilitating an accurate and sharp vision. Much emphasis is paid on the clarity and sharpness of the image that the prospective user should acquire, as such; the Oakley products have High Definition Optics (HDO) lenses. Oakley lenses also ensure that no harmful ultraviolet or blue light penetrates to the eyes of the user (Eldridge, 2011). The lenses are designed is such a way that the harmful rays get filtered into the lens as opposed to a mere coating that can run out with the passage of time. Oakley offers a variety of options for the prospective user in terms of color and style. For instance, there are iridium and polarized lenses, whereby iridium refers to a coating with the ability of cutting some light and enhancing others, whereas polarized lenses prevents bouncing light from other surfaces from reaching the eye. The SwitchLock feature enables users to vary the lenses promptly in order to grant optimum visibility in various situations.

Investment Risks Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Investment Risks - Essay Example It is also important to note that the relative degree of risk against the return does not need to be in linear relation i.e. it is not necessary that the risk and return increase in same proportion however, if risk increases, it is necessary that the return must increase too in order to compensate the investors for taking increased risk. (Ante, 2009). The above graph therefore indicates that the investment four has the highest risk and highest return whereas investment 1 has the lowest risk and lowest return. This graph also indicate that the investors may be preferring different combinations of the investments i.e. the investment that is providing lowest returns may be made in the government treasury securities whereas investment providing highest returns may made in the stocks of a corporate as the stocks provide highest returns and also carry greatest risk among all instruments of investment. It is important to understand that the expected return is always calculated by multiplying the return with the probability and the resulting figure is called the expected return on any investment. Therefore the investment that provides highest expected return shall be chosen over other investment. The investor should choose an investment that pays a guaranteed return of 7% because given the overall probability of different returns, the investors will get the expected return of 5% with a probability of 0.5 whereas the investment providing 7% result has the probability of 1 that means the expected return will be 7% which is highest as compared to other investment. The higher the probability greater are the chances that the return will be guaranteed therefore an investment with a lower probability will yield lower expected returns whereas an investment with higher probability of getting the same return will yield higher expected returns. Therefore in this case, since the probability of getting 7% return is

Management accounting and control (s-12 -1-4)) Coursework

Management accounting and control (s-12 -1-4)) - Coursework Example In this control model, there are several actions that ought to be subjected to control as argued by Otley and Berry (1980). In their argument, the authors point out four conditions of control. i. Existence of clear organisation’s objectives ii. The outputs of the budgetary process should be measurable iii. The effect of the control actions must be predictable iv. The organisation should be able to implement a corrective action throughout the budgetary process. Existence of clear organisation’s objectives Management of public and large private organisations is sometime hard to attain the desired ends. Activities and various operations should be monitored closely and action should be taken in order to achieve the intended objectives. Objectives drive an organisation in pursuing any activity. It dictates what ought to be done at specific period of time. An organisation has objectives and subsidiary objectives that influence its course of actions. Setting clear objectives i s one of the functions of modern management both in private and public sector. Measurement of goal attainment both financially and in terms of meeting demands of stakeholders is paramount. The issue of goal attainment cannot be achieved without confronting the issue of organisation’s effectiveness and efficiency, which means have direct effect on organisation’s budget (Bunce et al., 1995). The extent to which clear objectives apply in the context of budgeting As suggested by Otley and Berry (1980), objectives for budgetary process under control must exist; otherwise without them the control process is meaningless to the organisation. Well defined objectives compel an organisation to work without certain resource and time constraints. Most organisations around the world defined their objectives which ought to be achieved within budgeted resources. The objectives act a guide to the utilization of the existing resources as reflected in the budget. The authors further sugg est that the budgeting control process is influenced directly by the objectives to be attained during a specified period of time. It is demeaning for organisation to spend its resources on unbudgeted things since it will undermine the attainment of well defined objectives. Without objectives, the budgeting process will be aimless hence the entire concept of budgetary control becomes inappropriate. As the business operations progresses, an organisation continually monitors the world around and compares its current state with its objectives. Is the organisation in the correct route in respect to its budgeting process? Is its spending within the appropriate budget limit? Is the organisation avoiding resource strain? The objectives helps an organisation makes a budgetary observations by the use of measurable aspects of budget. The outputs of the budgetary process should be measurable Most literature advocate for adoption of performance based budgeting (PBP) as a primary way of attaining efficiency in the management of public resources. The sole aim of this concept is to link performance information with effective management and allocation of public or organisational resources. It emphasizes the significance of singling out measurable outcomes and effectively allocating resources to facilitate the realization of these outcomes. According to Otley

Being a teenager Essay Example for Free

Being a teenager Essay When you leave primary school you become a young adult, and all things that you believed in are either reinforced or broken. You can be lucky and be accepted as a popular person or for simply being yourself; you could remain an outcast until you leave that school. There is a hierarchy that is followed in each school, and both the boys and girls follow it. There is in both cases a leader for the boys and for the girls, then there are those who follow the leaders. Then there are those who dont fit in at all and become loners. Its difficult to listen to your parents when they continually say to you, these are the best days of your life because sometimes, you struggle to see how this can be so. You feel pressure, a strong need to fit in even for just a moment, and even though you are told by your parents, no matter what grade you get we will always love you. There is still a deep feeling inside that if you dont do well, you will let your parents down and you will destroy your life. There is also a fear suppressed and hidden beneath the surface, that if you do too well, you will be called a stew by all of your peers. So you are caught in a catch twenty-two; and there is no way of avoiding the stress or worry. The best thing to deal whit the stress and worries is to pass over your fears and dont care what your peers are saying. When you are a young person everything revolves around your school live. For those that you meet in school are those you will stick with for the five to seven years that you stay there, and some of the friends you meet there may be your friends for life. You constantly are trying to better yourself in school in order to get the attention of others. You go to sleepovers, shopping and clubbing all with the people you meet in school. This puts pressure on you because you feel the need to be perfect and to fit in with all the rest of your peers. Bullying is in full flow when you are a young person, its not physical in my opinion its mainly verbal, or the people just basically exclude you completely. There are those who stand in a group of people and seem like they in a crowd or click but what others dont realize it that they arent included in the conversation what so ever. Music, television, celebrities and school control all of my actions as well as all other young people. The music that you like and listen to can determine the kind of people you will end up being friends with. Television influences how we talk, what we wear, and even affect our opinions about things. Celebrities make us want to make ourselves better and by better I mean thinner and more fashionable, and school effects what group we are in as well as the possibility that we may not fit in at all. So being a young person is anything but easy at times, there are so many different pressures that surround your life. From restless nights for exams to being able to fit in with all the popular people. Though we do have goodnights out and live for the night, when morning comes sometimes it wasnt just quite worth it. Starting jobs and keeping hormones under control is more difficult now than ever, because of influences on television. Those who surround us are constantly judging us, and we feel that we are also being judged by the outside world. Though we know there is always the one thing we can always rely on; our mobiles and in my case my family. So do you think now that its easy being a teen?

Social Differences in Cosmetic Surgery

Social Differences in Cosmetic Surgery Obesity 1 Question: Technological advancements have enabled comestic surgery to be used in the quest for bodily perfection. Critically analysed the use of medical technologies by different social groups. You can draw on real world case studies to explain your points. Use of Medical Technologies by Different Social Groups Introduction Medical technologies include large varieties of procedures, diagnosis, health care devices, and tools, which assist in the process of improving the quality of life of people. Advancement of technologies resulted in creating innovative methods to alleviate the quality of life and standards of health. Advancements of medical technology result in expanding the fields of its use. Medical technologies are commonly in use by a variety of people belonging to different social groups. In the early time, use of medical technology was only limited to the clinical practices, but in the modern time, it is also using in the field of media, for cosmetic surgery, sex change, transplants, and various other uses, by a number of different people belonging to variety of fields. These involves business organizations, employees, families, media personalities, people from severe injuries, burn cases, and a number of different other cases. One more important benefit of advancement in medical technology has resulted in increase in the demand for engineers. This has resulted in evolution of varieties of medical fields providing more opportunities for the career development. It has provided chances for the business sector to increase the profits by marketing new and advance medical equipments in the market. These advancements of medical technology have resulted in expansion of the use of medical technologies by different social groups. Discussion Medical Technologies â€Å"Medical technologies include innovative interventions designed to improve quality and outcomes of treatment and range from syringes to pacemakers to life-support machines† (Bevan et al, 2011, p.10). These technologies are widely use for improving the process of diagnosis, extending life, reducing the rate of morbidity, reducing complication and duration of medical treatments, and improving the quality of life. Medical technologies have expended the use of medical equipments in various fields other than medicine. This has resulted in benefits for not only improving the standards of health, providing bodily perfection, bringing expansion of its uses, increasing opportunities for career development, increase in using these technologies for the cosmetic surgeries by media personalities, and also it has resulted in increasing the economic benefits for the business field. One more positive outcome of medical technologies is the increase in cost effective methods in the health and social care practices. It also results in avoiding complexities and lengthy processes of traditional methods of medical practices. Medical advancement has also resulted in providing solution for the various complications, which impossible to resolve with the traditional ways. It is also an effective approach to serve the suffering humanity, as there are various cases of people with burns and birth with deformities. Medical technology has provided solution for these concerns. Medical technology has also provided solution for the chronic and ill health conditions, which were generally considered as a burden, â€Å"The costs of ill health to the UK economy already add up to  £100 billion a year† (Black cited by Bevan, et al 2011, p.11). Technological advancements have enabled cosmetic surgery to be used in the quest for bodily perfection and resolving problems for many defects. Medical technologies are using widely for the weight reduction through liposuction and other medical practices; it has also provided solution for hair transplants. One of the most commonly and widely used technological advancement in the field of medicine is an effective way of using laser. Laser has provided solution for the various problems such as extra facial hair growth â€Å"hirsutism†, or permanent treatment for eyesight and various eye problems (Gan Graber, 2013). Electrolysis is also one of the medical technologies, to resolve the problems of abnormal hair growth. Medical Technologies for Deformities and Bodily Perfection There are various medical advancements for restoring the body parts and providing solutions for the deformities. This involves use of varieties of medical instruments in order to provide assistance for surgery, transplants, and various other treatments. Cosmetic Surgery and Plastic Surgery Plastic surgery is very effective in order to treat various deformities and defects. This includes treating warts, scars, acne, etc. There are various other procedures involved in plastic surgery as tummy tucks, removing tattoos, and otoplasty (Efremov, et al, 2010; Chaurasia, 2010). Cosmetic surgery is widely in use for the enhancement of features and improving looks. It is more commonly in use by celebrities and media personalities. It also includes face lift and perfection of various parts of face and body (Efremov, et al, 2010). Cosmetic surgery also includes treatment for hair transplant and facial hair removal. Reconstructive Surgery It is also very important medical technique for the reattachment of body parts that are amputated in the accident or in any severe condition. This is very important advancement in the medical technology that provides solution for the serious burns and reconstructing body parts that are deformed by or missing at birth. Laser Treatment Laser treatments are widely use in the medical treatment for various purposes. This includes its use in cosmetic surgery, eye treatments, laser therapies, hair transplants, dental treatments, and varieties of other medical conditions. Liposuction, Electrolysis, Transplants Liposuction, electrolysis, transplants, and various other such techniques are also widely in use due to their effectiveness for the treatment of variety of patients (Hancock, 2013). There are various advancements of technologies in these techniques, to provide better treatment of any deformity. Liposuction and tummy tuck are widely in use for the weight reduction and various people are getting rid of their extra body fats. Medical Technologies for Different Social Groups There are various ways through which medical advancements assists in increasing its use by a variety of social groups. According to Bevan, et al. â€Å"Ill health adversely affects individuals, families, workplaces, health care and society†, which results in absence due to sickness, it also results in creating psychological complication, unemployment, and various other social, economic, and health concerns (Bevan, et al 2011, p.11; Warr et al, 1988)). Medical technologies can provide solution for the problem of these people by providing better health conditions with improved technological advancements. Medical interventions and technologies advancements provide solution to deal with the chronic health conditions, reducing the rate of morbidity and mortality and increasing life expectancies. There is advancement of medical technology in various fields. Individuals with Deformities People with physical deformities also face various social and psychological problems. They face rejection and emotional problems (Bevan et al, 2011). Advancement of medical technology is very effective for the treatment of people with deformity due to any accident or by birth. These deformities results in creating various problems for these individuals to live normal life. These individual with amputations, burns, deformity, missing part of body, or any other physical abnormality, face social and psychological complexities. Majority of these people cannot normal life; they also face problems in getting jobs or in social interactions. Medical technology has played a vital role in treating these individuals and providing solution for their deformities. These treatments provide opportunity for these people to have better life. These medical technologies are aimed to provide better life and improved well being of these people. Medical advancement not only provide solution for these people to live as an effective and active part of society, but it give confidence and hope to live their life in a better way. There are also people who could not afford to have expensive medical treatments with lengthy and complicated processes (Bevan et al, 2011). With the advancement of technology, majority of can have treatments at affordable cost. These treatments are very effective for these the people with deformities. These people are also very important part of the society and after treatment, they can play their more efficiently in the society. This result in improvement of quality of their life, and these people can have better opportunities for employment. Celebrities and Media personnels Medical technologies are widely in use for the enhancement of features and improving figures. It is widely in use by the models, celebrities, media personals, and all the famous people who have to face public. This results in getting more attention and admiration (Bayer, 2005). There are various example and cases of people belonging to media, who have tried cosmetic surgeries. There are different examples of nose transplants, face lifts, and weight reduction techniques used by these people. All these techniques and surgeries are very appreciative that these reflect their real features with more enhancements. There are also some reactions and side effects to these technologies. Family Members and Care Providers Medical technology is also very effective for providing benefits to the families. One most important benefit of medical technologies is that it results in savings. Medical technologies not only assure the saving of cost with the use of latest technologies, but it is also very effective in saving time of taking care of the patient. In most of the cases family members and care providers of family cannot have full time jobs. Advancement of technology also results in providing care providers and family members to return to their works and also utilize their energies in various other beneficial tasks (Bevan et al, 2011). Use of medical technology also assists in saving financial costs as it allows reducing investments on patient and saving money from the budget used to spend on patient. Medical technologies, is also very effective for providing the psychological assurance to the family members. It reduces mental and emotional burden from the family members and care providers (Bevan et al, 2011). It can allow peace of mind for the family members and care providers as they do not have to think about patient all the time. With the quick and easy way of treatment it also relieves family members from facing the complexities and long duration of treatments. Therefore, medical technologies have resulted in providing various positive outcomes for the family members and care providers. Career Development for the Students Medical technologies have also provided various opportunities for the students to explore their potential in the new field of medicine. It is not only effective for the students of medical science, but it has also opened ways of new opportunities and career development for students of engineering and information technology. With the advancements in medical technologies and increase in his scope has resulted in creating new space in the job market. With the establishments of new fields of studies and research in the medical technologies have not only provided assistance for the students to explore new fields of medicine, but with the combination of engineering and information technology also invites these students and researchers to explore new dimensions in this field. Employers and Employees Medical technologies have also resulted in decreasing providing more opportunities for the employment. There are various ways through which medical technologies resulted in providing solution for the employees and employers. There are a number of different effective ways that result in providing better solution for these people. Firsts with the use of medical technologies, various people with deformities who are not able to work and participate in the social gathering, become able to join the organizations and they can work with confidence in the job market. This results in proving more opportunities for the employers to seek for the workforce. Medical technologies are also very effective for making large number of individuals to actively participate in the economic activity, who cut themselves from the society due to their deformities. Due to these deformities, burns, amputations, and any other such reason, these people not only become burden for themselves, but also for their families and societies. This provides them new opportunities to become an active member of society and being becoming burden for their families and societies, they can be more active in providing support for others. According to Bevan et al, â€Å"Many of the positive outcomes associated with the use of innovative medical technologies result from the improved ability of individuals to stay in or return to work† (Bevan et al, 2011, p.17). Medical technologies also assist in avoiding the problem of absenteeism due to ill health conditions and any physical condition that prevent an individual from work. It is also very cost effective in order to save both cost and rehabilitation time taken off from the work due to any physical or psychological problem of continuing the work. Medical technologies also allow joining various family members to return to their work and it results in decrease of absenteeism. With the return of employees to work, it also assists in saving recruitment cost of the employers. It also results in creating better brand image and good image in job market, due to retention of its employees and having its own employees back after treatment. Thus, it also results in saving recruitments costs and expenses on the training in case of hiring new workers. It is also easy for the managers to deal with their own employees rather employing new staff. Advancement of medical technologies also ensures availability of more healthy employees and candidates in the job market. It results in increasing the healthy labour force and increase in the productivity of organization. This also provides an ideal condition for both employees and employers with fewer sick leaves and loss of work. Entrepreneurs and Businessmen Advancement of medical technologies have also resulted in providing more opportunities for the businessmen and entrepreneurs by providing them opportunities to operate business in dealing with the manufacturing and retailing and selling of the medical equipments and tools use in the treatment through medical technologies (Gershon, 2002). New advancement, in the medical technology opens new opportunity, for the business entrepreneurs to deal with the sale of new items in market. Globalization has also resulted in providing opportunities for these entrepreneurs to expand their business in various other new markets. It not only results in positive outcome for these entrepreneurs, but it also results in providing new medical technologies to serve more people in different regions of world. Advancement of modern technology and new equipments also allows hospitals to implement latest technological advancements in their hospital settings. Use of latest medical technologies also allows attrac ting more people to hope for the improving the quality of their living standards. Various other Social Groups Medical technologies also use for the sex change and various other such purposes by the people who have desire to change their sex permanently. There are various legal and social restrictions with this practice, but now a large number of people are attracting towards it. Medical technology is also effectively serving for the families and parents who cannot have children. With the advancement of medical technology, it is also possible. Conclusion In conclusion, advancement of medical technology has resulted in increasing the use of medical technologies by different social groups. There are various effective ways and techniques through which a variety of social groups use the medical technologies for bringing improvement in the quality of life and improving the standards of living. There are various advancements in the medical technologies such as cosmetic surgery, plastic surgery, reconstructive surgery, laser treatment, liposuction, electrolysis, transplants, and various other techniques. These medical advancements are widely in use to cure the deformities, warts, acne, enhancement of features, weight reduction, hair transplants, and various other transplants of body parts and organs. With these advancements a large number of social groups have benefits. This has resulted in providing solution for Individuals with deformities, celebrities and media personals to improve their features, family members and care providers, caree r development for the students, employers and employees, entrepreneurs and businessmen, and various other social groups. References Bayer, K. (2005). Cosmetic surgery and cosmetics: Redefining the appearance of age.Generations,29(3), 13-18. http://generations.metapress.com/index/5q624h5086540447.pdf Bevan, S., Zheltoukhova, K., McGee, R. (2011). Adding Value: The Economic and Societal Benefits of Medical Technology.The Work Foundation 2011. http://advamed.org/res.download/352 Black, C. (2008). Working for a healthier tomorrow.http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/ PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_083560 Chaurasia, G. (2010). Cosmeticology: Disorders and Its Advanced Treat-Ment.Journal of Global Pharma Technology,2(10), 1-13. http://jgpt.co.in/jgpt/index.php/jgptjournal/article/viewArticle/299 Efremov, S., Botev, C., Tonev, I., Mincheff, M., Henderson, J., Duskova, M., Là ³pez de Vergara, C. S. (2010). Selected Abstracts from the â€Å"Best of Europe† Session of the 2nd Congress of the European Association of Societies of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (EASAPS).Aesthetic Plastic Surgery,34(5), 551-554. http://www.springerlink.com/index/L038856761350257.pdf Gan, S. D., Graber, E. M. (2013). Laser hair removal: a review.Dermatologic Surgery,39(6), 823-838. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/dsu.12116/abstract?deniedAccessCustomisedMessage=userIsAuthenticated=false Gershon, D. (2002). Microarray technology: an array of opportunities.Nature,416(6883), 885-891. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v416/n6883/full/416885a.html Goldman, D., Lakdawalla, D., Philipson, T. J., Yin, W. (2010). Valuing health technologies at NICE: recommendations for improved incorporation of treatment value in HTA.Health economics,19(10), 1109-1116. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/hec.1654/abstract Hancock, D. (2013).The Complete Medical Tourist: Your Guide to Inexpensive and Safe Cosmetic and Medical Surgery Overseas. John Blake Publishing. http://books.google.com/books?hl=enlr=id=TY84AAAAQBAJoi=fndpg=PT10dq=Liposuction,+electrolysis,+transplants+in+UKots=8ZM1PkVJR5sig=oTgophH2v9kGGRlYuQunb91Jlhc#v=onepageqf=false Raftery, J. (2001). NICE: faster access to modern treatments? Analysis of Guidance on health technologies. British Medical Journal, 323, 1300-1303 Warr, P., Jackson, P., Banks, M. (1988). Unemployment and mental health: Some British studies.Journal of social issues,44(4), 47-68. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1540-4560.1988.tb02091.x/abstract

Unexpected Critiques in Walden Essay -- American Literature Thoreau Es

Unexpected Critiques in Walden In Walden, Henry David Thoreau utilizes many different styles and themes to explain his ideas about shelter in further detail. Thoreau uses lists, long and short sentences, imagery, and different narrative voices. But out of all the things Thoreau uses to strengthen his argument, the most powerful is his unexpected comparisons and his sarcasm towards shelter. Thoreau uses these to get the reader interested, but more importantly it gets the reader to reconsider his/her contentment and think about how ridiculous society was then concerning shelter. Early in "Economy", Thoreau writes about shelter in regards to how humans first came to use and later need shelter. The passage starts off by explaining how some person a long time ago decided to dwell in a cave for shelter. Through Thoreau's word usage and imagery, his idea that humans do not need shelter is clear. He starts this argument with the topic of child rearing. He states that since a child "loves to stay out doors, even in wet and cold," the instinct to have shelter is not biological (Thoreau 28). It must be something that is taught to children, most likely from observation. At the same time no one, even Thoreau, knows where and how this instinct originated. He just knows that "in the infancy of the human race, some enterprising mortal crept into a hollow in a rock for shelter" (28). In using words and phrases like "primitive," "the infancy of the human race," and "most primitive ancestor" the reader understands how important shelter has become to the human race because it is so deeply rooted in human's minds (28). From here Thoreau dives into a long list of how humans have developed their shelter over time, from "roofs of palm leave... ... afford just to be "civilized." He states all the, "benefit[s] of the improvements of centuries, [like] spacious apartments... [and] Venetian blinds" (31). He finishes off this long list of expensive luxuries with the main idea of this passage: Why is the civilized man making himself more poor by renting while the savage lives in relative luxury in his "wigwam." Thoreau's main tools in persuading the reader are his uses of light sarcasm and comparisons and critiques based on animals, savages, and civilized people. When backed up with logical reasoning, these two tools make the reader really step back and think about his/her happiness in regards to shelter. In making the reader reevaluate everything about shelter, Thoreau keeps the reader interested and in turn, the reader keeps on reading the book. Which, in fact, is all Thoreau really wants in the first place.

Enron Bcci Case

IBCCI’s Misgivings: Four major frauds explained in the Price Waterhouse report. 1. According to the Sandstorm Report, some $633 million of losses related to treasury trading. 2. Price Waterhouse had been doing its job, there's no way that this $1 billion exposure [in BCCI's Central Treasury] which was taken to $11 billion exposure in the course of 3 or 4 months [in 1985] could have happened. 3. All of BCCI's serious treasury problems were related to the activities at Grand Cayman, which had taken place in a blatant and repetitive form over many years.BCCI was paying its auditors $5 million per year to conduct audits which each year took nearly five months. if properly done, these audits should have uncovered the problems and forced action long before April, 1990 4. In the case of BCCI, there can be no question that the auditing process failed to work. As the Bank of England stated in determining that BCCI be closed 5. Given the demonstrable failure of the auditing process, ser ious questions have been raised about how and why BCCI's outside auditors permitted BCCI to flourish as long as it did, despite fraud and other bad practices which went back many years. 6.The record offers both support for assessing blame on BCCI's auditors, and the suggestion that their work in the spring of 1991 was an essential component of the investigative process that ultimately forced BCCI's closure. 7. One view of the culpability of BCCI's accountants was expressed by BCCI's own chief financial officer, Masihur Rahman. Rahman testified that as BCCI's top financial official, he did not know of BCCI's frauds prior to the spring of 1990. He testified that has the bank's chief financial officer in London, he did not have access to any of the underlying loan information and related files at BCCI's various field offices.Rahman testified that he therefore relied on the work of the outside auditors, operating around the world at the local level, to review BCCI's records at its vario us offices and branches, and thereby ensure their truth and accuracy. 8. At the other extreme was the position taken by BCCI's principal auditor, Price Waterhouse (UK), that it was completely deceived by BCCI until the spring of 1990, and handled its responsibilities concerning BCCI without any fault whatsoever. 9.If Price Waterhouse had been doing its job, there's no way that this $1 billion exposure [in BCCI's Central Treasury] which was taken to $11 billion exposure in the course of 3 or 4 months [in 1985] could have happened, says CFO. 10. According to Rahman, Price Waterhouse (UK) had signed off on BCCI practices year after year without issuing any red flags, until suddenly, in April, 1990, it found massive deficiencies at the bank, in which, as Senator Kerry put it, â€Å"every red flag in the world was flying,† raising the question of how Price Waterhouse could have missed all of BCCI's bad practices previously. 1. Price Waterhouse should have known from their audit of Grand Cayman over many years that deposits of BCCI were being misused. The ‘fictitious' loan accounts were in most cases so obviously fictitious that the year after year audit of PW should have detected most, if not all. PW not only knew about accounts where some $600 million of the fraud had at BCCI had taken place. 12. BCCI was paying its auditors $5 million per year to conduct audits which each year took nearly five months.According to Rahman, if properly done, these audits should have uncovered the problems and forced action long before April, 1990. 13. In contrast, as Price Waterhouse expressed their position, BCCI had deceived them through colluding with shareholders and borrowers to create false documentation that mislead them. 14. The auditor's responsibility is to design and execute an audit so as to have reasonable expectation of detecting material misstatement in the financial statements whether due to fraud, irregularity, or error.However, common sense dictates, a nd it is accepted internationally, that even the best planned and executed audit will not necessarily discover a sophisticated fraud, especially one where there is collusion at the highest level of management and with third parties. Under such circumstances, it is reasonable to expect that it may take a number of annual audits before accumulating concerns change to suspicions and ultimately lead to the identification of fraud; in fact, this is what happened in audit of BCCI. 15.Price Waterhouse found that BCCI Treasury losses had been concealed and its profits manufactured through BCCI's failure to record deposits and other liabilities; the creation of fictitious loan accounts; the purchase and repurchase of BCCI's own shares through nominees with buy-back arrangements; and the collusion between BCCI and major customers in supplying false confirmations to the external auditors, among other techniques. 16. $346 million related to the illegal acquisition through nominees of several US banks were identified. 17.BCCI's initial strategy for the United States was to infiltrate the U. S. banking system through purchasing beachhead banks in major banking centers, and then to expand the beachhead operations until BCCI had U. S. banking operations of sufficient size that they could ultimately merge with BCCI itself. 18. State regulators in New York had proven resistant to BCCI, and BCCI had successfully acquired National Bank of Georgia and FGB/First American 19. BCCI expanded in the United States by opening BCCI branch offices in regions with significant populations from the Third World engaged in rans-national commercial activity, such as Miami, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, and Chicago. 20. BCCI's intention was to use these branch offices to feed depositors and banking activity to NBG and First American, expanding BCCI's activities through pushing deposits into the federal deposit insurance system. Abedi had decided that he would work systematically to integrate the various U. S. banks BCCI now secretly owned, until the survivor was strong enough and large enough to in turn purchase BCCI 21.BCCI’s accounts and balance sheets had been manipulated to cover-up a loan of $725 million to a Pakistan based shipping company. 22. The relationship with the Gulf Group began in 1972 when it placed very large deposits with BCCI in Luxembourg and London. There was little tangible evidence of other businesses until 1976 at which time the trade finance lines and shipping loans were opened by the Group. An amount of $1. 2bn was financed to the Abu Dhabi Company (Gulf Groups) owned by Abbas Gokal . Abbas along with his other brothers used amount of money as a lever obtain short-term funding and repayment of non-BCCI bank debt. 3. This exposure of huge sums gained the attentions of Bank of England in 1977 resulting in BCCI transferring accounts to Grand Cayman in 1978 when it became apparent that the Gulf Group faced financial difficulties . This was the time when account manipulation started which is why a ‘special duties’ was assigned the duties to oversee these accounts. This ‘special duties’ department was involved in fabricating information in respect of the ‘offshore accounts’. This included the creation of profiles of the beneficial owners, financial information, false instruction letters etc. 4. Management in collusion with Gulf used sophisticated methods of deception to conceal funds flows including: * Use of gulf ‘bank’ account which received funds and then redistributed them around a number of accounts * Transfer between Gulf locations in different parts of the world to create turnover and imply debt servicing, particularly just before year ends. * Conduit accounts at external banks, under the control of BCCI officers. * Funds transfer through BCP and nostro accounts at various BCCI branches. * Use of excessive interest and charges to provide profits 5. BC CI had used $500 million of its own resource to acquire 56% of its own shares through a series of complex transactions. The final losses may well be in excess of $4 billion and Abu Dhabi’s exposure to BCCI and related activities is estimated to be some $9. 4 billion A few other misdeeds have surfaced regarding; 26. Money Laundering From the time of BCCI's indictment on drug money laundering charges in Tampa, Florida in October, 1988, there was little doubt to anyone looking at the facts that BCCI had been used to launder drug money 27.Bribery The recipients of funding from BCCI may not have considered the payments to be â€Å"bribes,† but simply a mechanism by which BCCI obtained what it wanted from an official, and in return the official helped BCCI, such as BCCI's payments to two of the Gulf emirs in return for the use of their names as nominees for the purchase of First American 28. Support of Terrorism and Arms Trafficking BCCI's support of terrorism and arms traff icking developed out of several factors.First, as a principal financial institution for a number of Gulf sheikhdoms, with branches allover the world, it was a logical choice for terrorist organizations, who received payment at BCCI-London and other branches directly from Gulf-state patrons, and then transferred those funds wherever they wished without apparent scrutiny. Secondly, BCCI's flexibility regarding the falsification of documentation was helpful for such activities ENRON 29. Houston Natural Gas Corporation and Internorth Inc. merged in 1985 to form Enron Corporation.Since its conception, Enron has distinguished itself as an innovative, prominent leader in the natural gas market. Enron, headquartered in Houston, was the largest trader of natural gas and electricity in North America. Enron also market and traded other commodities, including water, paper, coal, chemicals, and fiber-optic bandwidth. The success of Enron’s aggressive strategies is demonstrated by the rise in its stock price from a split-adjusted $3. 20 per share in 1985 to $80. 63 per share on November 20, 2000. In this same period, revenues increased from $10. 3 billion to $40. 1 billion and net income improved from a loss of $54. million to $919. 0 million. 30. As a result of its ability to discover new business opportunities, transform traditional industries, and enter new ones, Fortune magazine named Enron â€Å"Most Innovative Company† for an unprecedented sixth consecutive year in 2001. 31. Enron’s focus on innovation has been demonstrated throughout its history. As a newly formed company in the mid-1980’s, Enron pioneered the trading of natural gas when natural gas markets were deregulated. When Enron entered the electricity market in 1993, it revolutionized the industry by facilitating a market to trade electricity.Enron was also among the first energy companies to expand beyond traditional energy markets by entering the telecommunications industry. Enro n even entered the e-commerce sector by partnering with leading high-tech companies to form Enron Online, a business-to-business website that facilitates the trading of commodities. 32. Enron’s events timeline: * 1985 — Houston Natural Gas merges with InterNorth to form Enron, HNG CEOKenneth Lay  becomes CEO of combined company the following year * 1989 — Enron begins trading natural gas commodities 1990 — Lay hires  Jeffrey Skilling  to lead the company's effort to focus on commodities trading in the deregulated markets. Andrew Fastow  is one of Skilling's first hires later that year. * June 1990 Jeff Skilling, who has been a consultant for McKinsey & Co. , joins Enron * June 11, 1991 Enron asks the Security Exchange Commission (SEC) to approve mark-to-market accounting. * Jan. 30, 1992 SEC approves mark-to-market accounting for Enron * November 1996 Richard Kinder, COO of Enron, doesn’t get CEO job, so he leaves. * December 10, 1996 Enron announces that Jeff Skilling is taking over as COO. June 28, 1999 Enron’s Board of Directors exempts CFO Andy Fastow from the company’s code of ethics so that he can run a private equity fund—LJM1—that will raise money for and do deals with Enron. The LJM Funds become one of the key tools for Enron to manage its balance sheet and make investors think that it is performing better than it is. * October 12, 1999 Enron board exempts Fastow from Enron’s code of ethics so that he can raise money for LJM2 * August 23, 2000 Stock hits all-time high of 90 dollars. Market valuation of 70 billion dollars.FERC (the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) orders an investigation into strategies designed to drive electricity prices up in California * December 13, 2000 Enron announces that President and COO Jeffrey Skilling will take over as chief executive in February. Kenneth Lay will remain as chairman. * Late 2000 Enron uses â€Å"aggressive† accounting to declare 53 million dollars in earnings for broadband on a collapsing deal that hadn’t earned a penny in profit. * August 14, 2001 Skilling’s resignation announcement. In evening, analyst and investor conference call.Skilling: â€Å"The company is in great shape†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Lay: â€Å"Company is in the strongest shape that it’s ever been in. † Lay is named CEO 33. What went wrong- Corporate governance : The purpose of Corporate governance is to act as a ‘gatekeeper’. ENRON lacked proper surveillance on the part of its Board of Directors, Auditors and Investors. 34. Inappropriate Tools: * Mark to market: As a public company, Enron was subject to external sources of governance including market pressures, oversight by government regulators, and oversight by private entities including auditors, equity analysts, and credit rating agencies.This method requires that once a long-term contract was signed, the amount of which the asset theoretica lly will sell on the future market is reported on the current financial statement. In order to keep appeasing the investors to create a consistent profiting situation in the company, Enron traders were pressured to forecast high future cash flows and low discount rate on the long-term contract with Enron. The difference between the calculated net present value and the originally paid value was regarded as the profit of Enron. In fact, the net present value reported by Enron might not happen during the future years of the long-term contract.An overly optimistic projection was set forth. * SPE—Special Purpose Entity: Accounting rule allow a company to exclude a SPE from its own financial statements if an independent party has control of the SPE, and if this independent party owns at least 3 percent of the SPE. Enron needed to find a way to hide the debt since high debt levels would lower the investment grade and trigger banks to recall money. Using the Enron’s stock as c ollateral, the SPE, which was headed by the CFO, Fastow, borrowed large sums of money. And this money was used to balance Enron’s overvalued contracts.Thus, the SPE enabled Enron to convert loans and assets burdened with debt obligations into income. In addition, the taking over by the SPE made Enron transfer more stock to SPE. However, the debt and assets purchased by the SPE, which was actually burdened with large amount of debts, were not reported on Enron’s financial report. The shareholders were then misled that debt was not increasing and the revenue was even increasing. 35. Fiduciary failure: The BOD was unable to live up to their fiduciary responsibilities. By having no proper check on the conflict of interest. 36. Conflict of Interest: Enron hired and paid its own auditors.That was a conflict of interest built into the legal system because the auditor had an incentive not to issue an unfavorable report on the company that is paying him or her. The Board allowe d conflicts of interests with the partnerships it held, and did not keep a proper oversight of the partnerships. There was also a basic lack of communication on the part of the Board to review the related party transactions. SPE’s served as a major conflict of interest. E. g. the committee failed to recognize clear elements that indicated the downfall, such as Anderson communicating that Enron was ‘pushing the limits’ since 1999.Also, 3000 Special entities, out of which 800 were organized in tax havens. 37. High Risk Accounting: Enron’s Audits committee failed not only to guarantee the independence of the External Auditorsbut also to maintain proper accounting practices in accordance with the interest of the shareholders. It furthermore, approved transactions that were entirely designed to cover up the debts and over-stated revenues, instead of focusing on the economic outputs. Corporate Culture: Utter lack of Interest, specifically by the Board of Directo rs, on off-the-book financials. They had a general culture of being defensive.They would rather cover up their own failures, than acknowledge it. Jeffery Skilling is reported to have said, â€Å"I've never not been successful at business or work†¦ ever! †Furthermore, the corporate culture did not allow open dissent. The Board was also inadequately informed; hence their decision making was clouded, and obsolete. 38. Extensive Compensation to the Executives: The Company paid millions of dollars in deferred salaries and bonuses to midlevel and high-level executives still working in late November, just before the Dec. 2 bankruptcy filing, which forced the company to suspend all such payments.But a number of employees who had retired or recently left the company were denied similar payments. 39. Lack of Independence: Financial ties between the Board of Director and Enron and also financial ties between the external auditors and Enron. The Board was also relying too much on th eir auditors. They were not entirely independent, which led to variation in their process of information disclosure. They clearly shred information. 40. Transparency: The management was not transparent and truthful about the position of the company. They had a general culture of being ‘the best’ at everything, hence, they denied exposing their failures.Enron did not live up to their duty of full disclosure and good faith. The Board did not communicate effectively with its auditors from Arthur Andersen. The idea that Enron’s employed accounting techniques were â€Å"aggressive†, wasn’t conversed clearly enough. E. g. When the CEO disclosed to the employees that the stock price was to rise, there is whatsoever no evidence of him disclosing that he was selling stock as well. Only the investigation surrounding Enron’s bankruptcy enabled shareholders to learn of the CEO stock sell-off before February 14, 2002 which is when the sell-off would other wise have been disclosed.