Case Study Dahmer - 1097 Words

Background Information Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer (Figure 12) was born on May 21, 1960 in West Allis, Wisconsin (Dee, 2011, p.120). At school, Dahmer was always the outcast (â€Å"Jeffrey Dahmer†, 2015). He started drinking and became an alcoholic before graduating high school. In 1977, his parents started having problems in their marriage which resulted in divorce (Dee, 2011, p.122). Throughout this time in his life, Dahmer started to experience violent sexual urges. He could not discuss this with anyone because these fantasies were of men and Dahmer did not want to reveal his homosexuality (Hekma Hoving, 2000, p.78). Dahmer’s father eventually forced him to enlist in the army (â€Å"Jeffrey Dahmer†, 2015). Two years later, he was discharged with the reason again being his alcoholism (Crime, Museum, 2015). After this, he was arrested several times for drunk and disorderly conduct, indecent exposure, as well as drugging and sexually fondling a teenage boy (Dee, 2011, p.130). A few years later, Dahmer committed a string of murders. Murders In the summer of 1978, Dahmer was home alone because his father was away on business and his mother had moved out (Dee, 2011, p.127). Dahmer took advantage of this opportunity to fulfill his sexual impulses. This included luring a hitchhiker, holding him hostage and having sex with him. He successfully lured 19 year old hitchhiker, Stephen Hicks (Figure 13). When Hicks wanted to leave, Dahmer killed Hicks. This incident contributed to Dahmer’sShow MoreRelatedCase Case Study : Jeffrey Dahmer1659 Words   |  7 PagesCase Study of Jeffrey Dahmer Jeffrey Dahmer was born on May 21,1960 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was an American Serial Killer responsible for the death of 17 males, both young and old. He is the only Serial Killer to appear in the Times Magazine, because of his unusual way of thinking, more specifically   his experiments with his victims to create them into Sex Zombies. Borderline Personality Disorder    According to WebMd â€Å" Borderline personality is the mental illness that causes intense mood swingsRead MoreCase Study of Jeffrey Dahmer2982 Words   |  12 PagesA Case-Study of Jeffrey Dahmer. This paper will present case-analysis of the life and history of American psychopathic offender Jeffrey Dahmer. With the aim of carrying out this assignment effectively the research will be done from a psychological perspective; with regard to understanding the best fitted typology for the defendant’s criminality. Here these intimate aspects of the study will purely focus on the profiling of the offender, analyzing his past criminal record conjointly introducingRead MoreBiopsychosocial Case Study of Jeffrey Dahmer1462 Words   |  6 PagesBiopsychosocial Case Study Of Jeffrey Dahmer Jeffrey Dahmer murdered 17 men between the years of 1978 to 1991 in which he participated in necrophilia, dismemberment and cannibalism (Meyer, 2006). 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In the book â€Å"mind hunters† by John Douglass (1998) he explains Serial killer is a term describing a type of killer who kills many people overRead MoreCase Study-Abnormal Behavior1484 Words   |  6 PagesCase Study in Abnormal Behavior Valvita Isaac PSY/410 April 4, 2011 Dr. Melda Jones CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY: I certify that the attached paper, which was produced for the class identified above, is my original work and has not previously been submitted by me or by anyone else for any class. I further declare that I have cited all sources from which I used language, ideas and information, whether quoted verbatim or paraphrased, and that any and all assistance of any kind, which I received whileRead More Jeffery Dahmer Essay1478 Words   |  6 Pages Jeffery Dahmer is arguably the most notorious serial killer -cannibal in history. Targeting men and boys, Dahmer‘s life of crime began with drinking and sex offending. His murders were exceptionally gruesome, often involving rape, torture, necrophilia, dismemberment, and cannibalism. The media often commented on how â€Å"normal† Dahmer appeared. Jeffrey Dahmer made everyone question how one develops into such a monster. By the time of his apprehension, Dahmer had sodomized, murdered, and cannibaliz edRead MoreAntisocial Personality Disorder ( Adhd )1309 Words   |  6 Pagesserial pattern of misbehavior that involves all significant facets of life and is marked by violation of social norms and regulations that occur over time, ranging from repeated lies and petty theft to violence – and even murder, in the most serious cases.† (2013). According to the DSM-5, ASPD has four diagnostic criteria, with the first criteria having seven sub-features. The first criteria is a â€Å"disregard for and violation of others rights since [at least] age 15† (American Psychology AssociationRead MoreThe Creation of a Serial Killer: Nature vs. Nurture Essay1120 Words   |  5 Pagesreasonable possibility that the crimes were committed by the same actor or actors.† But what exactly drives someone to kill another human being? What plays as a more drastic motivator for their actions, nature or nurture? Nature refers, in this case, to how the subject is genetically made-up. It is the belief of many researchers that damage to the brain or front lobe causes the violent behavior demonstrated by serial killers. The frontal lobe is in charge of social relations and maintaining adequateRead MoreJeffery Dahmer : Serial Killer And Sex Offender1409 Words   |  6 PagesAbstract This paper is a biography about Jeffery Dahmer, a notorious serial killer and sex offender. Mr. Dahmer was born on May 21st, 1960 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Jeffery murdered a total of 17 men, while molesting some of these victims. His first murder victim was Steven Hicks back in 1978. His killing spree went from 1978 up until 1991. When he was seized, he was sentenced to fifteen consecutive life terms. But on November 28, 1994 Jeffery Dahmer was murdered by a fellow prison inmate by the nameRead MoreSerial Killers: Are They Born Or Made?. There Are Multiple1230 Words   |  5 Pagessubmerging animals in acid is fun to serial killers. So where does this all come from? Let’s go into the mind of the deadliest ones out there. What goes on in the mind of these horrific people is shocking and can be discovered before they act. A study at The University of Wisconsin found two parts of the brain that showed a correlation between criminal psychopathy and brain abnormality. They compared a healthy human brain to a serial killer’s brain just to see the differences it portrayed. They

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire Free Essays

THE TRIANGLE SHIRTWAIST FACTORY FIRE: FROM TRAGEDY CAME CHANGE Donna Baker MG 420 14 February 2011 In the early 20th century, immigrants from Europe flooded Ellis Island in droves in search of â€Å"streets paved with gold† which they believed to be found in the United States. The majority of these immigrants settled in New York City to live in tenement housing and find work in the â€Å"30,000 factory floors and sweatshops that were located in Lower Manhattan. Each year, 612,000 workers, mostly immigrants were turning out one-tenth of the industrial output of the United States. We will write a custom essay sample on The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire or any similar topic only for you Order Now A quarter of a million men, women and children labored without any regulations. †3 â€Å"The majority of garment workers were made up of Southern Italian and Eastern European Jewish immigrant women. They ranged in age from 15 to 23 and many spoke little English. †2 Their days were long. On average, workers put in â€Å"eleven hours, but most often they were sixteen to twenty hours, six days a week for which they were paid about $6 per week. †1 The women were subjected to intolerable, brutal working conditions where if you were sick, you came to work sick for fear of being fired. While on the job, it was common practice to be locked into your work space unable to go anywhere at-will. The nightmarish conditions were likened to working in a slave factory. â€Å"The doors were locked to keep out union organizers, to keep the women focused on their jobs, and to prevent the workers from stealing material. †2 â€Å"The hissing of the machines and the yelling of the foremen made it unbearable. Paychecks were docked or the workers were fired for humming or talking on the job. †3 The bathrooms were located outside and the workers were made to ask to be dismissed to use them. The shirtwaist makers were paid by the piece produced and speed was everything. The quality, however, was not important. â€Å"In some cases, they were required to use their own needles, thread, irons and occasionally their own sewing machines which they carried on their backs. †1 The â€Å"shirtwaist†, which is another name for a woman’s blouse, had a high neck, puffed long sleeves and was tightly fitted at the waist. It was â€Å"one of the country’s first fashion statements that crossed class lines. The booming ready-made clothing industry made the stylish shirtwaist affordable even for working women. Worn with an ankle-length skirt, the shirtwaist was appropriate for any occasion – from work to play – and was more comfortable and practical than fashion that preceeded it, like corsets and hoops. †1 The garment workers had the beginnings of representation to address implorable conditions, as basic as it was, when on â€Å"June 3, 1900 the International Ladies Garment Workers Union (ILGWU) was founded in New York City by representatives from seven local East Coast unions. The union represented both male and female workers who produced women’s clothing. Though affiliated with the more conservative American Federation of Labor for most of its history, the ILGWU was unusual in representing both semi-skilled and unskilled (automated) workers. †8 Although the ILGWU was formed, it did little to impact the working conditions at the factories. So, on â€Å"November 22, 1909 the ILGWU called a meeting in the Cooper Union Hall to consult its membership and map out a strategy. †8 The hall was packed full and there were many speakers who spoke endlessly. They promised their support but feared retaliation by the employers in the form of firings and physical harm. Clara Lemlich, a seamstress and union member who was 19 and already badly beaten for her part in union involvement, came forward and took the stage. She called for an immediate strike of all the garment workers and her motion was resoundingly endorsed. †1 This was to become known as â€Å"the largest strike of women in the history of the United States. †1 With in days, â€Å"more than 20,000 shirtwaist makers, from 500 factories, walked out and joined the picket line at Union Square. This was called the â€Å"Uprising of the 20,000†. More than 70 of the smaller factories agreed to the union’s demands within the first 48 hours. However, the fiercely anti-union owners of the Triangle factory met with owners of the 20 largest factories to form a manufacturing association. †1 â€Å"A month into the strike, most of the small and mid-sized factories settled with the strikers. †1 The garment workers went back to work. The factories making up the manufacturing association realized that the public opinion was not on their side and agreed to negotiate. The garment workers rejected their proposal because it prevented the workers from having a closed shop. Due to dwindling resources, this first union strike fell short. By â€Å"February 1910, the strike was finally settled and resulted in a â€Å"protocol of peace† between the women’s clothing industry and labor. †7 â€Å"The few remaining factories rehired the strikers, agreed to higher wages and shorter hours and recognized the union in name only, resisting a closed shop. †1 The Triangle workers went back to work without a union agreement. There were still no regulations of the working conditions. Management never addressed their demands, including unlocked doors in the factory and fire escapes that were functional. This will prove to be an extremely costly error within the following 13 months period of time. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory was located in the Asch Building, occupying the top three floors of the ten-floor building in the heart of Manhattan’s Garment District. The company employed â€Å"over 500 men and women with the majority of them Jewish and Italian women ranging in age from 13-23. †3 Their work was primarily sewing shirtwaist blouses. The 8th floor was where the cutting room was situated. The 9th floor was where the sewers worked, lined machine to machine in many long rows, hunched over sewing machines that were operated by foot pedals. The finished shirtwaists hung on lines above the worker’s heads and bundles of material, trimmings, and scraps of fabric were piled high in the cramped aisle between the machines. †2 The 10th floor housed the company offices. On Saturday, March 25, 1911, at around 4:45pm, with 15 minutes left in the work day, a fire grew quickly out of control on the 8th floor cutters area. It is believed to have been caused b y a cigarette or match which was discarded either on the floor covered with sewing machine oil or in one of the cloth scrap containers, or possibly from a spark put off from the overheating of an electric cutters machine. Fed by thousands of pounds of flammable fabric†6 fire engulfed the area and spread to the floors above in record speed. Most of the workers on the 8th floor were able to make their way to safety by using the stairs or elevator. The workers on the 10th floor â€Å"received a phone call about the fire and were able to climb to the roof of the building and made their way to the adjoining New York University building and were rescued. †6 The unfortunate workers on the 9th floor, however, didn’t stand a chance. Their fates were sealed because â€Å"the only safety measure available for them were 27 buckets of water, a fire escape that would collapse when people tried to use it, and 2 exit doors which were locked or only opened inward and were effectively held shut by the onrush of workers escaping the fire. †5 About 200 women were trapped on the 9th floor with no means of escape. â€Å"Twenty women made it out on the fire escape before it crumpled to the street, killing a number of women who were on it. Some attempted to slide down the elevator cables only to lose their grip and fall to their deaths. 2 The desperate women didn’t know what else to do, so they began breaking out the windows and climbing out on the narrow ledge from which they jumped from the 9th floor to the street below. Some were on fire and burning as they fell. â€Å"For the fire department, the horror story that unfolded was compounded by the fact that although their equipment was the most sophisticated o f its day, the ladders only reached up to the 6th floor. †6 Firemen watched helplessly as workers died before their very eyes. The water pressure in the hoses failed. And the life nets broke when the desperate women jumped in groups of three and four. In less than 30 minutes, the fire had spent itself. In its wake it left 146 dead. †3 â€Å"Of the 146 who died, 141 died at the scene and 5 died at the hospital. Six of these victims were never identified. Most died of burns, asphyxiation, blunt impact injuries or a combination of the three. †2 It is often thought that most or all of the dead were women but, in reality, â€Å"almost thirty of the victims were men. †4 The Triangle fire became known as â€Å"the deadliest industrial disaster in the history of the city of New York and resulted in the fourth highest loss of life from an industrial accident in U. S. history. 4 Three months after the fire, the owners of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, Max Blanck a nd Isaac Harris were â€Å"indicted for manslaughter and acquitted of all charges. †6 It was believed that they broke no laws. â€Å"Three years after the fire, a court ordered the owners to pay $75. 00 to each of the twenty-three families who had sued for the loss of family members. †3 â€Å"From the ashes of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire came the greatest political transformation in American history to bring about social welfare legislation. †4 â€Å"The horrors of the bodies and the number of dead was the key to change. 2 The Triangle fire brought everyone together emotionally and spiritually to want change. â€Å"The resulting reform became an epic event. It took four grueling years of factory investigations by the Factory Investigating Commission to investigate fire safety as well as other conditions affecting the health and welfare of factory workers. †2 â€Å"Among the results of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire are that the New York S tate Assembly enacted legislation that required installation of automatic sprinkler systems in buildings over seven stories high that had more than 20 people employed above the 7th floor. Legislation also provided for fire drills and the installation of fire alarm systems in factory buildings over two stories high that employed 25 persons or more above the ground floor. Additional laws mandated that factory waste should not be permitted on factory floors but instead should be deposited in fireproof receptacles. Because of bodies found in the open elevator shafts of the Asch Building, legislation was enacted that required all elevator shafts to be enclosed. †9 WORKS CITED How to cite The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, Essay examples

Efficient Market Hypothesis Pension Fund Managers

Question: Discuss about theEfficient Market Hypothesis for Pension Fund Managers. Answer: Introduction: The current study is concerned with evaluating the main functions of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and also discuss the strategy of pension fund managers in the light of efficient market hypothesis. The role of CFO is crucial for any organization and efficiency of a CFO impacts organizational performance and thus the study discusses the impact of CFO roles on organizational objectives. The study further discusses the various aspects of efficient market hypothesis theory followed by an evaluation of the investment strategy pursued by pension fund managers. Discussion: The chief financial officer of a company is among the senior executives of the company whose main responsibility is to manage the financial actions of the company they are working for. The CFO also requires keeping a track on the financial strengths as well as weaknesses of the company and proposes the remedial measures. In the words of Hiebl (2015), it is the responsibility of a CFO to ensure the authenticity of the financial reports of the company. As observed by Sweeney (2013), the retail companies in Australia are facing a serious completion from their rival firms due to the emergence of many new companies. The Adairs Retail Group Pty Ltd currently operating in Australia has a series of retail stores across the country providing products of home dcor for sale. The company also provides the services through its online portals. Here, the responsibilities of a CFO are of paramount importance as a CFO has to manage the finances of the Adairs Retail Group Pty Ltd to get the best possible outcomes. The responsibilities of a CFO in Adairs Retail Group Pty Ltd can be sub divided into the following categories namely Responsibility as a Controller of the Company Accounting According to Liang and Chang (2014), it falls under the prime responsibility of a CFO to ensure that the presentation and reporting of the annual reports are accurate. The historical information of the reports of Adairs Retail Group should also be placed accurately as a lot of important decisions regarding the investment to be done by the shareholders, creditors; employees etc are dependent on the accuracy of the financial reports. It is also imperative that the accurate financial reports of Adairs Retail Group be published on time to make beneficial for the investors to choose between companies for investment. The CFO of Adairs Retail group is responsible to ensure the appropriation regarding the accounting allocations and its documentation. As observed by Hoitash et al. (2012), the CFO may also require undertaking the responsibility of cash management and keep a check on the cash disbursements, accounts payables and receivables along with the bank reconciliation and pay roll functions. Internal Control As opinioned by Proctor (2014), it is the responsibility of the CFO of Adairs Retail Group to construct and execute the financial strategies and accounting process. The CFO of the following company needs to review and approve the invoices that are to be paid along with the reports of the accounts receivables. In the words of Amato (2016), the CFO of Adairs Retail Group also requires coordinating with the auditors and external tax accountants in order to prepare the income tax structure of the company. In addition to that, the CFO of Adairs Retail Group will have to organize the records of the company in a manner that may make it easily accessible for the purpose of examination. Financial analyzing, planning and reporting Under this area of responsibility, the CFO of Adairs Retail group has to review all of the financial contracts, agreements and the financial policies along with the credit negotiation and the vendor agreements. As said by Friedman (2015), in order to frame the long term financial strategies it falls under the duty of a CFO to provide a comprehensive financial data. The CFO of Adairs Retail Group needs to ensure the coordination of the financial planning with the business operations. The financial analysis skills of the CFO of Adairs retail Group may also help the company to assist the decisions of policy making by the executive management. As observed by Agrawal et al. (2013), this indicated that the CFO also needs to be an expert in providing expert perspective and opinion regarding finances of Adairs retail Group. The CFO has to administer the finances and takeover the reporting duty in maintaining the financial statements and budgets of the company as well. Responsibility as a Treasurer of the Company In the words of Armstrong et al. (2016), the maintenance of the financial position and improving the financial condition of the company comes under the responsibility of the CFO. The capital structure of Adairs Retail Group has to be overseen by the CFO of the company. It is one of the major responsibilities of the CFO of the following company to determine the best possible mixture of the debt, equity and the internal finances. According to Bttner et al. (2013), one of the major treasurer functions of the CFO includes addressing the problems associated with the capital structure of Adairs Retail Group. In addition to the above responsibilities as a treasurer, the CFO of Adairs Retail Group will require coordinating the budgeting and investing activities in all parts of the company. In the words of Wright (2015), the rates of depreciation of the capitalized assets are determined by the CFO and the necessary advice is also given by the CFO of Adair Retail Group regarding the purchase and lease of the assets along with the disposal of the same. The CFO also provides the required guidelines for the use of the financial resources of Adairs Retail Group and the necessary steps to be taken in regard to the budget policies and procedures of the same. Along with the above mentioned responsibilities, the CFO of Adairs Retail groups monitor the performance of the financial staffs and recommend actions to be taken in context of the promotion or dismissal of the same. Responsibility of Forecasting Economic Strategies The CFO of Adairs Retail Group plays an essential part in the future financial situation of the company. in the words of Barsky and Catanach (2013), the identification of the areas in which the company is most efficient and the ways in which the company can capitalize from this is determined by the CFO of the company. The CFO also makes future predictions and allocates the resources of the company similarly to ensure the future success of Adairs Retail Group. In addition to this, according to Six et al. (2013), the CFO requires to coordinate the data and the analysis of it throughout the workings of the company to identify the possibility of the occurrence of risks and expansion opportunities. The CFO does an analysis of the new markets in order to expand the business to a new level. The internal and financial control systems are also formulated by the CFO of Adairs Retail Group. The management of the company also gets subsequent support in the development of the growth strategies by analyzing the economic as well as industry trends. According to Habib and Hossain (2013), it is the duty of the CFO of Adairs Retail Group to keep a check on the ongoing performance of the company regarding its growth and accomplishment of the objectives of the company and taking the appropriate measures to ensure that the company is meeting its organizational goals. The submission of the annual reports of the company on the prescribed time is also looked upon and ensured by the CFO of Adairs Retail Group. Above all, the CFO has to manage the financial reporting done by the company both internally as well as externally. The Chief Finance Officer or CFO of a company helps in shaping the business and increase the integration of the company in the global economy. As per the view of RW Hiebl and Feldbauer-Durstmller (2014), the duty performed by the CFO of a company of being a controller, treasurer as well as of forecaster helps the company in determining through the financials of the company about the growth of the same and how far the company is able to fulfill the objectives. As a controller, the CFO looks upon the financial reports of the company and through a brief analysis of it draws a outcome of the areas in which the company may withdraw maximum revenue. This helps in meeting the basic objective of Adairs Retail Group that is to generate the maximum amount of profits. As observed by Bishop et al. (2014), in the form of a treasurer, the CFO helps in the proper allocation of the resources of the company that may reduce the cost of production and other expenses incurred by the company that in turn may reduce the cost of productivity incurred by the company and increase the profit margin of the product thus fulfilling the basic objective of the company. The CFO of Adairs Retail Group also does an extensive analysis of the industry in which the company is operating along with the market structure of the same. The purpose of analyzing is to identify the areas of growth of the company and make strategic plans as well as prepare to face the increasing completion in the market that may help the company to sustain in the long run. It is one of the major objectives of Adairs Retail Group to face the rise in competition and expend its growth throughout the industry. Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) is a popular theory in corporate finance which holds that it is not possible to beat the market as stock market efficiency makes the current stock prices to incorporate and indicate all relevant information. As per the theory, stocks always get traded at the fair value in the stock market which further makes it impossible for the investors to sell stocks of inflated price and buy undervalued stocks. Therefore, the theory suggests that it is impossible to outperform the stock market by way of market timings or stock selection by market experts. In this context, Habib and Hossain (2013) stated that the EMH theory observes that the only way to beat the market is by investing in high risk stocks to earn higher returns. The EMH theory has major impacts on portfolio managers, pension fund managers and others. The EMH theory is undoubtedly a cornerstone in advanced financial theory however it has also raised certain controversies. Pension fund managers supporting this theory think that it is meaningless to look out for undervalued stocks or try to predict trends in market by way of technical or fundamental analysis. However, it is important to note that there has been investors who have been able to beat the market consistently over the years. For example, Warren Buffet had beaten the stock market to earn more than average returns which as per the EMH theory is not possible. Similarly, during the stock market crash in the year 1987, Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) got reduced by 20% on a single day which indicates that in contrast to the EMH theory stock prices can get reduced from fair values. Pension fund managers can focus on low cost portfolio with a passive investment strategy. Most of the pension fund managers pursuing EMH theory are more concerned with portfolio diversification, passive investment strategy and total market index as a benchmark for performance. The pension fund managers think that there is no way of knowing the future performance of a company not even by studying past performance. This makes the pension fund managers to play safe and apply passive investment strategy for the clients. Portfolio for the clients is also developed accordingly. In this context, Hoitash et al. (2012) stated that passive investment strategy involves buying and holding stocks for a long-term period to earn good returns thereon. Another important aspect in this regard is that the pension fund managers believe that buying and holding stocks for a long-term period automatically sets-off short-term market inefficiencies. On the contrary, the market might not always be efficient as held by the EMH theory. Pension funds often try to avoid small cap stocks. This is mainly because of the additional requirements associated with such stocks. On the other hand, it is also a practice of the pension fund managers to sell-off stocks that no longer meet the investment objectives regardless of its current state of performance level. Thus, the main focus of pension fund managers is on fulfilling clients pension objectives. The strategy is on creating a fixed flow of income post retirement of the clients. Conclusion: sThe study indicated that controlling organizational activities, treasury management and forecasting are the three major functions of a CFO. It was observed during the study that a CFO is entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining integrity in all financial reporting and ensuring proper compliance of the same to statutory norms. On the other hand, CFOs are required to maintain optimum cash and liquidity level in the organization at any point of time and that forecasting financial benefits risks is a key part of the CFOs roles. Furthermore, it was found that EMH assumes that it is not possible to beat the market and therefore pension fund managers can pursue passive investment strategy to provide a stable income flow to the clients. Reference List: Agrawal, A., Goldie, J. and Huyett, B., 2013. Todays CFO: which profile best suits your company.McKinsey Q,1, pp.1-6. Amato, N., 2016. Controller to CFO: Not a straight, simple path.Journal of Accountancy,221(3), p.34. Armstrong, C., Guay, W.R., Mehran, H. and Weber, J., 2016. The role of financial reporting and transparency in corporate governance.Economic Policy Review, Issue Aug, pp.107-128. Barsky, N.P. and Catanach Jr, A.H., 2013. What makes a CFO" the best"?.Strategic Finance,94(10), pp.29-35. Bishop, C.C., DeZoort, F.T. and Hermanson, D.R., 2014. The Effect of CEO Social Influence Pressure on CFO Financial Reporting Decisions. Bttner, V., Schffer, U., Strauss, E.R. and Zander, K., 2013. A Role-Specific Perspective on Managerial Succession: The Case of New CFO Origin.Schmalenbach Business Review,65, pp.378-408. Friedman, H.L., 2015. The Strategic CFO? Implications of the CFO's Role and Responsibilities.Implications of the CFO's Role and Responsibilities (August 18, 2014). AAA. Habib, A. and Hossain, M., 2013. CEO/CFO characteristics and financial reporting quality: A review.Research in Accounting Regulation,25(1), pp.88-100. Hiebl, M.R., 2015. Agency and stewardship attitudes of chief financial officers in private companies.Qualitative Research in Financial Markets,7(1), pp.4-23. Hoitash, R., Hoitash, U. and Johnstone, K.M., 2012. Internal control material weaknesses and CFO compensation.Contemporary Accounting Research,29(3), pp.768-803. Liang, Z. and Chang, Y., 2014. Empirical Study on the Relevance of CFO Characteristics and the Capital Structure of Real Estate Listed Companies in China. InICCREM 2014: Smart Construction and Management in the Context of New Technology(pp. 1447-1454). ASCE. Proctor, B., 2014. The changing role of the CFO: new demands require new fundamentals.Financial Executive,30(2), pp.23-25. RW Hiebl, M. and Feldbauer-Durstmller, B., 2014. What can the corporate world learn from the cellarer? Examining the role of a Benedictine abbey's CFO.Society and Business Review,9(1), pp.51-73. Six, B., Normann, M., Stock, R.M. and Schiereck, D., 2013. Strategic Leaders Impact on Corporate Policies and Firm Performance: Insights from CEOs and CFOs of Large Listed Firms in Germany.Schmalenbach Business Review,65, pp.82-111. Sweeney, P., 2013. The CFO's expanding communications role: for reasons related to transparency and contact with senior management from key constituents, the chief financial officer is increasingly playing a greater role in investor relations. CFOs are now finding it necessary to improve their communication and other" soft" skills.Financial Executive,29(2), pp.33-36. Wright, L., 2015. Pros and Cons of Being the CEOs Trusted Advisor. InHR in the Boardroom(pp. 160-181). Palgrave Macmillan UK.

The Internet Essays (1997 words) - Cybercrime, Cyberwarfare

The Internet The Internet is, literally, a network of networks. It is made of thousands of interconnected networks spanning the globe. The computers that form the Internet range from huge mainframes in research establishments to humble PCs in people's homes and offices. Despite the recent publicity, the Internet is not a new thing. Its roots lie in a collection of computers that were linked together in the 1970s to form the US Department of Defense's communications systems. Fearing the consequences of nuclear attack, there was no central computer holding vast amounts of data, but instead the information was dispersed across thousands of machines. A protocol known as TCP/IP was developed to allow different devices to work together. The original network has long since been upgraded and expanded and TCP/IP is now an overall standard. The Internet has gone on now to fulfill a great deal more than it's intended purpose and has definitely brought more good than bad. Millions of people worldwide are using the Internet to share information, make new associations and communicate. Individuals and businesses, from students and journalists, to consultants, programmers and corporate giants are all harnessing the power of the Internet. For many businesses the Internet is becoming integral to their operations. Imagine the ability to send and receive data: messages, notes, letters, documents, pictures, video, sound- just about any form of communication, as effortlessly as making a phone call. It is easy to understand why the Internet is rapidly becoming the corporate communications medium. Using the mouse on your computer, the familiar point-and-click functionality gives you access to electronic mail for sending and receiving data, and file transfer for copying files from one computer to another. This flood of information is a beautiful thing and it can only open the minds of society. With the explosion of the World Wide Web, anyone could publish his or h er ideas to the world. Before, in order to be heard one would have to go through publishers who were willing to invest in his ideas to get something put into print. With the advent of the Internet, anyone who has something to say can be heard by the world. By letting everyone speak their mind, this opens up all new ways of thinking to anyone who is willing to listen. A very important disadvantage is that the Internet is addictive. One of the first people to take the phenomenon seriously was Kimberly S. Young, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at the University of Pittsburgh. She takes it so seriously, in fact, that she founded the Center for Online Addiction, an organization that provides consultation for educational institutions, mental health clinics and corporations dealing with Internet misuse problems. Psychologists now recognize Internet Addiction Syndrome (IAS) as a new illness that could ruin hundreds of lives. Internet addicts are people who are reported staying online for six, eight, ten or more hours a day, every day. They use the Internet as a way of escaping problems or relieving distressed moods. Their usage can cause problems in their family, work and social lives. They feel anxious and irritable when offline and craved getting back online. Despite the consequences, they continue using regardless of what their friends and family say . Special help groups have been set up to give out advice and offer links with other addicts. Internets Anonymous and Webaholics are two of the sites offering help, but only through logging onto the Internet. The effects of IAS lead to headaches, lack of concentration and tiredness. Robert Kraut Doctoral Psychologist says referring on the subject: We have evidence that people who are online for long periods of time show negative changes in how much they talk to people in their family and how many friends and acquaintances they say they keep in contact with. They also report small but increased amounts of loneliness, stress and depression. What we do not know is exactly why. Being online takes up time, and it may be taking time away from sleep, social contact or even eating. Our negative results are understandable if people's interactions on the net are not as socially valuable as their other activities. Another considerable drawback of the Internet is that it is susceptible

Presentation Essays - Biotechnology, Free Essays, Term Papers

Presentation Essays - Biotechnology, Free Essays, Term Papers Good afternoon every one, its great to see you all here. My name is Yamuna Sri and this is my groupmates (names) , today we are here to present about biotechnology in this 21st century so that we can learn most of it. Would it interest you to know about Biotechnology at first, if youre not interested in biotechnology, this presentation might bring a new thought in your mind about it. Firstly, we will look through the content of our presentation before I proceed with the presentation . As you can see here, the content consist of (Whats inside contents and explain each is for what). Next let me start with objective of this topic, there is a lot of things around you that can be seen and some cant , but how many of us know how it comes and is it naturally exist or created by humans. Thus we are interested to create an awareness to the public about the Biotechnology in this 21st century. Next we are here to identify the knowledge of the students on Biotechnology. This slides will be able to recognize uses of biotechnology. Nonetheless, it is also important to know the risks in it and how it benefits us. Before we move on to next part let me do some acknowledgement, this project consumed huge amount of work, research and dedication. Therefore we would like to extend our sincere gratitude to all of them. I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to Miss. Arnie Chiah Liling the lecturer of AE 501 Communicative English 3 who gave me the golden opportunity to do this wonderful project on the topic Biotechnology in 21st century. Finally, i would also like to thank my friends who helped me a lot in finalizing this project within the limited time frame. As it is to clarify the understanding of students in Biotechnology of 21st century, a survey have been conducted on how many students from have the knowledge about Biotechnology in 21st century. To get the best from students , this survey was done by apportioning questionnaires to study their knowledge and understanding regarding biotechnology field. It never ceases to amaze me that most of the-students acquire the existence of Biotechnology. Based on the survey, respondents did a very good job and cooperated well which make us easy to analyze the result very well. We are in the century where we can modify few Gods product on earth such as plants , animals and also humans. All this can only happen through Biotechnology. So what is Biotechnology? Where it comes from? Why we are studying Biotechnology? Let me start with explaining what it is, Biotechnology is the use of biological processes, organisms, or systems to manufacture products intended to improve the quality of human life. For example , the difference between this cute little pets, Cute Right Haha To acknowledge the difference, the cute blacky have to test its DNA with either one of the rest four pets whether to know it is from same mother or different. There more applications on biotechnology and it will be present by .

How to blast through word counts †and get your writing speed up to 1,000 words an hour

How to blast through word counts – and get your writing speed up to 1,000 words an hour How to blast through word counts – and write 1,000 words an hour Word counts are a feature common to business and academic writing alike. ITTs (invitations to tender) commonly specify a word limit for key sections. And while an essay or a doctoral thesis usually come with a word minimum, the reality is that it quickly becomes a target. On the face of it, that should be fine. In practice, it’s often where the problems start. The trouble is that numbers are a distraction, which is one thing you definitely don’t need when you’re trying to produce an important document. How big this distraction is depends on the size of the word target. If numbers are off-putting, big numbers can be paralysing. Watching the figure at the bottom of your screen creep up in ones or twos can easily become a fixation that displaces creativity and original thought. It’s like watching the clock in an exam hall tick by while staring in vain at a question you can’t answer. Fortunately, there is an easy way to tackle this. And, like the problem itself, the answer lies in the way your brain works. Step away from the pain The first step is to realise that we all deal with big, scary numbers all the time. We just don’t notice it. In a typical working day, you somehow manage to fill up around 1,000 minutes (assuming you get up at 6.30am and your head finally hits the pillow at around 11 at night). What you don’t do is tackle them second by second. Just as well, as there are 60,000 of them in that same working day – that’s over 15 MILLION waking seconds every year, not counting weekends. Next, let’s overcome another mental stumbling block – the fact that we know writing is often a complex task. Well, you deal with other complex tasks all the time. Getting through a typical day is actually pretty complex, if you think about it. Even an hour’s commute involves many actions and decisions that, if you considered them as a whole, would seem overwhelming. (Which route do I take? Shall I use the bus or the train? Which train shall I catch? Shall I get a coffee? What type of coffee? You get the picture.) Shift your focus to the content Focusing on a big, scary word count will just make it scarier and scarier. But it’s the act of focusing that’s perhaps the biggest thing making it scary. The most important thing is not the number, it’s the content. The more you focus on the number, the less productive you’re likely to be (often because you’re not writing but thinking and worrying about writing). Not only that, but focusing on the number can dramatically reduce the quality of your output. You end up just counting words, rather than really thinking about whether each word deserves its place in your document. Filling each page becomes your priority, with the result that – if you’re not careful – you end up using longer phrases than you need to, just to pad it out. (Why use ‘helped produce’ when ‘facilitated the production of’ gets you twice as many words?) Counting words reduces each one down to a base value. In an 80,000 word thesis, that value is just 1/80,000 of the final document. This doesn’t only make you casual with the words you choose. It’s also utterly demoralising. Say you have a productive day and produce a thousand words. Not just any thousand words, but a thousand words of engaging prose that will provide real value to your intended audience. When you finish, you sit back and bask in the glow of a job well done. But that glow lasts all of about 15 seconds (if you’re lucky). Taking its place at that point is a kick in the guts, as you realise that you’ve still got 79,000 words to go. Cue depression, demotivation and – probably – paralysing writer’s block. Fortunately, there is another way: forget about the number altogether. I realise that’s easier said than done: you can’t not think of something by trying not to think about it. (If you don’t believe me, try not thinking of a pink elephant now that I’ve put the idea in your head.) But you can take advantage of a quirk of the human brain, which means that you can’t consciously think about more than one thing at the same time. (Multitasking is a myth: deep down, it’s just switching back and forth between tasks, albeit perhaps very quickly.) That means you can forget your Big Scary word count by thinking about something else. Channel your thoughts It also holds the key to transforming your productivity. Because you can dramatically increase how many words you produce by thinking about the information itself, the people who will read what you write, or switching between the two. That in itself is a lot of thinking. So first, you need to separate your research from your writing. Research, thinking and writing all go hand in hand, but they’re not the same thing. Confusing them and trying to do all three at the same time only invites trouble. So turn your attention to the topic in hand and think about it for a few seconds. This is vital if you’re going to write anything valuable and informative. (Although it’s surprising how many documents are apparently produced by focusing on something less important – such as a template or model structure. Believe me, it shows.) I realise that thinking often feels neither productive nor like ‘real work’. To make it feel more concrete, grab a notebook and start scribbling down some ideas about what you might include in the document itself. Don’t worry too much about the words you use or forming them into sentences. Don’t even worry if the ideas are any good. These are just for your use only. Do them in a real-world notebook though, with a pen or pencil (remember those?), rather than on a screen. As you do so, you’ll start to notice gaps in your knowledge, which you can use to direct your research. And as you do more research, you’ll generate more ideas, which you then scribble down in your notebook. It’s a virtuous circle. (I call it the research cycle.) After a while, you’ll have enough information to start to map out a structure. When you get stuck, just think about the reader and what they’re likely to need to know or be interested in. (Note that those are often not the same thing.) In fact, do that even if you’re not stuck. Stepping into your readers shoes is vital if you’re to avoid the risk of writing something that’s of limited value – value that’s perhaps even limited solely to you. Separate out topic ‘chunks’ Then use the same technique to generate ideas and notes for each part of the structure. To make this easier, break down the structure into easily manageable chunks. ‘Manageable’ in this case could just be one mini-topic that produces only three or four paragraphs at first. But if you take five to ten minutes to scribble down the information you’re going to include in those paragraphs (deleting or adding to it based on your knowledge of your reader), you’ll find that ideas start coming thick and fast. The writing part then becomes very, very easy. Just start writing, based on your notes, to produce a few paragraphs. What you’re doing is ‘blocking out’ the information, separating completely from the writing process. The idea is that you get the information down in a form (ie scribbles) that makes it very difficult for you to slip into self-criticism. You can rearrange the notes first, if you need to. Post-it notes might help here. But don’t over-engineer the method and turn it into another distraction. (Just drawing arrows or giving sections numbers might be safer in this respect.) And resist the temptation to edit as you go. Instead, leave each draft section for a few days – or the entire document if it’s fairly short – and edit it in a few days’ time. You’ll be amazed at how many new ideas and improvements you can make then, once you’re viewing it as an editor rather than a writer. (Again, you can’t be both at the same time.) Make it a daily habit This technique works well for one-off documents. But where it really comes into its own is if you make it a daily practice. Because doing that will give you a skill that you can use throughout your career. (The ability to produce original documents quickly and fearlessly is a rare and extremely valuable one.) You’ll have off days, but those are all just part of the process of adjustment. Think of it as building up your writing muscles. As you adjust to the pace, you’ll find yourself getting faster and faster. As you practice, you’ll also start to build up an impressive volume of work. It’s easily possible to produce thousands of words a day with this method. You can use it to write a management report, a term paper, a tender for a contract or a PhD thesis. It works especially well for blog posts too: I wrote the first draft of this post in less than an hour, after 30 minutes of scribbling in my notebook. (I know this because I did it sitting in a London museum that restricts free WiFi access to 60 minutes, but also because I timed it. The original word count was just under 1,200 words. It took exactly 57 minutes and 17 seconds.) Give it a try. Just remember not to think of that pink elephant. Image credit: MP_P / Shutterstock

Business Intelligence Dashboards in a Learning Organization Research Proposal

Business Intelligence Dashboards in a Learning Organization - Research Proposal Example The finest of business decisions are data driven. A learning organization has data coming from all departments, processes and employees. Business intelligence comprises of complex methods to convert organizational data into useful information and then converts this information into knowledge. Based on this knowledge the organization-wide decisions can be made after thorough analysis (Atre, 2011). Thus busdata-drivenligence improves the decision process of an organization. The top learning organizations have a deep-rooted implementation of business intelligence and analytics in their organizational design. Data mining tools such as data marts, data warehouses, dashboards, etc. mine large amounts of data to extract the useful information. These tools are used to improve the efficiency of the business intelligence processes (Nittaya and Kittisak, 2007). 1.1. Business Intelligence Dashboards Performance control is a vital aspect of organizational management. The efficiency and performanc e of an organization can only be increased through the cooperation of all its departments. When the organization is small, the management is straight forward and easy. Management becomes complex in large organizations comprising of numerous branches, departments and hundreds of employees. And sometimes these departments may even be located miles apart. Visiting them in person takes time. And if visited, the data becomes out-of-date by the end of the visit. The solution for management of big organizations is business intelligence dashboards which consolidate the management information for the entire company in one place. Business intelligence dashboard is an effective data visualization tool that uses metrics and the key performance indicators to display the current status of an entire organization’s performance against some predefined goals (Atre, 2011). In learning organizations, the culture is such that the information is shared and is accessible to all employees alongside the managers and executives. The employees are encouraged to try new ideas and make decisions (Hagen, 2011). So in a learning organization, the requirement of business intelligence penetrates deeper than merely the organization’s frontline i.e. the managers and executives (Gonzales, 2013). And therefore business intelligence dashboards can benefit everyone at an organization i.e. the employees too. 1.2. Constructing Usage Specific Dashboard Dashboards do not have the same role in all learning organizations. They can be customized. They can be constructed for specific executive roles e.g. CEO, CIO or they may display metrics targeting specific point of view or a department for the managers or they can give a high level as well as a detailed view of the organization’s performance based on its data which all the committed employees can gain benefit from. Based on the type of information presented by dashboards and how they are used, they can be classified into a variety o f categories. However, the three most common usage types are strategic, operational and tactical.

Child Labour and Nikes Views on it Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Child Labour and Nikes Views on it - Essay Example Furthermore, because countries independently regulate child employment there is no uniform custom to draw on in this area at all. Accordingly, the scope of what is and isn't child labor is unclear. This will become evident in the discussion below. The starting point for defining child labor is to ask who, in this context, is a child? The difficulty encountered in answering this question highlights one of the most fundamental problems of regulating child labor and goes to the heart of the dilemma of determining when it is acceptable for a child to work. Child labor is considered abhorrent because a child of a certain age does not have the maturity to make decisions or exercise her free will, and is especially physically and psychologically vulnerable (Forastieri, 2002). Defining Labor Defining "labor," in the context of child labor, is almost as difficult as defining a "child." Some practices can be easily identified as labor; mine and factory work are obvious examples. Other practice s, however, are harder to define, and the process of drawing a line between work that is acceptable and work that is not is a tricky one. Whether or not a child is engaged in "labor" must depend on the type of work the child is doing, the effect it has on her, and the amount of time she is expected to spend doing the work (i.e., does it interfere with her education). Whether a child is being paid, or is working in or for the family, does not alter the fact that she may be engaged in labor.... Child labor is considered abhorrent because a child of a certain age does not have the maturity to make decisions or exercise her free will, and is especially physically and psychologically vulnerable (Forastieri, 2002). Defining Labor Defining "labor," in the context of child labor, is almost as difficult as defining a "child." Some practices can be easily identified as labor; mine and factory work are obvious examples. Other practices, however, are harder to define, and the process of drawing a line between work that is acceptable and work that is not is a tricky one. Whether or not a child is engaged in "labor" must depend on the type of work the child is doing, the effect it has on her, and the amount of time she is expected to spend doing the work (i.e., does it interfere with her education). Whether a child is being paid, or is working in or for the family, does not alter the fact that she may be engaged in labor. All that changes in the different scenarios are the obligations of states. Indeed, although states are only specifically required to regulate employment, they are obligated to protect children from all work that interferes with the child's education or is otherwise harmful to the child. Child labor In the past decade, the issue of child labor has attracted increasing attention. In times past, the topic has been the focus of action at both the national and international levels, but it has never been an issue of major concern. However, since the mid-1980s, the world has paid greater attention to its most voiceless inhabitants. The adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) by the General Assembly in 1989 illustrates this general trend. In addition to enumerating new rights, the

Edward and Adam role play Essay Example for Free

Edward and Adam role play Essay The piece did not have a title. As it was an assignment we didnt name our play. It is called Edward and Adam role play, because in this scenes we show when Edward has just been captured and he meets Adam for the first time. Edward is really confused, and when Adam try to calm him down, he thinks that Adam is an Arab whos there to beat him up again.  AIM OF THE PIECE: I think that the main aim of the piece is to show how two men kept in captivity would react when they meet for the first time. Adam is an American doctor, while Edward is an Irish journalist. Edward, is steady and thoughtful. A hard-living, hard-driven man, he is tormented by the regret that he has pushed away his wife and not taken the time to know his children, and now never may. He is a complex, charismatic, charming and irritating man, whose best weapons against despair and self-pity are quick jokes, biting humor and a healthy awareness of his failings. When Edward is being taking into the cell he tries to fight back, by spitting at the Arabs. The reaction of the Arabs is shown with violence, and Edward get beaten up. When Adam sees what is happening he tries to help the new arrived, but he gets beaten up as well. When Edward wakes up, he ears the voice of a stranger, that stranger is Adam, who is trying to reassure him that everything is fine. Edward first response is trying to get away from the chains, and trying to find a way out of the jail. When he finally realises that hes locked up with a stranger, he starts screaming that hes Irish, and that hes country is neutral. In all this time Adam is trying to interrupt him, but Edward completely ignores him, until then he starts asking questions. What he hears, hes not what he expected. In fact he has been told that he would stay in the cell for an indeterminate time. In the scene there isnt much movement as they are both suppose to be chained up. The only movement we get in the scene is when Adam starts exercising, and tell Edward that he should do something as well, to keep his mind full. Edward is still really confuse and want to know more about his new friend. He keeps on asking questions, and they start to know each other better. The scene finish up when Adam tells Edward that hes not alone as he has got him to watch over him. We of course choose this ending by the title of the play. PRESENTATION: The piece has been presented well, and my partner and I have done a good job as the piece was understood by everyone in the audience. As we werent able to use the stage once more, we used another space in the room. We planned the scene carefully, and we decided to have Adam sitting down lining against the wall, reading the Koran. When Edward is coming in we have both of the characters trying to fight back the Arabs but as both get beaten up they faint. When Edward wakes up, hes very scared as he founds out that he is chained. For a moment he thinks hes dreaming, but when he realizes that that is reality, we can feel the stress and the fear coming out of his voice. Adam is tries his best to welcome him in the cell. But how can you make someone welcome when you are kept in chain? Edward is really stressed and keeps on asking more questions as he wants to know more about what its happening. After a while Adam start getting exercising, but this only makes Edward more confuse and makes him ask more questions. When the two men get to know each other more, Edward start to relax, and they start to talk normally and calmly, about everyday things, such as family, sports, jobs and so on.  For most of the scene the two men are sitting down lining on the wall, talking.  In this scene we had a big contrast between two different men, such as Adam and Edward.. Adam, is very calm, kind, and tries to reassure Edward. While Edward is very aggressive, as hes just been captured, and in first place he thinks that Adam is an Arab, and he doesnt trust him. STRENGTH AND WEAKNESSES: The piece strength as weaknesses as well. Once again I think that my partner and I have done a good job, because we have done a original piece, which I think has impressed the audience, as we have explored the inner side two men who meets for the first time in a situation of hostages. We wrote a script of the piece so that we would have been able to remember the piece. I think that the main strength of this piece is that I had the opportunity to work with the same partner, and we put very good ideas together. Some of the weaknesses of this piece were that we couldnt act the piece on the stage, I think that it would have been more effective as we would have had more space, and we could have used the lights as well.  PROBLEMS I HAVE EXPERIENCED: The major problem in acting this piece was that I was suppose to calm down a man who has just been captured and thrown into a cell. I had to be very patient into the play as Edward kept on interrupting, and kept on asking questions.  Looking back at the play I think that I have done a good job into acting Adam, and I also enjoyed it.

Mothers and Their Roles in Nazi Germany Essay -- Germany Mother Mother

Mothers and Their Roles in Nazi Germany I am here today to discuss how gender played a critical role in the construction of the Nazi State, prior to 1938. Specifically, I would like to focus my analysis on how and why the Nazis constructed a conception of motherhood that defined the mother in relation to the state. For our purposes today, we will examine two ideal German mothers and explore their similarities in order to understand how and why the Nazis perceived mothers as public agents of the Volksgemeinschaft, or German community of people. Primary documents will allow us to examine first-hand experiences of mothers written within the context of Nazi Germany. But first, on must begin by understanding precisely how the Nazis defined motherhood. The Nazis essentially invoked the ethos or authority of nature in order to define motherhood. For instance, they state, â€Å"To be a mother means giving life to healthy children, bringing to fruition all the physical, mental, and spiritual faculties in these children† (HCC 282). Raising healthy children and encouraging physical, mental, and spiritual growth are clearly universal or natural goals that any mother should hope to attain, even today. The Nazis definition of motherhood, in this instance, seems to be inclusive rather than exclusionary. In addition to nature, the Nazis invoke the ethos of nationalism to define motherhood. For example, the Nazis state that mothers must create â€Å"a home for them which represents a place where nationalist and racialist culture is nurtured† (HCC 282). This nationalistic definition of motherhood is not inclusive. Rather, it is implicitly exclusive because it defines political and racial boundaries. It is important to ma... ...ng considered non-citizens still identified themselves as German Jews and nationalists. Hitler was incorrect when he asserted that Jews are a â€Å"foreign race, unwilling and unable to sacrifice its racial characteristics, to deny its own feeling, thinking, and striving† (HCC 142). How then do people like Marta Appel and her family identify themselves as German Jews? By juxtaposing Marta Appel to the Aryan peasant mother it becomes clear that the Nazis not only constructed an arbitrary definition of motherhood, but also of a whole race. Thus defining a mother as a public agent of the Volksmeingeschaft was nothing more than a means by which the Nazis carried out their anti-Semitic political agenda. The Nazis claimed to be exposing natural distinctions between races, but in reality they were creating superficial divisions between people who were essentially the same.

Logical Positivism Essay

Also known as logical empiricism, rational empiricism or neo-positivism, logical positivism is the name given in 1931 by A.E Blumberg and Herbert Feigl to a set of philosophical ideas put forward by the Vienna Circle. This Vienna Circle was a group of early twentieth century philosophers who sought to re-conceptualize empiricism by means of their interpretation of then recent advances in the physical and formal sciences. Hence, the Vienna Circle represented a radical â€Å"anti-metaphysical† stance which held the view that an empiricist criterion for meaning and a logicist conception of mathematics could prove the meaningfulness of statements (Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy). Logical positivism is the school of thought that attempts to introduce the methodology and precision of mathematics and the natural science into the field of philosophy. The movement, which began in the early twentieth century, was the fountainhead of the modern trend that considers philosophy an analytical, rather than a speculative inquiry (Passmore). As a school of philosophy, logical positivism â€Å"combines positivism with a version of apriorism , that is, the view that holds that some propositions can be held true without empirical support† (Wikipedia Encyclopaedia). According to the Oxford Companion to Philosophy, the movement’s doctrine is ‘centred on the principle of verifiability. This holds the notion that individual sentences gain their meaning by some specification of the actual steps we take for determining their truth or falsity’. In essence, logical positivism seeks to verify the meaning in statements through empirical observations. Historical Background of Logical Positivism The position of the original logical positivists was a blend of the positivism of Ernst Mach with the logical concepts of Gottleb Frege and Bertrand Russell. But, their inspiration was derived from the writings of Ludwig Wittgenstein and G.E Moore. According to Passmore, in his article â€Å"Logical Positivism†, the logical positivists thought of themselves as continuing a nineteenth century Viennese empirical tradition, closely linked with British empiricism and culminating in the anti-metaphysical scientifically oriented teaching of Ernst Mach. He further pointed out that in 1907 the mathematician Hans Hahn, the economist and sociologist Otto Neurath and the physicist Phillip Frank, all of whom were later to be prominent members of the Vienna Circle, came together as an informal group to discuss the philosophy of science. In addition, Passmore posited that they did this in hope that they could ‘give an account of science to the importance of mathematics, logic and theoretical physics without abandoning Mach’s general doctrine that science is, fundamentally, the description of experience’ (par. 2). Subsequently, they adopted views from the â€Å"new positivism† of Poincare and coupled it with Mach’s views in an attempt to anticipate the main themes in logical positivism (par. 2). Logical Positivists view of Traditional Philosophy The philosophical position of logical positivism in its original form was the outcome of the profoundly incisive influences of Wittgenstein and Moore (Runes 359). Logical positivists were concerned about the soundness of metaphysics and other traditional philosophy. They asserted that many philosophical problems were indeed meaningless. Hence, they decided to abandon the traditional approach to philosophy and attempted to persuade people to utilise their approach instead. One of the chief tenets of logical positivism was that the supposed propositions of metaphysics, ethics and epistemology were not verifiable and so were not strictly ‘meaningful’.[1] Furthermore, Carnap, of the Vienna Circle, corroborated this view in his work â€Å"The Unity of Science†, when he stated that ‘we give no answer to philosophical questions and instead reject all philosophical questions, whether Metaphysics, Ethics or Epistemology’ (qtd. in the Stanford Encyclopedia of P hilosophy). Therefore, the purpose of the logical positivists was not to renovate the principles of traditional philosophy but to destroy them. Metaphysics was rejected on the grounds that its assertions were meaningless since they could not be verified in experience. Thus, statements about the existence of God were discarded as pointless because they could not be verified. Notably, whereas earlier critics of metaphysics such as Kant and Hume had rejected the claims of metaphysics as a form of theoretical knowledge, the logical positivists took over from Wittgenstein’s â€Å"Tractatus† the rejection of metaphysics as meaningless. Furthermore, the logical positivists argued that the propositions of metaphysics were neither true nor false but could be regarded as pseudo-statements (Logical Positivism 61). Metaphysics was not the only traditional discipline that the logical positivists were concerned about. Likewise, epistemology faced harsh criticisms from them. On one hand, the neo-Kantians saw epistemology as ‘the propaedeutic to metaphysics and all other philosophical disciplines’ (Oxford Companion to Philosophy 647). They maintained that philosophy could be reduced to epistemology in which a topic like â€Å"the reality of the external world† was discussed. On the other hand, for the logical positivists, epistemology was disregarded as a significant branch of philosophy because they thought that there was no way of verifying the assertions postulated by epistemology. They argued that this branch of philosophy was â€Å"quite meaningless like assertions about the Absolute.†[2] They held this position because for them there was no way of empirically verifying that an external world exists which is independent of the world we know now, as such those statements were ignored. Another tenet of traditional philosophy that the logical positivists disagreed with was ethics. Certainly, they all rejected any variety of transcendental ethics and any attempt to set up a â€Å"realm of values† over and above the world of experience. Passmore stated that, Assertions about values thus conceived, fall within the general province of transcendental metaphysics and had therefore been rejected as nonsensical. But while Schlick sought to free ethics from its metaphysical elements by converting it into a naturalistic theory along quasi-utilitarian lines, Carnap and Ayer argued that what are ordinarily taken to be ethical assertions are not assertions at all. For example to say that â€Å"stealing is wrong,† is neither, they suggested, to make an empirical statement about stealing nor to relate stealing to some transcendental realm. â€Å"Stealing is wrong† would either express our feelings about stealing, our feelings of disapproval, or, alternatively (this was where the logical positivist opinions differed), it is an attempt to dissuade others from stealing. In either case, â€Å"stealing is wrong† conveys no information. (par. 17) In addition to the above mentioned concepts, logical positivists also posited the idea that propositions of logic and mathematics were meaningful but their truth was discovered, not by experiment or observation, but by analysis. Also, for logical positivism the ‘business’ of philosophy was not to engage in metaphysics or other attempted assertions about what is the case but rather to engage in analysis. Furthermore, the only genuine propositions were those that are verifiable (Brown et al 218). Basically, the logical positivists’ emphasis was on logic and language. Logical positivists preferred that, instead of accepting traditional philosophy, philosophers should subscribe to the doctrine of verification. Doctrine of Verification Central to the movement’s doctrines was the principle of verifiability, often called the verification principle that is â€Å"the notion that individual sentences gain their meaning by some specification of the actual steps we take for determining their truth or falsity†.[3] According to logical positivism, there are only two sources of knowledge: logical reasoning and empirical experience. The former is analytic a priori, while the latter is synthetic a posteriori; hence synthetic a priori knowledge does not exist (Murzi 7). For logical positivists, the meaning of a statement lies in the method of its verification. This means that a statement has meaning if, and only if, it is verifiable† (Bochenski, 57). Verifiable, in this sense, means that the statement is derived from knowing the conditions under which it is true or false. If the statement cannot be proven true or false it is disregarded as meaningless. Carnap emphasized in â€Å"Logical Positivism† that only meaningful sentences were divisible into (theoretically) fruitful and sterile, true and false propositions (61). In essence, a sequence of words is meaningless if it does not, within a specified language, constitute a statement. Ayer also defined, explained, and argued for the verification principle of logical positivism. Ayer expressed, in his book Logical Positivism, the view that â€Å"sentences (statements or propositions) are meaningful if they can be assessed either by an appeal directly or indirectly to some fundamental form of sense-experience or by an appeal to the meaning of a word and the grammatical structure that constitute them. In the former case, sentences are said to be synthetically true or false; in the latter, analytically true or false.† Once the sentences under examination fail to meet the verifiability test, they are labelled meaningless. Therefore statements about metaphysical, religious, aesthetic, and ethical claims are considered insignificant. For the logical positivists, based on the verification principle, an ethical claim would have meaning only in so far as it professed something empirical. For example, â€Å"if part of what is meant by ‘X is good’ is roughly ‘I like it,’ then ‘X is good’ is false.† The primary ‘meaning’ of such sentences is emotive or evocative. Thus, for Ayer, ‘X is good’ is a meaningless utterance. As such statements are not verified by looking at the entire words in a sentence but by minutely analyzing the words singularly in a sentence to determine there meaning. Likewise, for Carnap, words or sentences must be verified by certain criterion, for instance, the syntax of a word must be fixed, that is in each use of the word in what Carnap calls an ‘elementary sentence’ the meaning must be unchanging. Secondly, for an elementary sentence containing a word, it must be determined from what sentence is the word deducible, and what sentences are deducible from the word. Also, under what conditions should the word or sentence be considered to be true or false, how is it to be verified and what is its meaning? For instance, take this example by Carnap using the word ‘anthropods’. Anthropods are animals with segmented bodies and jointed legs (this is the elementary sentence) from this it can de deduced that X is an animal, X has a segmented body, X has jointed legs. Hence, â€Å"by means of these stipulations about deducibility or truth- condition, about the method of its meaning of the elementary sentence about anthropod, the meaning of the word is fixed.† In this way every word of the language is reduced to other words and finally to the words which occur in the so-called â€Å"observation sentences† or â€Å"protocol sentences.† Carnap claims that it is through this reduction the word acquires meaning. (Logical Positivism 62-63). Problems with Logical Positivism In the Contemporary European Philosophy, Bochenski claimed that the doctrine used by logical positivists to verify sentences involved great difficulties of various kinds. For instance, a one protocol-sentence can be called into question and tested by another protocol-sentence, such as; the sanity of a physicist can be called into question and examined by the psychiatrist (58). The question has been asked of the logical positivist as to the basis of the protocol sentence, but they replied by stating that the object of experience can only be sensations. Questions of reality are ‘pseudo-problems,’ because we can never encounter anything but sensations and we can never verify the existence of things that are other than our sensations (59). Bochenski also commented that since verifications are made by the senses, â€Å"no statement can be verified other than those relating to the body and its movements; all statements of introspective psychology and classical philosophy are unverifiable, therefore meaningless.†[4] It follows that the only meaningful language is that of physics, and that all science should be unified. One condition remains to be fulfilled according to Bochenski and that is, for a statement to have meaning: it must be built in accordance with the syntactical rules of language. Therefore, it is meaningful to say, â€Å"the horse eats† but â€Å"the eat eats† has no meaning. Also statements that you and I know such as, ‘I love you Mummy’ or ‘I am feeling really sad today’ would have no meaning because they cannot be empirically verified. How then would we express our sensations? There is therefore no guarantee that things verified will remain verified; for example, it was commonly known that the world was flat and that if you go to the end you will fall off, this was how it was known to be until it was rediscovered by Columbus and his men that the world was round. Another problem outlined by Passmore is that, because â€Å"the meaning of a proposition is the method of its verification,† it is not a scientific proposition. Positivists responded to this by claiming that it should not be read as a statement but as a proposal, that is, a recommendation that propositions should not be accepted as meaningless unless they are verifiable. In response to Passmore’s statement, Carnap suggested that the verifiability principle is a clarification which will distinguish forms of activity which are otherwise likely to be confused with one another; metaphysicians will thus be able to tell what propositions are meaningless (Logical Positivism). Impact on Subsequent Philosophy Passmore wrote that logical positivism is dead, or as dead as a philosophical movement ever becomes; but it has left a legacy behind. Logical positivism was essential to the development of early analytic philosophy. It was disseminated throughout the European continent and, later, in American universities by the members of the Vienna Circle. According to the Routeledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, this transplanted to the English – speaking world of ‘analytic’ philosophy. Originally, it set up a series of sharp contrasts: between metaphysics and science, logical and factual truths, the verifiable and the non-verifiable, the corrigible and the incorrigible, what can be shown and what can be said, facts and theories. Logical positivism tremendously influenced the philosophy of science and the application of logic (language) and mathematical techniques to philosophical problems more generally. Logical positivism therefore has an established place in the history and continuing development of philosophy. At least three reasons can be given for this. One is purely historical, regarding the considerable impact and influence of the movement in its glory days. A second lies in the intrinsic interest of its ideas. The third lies in the fact that even if no one today would call themselves a logical positivist some of its main positions, such as verification and emotivism in Ethics, are specification of the actual steps we take for determining their truth or falsity (Hanfling). Also, logical positivism was immensely influential in the philosophy of language. The philosophy of language for the logical positivists is concerned with four central problems: the nature of meaning, language use, language cognition, and the relationship between language and reality. Also, it was used in conjunction with logic (Wikipedia Encyclopedia par 1). The spread of logical positivism in the USA occurred throughout the 1930s. The pragmatic tradition of Pierce, James and Dewey, with its instrumentalist conception of science, provided a healthy stock on which to graft logical empiricism, which, particularly in Carnap’s work, already had a pragmatist bent (Hackers 183). The rise of logical positivism was evident in the European continent. The English philosopher Alfred Jules Ayer played an important role in spreading logical positivism. In his book, Language, Truth and Logic, Ayer completely accepted both the Verifiability Principle and the distinction between analytic and synthetic statements, and so he asserted that metaphysical sentences were meaningless. Furthermore, a direct influence was exerted by Waismann and Neurath who immigrated to England. According to Murzi, in his work â€Å"The Philosophy of Logical Positivism†, in the twentieth century, logical positivism has provided a platform for Italian philosophy, Polish philosophy and Scandinavian philosophy (19). The influence of logical positivism began to diminish around 1960 with the rise of â€Å"pragmatic form of naturalism due to Quine and a historical-sociological approach to philosophy of science due mainly to Thomas Kuhn.† Nevertheless, it must be noted that logical positivism played a very important role in the development of contemporary philosophy, not only for its philosophical principles, but also for its editorial and organizational activities. The efforts of the logical positivists to rid science and meaningful discourse generally, of metaphysics, their attempt to create a ‘unified science’ by laying bare the logical structure of scientific theories and thereby showing the structural similarities, their insistence on logic and empiricism as being the only two reliable and acceptable pillars of knowledge—all these contributed towards a scientific universalism.[5] Logical positivism is studied by many modern day students of philosophy and authors; philosophers well as have written about it thus testifying to its continued existence, if not its practice. Notwithstanding the above mentioned, it is necessary to note that while logical positivism may have laid a platform for other philosophies, its approach seek to have dismissed the traditional philosophies. Now, if one should pursue logical positivism seriously, then as postulated before, certain feelings would become empty. As Coppleston noted, the growth of logical positivism has helped to produce a mental outlook which was unfavourable to metaphysics and to religion (32). Logical positivism is synonymous to an amoral type philosophy and with those tendencies entrenched in our society a chaotic environment would be established. Personally, looking at its attempt to rid itself of things that can not be proven, in every case it has destroyed too much even where philosophers found it difficult to continue writing. Magee in his book, Confession of a Philosopher: A Personal Journey Through Western Philosophy from Plato to Popper, professed to this. For him, â€Å"there was a period in which several of the cleverest philosophers became reluctant to say anything at all, because almost nothing that might be deemed to be worth saying was, unless it was factually provable, permissible.† In conclusion, logical positivism, then, is an approach to verifying the meaning of statements through empirical observation. It is a philosophic tradition that attempted to use science and logic to determine the truth or falsity of statements, and to disprove the meaningfulness of metaphysical, ethical and epistemological ideas as we know them to be meaningful. Like any other school of thoughts in philosophy it has come up against criticisms, however it did make contributions to philosophy and philosophical thinking as we know it today whether it is by being studied, opposed, or supported by philosophers. Works Cited Ayer, A.J. ed .Logical Positivism. New York: Free Press Co-operation, 1959. Bochenski, I.M. Contemporary European Philosophy. London: Cambridge University, 1956. Brown Stuart et al. One Hundred Twentieth Century Philosophers. London: Routledge Publishing Ltd. 1999. Hackers, PMS. Wittgenstein’s Place in Twentieth Century Analytic Philosophy. London: Blackwell Publishers, 1996. Hanfling, Oswald. Logical Positivism. Oxford: B. Blackwell, 1981. Honderich, Ted, ed. The Oxford Companion to Philosophy. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2005. â€Å"Logical Positivism.† Concise Routeledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2000. . â€Å"Logical Positivism.† Wikipedia Encyclopedia. 5 Nov. 2006 Retrieved 18 Oct. 2007. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logical_positivism Magee, Bryan. Confession of a Philosopher: A Personal Journey through Western Philosophy from Plato to Popper. New York: Random House Inc. 1997. Murzi, Mauro. The Philosophy of Logical Positivism†. Online posting. 18 Oct. 2007. http://www.murzim.net/LP/LP00.html Passmore, J. â€Å"Logical Positivism.† The Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 26 Oct. 2004 Retrieved 24 Oct. 2007. http://www.comnet.ca/~pballan/logicalpos(passmore).htm Runes, Dagobert. Living Schools of Philosophy: Twentieth Century Philosophy. Iowa: Littlefield, Adams and Co. 1958. Shah, Mohd Hazim. â€Å"Logical Positivism, Scientism, Universalism and Globalization.† Online posting. 11 Jun. 2002. 24 Oct. 2007. http://sts.um.edu.my/E-Library/Lecture%20Notes/SFGS6111/LP2.pdf â€Å"Vienna Circle.† Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 28 Jun. 2006 Retrieved 18 Oct. 2007 http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/vienna-circle/ ———————– [1] Honderich, Ted, ed. The Oxford Companion to Philosophy. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2005. [2] Passmore, J. â€Å"Logical Positivism.† The Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 26 Oct. 2004 Retrieved 24 Oct. 2007. http://www.comnet.ca/~pballan/logicalpos(passmore).htm [3] Honderich, Ted, ed. The Oxford Companion to Philosophy. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2005. [4] Bochenski, I.M. Contemporary European Philosophy. London: Cambridge University, 1956. [5] Shah, Mohd Hazim. â€Å"Logical Positvism, Scientism, Universalism and Globalisation.† Online posting. 11 Jun. 2002. 24 Oct. 2007.

Policies Procedures And Programs Essay

Activity 1: Accurately explain to the work team relevant provisions of WHS Acts, regulations and codes of practice. 1. The impact of a workplace injury is wide reaching. Explain. The impact of workplace injury is wide reaching because when hazards of physical and psychological type affect a worker, the impact is not only on the person, but also on the life, the family and of course on the future plans,as well as high compensation costs that the company will have to carry on with. The impact is not only economical or physical, after an accident or after being under stressful situations for instance, people can also be physiologically affected for a long time, reducing effectiveness and efficiency and reducing the life quality. 2. How is the integrity (validity) of information ensured? As an employee, if I want to validate the information provided by my employer in regards WHS or any other important or legal matter, it is recommendable to try to verify the information with the different governmental institutions. By doing this, they can state if the information is truth and accurately delivered as well as help to provide training. 3. List three sources of health and safety information that are relevant for your state/ territory. Living in Western Australia, if I need to consult or check some information about WHS, I would contact Work Safe WA, Fair Work Australia and Standards Australia. These 3 different sources will provide me with enough information to know if my employer is acting under the law and legislation and ways in which I can complain and ask for having a WHS environment. 4. Scenario: In every workplace there will be relevant provisions of WHS Acts, regulations and codes of practice that apply. You are a team supervisor and it is your role to ensure that work teams are aware of these. The teams you supervise comprise relatively new workers who did not receive adequate induction and need to be brought up to date. How will you do this? Every  time I have a new team member, I would give them an appropriate induction according to their duties or the department they are working for. The induction will have an information session followed by training in which they can understand the type of hazards they are exposed to and how to deal with it. It is also very important to ask the new members to go through the material given in the information session and encourage them to validate it through the different sources like Safe Work Australia for Instance. Activity 2 1. Why is it important that all workers have access to health and safety information? It is important that all workers have access to health and safety information, because that information could be not only saving one life, it could also help to safe the lives of an entire company and also avoid having legal problems. It is everyone’s responsibility to be aware of WHS because that can provide a safe work environment to everyone and improve it every day. 2. If a worker had made suggestions for improvement regarding the design, development and management of health and safety in a company in which they worked, how could they go about having them ratified and implemented by senior management? In a first stage the worker making the suggestions has to validate that what is asked is under the legislation and appropriate for the type of industry and the state/territory. Once the information has been checked with the corresponding sources, the worker can give the suggestions to the manager for him to implement new procedures and handle out the information to the other workers. It is very important that every company show that they care about their employees and more over that they appreciate the staff wanting to participate and help to have a better work environment. If the worker’s effort is not appreciated they will lose interest on helping. 3. Before submitting these strategies to senior management for approval, should the worker consult with the members of their team/ department to get their input? Why/ why not? It is important that before submitting the new strategies, the worker consults with the team or the people directly involved or beneficiated by the new strategy. They have to be consulted because they are the responsible of the operations in that specific department and at the end they and their efficiency and productivity are going to be the affected or beneficiated by the new  strategy. WHS it is something that has to be consulted and approved to bring a positive impact on a group of people and not only for a few of them. Activity 3: Regularly provide and clearly explain to the work team, information about identified hazards and the outcomes of risk assessment and control 1. Where might information about hazards and the outcomes of risk assessment and control result from? If in the company there is a WHS program or a person in charge of, the information about hazards and the outcomes of risk assessment and control results might come from it. 2. List five ways that a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) can provide clear explanations to work teams about identified hazards and the outcomes of risk assessment and control. Workshops or safety meetings in which the information can be provided in a short and concise way. Giving opportunities to the workers to be in contact with people or experts about WHS. Encourage workers to talk and discuss WHS matters as a team, because it is everybody’s responsibility. On the induction day, provide workers with all the information about WHS and other company procedures. Show the workers that the company is a WHS and that they can be safe at any moment. SECTION 2: IMPLEMENT AND MONITOR PARTICIPATION ARRANGEMENTS FOR MANAGING WHS Information relating to these activities can be found in Section 2, Part 1 – Learning support materials. Activity 4: Communicate to workplace parties the importance of effective consultation mechanisms in managing health and safety risks in the workplace. 1. What types of changes in the workplace would benefit from consultation between PCBUs and workers (or their representatives)? The type of changes in the workplace would be: More ownership and support for initiatives. Motivated workers who improve and contribute to continuous improvement. Respect for, and value of, worker opinions and experience. Knowledge of the job conditions and its risks. Activity 5: Apply consultation procedures to facilitate participation of the work team in the management of work area hazards. Explain the role of the Health and Safety Representative (HSR) in each of these consultation  procedures: 1. Attendance at team meetings: to demonstrate commitment with employees and WHS procedures, the representative and other attendants must show interest by asking questions and giving ideas or solutions. 2. Early response to work suggestions, requests, reports and concerns put forward to management: recognition for this kind of actions must be done, because through rewards the employees will feel valued and will be encouraged to keep this kind of behavior and a continuous improvements and participation. 3. Requirements as specified in Commonwealth and state/ territory legislation, regulations and codes of practice: once employees are informed about WHS, they will be aware of what it is expected from them and what can they expect from the company they are working for. Activity 6: Promptly deal with issues raised through consultation, according to organisational consultation procedures and WHS legislative and regulatory requirements. 1. What strategies can PCBUs use to consult with workers on health and safety issues? A wide number of strategies can be used to consult workers on health and safety issues, however, the most common and effective one will be the HSC. Through the regular meetings, the workers and management will feel encouraged to work together developing, monitoring and recording WHS programs that will benefit everyone. 2. Health and safety issues raised through consultation should be dealt with promptly. Why is this? Upload your answer for assessment. Issues raised through consultation should be dealt with promptly because it is a way to keep away from serious problems in which the law has to act, avoiding as well to incur in legal expenses and causing the less possible damage. Activity 7: Promptly record and communicate to the work team, the outcomes of consultation over WHS issues. 1. Create a meeting agenda template suitable for a HSC. Upload your template for assessment.

Management practices employed by multinationals in controlling and managing the financial risks The WritePass Journal

Management practices employed by multinationals in controlling and managing the financial risks ABSTRACT Management practices employed by multinationals in controlling and managing the financial risks ABSTRACTINTRODUCTION:IMPACT OF GLOBALIZATIONBMW: CORPORATE OVERVIEW LUFTHANSA: CORPORATE OVERVIEW FINANCIAL AND EXCHANGE RISKS EVALUATIONRISKS PECULIARITY: BMWRISKS PECULIARITY: LUFTHANSAFINANCIAL/MARKETING STRATEGIES TO MANAGE RISKSCONCLUSIONBIBLIOGRAPHYRelated ABSTRACT This study seeks to highlight the management practices employed by multinationals in controlling and managing the financial risks they are exposed to. It also assessed the management practices used by multinationals in the face of financial crisis using Lufthansa and BMW as case study. INTRODUCTION: Early learning of scholars has presented arguments that exchange risks have little impact on foreign activities especially by Multinationals. This view has been shared by Jorion (1991) who went on to question the activeness of financial managers who perform hedging as the risk associated with foreign exchange/currency exposure is minimal. This was also in line with the argument by Bodnar and Gentry (1993) who suggested that not many industries are faced by exchange risks depending on their significance. However, contrary to these views, recent studies have identified exchange rate to be of huge significance amongst the risks that multinationals face and thus questioned the measurement techniques used by earlier studies. This view is supported by Doukas et al (2001) who projected that organizations who engage in foreign activities will be more affected by exchange rate movement. Eitemal et al (2006) further explain that corporate organizations, mostly multinationals face a higher exchange risk exposure than their non-multinationals counterparts because of their higher degree of international business operations. In line of these contrasting views, the author however argues that firms wanting to exercise their international or global presence will be faced with distinctive financial management challenges. And as long as there is movement of capital and finance owed to the rapid movement of globalization, corporate organizations will continually be faced by global factors like reactions to movements in currency markets (such as a undervaluing of a currency) . Dominguez et al (2001) go further to argue that even emerging markets are likely to be faced with a significant level of financial risk exposure as they may be relatively less efficient and for the reason that both developing and developed countries are open to such risks. Therefore, firms must be flexible in their approach by demonstrating an ability to diversify their consumers, contractors and financial sources. IMPACT OF GLOBALIZATION BMW: CORPORATE OVERVIEW BMW, an independent German automobile and engine manufacturing company is a global leader in premium car sales and is known for its performance and luxury vehicles. It has under its ownership the Mini brand, BMW motorcycles and the Rolls-Royce motor cars. A commanding international company with presence in over 120 countries, the BMW Group has business activities broken down into manufacturing, assembly and sales of automobiles and a financial services arm whose primary aim is to provide financial credit to dealers and customers. Its strategic investors make up 46% of its shareholdings, while institutionalized investors breakdown include North America 15.8%, United Kingdom and Ireland: 11.8%, Other Europe: 5.7%, Germany: 4.8%, Rest of the world: 2.5%. Other investors make up the rest with 12.7%. Its financial arm provides financial and investment advice to customers and dealers alike which extends into offering financial credit which is used in the lease or purchase of its automobiles or spare parts. It therefore offers flexible and attractive payment options which also ensure that its finances circulate within the group. BMW has been to known to practice operational flexibility in a bid to handle foreign exchange shocks and has began exploration of emerging countries like China for investments and long-term commitment for service. Establishment and entrenchment of BMW in emerging markets has emerged and identified by its operations in China for instance. China is currently its fourth largest market with huge potential even though representing only 5% has been boosted by the Chinese government offering incentives and subsidies to urge purchases. LUFTHANSA: CORPORATE OVERVIEW Deutsche Lufthansa AG (Aviation Group) is an international aviation company with strategic business segments providing mobility and services for airlines. A German based company serving more than 500 destinations across the world with code sharing agreements. Its business operation is segmented into passenger airline services, MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul), provision of IT services, logistics and catering for its own airlines and extensively to external customers. However, providing passenger airline services is the hub of its business activity. It is a premium brand with global service offering via a fleet of over 500 aircrafts (which makes the company very liquid) with its major target market being Europe, America and Asia. Lufthansa is one of the leaders in the provision of maintenance and overhaul services for external airlines, servicing government, organizations and leasing companies. It also extends this service to its own airlines. Its catering segment also provide airline cuisine as it is located at international airports of over 40 countries catering to regular customers and international airlines. Its Europe segment contributes the highest of the company’s total revenues, with sizeable contribution in North America, Asia/Pacific and the Middle East.   However, it continues to strive given the significant exposure in competitive markets like Europe visible through the improvement of the flights and other business operations in Asia, North America and the Middle East. Even at this, a successful diversification of its flights to other market regions to reduce the economic, political and geographical risks has not been fully achieved. FINANCIAL AND EXCHANGE RISKS EVALUATION Extending operations into a global landscape is becoming increasingly challenging even as companies wish to exert global presence, they are increasingly faced by the risks that expose the unpredictability of cash flow. They are constantly faced with emerging dimensions of risks varying from long run against short run investment risks, certain against uncertain transaction risks, and risks relating to value of cash flows. Multinational corporations like BMW and Lufthansa are therefore faced with risks such as transaction risks which identifies the impact on exchange rate changes on the value of cash flows that lie in the future that has been committed but whose nominal value is known. It refers to committed transactions for which the company is expecting receivables or payables from export or import contracts. Profits or losses may arise if exchange rates fluctuate between the date of purchase and the date of payment. They may also be faced with economic risks which refer to varying cash flows based on the impact of changes in macroeconomic activities such as inflation, economic growth and or interest rates. Inflation generally increases the cost price of goods due to an increase in costs of input which may lead to a cut back in purchases. Economic growth on the other hand may increase the demand of a product as people may increase their purchase or consumption at these periods. Another major risk faced by MNCs such as the companies under study is translation risk which refers to the degree of influence of foreign exchange rates on the value of foreign assets and liabilities. The seeming liability for multinational companies facing translation risks is the volatility of the currency at hand and the currency with which it is being measured against. Even as the risks mentioned above account for the major risks that multinational organizations may face, they may also be faced with some other types of risks. Country risk refers to risks that are associated with particular countries which make them higher volatility for investments. A proper country risk analysis will ensure that a corporate organization will monitor countries with excessive risk and therefore avoid entrance into such country. Government laws or bans on certain items may also have an impact on the sale of certain products while interest rates, inflation and exchange rates all have an impact on the other therefore making the consideration of entry into a country more complex. It is also pertinent to recognise that there may be political influence in some countries arising so that local companies may thrive in the face of foreign competition. Therefore, considering the nature of globalization, even though it has encouraged borderless trading, multinational corporations have to recognise the risks associated with operating in a host country.            RISKS PECULIARITY: BMW The BMW group enjoys the exclusivity of three premium brands that are not overlapping and doing well independently. With a keen focus on research and development, it has developed innovative display in the manufacturing of groundbreaking engines. It has therefore enjoyed success due to its unique designs and a carving a niche for itself in the luxury brand sector. However, due to its setup and base mainly in Germany, cost competitiveness may continually be a worry given that more competitors are recognising the cost advantage of emerging markets and therefore shifting their production activities to these locations. It must therefore locate a balance between cost efficiency and the status it derives from the German engineering quality. BMW, having a huge base in Germany may pose a risk as there may be considerable currency fluctuation in other countries of operation which may result in uncertainty in cash flows. Selling to its American market may result in converting the Dollar revenue to Euros for instance, and a decline or a weakening of the Dollar makes the expected Euro income equivalence to be lower. It also faces cross-border purchases which consumers may engage in to avoid some costs mainly on currency value differences with people going to Canada for instance to purchase an automobile and driving it back into the US. These fluctuations are beyond the company’s control and may on only react to the changes which may have been caused by changes in the economic position of such country, speculation, demand and supply factors on currencies, consumer index, foreign investment and or Gross National Income (GNI). BMW also faces the risks of specification given the nature of the product it sells. Product specifications especially for countries outside Europe will be a huge concern as it may require new production lines to cater for this change. Also, risks associated with late delivery of goods or damages while shipping as was the reported case of a sunken ship containing BMW automobiles many of which were beyond repairs. Being a premium brand, BMW has to contend with high cost of producing its high quality parts and still staying within the reach of consumers who are now more exposed to cost effective automobiles given the rising of oil prices. RISKS PECULIARITY: LUFTHANSA Risks associating with the airline industry are becoming more complex even as the industry is becoming more competitive. The business model applicable in the industry attracts a lot of capital, labour and technology input. Additional business dynamics like increase in oil prices, frequent risk of terrorism, charges that are specific to countries, unfavourable weather conditions and disruption of air-traffic are all risks associated with security and safety, hazards issues and operational risks that have characterised the airline industry. A peculiar situation was the abnormal weather in December 2010 which had a huge impact on air traffic as over 4,000 flights were cancelled. The industry is also characterised by cyclic demand, domestic and international competition which is growing by the day, increasing gearing levels, regulatory hindrance like landing rights or ownership restrictions. The concern of interest rate is particularly of great significance to airlines as it affects their debt financing. Also, the debt-to-equity ratio of the airline industry is thus equally high as it is capital intensive which makes borrowing more difficult. Bartram (2002) highlighted this further by pointing out the impact of interest rate and the succession of business cycle considering the effects on demand by customers.   Carter et al (2002) also argued that due to expected costs of distress, there is a considerable level of underinvestment. When airlines are strained and therefore resort to sell off their fleet of aircraft, this may be a representation of financial distress as the aircrafts are sold off at heavily discounted amounts. The industry is equally faced with currency risks which may affect international or domestic demand in relation to the home country currency value. For instance, if the Canadian dollar depreciates, there will be an increase in demand for flights into and within Canada by non-residents while the residents may substitute local travels for international locations. The predictability of these currency changes being close to impossible equally makes the airline operators more exposed to these risks. A considerable contribution of airline operating cost is the cost of jet fuel which also poses a risk to Lufthansa. Although, the level of profit responsiveness may be dragging as airline tickets are sold in advance, future commitment to advertised lower fares in the short term. However, in the medium/long term its profitability decreases in relation to direct and indirect cost of fuel. Carter et al (2002) further illustrate that airlines are in a dilemma of underinvestment whenever a revenue generation opportunity presents itself during the periods of high cost of jet fuel. The further weight of the air traffic tax adopted in Germany and Austria for instance means that fuel costs cannot be passed on in full to consumers due to the sensitivity of pricing. FINANCIAL/MARKETING STRATEGIES TO MANAGE RISKS For BMW, recognition of the potentials of emerging markets both for demand and production units has helped diversify its risk. Its focus traditionally had been on European market, but with the steady growth of the Chinese automobile industry, there was a need to break its unilateral brand structure and embrace innovation. However, completion is becoming strife in the Chinese region as competitors have recognised the potentials it offers and focus is shifting gradually away from product competition to a comprehensive demand for brand and services. Adopting localised sustainable development in the Chinese market by adding traditional local elements will also attract demand within this newly acquired market. Also, BMW may choose to relocate its manufacturing and supply units to final markets whose currencies are less prone to currency exchange risks. This can be done through an investment in localised procurement and production units. Shifting its base to final markets and having its suppliers do likewise ensures that BMW is guaranteed input cost safety. Whilst doing this, it can also assure its suppliers of sustainable income which reduces their vulnerability in time of fluctuations.   Even as it tries to satisfy global appeal by developing unified product models, BMW cuts costs and alleviates risks by adopting flexible means of customizing its models to fit regional tastes in markets representing huge demands on short notice. For instance, it developed a longer version of one of its models solely for Chinese customers due to high demand. It can then focus supply of its marketing plans and products to markets with stronger currencies with less likelihood for fluctuations. As the largest market outside Europe, the US plays a vital position in BMW’s business plans as it established production lines for its 3 and 5 series models in the country due to increasing demand. Even at the point of establishing the plant, most of its cars were manufactured in Europe and transported to the US and sales of the cars may become more profitable as the dollar weakens. It then may build its competence to identify and take advantage of a strong currency market. It is also striving to ensure there is a plant in china by 2012, thus making sure most of its costs are denominated in local currencies. However, all these strategies are not as expedient as currency hedging. Hedging refers to an investment that is made in order to alleviate the risk of adverse price movement in an asset. Exchange rate risk can also be neutralised (hedged) through financial instruments, such as exchange rate derivatives or foreign currency debt (financial hedges), as well as through the operational setup of the exporting firm (operational hedges). Financial derivatives have today become standard tools for hedging risks related to exchange rates, interest rates or commodities prices. Accordingly, Bartram et al (2009) further argued that organizations do not only use financial derivatives, but operational hedging and foreign currency debt may be crucial to their management of financial risk.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Even as the hedging strategy may be applicable to Lufthansa AG as well, it can be argued in accordance to the views of Kim et al (1993) that diversification is considered to be a chief instrument which corporations can adopt in order to manage the financial risks facing them. This is in line with the view of the author as hedging is still a rather speculative attribute and can still lead to a loss or a profit. It can be further argued that a business ought not to fully hedge all of its firm value from all risks because when future hedges are applied and the prices go up in the first few years, there will be a large marginal impact on the cumulative futures covering the multiple years. And as a form of international strategy, Lufthansa formed the Star Alliance with other airlines which afforded it an almost faultless network of intercontinental connections which provided it with the needed expansion. Lufthansa also hedges fuel prices to dea l with fuel price risk for a time sphere of two years mostly by means of time combined options. The hedging transactions are based on fixed rules and map the average of crude oil prices over time. Sales of international tickets, fuel purchases, aircraft and spare part maintenance also present some form of currency risk to Lufthansa and it performs hedging on the main currencies it uses which are the US Dollar, the Yen, Euro and the Sterling. Being a very liquid company (Lufthansa owns about 75% of its fleet of aircrafts), considering its financial strength, Lufthansa is considered a worthy partner by investors and banks. Thus, future investment plans can be met through borrowing at an already determined action plan and the duration of such investment is limited to one year. The risks and opportunities facing the group, is defined mainly by macroeconomic factors and a resulting effects on passenger and cargo demand. In this regard, Lufthansa relies on its capability to regulate its resources and capacity in a flexible manner in order to adapt to changing market conditions and therefore cut costs.    CONCLUSION Organizations are faced with financial risks arising from a combination of sources either from an exposure to changes in market prices either through interest rate or exchange rate fluctuations and/or financial risks emerging from an interaction with suppliers or customers. Given that corporate risk management can lower the present value of bankruptcy and financial distress costs, firms with a high probability of default and/or high financial distress costs should be more likely to engage in corporate hedging. Companies with international supply chains and international markets will face not only exchange rate risk from the financial accounting perspective, but risks to their competitive positions and cost-revenue dynamics as a result of steep and large declines in the dollar’s value. Financial hedging strategies are suitable for mitigating small and short-term currency fluctuations. But to avoid the effects of huge, long-term shifts in a currency’s value, the likes of BMW and Lufthansa are however advised to adopt operational hedging strategies. 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