British Petroleum Description Of The Company Essay Example Pdf - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 12 Words: 3602 Downloads: 8 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Research paper Did you like this example? British Petroleum is one of the five major energy companies in the world engaged in the business of oil and natural gas exploration and marketing as well as development of renewable energy devices across 80 countries of the world. The company with around 80300 staff members on its payroll in 2009 made an annual turn of US $ 239 Billion that made the BP the fourth largest global production house (BP, 2010, pp. 46-49). Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "British Petroleum Description Of The Company Essay Example Pdf" essay for you Create order The company also has a large market share in store and sale of petrochemicals. British Petroleum has four major operations in energy business, namely; (a) exploration; (b) refining, production and marketing; (c)Petrochemicals and (d) Power, Gas and Renewable (Article 13, 2004). British Petroleum that started its operation as a joint venture called Anglo Persian Oil Company (APOC) in 1909 made a remarkable journey from a modest start in oil exploration to become one of the largest players in the energy sector currently engaged in business of (a) Crude Petroleum Natural Gas; (b) Natural Gas Liquids; (c ) Petroleum Refining; (d) Lubricating Oils Greases; (e) Natural Gas Transmission; (f) Crude Petroleum Pipelines; (g) Refined Petroleum Pipelines; (h) Petroleum Bulk Stations Terminals; (.i) Chemicals Allied Products, and (j) Offices of Holding Companies and so on (Anonymous). After its privatisation in several tranches in the 1980s (Poole, 2008), it has eventually become the large st private corporation in the United Kingdom as per the Forbes list for the year 2000 (Times, 2009). In its attempt to portray its image as a responsible and sustainable business enterprise in the energy sector, the company also ventured into solar energy and other forms of non conventional energy sources that brought it a fame termed in many circles as Beyond Petroleum although such claims of being responsible has been under threat due to some accidents that occurred in recent times that brought the company under heavy criticism (Hayes, 2010]. However, our present purpose here is not to get into these details but to get into an analysis of company finance after presenting a brief overview of the company, its profile and its role in the sector. The physical and financial performance of the British Petroleum is provided in Table-1 and Table-2. The information in the table is reproduced in Chart-3 and Chart-4 in the form of indexes taking year 2005 as the base. Chart-1 Source: h ttps://www.wikinvest.com/stock/BP_%28BP%29/Data/Market_Capitalization Chart-2 Source: https://www.wikinvest.com/stock/BP_%28BP%29/Data/Market_Capitalization As can be seen from Chart-1 and Chart-2, both in terms of Market Capitalization by its own as well as in comparison with other players in the sector, the BP has shown weaknesses in the recent years in comparison to its earlier performance. This can largely be contributed to the recent oil spill incident highlighted in the media caused by the negligence of BP in ensuring adequate safety measures in its operations. Table-1 Performance in Physical Output of British Petroleum Year 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Crude Oil Production for Subsidiaries (000 barrels per day) 1423 1351 1304 1263 1400 Crude Oil Production for Equity Accounted Entities (000 barrels per day) 1139 1124 1110 1138 1135 Natural Gas Production for Subsidiaries (Million Cubic Feet per day) 7512 7412 7222 7277 7450 Natural gas production for Equity Accounted Entities (Million Cubic Feet per day) 912 1005 921 1057 1035 Source: BP, 2010, 13 Table-2 Financial Performance of British Petroleum over Recent Years Year 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Sales and other operating revenues from continuing operations* 239792 265906 284365 361143 239272 Profit before interest and taxation from continuing operations* 32182 35658 32352 35239 26426 Profit from continuing operations* 22133 22626 21169 21666 16759 Profit for the year 22317 22601 21169 21666 16759 Profit for the year attributable to BP shareholders 22026 22315 20845 21157 16579 Capital expenditure and acquisitions# 14149 17231 20641 30700 20309 Source: BP, 2010, 12 As can be seen from Table-1 and Table-2, although the output level of BP has not undergone significant changes except for some marginal decline in the most recent years, in most of its financial indicators, it has shown significant decline between 2008 and 2009. In terms of profit, it is has performed miserably even compared to its 2005 levels as can be clearly noticed from the index lines presented in Chart-4 Chart-3 Source: Drawn on the basis of information in Table-1 Chart-4 Source: Drawn on the basis of information in Table-2 With this broad overview, let us now focus on the financial structure of the BP Plc. Financing Structure of British Petroleum: A Comparative Perspective As we are aware, financial structure is a framework of various types of financing employed by a firm to organise resources required for its operations. Usually, it consists of equity capital, loan capital, over draft and some short term liabilities. Table-3 provides the major financial trends for the British petroleum in the last five years. As can be seen from the table-3, the debt to equity ratio for the British Petroleum has gone up from 24 percent to 34 percent between 2005 and 2009. The debt equity ratio is calculated to measure the companys financial leverage or risk. Although it is a problematic measure of leverage, it is one of the most used financial ratio to calculate the risk of business. An increase in the debt equity ratio holds that the risks associated with the financial aspects of British Petroleum have increased over last few years. Table-3 Major Financial Trends in British Petroleum 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Total Assets 206914 217601 236076 228238 235968 Net Assets 80450 85465 94652 92109 102113 Share Capital 5185 5385 5237 5176 5179 BP Shareholders Equity 79661 84624 93690 91303 101613 Finance Debt Due after more than one year 10230 11086 15651 17464 25518 Net debt 16,373 21,122 26,817 25,041 26,161 Equity 80,765 85,465 94,652 92,109 1,02,113 Select Financial Ratios Debt to debt-plus-equity ratio 19% 22% 24% 27% 25% Debt to equity ratio 24% 28% 32% 36% 34% Net debt to net debt-plus-equity ratio 17% 20% 22% 21% 20% Net debt to equity ratio 20% 25% 28% 27% 26% Source: BP 2010 -a, 27 It is very difficult to draw conclusions on the basis of financial information for a single company unless we compare it with others in the same industry. This is particularly so because, the level of risks that can be comfortably undertaken, the amount of profit that can be considered as adequate etc can be misleading as they are very specific to the industry under review. Therefore, in order to analyse the financial situation of the BP Plc, we have undertaken a comparison of it with the Exxon Mobil, another major in the sector that is also a world leader and even larger in terms of its coverage and business compared to the BP Plc. Table-4 provides a comparison between BP plc and Exxon Mobil on the basis of several select indicators over last five years. However, before we make such a comparison, it might be useful to take into account the concepts used in these comparisons. Return on equity is the ratio of the sum of net income from the total operatio ns of the last five years (2005-2009) and the sum of common equity over the last five years. The ratio exhibits the level of business strength a company commands in terms of its income or revenue. Return on assets is the ratio of the sum of income for last five years to the sum of total assets. This indicates the productivity of the assets held by the company. Return on invested capital is the ratio income and invested capital, which shows the productivity of the capital. Gross profit margin is the ratio of gross profit (income minus cost) to the total income over the last five years. The different between pre -tax and post tax profit margin indicate the comfort a company enjoys in terms of its consistency with the acceptable level of rules and regulations in the area it operates. SGA indicate the ratio of summation of selling, general and administrative expenses to overall revenue of the company. Total debt equity ratio takes into account both short term and long term debts in calc ulating debt equity ratio. Table-4 A Comparison Between Selected Financial five year averages of BP Plc and Exxon Mobil. BP Plc Exxon Mobil Return on Equity 22.8% 31.7% Return on Assets 9.2% 16.0% Return on Invested Capital 19.4% 29.9% Gross Profit Margin 20.0% 34.7% Pre-Tax Profit Margin 11.3% 17.9% Post-Tax Profit Margin 7.4% 10.2% Net Profit Margin (Total Operations) 7.4% 10.2% SGA as a % of Sales 5.2% 4.2% Debt/Equity Ratio 0.18 0.06 Total Debt/Equity Ratio 0.32 0.08 Source: For BP Plc, https://finapps.forbes.com/finapps/jsp/finance/compinfo/Ratios.jsp?tkr=bp For Exxon Mobil, https://finapps.forbes.com/finapps/jsp/finance/compinfo/Ratios.jsp?tkr=XOM As can be noticed from the comparison between Exxon and BP Plc, in most of the cases indicating the strength factors, Exxon has performed much better than the British petroleum. On the other hand, a lower SG A for Exxon ind icates that BP Plc spends a lot of money in advertising its brand and other non productive expenses compared to the total revenue of the company, This also indicate that on account of returns from advertising and other non-output related expenses, BP lags behind the Exxon. Finally, on account of risk factors associated, the figures for BP are alarmingly higher than the Exxon Mobil. While the average debt equity ratio indicating the leverage or risk of the company is around 18 percent for BP, it is only 6 percent for the Exxon Mobil. If one takes into account the short term debts also, the proportion of debt equity ratio almost doubles the longer term debt equity ratio to reach around 32 percent for BP plc compared to only 8 percent in terms of Exxon. From the analysis, it is clear that the financial structure is not appropriate in case of BP Plc when compared to other market players in the industry. The lower differences in the post tax and pre tax profit margin for British petroleu m might indicate that the company enjoys tax benefits as well as other privileges compared to others. A deeper analysis is required for the same. Chart -4 gives a visual comparison of the information provided in Table-4. Chart-5 Source: As per information in Table-4 Cost of Capital in British Petroleum For any production centre, cost of capital is a significant factor for consideration, as it measures to cost a company incurs towards its funds. As we are aware, funds of a company consists of both debt and equity and the cost of such funding would require a consideration of both the cost of debt as well as the cost of the equity or the required rate of return to ensure investment in a company. Cost of debt includes the risk free rate of bonds, credit risk rates and tax rate. On the other hand, the cost of equity is a function of dividend yields and the growth rate of dividends. In other words, the required return on any equity, as per the Capital Asset Price Modelling, is the risk free rate plus beta times expected market risk premium (Megginson, 336). Or E(RS ) = Rf + ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²s (Rm -Rf) Where, E(RS) is the expected return, Rf is the expected risk free return in the market or the government bond yield rate, ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²s is the sensitivity to market risk for the security, and Rm is the historical return of the stock market. On the other hand the weighted average cost of capital is represented by the formula; WACC = {D/(D+E)}rd + {E/(D+E)}re, Where, D and E are the market value of the firms debt and equity, .rd and re are the rates of return expected by investors on debt and equity (Megginson, 343). In the Table -5 We have provided a WACC calculation for both BP Plc and Exxon Mobil. As the information shows, the value of WACC for BP Plc is at 9 percent compared to a lesser value of 7 percent for Exxon. This indicates that the capital risk level of British petroleum is higher compared to its competitor. Table-5 We ighted Average Cost of Capital for BP Plc and Exxon Mobil Indicators BP Plc Exxon Mobil Price of the Stock ($) 27 59 Beta Levered 0.72 0.42 Debt (Million $) 35127 14428 Shares (Million $) 3131 4698 Equity(Million $) 85719 279108 Capital (Million $) 120846 293536 Debt equity (%) 40.98 5.17 Debt Capital (%) 29.07 4.92 Tax (%) 31.9 43.4 WACC Calculation 9.00% 7.00% Cost of Debt 7.00% 7.00% Cost of Equity 10.00% 9.00% Risk Free Rate 4.40% 4.40% Sources: For BP Plc. https://www.editgrid.com//publish/calc/user/wikiwealth/Stock-Research-Summary-BP?savebar=0HYPERLINK https://www.editgrid.com//publish/calc/user/wikiwealth/Stock-Research-Summary-BP?savebar=0show=tb,fb,rh,ch,mb,sl,bookid=3616934version=2frame_style=border:9px solid #666;height:380px;width:100%edit=1HYPERLINK https://www.editgrid.com//publish/calc/user/wikiwealth/Stock-Research-Summary-BP?savebar=0show=tb,fb,rh,ch,mb,sl,bookid=3616934version=2frame_style=border:9px solid #666;height:380px;width:100%edit=1show=tb%2Cfb%2Crh%2Cch%2Cmb%2Csl%2CHYPERLINK https://www.editgrid.com//publish/calc/user/wikiwealth/Stock-Research-Summary-BP?savebar=0show=tb,fb,rh,ch,mb,sl,bookid=3616934version=2frame_style=border:9px solid #666;height:380px;width:100%edit=1HYPERLINK https://www.editgrid.com//publish/calc/user/wikiwealth/Stock-Research-Summary-BP?savebar=0show=tb,fb,rh,ch ,mb,sl,bookid=3616934version=2frame_style=border:9px solid #666;height:380px;width:100%edit=1bookid=3616934HYPERLINK https://www.editgrid.com//publish/calc/user/wikiwealth/Stock-Research-Summary-BP?savebar=0show=tb,fb,rh,ch,mb,sl,bookid=3616934version=2frame_style=border:9px solid #666;height:380px;width:100%edit=1HYPERLINK https://www.editgrid.com//publish/calc/user/wikiwealth/Stock-Research-Summary-BP?savebar=0show=tb,fb,rh,ch,mb,sl,bookid=3616934version=2frame_style=border:9px solid #666;height:380px;width:100%edit=1version=2HYPERLINK https://www.editgrid.com//publish/calc/user/wikiwealth/Stock-Research-Summary-BP?savebar=0show=tb,fb,rh,ch,mb,sl,bookid=3616934version=2frame_style=border:9px solid #666;height:380px;width:100%edit=1HYPERLINK https://www.editgrid.com//publish/calc/user/wikiwealth/Stock-Research-Summary-BP?savebar=0show=tb,fb,rh,ch,mb,sl,bookid=3616934version=2frame_style=border:9px solid #666;height:380px;width:100%edit=1frame_style=border%3A9px%20solid%20%23666%3Bh eight%3A380px%3Bwidth%3A100%25HYPERLINK https://www.editgrid.com//publish/calc/user/wikiwealth/Stock-Research-Summary-BP?savebar=0show=tb,fb,rh,ch,mb,sl,bookid=3616934version=2frame_style=border:9px solid #666;height:380px;width:100%edit=1HYPERLINK https://www.editgrid.com//publish/calc/user/wikiwealth/Stock-Research-Summary-BP?savebar=0show=tb,fb,rh,ch,mb,sl,bookid=3616934version=2frame_style=border:9px solid #666;height:380px;width:100%edit=1edit=1 For Exxon Mobil: https://www.editgrid.com//publish/calc/user/wikiwealth/Stock-Research-Summary-XOM?savebar=0HYPERLINK https://www.editgrid.com//publish/calc/user/wikiwealth/Stock-Research-Summary-XOM?savebar=0show=tb,fb,rh,ch,mb,sl,bookid=3616948version=2frame_style=border:9px solid #666;height:380px;width:100%edit=1HYPERLINK https://www.editgrid.com//publish/calc/user/wikiwealth/Stock-Research-Summary-XOM?savebar=0show=tb,fb,rh,ch,mb,sl,bookid=3616948version=2frame_style=border:9px solid #666;height:380px;width:100%edit=1show=tb%2Cf b%2Crh%2Cch%2Cmb%2Csl%2CHYPERLINK https://www.editgrid.com//publish/calc/user/wikiwealth/Stock-Research-Summary-XOM?savebar=0show=tb,fb,rh,ch,mb,sl,bookid=3616948version=2frame_style=border:9px solid #666;height:380px;width:100%edit=1HYPERLINK https://www.editgrid.com//publish/calc/user/wikiwealth/Stock-Research-Summary-XOM?savebar=0show=tb,fb,rh,ch,mb,sl,bookid=3616948version=2frame_style=border:9px solid #666;height:380px;width:100%edit=1bookid=3616948HYPERLINK https://www.editgrid.com//publish/calc/user/wikiwealth/Stock-Research-Summary-XOM?savebar=0show=tb,fb,rh,ch,mb,sl,bookid=3616948version=2frame_style=border:9px solid #666;height:380px;width:100%edit=1HYPERLINK https://www.editgrid.com//publish/calc/user/wikiwealth/Stock-Research-Summary-XOM?savebar=0show=tb,fb,rh,ch,mb,sl,bookid=3616948version=2frame_style=border:9px solid #666;height:380px;width:100%edit=1version=2HYPERLINK https://www.editgrid.com//publish/calc/user/wikiwealth/Stock-Research-Summary-XOM?savebar=0show=tb,f b,rh,ch,mb,sl,bookid=3616948version=2frame_style=border:9px solid #666;height:380px;width:100%edit=1HYPERLINK https://www.editgrid.com//publish/calc/user/wikiwealth/Stock-Research-Summary-XOM?savebar=0show=tb,fb,rh,ch,mb,sl,bookid=3616948version=2frame_style=border:9px solid #666;height:380px;width:100%edit=1frame_style=border%3A9px%20solid%20%23666%3Bheight%3A380px%3Bwidth%3A100%25HYPERLINK https://www.editgrid.com//publish/calc/user/wikiwealth/Stock-Research-Summary-XOM?savebar=0show=tb,fb,rh,ch,mb,sl,bookid=3616948version=2frame_style=border:9px solid #666;height:380px;width:100%edit=1HYPERLINK https://www.editgrid.com//publish/calc/user/wikiwealth/Stock-Research-Summary-XOM?savebar=0show=tb,fb,rh,ch,mb,sl,bookid=3616948version=2frame_style=border:9px solid #666;height:380px;width:100%edit=1edit=1 PART-II A Preliminary Report on the new Venture of the British Petroleum site in Cambodia Background: In last fifty years, there has been several efforts in vain for economic e xploration and production of petroleum products in Cambodia. The French tried it initially in late 1969 and stopped their efforts in 1975 after the fall of the Khmer Republic(Library of Congress, 2009). However, by 1998, three out of nine exploration wells drilled by UK, French Australian and Japanese companies bore successful results. The initiative by UKs Enterprise Oil at two test sites in Angkor -1 well and Khao Tang-1 well have capacity to produce 6 million cubic feet of gas and 1500 barrels of oil per day. While it is possible to make these efforts economically profitable through negotiations with the present government there which has a open attitude for international trade and FDI, the strategic and locational advantages of initiating a business venture in Cambodia are many. However, in this report, there has been an attempt to focus on the economic aspects of the effort only. It might also be useful to mention some other players interested in the offshore oil ventures in th e gulf of Thailand under the jurisdiction of Cambodia. They are Chevron Overseas Petroleum (Cambodia) Ltd, Moeco Cambodia Company (a subsidiary of Mitsui Oil Exploration Company Ltd.), Singapore Petroleum Company Ltd, PTTEP International Ltd, Resourceful Petroleum Ltd and Cooper Energy Ltd. (Janes 2009). Given the overall condition there, a new LPG production plant can be established by BP in Cambodia. Table-A World Natural Gas Reserves, Production and Consumption Proven Reserves As on January 2008 Production in (2007) Consumption (2007) (Tcm) share (%) (Bcm) share (%) (Bcm) share (%) North America 8 4.5 767.3 26.3 791.5 27.1 Latin America 7.4 4.1 147 5 128.7 4.4 Europe 6.2 3.5 288.8 9.9 544.4 18.6 Former Soviet Union 53.8 30.1 790.7 27.1 629.7 21.6 Africa 14.6 8.1 191.5 6.6 85.3 2.9 Middle East 73.9 41.3 353.9 12.1 298.3 10.2 Asia and Oceania 15.1 8.4 381.2 13.1 442.3 15.1 Total 178.9 100 2920.4 100 2920.4 100 Source: Kobayashi, (2010) As can be seen from Table-A, the consumption in the Asia Pacific region is much higher than the production level and this can form the basis of the rationale behind having a fully owned subsidiary in the region. On the other hand, the rise in the international price of natural gas in the form of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) has increased from $ 194 per metric tonne in 2002 to around $ 802 in October 2008. This indicates that the business will have adequate potential for profit in the region (See Chart-A). Chart-A Trends in International Price of LPG ($/MT) Source: GOI (2008) Table-B provides a business plan for a small scale LPG production unit in Cambodia. As we can see from the Table, Table-B Plant Features Estimated Plant cost ($ Million) 25 Annual Gas Input (Quantity in Billion SCF) 20 A nnual Gas Input Cost ($ per SCF) 0.25 Annual Gas Input Total Cost ($ Million) 5 Products LPG (12.17%) Dry Gas (85.10%) Condensate (1.61%) Quantity 142930 17 million 300400 Unit tonnes 000 SCF bbls Product Unit Cost ($) 150 per tonne 0.5 20 Product Value ($ Million) 21.44 8.5 6.01 Plant Depreciation @ 10 % ($ Million) 2.5 Expected surplus over production material cost (Excluding labour and other costs) (in $ Million) 13.94 8.5 6.01 Based on the Calculations provided by TATA MESSIRI Chart-B Wholesale Price Index of LPG in the Region Note: In the absence of information on Cambodian data, Indian figures have been take as indicative figures: Source: GOI 2010 As can be seen from the Table, the rough calculations would indicate a huge return from operations in the locality. Given that the the country can provide cheap labour, the final costs would not be much higher. The plant construct ion and production would not take more than two years given its small size and by that time, while the output cost will increase significantly, wages being sticky, the input cost would not increase that much. So from this preliminary analysis, this can be considered as an economically viable project. What follows is a brief projections about the operation of the plant. In order to present the NPV, we need to calculate the free cash flow statement and the cost of capital. The cost of capital for BP is assumed to be at 9 percent. Table-C gives the calculations for NPV for the new project. As per the formula, NPV=ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ £0t FCF t / (1+WACC) t FCF0 Where, Expected Quantity in MT =14293 WACC for BP assumed to be fixed at 9% =0.09 Table-C NPV Calculation for the New Project Price per MT Expected Revenue Unit Cost of production Total Cost of production FCF t (1+r)t FCFt/(1+r)t Nt 2008 851 Nil 2009 1030 Nil 2010 1246 0 700 10005100 -10005100 0 1.0 -10005100 -20010200 2011 1508 0 847 12107018 -12107018 1 1.1 -11107356 -21112456 2012 1824 26073206 1025 14648467 11424739 2 1.2 9615974 -389126 2013 2207 31550786 1240 17725885 13824901 3 1.3 10675360 670260 2014 2671 38179122 1501 21449821 16729301 4 1.4 11851459 1846359 2015 3232 46199970 1816 25956100 20243870 5 1.5 13157127 3152027 2016 3910 55905874 2197 31409077 24496796 6 1.7 14606639 4601539 2017 4731 67650839 2658 38007642 29643197 7 1.8 16215844 6210744 2018 5725 81863240 3216 45992463 35870777 8 2.0 18002333 7997233 2019 6927 99061448 3892 55654772 43406676 9 2.2 19985639 9980539 2020 8382 119872734 4709 67346984 52525750 1 0 2.4 22187445 12182345 NPV 5129264 Notes: Price per MT (extrapolated as per annual average growth rate in WPI of LPG at 21% as given in Chart A) Cost of production @ 700 per MT as per local Calculations available from Secondary sources as in 2010 and with a growth rate similar to the price of LPG FCF = Free Cash Flow Statement (=Net Revenue-Net Cost) t is the time period in years As can be seen from the table, the NPV calculated shows the viability of the project. Appendix (Charts) Chart 1 Market Capitalisation4 Chart 2 Market Capitalisation of BP and its competitors.4 Chart 3 Trend of output performance of BP6 Chart 4 Financial Report of BP in recent years.6 Chart 5 Comparison between BP and Exxon.9 Chart A Trends in International Price of LPG..13 Chart B Wholesale Price Index of LPG in the Region14 Appendix (Tables) Table-1 Performance in Physical Output of British Petroleum.5 Table-2 Financial Performance of British Petroleum over Recent Years.5 Table-3 Major Financial Trends in British Petroleum7 Table-4 A Comparison Between Selected Financial five year averages of BP Plc and Exxon Mobil..8 Table-5 Weighted Average Cost of Capital for BP Plc and Exxon Mobil.11 Table-A World Natural Gas Reserves, Production and Consumption..12-13 Table-B Plant Features.14 Table-C NPV Calculation for the New Project .15

Compensation For An Organization s Mission Statement

Total Compensation in the Army Compensation is a critical aspect of every organization and appropriate consideration and strategic planning must be conducted in regards to compensation in order to ensure success of the organization’s mission statement. I believe that most managers fail to recognize the importance of compensation in the strategic planning process and write it off as something that they have little input or value added. They fail to consider that they have the responsibility to analyze compensation in the strategic planning process in order to select the appropriate compensation plan that will allow them to meet the organization’s mission with the least amount of resources possible. Any organization, whether it is†¦show more content†¦So initially, one may think that compensation would not play a large role in the strategic planning or gaining an edge over the competition. Due to the fact that our obvious competition are foreign nations and r ealistically no one in the Army would transfer jobs from the United States Army to the Chinese Army because they had a superior total compensation package. However, the United States Army is not only in competition with foreign nations. They are also in competition with private or corporate sector organizations, which would like to attract soldiers to work for them. Soldiers have a reputation of being hard working, dedicated, and highly disciplined employees and corporate America acknowledges this and would like them to join their ranks to serve their organizational goals. So the United States Army not only has to keep soldiers appropriately compensated in order to deploy and defeat our nation’s enemies abroad and at home in austere conditions, but they must also provide appropriate compensation in order to keep them from transitioning to the corporate sector. Cahn (2014) quotes (p.1) retired Vice Admiral Pete Daly supporting this as he stated, â€Å"You give up a lot of freedoms. They own you. You go where you are told to go. That’s a very difficult part to quantify in pay.† With all the factors going against it, a reasonably minded person

Accounting Financial Analysis JB Hi Fi Limited

Question: Discuss about the Accounting Financial Analysisfor JB Hi Fi Limited. Answer: JB Hi Fi Limited one of the best retailers that operates in Australia and New Zealand. The organization is specialized in consumer goods, video games, DVDs, CDs and others[1]. It has been seen that JB Hi Fi Limited is one of the fastest growing companies in these two countries. In case of the equity of the organization, there is a massive growth in the equity of the company. In the financial year 2016, the company has witnessed a 11.5 percent growth in earnings per share. As pre the consolidated balance sheet of JB Hi Fi Limited for 2016, it can be seen that total equity of the company in 2016 is $ 404,702,000 as compared to $ 343,479,000 in 2015. Hence, it can be seen that there is a growth in the total equity of the organization. The total equity of the group is divided into three categories. They are Contributed Equity, Reserves and Retained Earning. In the year of 2016, the amount of contributed equity is $ 49,264,000 as compared to $ 56,521,000 in 2015; the amount of Reserves in 2016 is $ 27,140,000 as compared to $17,636,000 in 22015 and the amount of retained earnings in 2016 is $ 328,298,000 as compared to $ 269,322,000[2]. It can be seen that there is growth in both reserves and retained earnings except contributed equity. In the consolidated financial statement of JB Hi Fi Limited, all the information are given about the issue of shares in the current year that is 2016 along with the issue of shares in the previous year that is 2015. As per the consolidated financial statement of JB Hi Fi Limited for 2016, the opening number of shares on 1 July 2015 was 98,989,901 and the amount was $ 56,521,000. In the year of 2015, the total number of issued shares under the share option plans was 671,849 and the value was $ 5,955,000. In the same financial period, the number of share buy-back was 714,441 and the value was $ 13,181,000. On 30 June 2016, the closing number of shares were 98,947,309 and the value was $ 49,264,000. Hence, from the above discussion, it can be observed that JB Hi Fi Limited has issues 671,849 number of shares during the past financial year and the amount was $ 5,955,000. Ordinary shares refer to those shares that entitle the shareholders to get dividends based on the fortune of the organization[3]. The consolidated financial report of 2016 of JB Hi Fi Limited contains all the information about the ordinary shareholders of the company. According to the financial report of JB Hi Fi Limited of 2016, the company has 98,947,309 fully paid ordinary shares. Hence, the total number of ordinary shareholders at the end of the year 2016 is 20,156. As per the financial report, there are five categories of holding of the shares. They are 1-1000 shares, 1001-5000 shares, 5001-10000 shares, 10001-100000 shares and 100001 and over. The number of shareholders in each slots are 14655, 4825, 419, 225 and 320 respectively[4]. Bibliography "Annual Report 2016". in , , 2017, https://www.jbhifi.com.au/Documents/2016%20JB%20Hi-Fi%20Annual%20Report_ASX.pdf [accessed 20 January 2017]. "JB Hi-Fi | Australias Largest Home Entertainment Retailer". in , , 2017, https://www.jbhifi.com.au/ [accessed 20 January 2017]. 'ordinary Share',A Dictionary of Business and Management,(2016), . 'Preliminary 2016 JB HiFi Ltd Earnings Call - Final',Fair Disclosure Wire,(2016), .

Analysis Of The Last Of The Mohicans Essay Example For Students

Analysis Of The Last Of The Mohicans Essay In James Fenimore Coopers The Last of the Mohicans, everything is structured as a double, with the massacre of Fort William Henry standing eerily in the middle of the chapters. The first part of the novel is set within the confines of civilization, the second part in situated in the world of the Indians. The characters also have mirrored opposites. The good and bad Indian, the dark and fair lady, the noble red warrior and the dashing and aristocratic white soldier. However, it is the contrast and the interplay of the two Indian figures, Uncas and Magua, that make up the main theme of the story. It is in the portrayal of these two characters that Cooper examines the main theme of the story, the fate of the Indians in the America. The undisputed hero of the Leatherstocking series is the frontier figure, Natty Bumppo. However, in The Last of the Mohicans, the second book in the series, Natty Bumppo, or Hawkeye in this case, does not seem to show the mythical qualities of the isolated scout and hunter. Terence Martin has pointed out that in The Last of the Mohicans . . . we encounter an anomalous and unfinished Natty Bumppo. And Donald Darnell states, although there is no falling off his powers he is in his prime, his eye is sharp as ever, and his role as hero is usurped by Uncas, whose movement to the position of dominance at the novels conclusion Cooper skilfully develops. Uncas and Magua are the protagonist and antagonist of this story, and they both serve as a symbol of the vanishing people, the ultimate victims of encroaching civilization of the white man. Uncas is the brave warrior, who embodies the noble characteristics of the proud Indians. In the second half of the novel, Uncas infiltrates the Huron village, to rescue the captured maidens. The setting of the story is now shifted to mythical Indian territory. It is a world where the white man is powerless. Moreover, it is a world where bravery is the sine qua non, and it is appropriate that Uncass emergence as hero begins here. The other Indian that Cooper contrasts with Uncas is Magua. He is the traditional bad Indian, the villainous and machiavellian devil. According to Leslie Fiedler, Cooper manages to propagate both aspects of the American ambivalence toward the Indian: the Easterners or missionarys sentimentalizing of the Vanishing American, and the Westerners or Indian fighters cynical contempt for the savage. By organizing his narratives around two Indian atrocities microcosmically, Maguas abduction of Cora and Alice; macroscopically, the slaughter at Fort William Henry Cooper is able to grant the Indians sense of wronged innocence and at the same time present the Indians revenge as compromising their claims to justice and perhaps even to survival.

Stages of Mnc Essay Example

Stages of Mnc Paper 1. The modern organizations have two main approaches toward internationalization. Either the first born global where these organizations are international from their inception or the organization is rapidly internationalized due to demand for the unique product/service. The second is the stage approach to internationalization this focuses on stages that the organization moves through to reach multinational enterprise MNE status. The movements through stages are influenced by â€Å"strain from growth and geographical distance, decision that coordination and business units need more management and host-government restrictions related to ownership and equity. † (Dowling, Festing, Engle, 2009) The stage approach begins with Export stage where increasing totals of exporting products/services creates the need to establish a presence in the international location. The Human Resources function becomes unclear, due to (marketing /developing export departments) manages the development of this international exporting arms staffing, and international intermediaries. The domestic headquarters â€Å"owns† the process, and continues exporting while building its market presence to enhance relationships and market experience in the new location’s business environment. Sales Subsidiary stage is the result of established strategic relationships in the international location the HR function of training and development prepares expatriates to manage the developing branches in the international locations. HR function is also actively staffing international locations in this stage. We will write a custom essay sample on Stages of Mnc specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Stages of Mnc specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Stages of Mnc specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The Foreign production stage is where production is taking place in the new branches, which resemble the domestic location. The domestic HR function is staffing, however there are international branches developing their individual HR departments. The HRM in the international branches start to implement policy and procedures, which are appropriate for their locations. The staffing managed by both domestic and international HR includes a greater number of home country nationals. The organization is now considered an MNE and facilitates internationalization challenges by changing to a network organizational structure. 2. Human Resource challenges in the network firm are: a. The HRM function for developing transnational management insuring enough managers who can perform across the different international locations. b. HRM must directly meet the challenge to insure effective policies i. e. compensation and performance management, this includes adherence to individual locations taxation laws and government requirements. Maintain equity in the MNE compensation policies including rewards and incentives. c. Implement existing structure of control. The stress on formal communication channels as distance from location to location is increasing and coordination and communication throughout the MNE is less effective. HRM uses international conferences in key subsidiary locations as a way to build cross-border teams made up of staff from several different subsidiaries. This creates a network of functional teams, and promotes cross border relationship building throughout the MNE. The use of this informal control provides another communication channel. 3. MNEs from China and India differ from Japanese, European, and US in their process of internationalization due to the history of â€Å"network/family control â€Å"of business in China. This will make it difficult to maintain control once the organization moves move beyond the region, therefore internationalization will begin with export branches established in neighboring countries. Emerging market MNEs for China and India have been found to be more often family-owned. Family ties and parental networks are important as determinant of international activity† The other differences would be government â€Å" (Lou Tung, 2007) the role of the home country government is very important in determining firm strategy, for regulating outward FDI from emerging markets. Government policies prohibited outward FDI until recently. † (Lou Tung, 2007)

Learn How to Conjugate Quitter (to Leave) in French

Learn How to Conjugate Quitter (to Leave) in French You might think that the verb  quitter  means to quit in French and you would be partially right. This verb can also mean to leave, to go, or to give up. Its a very useful word that covers many situations, so adding it to your French vocabulary is a good idea. The catch is that to use  quitter  in proper French grammar, you need to learn its conjugations. While that may seem scary to some students, this one is relatively easy and well give you the essentials you need. The Basic Conjugations of  Quitter   Among all the French verb conjugations,  quitter  falls into the largest category. These are the  regular -er verbs  and you can apply anything you learned while studying others of this sort to form the conjugations of  quitter. With any conjugation, begin by finding the verbs radical (or stem). For  quitter, that is  quitt-. You will then add the appropriate ending that matches both the subject pronoun and the tense you want to use it in. For example,  I am quitting is  je quitte  and we will leave is  nous quittions. Practice these anytime you see someone leave or quit anything for a few days and theyll be easier to remember. Present Future Imperfect je quitte quitterai quittais tu quittes quitteras quittais il quitte quittera quittait nous quittons quitterons quittions vous quittez quitterez quittiez ils quittent quitteront quittaient The Present Participle of  Quitter As with most regular verbs, the present participle is formed by simply adding -ant to the radical. This results in the word quittant, which may also be used as an adjective or noun in the right context. Quitter  in the Compound Past Tense The passà © composà © is a compound past tense that is frequently used in French. To form it, youll need to conjugate avoir  to the present for the subject before adding the past participle quittà ©. This results in jai quittà © for I left and nous avons quittà © for we left. More Simple Conjugations of  Quitter When someone may or may not leave or quit, you can imply this uncertainty with  the subjunctive.  If, on the other hand, they will only leave or quit if another action occurs, then you will use  the conditional  forms of  quitter. Both  the passà © simple  and  the imperfect subjunctive  are literary tenses, so theyre most often found in written French. While you may not need to use them, you should be able to read them. Subjunctive Conditional Pass Simple Imperfect Subjunctive je quitte quitterais quittai quittasse tu quittes quitterais quittas quittasses il quitte quitterait quitta quittt nous quittions quitterions quittmes quittassions vous quittiez quitteriez quitttes quittassiez ils quittent quitteraient quittrent quittassent A very useful verb mood for a word like  quitter,  the French imperative  allows you to say things such as Quit! or Leave! without any formality. Feel free to drop the subject pronoun and simply say, Quittons ! Imperative (tu) quitte (nous) quittons (vous) quittez

Leadership and change management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Leadership and change management - Essay Example (Cao et al, 2000, p187). Changes viewed also by management may also not be looked upon as change by outsiders like competitors or suppliers. This has led to the categorizing of change in various ways, some of which include strategic and non-strategic change, incremental and radical change, changes of identity, co-ordination and control, planned and emergent change, change in terms of scale, human-centered change in terms of individual, group and inter-group or organizational level, quantum change and so on. (Cao et al, 2000, p187; Todnem, 2005, p372). Changes can also be structural, that is dealing with the physical alteration of an organization like its buildings and equipment or even employees. (Bennett & Durkin, 2000). On the other hand, it may be a change in process, that is, the way the related group of tasks are combined to create value for a target customer. (Cao et al, 2000, p188). A change can as well be in functions, that is, the decision system or policy and resource alloc ation duties of a particular element of an organization. There can also be changes in values, beliefs and human behavior in terms of social rules and relationships and so on. (Cao et al, 2000, p187). ... There can also be changes in values, beliefs and human behavior in terms of social rules and relationships and so on. (Cao et al, 2000, p187). Lastly, there can be changes in the distribution of power and level of influence with an organization. These four types of change have different implications on the their total quality management as can be seen in the table below. Table 1. Change Management Classification. Change management classifications Total Quality Management Process change Focuses on process ahead of the other three types of organizational change. Function (structural) change Says little about organizational structure Values (cultural) change Relies on but cannot influence culture Changes in power Is distorted by power in the organization With all the above determinants and types of change outlined, we can then define change management as 'the process of updating on a continuous basis and organization's direction, structure and capabilities to serve the ever evolving needs of the indigenous and exogenous clients'. (Todnem, 2005, p369). It involves identifying the future organizational needs and managing the changes required within the present system to be able to meet these future needs. It is therefore, much linked to organizational strategy. (Todnem, 2005, p369). For the purpose of simplicity, we The first part of the paper looked at the need for change in an organisation. The second part of the paper looks at two different change models. Part three focuses on the implications of change particularly on human behavior. It also develops a plan that addresses the human variables and potential resistance to this change. It will also look at the respective reasons why people are

Making my own art exhibition Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Making my own art exhibition - Essay Example . The work of the abstract expressionist will be displayed in the gallery. For a painting of 5 a 15*20 hall is sufficient. It must be a simple room which much less patterns on the wall. Dark colored paints will be the best to display the paintings as the paintings have a light color base. A dark background will highlight the paintings. There should not be any designs or patterns on the wall and it can have windows which help in natural illumination. There must be five focus lights in the hall along with two normal lights. The highlighters will help in illuminating the paintings better giving them a clear and a neat look. The paintings should to be framed and displayed. The colors of the frames have to highlight the paintings. They have to be displayed at the eye level. There must be boards to display the names of the artists and for writing brief descriptions of the paintings. The positioning of the paintings has to be done according to the similarities in the shades of the paintings for giving a visual treat to the visitors. The paintings have to be arranged in the way that provides enough space for visitors to stand and view them. A television can be set at the exhibition to present audio visuals about the paintings and the artists which can include a brief history of the art during the century and the artists who were involved bringing new dimensions for art. There must be a minimal entrance fee which will attract more visitors and it would also make sales sense. A share of the profit must be donated for charity The concept of the exhibition: The concept of the exhibition is to bring to the limelight the magnificence of the abstract art. The theme of the exhibition will be Conceptual expressionists' art exhibition. Reason for choosing the paintings: All these paintings are the works of the abstract expressionists who had a common belief of freedom and brought a new dimension to art. There were beliefs in freedom of expression during the post second world war era. The paintings have life in them and paved way for modern paintings. The painting of Egon Schiele is more a drawing than a painting and every stroke in the painting is well done. The use of colors and their combination brings over all completeness to the picture. The painting by Henry Moore is just the pencil work and his distinguished strokes; it is an articulation of the emotions. Jackson Pollock's work is of free strokes that emphasizes survival of human kind. Georgia's work major consists of floral designs and animal bones. Through her technical style she always transformed her paintings into the influential abstract figures. Ellsworth Kelly always uses intense colors to his paintings to highlight the minimalism of forms. The pictures chosen for the exhibition have s tylish advancements with vast combining ideas. The artists have used stylish and dramatic colors. The paintings are impressive in their own ways. They visually converse the freedom for expressions. They symbolize human existence. "It addresses personal psychological battles, the external struggle between man and nature, and the hunt for spiritual comfort. All of these concepts were expressed through abstraction, finding meaning in relating the act of painting with a release of subconscious feelings and desires". (Art History, 2006) Similarities of the paintings: The similarity amongst these pictures would be that

Elite Running Inc Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Elite Running Inc - Case Study Example The inventory of Elite rose by 39% in 2003 as compared to 2002. The rise in the level of inventory was preplanned by the management in order to be prepared to grab the offers from the suppliers when they offer favorable prices for the company. The changes also indicate that while the sales have declined for the company by 24%, the gross profits have declined by 53.8%. This fall in gross profits was mainly due to the changes in the product prices due to the change in competitive market scenario with the appearance of a new entrant named, Stampy. The other significant changes include fall of retained earnings of the company by 11.2% and the fall of equity by 8.4%. Explanation for tick-marks b, e & k The explanation for the tick-marks has been explained as follows. Tick-mark b The fall in the accounts receivable of Elite Running Inc. in 2003 as compared to the value of 2003 could be explained by the fall of sales figures of the company. Due to the fall in the level of sales volume of th e company, the credit offered for sales also reduced. Thus the accounts receivable also declined in 2003 as compared to 2002. Tick-mark e The inventory of the company increased by 17 million dollars which is a rise of 39% in inventory level of 2003 as compared to that of 2002. ... Tick-mark k Elite running Inc. has faced unprecedented competition in 2003. The management forecasted a 10% rises in the sales as compared to 2002. However, due to entry of a new competitor and offers of a similar footwear and apparel product by the competitor eroded their market share as the customers inclined towards the products offered by Stampy. This led to the fall of revenue earnings of the company. In order to respond to the changed external environment, the company reduced its product prices. Although, it allowed the company to retain a large number of customers, the gross profit of the company declined. Discussion: auditing and accounting issues for identified changes The accounting and auditing issues identified in the valuation accounts receivable suggest that the valuation of accounts receivables should have been $51m instead of $60m that has been recorded in the books of accounts. The issue behind this gap is that the management has influenced the accountant and the aud itor in disclosing consistent value of aging account (AICPA 18). The accounts receivable figure for a period of less than 30 days has also been suggested to be maintained at 85%. In order to do this, the accounts receivable from the three sales transactions of the new sales and marketing tool of the company, named Andy Dufresne has not been recorded under the assurance of the management. This is an auditing issue as it shows clear deviation from standards of accounting (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission 1). The accounting and auditing issue involved in the rise of inventory level of Elite Running Inc. questions the gap between the available information on the receipt of supplier materials as the reason for rise in inventory and the

Implementation of charts regarding hand washing

Implementation of charts regarding hand washing The importance of antiseptic hand washing has been recognised for over 150 years (Macdonald A, 2004). It is estimated that 300,000 patient annually suffer from hospital acquired infection in UK which can result in a prolong stay in hospitals. It also increases the morbidity and mortality rate in UK (NHS Trust UK). it is accepted that hand gel is the most effective antibacterial hand washing agent and its use can reduce the spread of infection, including MRSA (Macdonald A, Teare L, Pratt RJ, 2004). So, I want to implement hand gel and charts regarding hand washing in my nursery to prevent infection in neonates. In my essay, I describe my change, why it is rational, leadership types, role of partnership, my partners and implementation of my change. To institute this change Kurt Lewins (1951) three steps of change model is used. This essay will present the three stages of change process which includes, unfreeze, change and refreeze and leadership theories, conflict management, and partn ership used to implement the change. Babies born in hospitals in developing countries are at increased risk of neonatal infection due to cross infection in nurseries. In a major review, neonatal infection rates of infection were reported 3-20 times higher than those reported for hospital born babies in industrialised countries (Zaidi AK 2005). Neonatal infection is estimated to cause 1.6 million deaths or 40% of all neonatal death in developing countries. Neonatal mortality rate under first 28 days of life are as high as 40-50 per 1000 live births in many of the poorest part of the world. Infection is the major cause of neonatal death in developing countries (Lawn JE et al, 2004). In our nursery, we documented that there is a disappointing level of hand hygiene. This is due to increased workload and shortage of time. So, my change can prevent the cross-infection when we use the hand gels in nursery. According to Daft (1994), all change is planned and positive and seems to ignore the possibility of unplanned and potentially negative change. However Mullins (1996) defined change as planned is intended to be positive and arise from the need to respond to new challenges and opportunities (Mullins, 1996). Organisation change may be linear or discontinuous. In the present stage nurse in our hospital follows the old pattern of hand washing. They touch another baby without proper hand washing. This is increasing the risk of cross infection. Anti septic hand washing is a crucial aspect in health care. The main barrier for this is lack of resources and support from hospital administration. The existing set up will always result in increased infection rate in neonates. So, antiseptic hand washing and use of hand gel will reduce infection rate. So I planned to put posters and hand gels in my nursery. I plan the change process by using Lewins (1951) model to install this change. Conflict com es naturally when a change is implemented, because people are not willing to change. Conflict is a natural result of self-interest behaviour. (Kirsch, 1988) Conflict is defined as a clash or struggle that occurs, when a real or perceived difference exists in desires, thoughts, attitude, feeling, or behaviours of two or more parties. Conflict can be internal or external. It can be positive or negative. There are three types of conflict. These are intrapersonal, interpersonal and intergroup. Intrapersonal conflict means inside or internal to an individual. Intrapersonal conflict refers to the tension or stress within individual as a result of unmet needs, expectation, or goal. A change in health care setting can create both stress and opportunity for organizational growth and expansion. Some nurses are disagreeing with the change and some welcome it for better patient care. Change management is art of influencing people and organisations in a desired direction to achieve an agreed fut ure state to the benefit of that organisation and its stakeholders. (Cameron and Green, 2003) Influence is an essential factor in establishment of plan. It helps to gain co-operation from colleagues, listen you effectively and accept you as a good leader. A number of models can be used to model a change management process. A popular model is Kurt Lewins force field analysis. A force field analysis is a useful tool to understand the driving and resisting forces in a change situation as a basis for change management. This technique identifies forces that might work for the change process, and forces that are against the change. Lewins model suggests that once these conflicting forces are identified, it becomes easier to build on forces that work for the change and reduce forces that are against the change (Cameron and Green, 2003). The difficulty is the assessment of strength or duration of a force, particularly when the human dimension is considered. To introduce the change from the existing system, I made a well defined plan. I made a plan by using Lewins model. It can help in the unfreezing stage of the existing system to make the participant aware about, what it is meant for? Plan consists of following things; the need of change, its importance, how it will works? How can it will beneficial for employees and patients? As per the Lewins (1951) theory, first process for making a change from the existing situation is to unfreeze the present system. For better outcome, we have to rely on the team rather than depending only on individuals. When a new idea is introduced into an existing system the conflict may arise from every side of the system. Because people always fear from change for many years. Although, it seldom brings about some failure such as losing money and being unsuccessful. Generally change can create new opportunities. It is known that change can enable people to have more successful and happier lives. So when any c hange is implementing, problems arises. The problems may either be internal or external. The internal problems include time, money, lack of co-operation from staff, organizational policies, availability of staff and others. On the other hand, an external problem includes availability of funds and support from organization. So, for change I implement three stages of Lewins model. Change is a planned, designed, purposeful attempt. Firstly I unfreeze the present situation by telling the staff about the dissatisfaction of the situation, which creates condition for change to be implemented. Adequate time is needed for the gradual introduction of new ideas, along with information that can serve as positive motivation for those who are going to be affected by the change. Information should include reason why a change is needed and how the organization and individual will benefit from it, because infection rate is higher in neonate in these days. The second stage of change process is moving, characterized by a cognitive redefinition of how group goals can be met based on new understanding. The primary activity during moving is re-education. Determining the specific programs needed. Ideally, the second stage does not begin until a roadmap checklist is complete. There is supporting evidence that the proposed change is purposeful, specific, integrated, time sequenced, adaptable, and cost effective and has approval. I impressed the staff with the positive aspect of change. This will help me to get success in my change. A report of project should provide information to avoid problems during implementation of the plan. The second stage requires organising and mobilising the resources required to bring about the change. The third stage of the change process is refreezing. It occurs when there is consistent evidence that the new practice is stabilized, integrated, and internalized by the staff. The third stage involves embedding the new ways of working into the organization. Information regarding posters are given to staff. The availability of hand gel is also sure for staff all the time. Fear of unknown change always causes anxiety among the staff. It can be overruled by using planned change which put a positive impact to improve effectiveness. As the change process progressed, it became evident that a thorough analysis of current resources and various dimensions of organisational change should be carried out (Johnson, Scholes and Whittington, 2005). There is a clear plan for launching and executing t he change at a local level. My plan is to implement visual display with A3 size colour posters that emphasised the importance of hand cleaning, particularly hand disinfection and performance feedback. The literature review by Teare (1999) also support my plan. This type of implementation was done in one UK hospital and is successful. I discussed my plan with sister-in-charge, supervisors, administrative staff, senior staff nurses, junior staff nurses and health care work. The NHS Modernisation Agency Improvement Leaders Guide (DOH, 2004) stresses the importance of taking into consideration the human aspect when planning a change project. Similarly, Walton (1999) argues that change initiatives should be thought through and planned as far as possible taking into account the psychological bonds that staff forms with their work groups and their organisation as a whole. It follows then that no precautions had been taken to address resistance to change. Johnson, Scholes and Whittington, (2005) state that there should be a clear communication plan to state how information about the change project will be communicated inside and outside the organisation. In my plan of change the driving force include provision of adequate knowledge for the staff regarding the plan, improvement in patient care, improvement in knowledge regarding antiseptic hand washing, opportunity for more autonomy. For the implementation of the change I selected afternoon of Tuesday and Friday. Because the nursery is not too much busy in these days. And all staff of nursery is present. So I identified that will be the appropriate time for implementing the posters and knowledge will be provided regarding use of hand gels. I will discuss with the sister-in-charge regarding my plan. And I got permission from the hospital administration. For implementing a change, there is a need of leader. A leader is a person who rules or guides or inspires other. A clinical nursing leader is one who is involved in direct patient care and who continuously improves care by influencing others (Cook, 2001). Leadership is not merely a series of skills or tasks; rather, it is an attitude that informs behavior (Cook, 2001). In addition, good leadership is consistent superior performance with long term benefit to all involved. So, I requested all nurses in the nursery to help me in implementing posters in nursery. Leade rs are not merely those who control others, but they act as visionaries who help employees to plan, lead, control, and organize their activities (Jooste, 2004). Hand gels should be provide to the staff and information regarding use is also given to the staff. Staff can put the hand gels bottles in pockets because the bottles are flat one and easily put in pockets. So, nurse should use the hand gels before touching any baby. Posters are implemented in nursery and the common areas. This can make the nurses aware about the proper hand washing and use of hand gels. for implementation, there is a need of leadership. Leadership has been defined many ways in the literature. However, several features are common to most definitions of leadership. For example, leadership is a process, involves influence, usually occurs in a group setting, involves the attainment of a goal, and leadership exists at all levels (Faugier Woolnough, 2002). There are several recognized leadership styles. Autocratic leaders set an end goal without allowing others to participate in the decision-making process (Faugier Woolnough, 2002). Bureaucratic leadership occurs when a leader rigidly adheres to rules, regulations, and policies. Participative leaders allow staff to participate in decision-making and actively seek out the participation of those involved. This type of leadership allows team members to feel more committed to the goals they were involved with formulating (Faugier Woolnough, 2002). Laissez faire leadership leaves employees to their own devices in meeting goals, and is a highly risky form of leadership. A mo re effective form of leadership may be situational leadership. This is where the leader switches between the above styles depending upon the situation at hand and upon the competence of the followers (Faugier Woolnough, 2002). There is a difference between theory and style of leadership. According to Moiden (2002), theory represents reality, while style of leadership is the various ways one can implement a theory of leadership the way in which something is said or done. Organizations should aim for a leadership style that allows for high levels of work performance, with few disruptions, in a wide variety of situational circumstances, in an efficient manner (Moiden, 2002). Similarly, there is a difference between management and leadership. Managers plan, organize and control, while leaders communicate vision, motivate, inspire and empower in order to create organizational change (Faugier Woolnough, 2002). Outhwaite (2003) cites definitions of transactional and transformational leadership as posited by Bass in 1990. Transactional leadership involves the skills required in the effective day to day running of a team. However, transformational leadership involves how an integrated team works together and the innovativeness of their approach to the work (Outhwaite, 2003). For example, a leader can empower team members by allowing individuals to lead certain aspects of a project based on their areas of expertise. This will encourage the development of individual leadership skills. In addition, leaders should explore barriers and identify conflicts when they arise, and then work collaboratively with the team to resolve these (Outhwaite, 2003). Furthermore, the leader should remain a part of the team, sharing in the work, thus remaining close to operations and being able to understand the employees perspective (Outhwaite, 2003). I have studied all types of leadership and found that transforma tional leadership is good for my implementation. Because this leadership involves all staff and is an effective for health care sectors. One group of authors described the use of transformational leadership by Magnet hospitals (De Geest, Claessens, Longerich, Schubert, 2003). This leadership style allows for instilling faith and respect, treating of employees as individuals, innovation in problem solving, transmission of values and ethical principles, and provision of challenging goals while communicating a vision for the future (De Geest, et al., 2003). Transformational leadership is especially well-suited to todays fast-changing health care environment where adaptation is extremely important. This leadership style is positively associated with higher employee satisfaction and better performance. These, in turn, correlate positively with higher patient satisfaction (De Geest, et al., 2003). One way to facilitate change using transformational leadership involves the use of action learning (De Geest, et al., 2003). Leaders use directive, supportive, democratic, and enabling methods to implement and sustain change. The effects of such leadership will radiate to better outcomes for both nurses and patients. Transformational leadership focuses on the interpersonal processes between leaders and followers and is encouraged by empowerment (Hyett, 2003). Empowered nurses are able to believe in their own ability to create and adapt to change. When using a team approach to leadership, it is important to set boundaries, goals, accountability, and supports for team members (Hyett, 2003). Transformational leadership is seen as empowering, but the nurse manager must balance the use of power in a democratic fashion to avoid the appearance of abuse of power (Welford, 2002). Respect and trust of staff by the leader is essential. So I choose democratic leadership and communicate with other staff about the change implementation. I described everything to them and gave them work according to their ability. The posters are made by the junior staff. And plan was made to display the posters in the different areas of nursery and common areas with senior nurses. SO, nurse leaders should have knowledge of man agement, communication, and teamwork skills, as well as some background in health economics, finance, and evidence-based outcomes (Mahoney, 2001). Personal qualities desirable in a nurse leader include competence, confidence, courage, collaboration, and creativity. Nurse leaders should be aware of the changing environment and make changes proactively. Leaders who show concern for the needs and objectives of staff members and are cognizant of the conditions affecting the work environment will encourage productivity (Moiden, 2003). In doing this, it is important that a philosophy of productivity is established. After communication, now I implement the posters and hand gels in nursery. The posters were put on the area where maximal visibility occurs during work and during transit within the nursery. The subject on the posters is, cross infection, hand carriage, hand hygiene, hand disinfection and hand protection with gels. The partners are senior nurses, sister-in-charge, supervisors, junior staff nurses and health care assistants. Individual bottles of hand gels were distributed in large amount to nursery. Health care workers are also encouraged to carry a bottle in the pocket. A newly design flat bottle are made to put in pocket. So, staff is educated about hand hygiene to prevent infection in neonates. Senior management should provide funding to implement this change. And they also gave the permission of permanent use of nursery walls for poster display. According to Jooste (2004), three things that are essential to leadership are authority, power, and influence. Effective leaders of toda y should use more influence and less authority and power. It is more important to be able to motivate, persuade, appreciate, and negotiate than to merely wield power. Three categories of influence for nurse leaders to use in creating a supportive care environment. These include modeling by example, building caring relationships, and mentoring by instruction (Jooste, 2004). In addition, Jooste lists five practices fundamental to good leadership including inspiring a shared vision, enabling others to act, challenging processes, modeling, and encouraging. For example, a leader may challenge others to act by recognizing contributions and by fostering collaboration. Recognizing contributions also serves to encourage employees in their work. Team leadership moves the focus away from the leader towards the team as a whole (Jooste, 2004).Focus group data from a study of implementing change in a nursing home suggests that nurses want a leader with drive, enthusiasm, and credibility not mere superiority (Rycroft-Malone, et al., 2004). Further, focus group members identified qualities desired in a leader facilitating change. This person should have knowledge of the collaborative project, should have status with the team, should be able to manage others, take a positive approach to management, and possess good management skills (Rycroft-Malone, et al., 2004). Conclusion: The health care environment is constantly changing and producing new challenges that the nurse leader must work within (Jooste, 2004). Leadership involves enabling people to produce extraordinary things while being faced with challenge and change (Jooste, 2004). While management in the past took a direct, hierarchical approach to leadership, the time has come for a better leadership style that includes encouragement, listening, and facilitating (Hyett, 2003).This requires nurses to be better equipped with analytical and assertiveness skills (Welford, 2002). Transformational leadership is ideal for todays nursing practice as it seeks to satisfy needs, and involves both the leader and the follower in meeting needs (Welford, 2002). It is also flexible allowing the leader to adapt in varied situations. The leader accepts that things will change often, and followers will enjoy this flexibility. Thus both nurses and patients will benefit. The avoidance of hierarchy and the ability to work in new ways helps organizations put resources together to create added value for both employees and consumers (Welford, 2002). Further, use of transformational leadership allows team nurses to enhance their role as teacher or advocate (Welford, 2002).

Young People Question their Antidepressants :: Psychology Pharmacy Papers

Young People Question their Antidepressants Like many eager freshmen this year, Amy* made Northeastern University her home with a burst of optimism and the excitement of a fresh start in a strange, new place. But just over a year ago, while a high school senior, she almost lost her chance for the college experience—her grades plummeted with her as she fell deeper into depressive episodes, putting her life and her academic future in jeopardy. The scars she etched in her body tell of her battles with depression, a painful mental disease she dealt with in secrecy for four years before finally seeking help. After years of self-mutilation and uncontrollable sadness, the 18-year-old music industry major started taking antidepressants, the controversial wonder-drugs she attributes her current happiness to. â€Å"I can handle my life much easier now,† she said. â€Å"I would not be able to function without them.† But while Amy embraces her prescription to Zoloft, Northeastern freshman music industry major Erin* plans to drop hers. The very medicine that helped Amy work her way to happiness has left 17-year-old Erin confused and wary of her treatments. Rather than freeing her from the hopelessness of depression, the antidepressant drugs left her apathetic and numb—and when her current prescription runs out, she won’t be refilling it. Antidepressant use in children and adolescents has surged in recent years, with 11 million prescriptions written in 2002 alone, a number that has tripled since the early 1990s. But the practice of prescribing the drugs to young people has attracted a cloud of controversy, with lackluster testing of the medicines and recent revelations that the drugs can lead to increased suicidality—the suicidal thoughts and actions that accompany depression. Still, demand is high and the rate of depression in young people is substantial. The Center for Mental Health Services, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, found in a 1999 study that 6.5% of people aged 18-24 have major depression, yet fewer than 25% of those diagnosed will seek professional treatment—those who do will likely end up on antidepressants. While much about the treatment of depression remains a mystery, information about the illness in children and adolescents is even cloudier. Carol Glod, a local expert on depression and associate professor at the Bouve College of Nursing at Northeastern University, says the only solution is to conduct more research. â€Å"You have to do something for the person that has depression and, without the research, we don’t know what works,† she says. Young People Question their Antidepressants :: Psychology Pharmacy Papers Young People Question their Antidepressants Like many eager freshmen this year, Amy* made Northeastern University her home with a burst of optimism and the excitement of a fresh start in a strange, new place. But just over a year ago, while a high school senior, she almost lost her chance for the college experience—her grades plummeted with her as she fell deeper into depressive episodes, putting her life and her academic future in jeopardy. The scars she etched in her body tell of her battles with depression, a painful mental disease she dealt with in secrecy for four years before finally seeking help. After years of self-mutilation and uncontrollable sadness, the 18-year-old music industry major started taking antidepressants, the controversial wonder-drugs she attributes her current happiness to. â€Å"I can handle my life much easier now,† she said. â€Å"I would not be able to function without them.† But while Amy embraces her prescription to Zoloft, Northeastern freshman music industry major Erin* plans to drop hers. The very medicine that helped Amy work her way to happiness has left 17-year-old Erin confused and wary of her treatments. Rather than freeing her from the hopelessness of depression, the antidepressant drugs left her apathetic and numb—and when her current prescription runs out, she won’t be refilling it. Antidepressant use in children and adolescents has surged in recent years, with 11 million prescriptions written in 2002 alone, a number that has tripled since the early 1990s. But the practice of prescribing the drugs to young people has attracted a cloud of controversy, with lackluster testing of the medicines and recent revelations that the drugs can lead to increased suicidality—the suicidal thoughts and actions that accompany depression. Still, demand is high and the rate of depression in young people is substantial. The Center for Mental Health Services, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, found in a 1999 study that 6.5% of people aged 18-24 have major depression, yet fewer than 25% of those diagnosed will seek professional treatment—those who do will likely end up on antidepressants. While much about the treatment of depression remains a mystery, information about the illness in children and adolescents is even cloudier. Carol Glod, a local expert on depression and associate professor at the Bouve College of Nursing at Northeastern University, says the only solution is to conduct more research. â€Å"You have to do something for the person that has depression and, without the research, we don’t know what works,† she says.

Grandfather’s Journey by Allen Say Essay

Question 1. Describe how the story is structured to influence your response to the text. Question 2. Describe one of the story’s major settings. How is it constructed and what is its significance to the story and its ideas? North America is the major setting in this book. North America holds a lot of new technology and everything is new and spectacular to him, the trains, the enormous rock sculptures and an endless farming field are examples of this. There is also a bad side to this place; there are huge cities of factories and tall buildings with thick smoke coming out of each building. But above all, best place was California, where there were a strong sunlight, the Sierra Mountains and the seacoast. Along the way he had met and shook hands new people, which had different cultural backgrounds to him. This setting is constructed in a way that the more the grandfather travels the more he liked it and wanted to make the ‘New World’ his home. This setting shows that the cultural barrier can be broken and people should go out and see the world and meet new people to develop more familiarity of the world they live in. Question 3. How are you positioned to respond to the major character/s of the story? What values are represented through them? Question 4. Describe the extent to which language and graphics are successfully used together to shape your response. Discuss with close reference to at lease two examples. In the Grandfather’s Journey, there are a few pages where the graphics and the text connect together to give the reader a better understanding of situation. At the beginning (on page 4) the text was ‘My grandfather was a young man when he left his home in Japan and went to see the world†. On this page it shows the grandfather in Japanese clothes and the background had very dull colours because he is still in the ‘Old World’. On the next page it shows the transition to the ‘New World’. The background colours have changed from dull to bright and he had changed into European clothes. The wave that looks very unsteady shows the ‘New World’. All this happens when you want to ‘see the world. On page 17, there is a picture of the grandfather’s daughter holding a pram with a European doll sitting in it. The text that goes with the page was ‘As his daughter grew, my grandfather began to think about his own childhood. He thought about his old friends’. In the picture the author shows the contrast between the Asian girl and the European girl using different clothing and the cultural difference (seen through the colours of the hairs). When compared, the grandfather began to remember how his old friends in Japan were when they were little. This illustrates ‘†¦think about his own childhood. He thought about his old friends.’ Question 5. Discuss the attitudes and values of the text and your personal response to these. Question 6. Describe at least one link you can make between this book and another/other texts you have read or viewed. How do the texts compare in terms of the ideas presented and how do you respond to these ideas? One of the pages in this book makes us realise that we often label Japan as the enemy in World War II, whilst they were also the victim and had also suffered a large amount of devastation. In the film Pearl Harbour, one of the scenes was Japan bombing Pearl Harbour. This only shows the negative side of Japan, where they were attackers, but it did not show them as the victims suffering from the disaster. This movie is persuading the audience to blame Japan for the damages of the war, where Japan had to go through the emotional breakdowns and physical injuries. Even though the book tells us not to blame Japan for the damages and the movie shows us that Japan was the enemy in World War II, there is still a link between the two texts and that is after a war majority of the participating countries will have, no matter large or small, havocs. I think, because of this, we should not blame a certain country for the occurrence of the war, and should not blame any country since the countries that participated are both enemies and victims of the war.

Bullets as Marks of Punctuation Definition

Bullets as Marks of Punctuation Definition A mark of punctuation () commonly used in business writing and technical writing to introduce items in a list (or series) is known as a bullet point. As a general rule, when creating lists, use bullet points to identify items of equal importance; use numbers for items with different degrees of value, listing the most important one first. Examples and Observations: Bullets () mark items in a list. If a sentence follows the bullet, place a period at its end. Words and phrases that follow bullets need no ending punctuation. It is never necessary to place the conjunction and before the [last] item in a bulleted list.(M. Strumpf and A. Douglas, The Grammar Bible. Owl, 2004)The idea is simply to end by design rather than default, and any of the following practices will help:In your notes, keep track of potentially dramatic closing materials.Hold one of your best examples or anecdotes for the closing.Allow space for a developed ending.Commit to a closing worthy of the piece.Avoid the drift toward a clichà ©d ending.(Arthur Plotnik, Spunk Bite. Random House, 2005)Tips on Using BulletsWhen you dont mean to imply that one thing in a list is any more important than anotherthat is, when youre not signaling a rank orderand when there is little likelihood that the list will need to be cited, you might use bullet dots. They enhance readability by emphasizi ng salient points. . . .Here are . . . more tips on using bullets well: (1) end your introduction with a colon, which serves as an anchor; (2) keep the items grammatically parallel (see PARALLELISM).(Bryan A. Garner, Garners Modern American Usage. Oxford Univ. Press, 2003) ParallelismThe most common problem with bulleted lists is an absence of parallel construction. If the first bulleted item is a declarative sentence in the present tense, the rest should also be declarative sentences in the present tense. Each item must be a continuation of the introductory sentence . . ..(Bill Walsh, Lapsing Into a Comma. Contemporary Books, 2000)Using Bullets Effectively- The most effective communication at work is not the bulky memo, but the bullet-riddled PowerPoint presentation, which people from varied nationalities can absorb in very little time.(A. Giridharadas, Language as a Blunt Tool of the Digital Age. The New York Times, Jan. 17, 2010)- For public speakers, bullet points serve as prompts to extemporaneous speech, and are often more useful than a complete text. On the printed page, bullets break up the gray, as we say in the world of publishing. They give the eye relief.The key to making good use of bullet points is to make sure the elements on your list h ang together. If youre writing about Six Things You Should Do Before Shopping for a Good Used Car, make sure you give your readers or listeners six things they should do, not four things plus a snarky observation about used-car salesmen and a nostalgic whine about what a gem your old Mustang was. . . .If your material isnt really a collection of comparable elements, then bullets are probably not the best presentation. After all, a paragraph lets you mix things up a bit: a declarative sentence here, a rhetorical question there, maybe even a brief list. A paragraph is better than bullets for putting elements into more complex relationships.(Ruth Walker, We Speak Nowadays in a Hail of Bullets. The Christian Science Monitor, February 9, 2011)

How to Use It Depends in Conversation

How to Use It Depends in Conversation In conversation, it is not always possible to give a yes or no answer to a question about our opinion. Life is not always black or white! For example, imagine you are having a conversation about your study habits. Someone might ask you: Do you study hard? You might want to say: Yes, I study hard. However, that statement might not be 100% true. A more accurate answer might be: It depends on which subject Im studying. If Im studying English, then yes I study hard. If Im studying math, I dont always study hard. Of course, the answer, Yes, I study hard. might be truthful as well. Answering questions with it depends allows you to answer questions with more nuance. In other words, using it depends lets you say in which cases something is true and which cases false. There are a few different grammar forms involved when using it depends. Take a look at the following structures. Be sure to carefully note when to use It depends on ..., It depends if ..., It depends on how /what / which / where, etc., or simply It depends. Yes or No? It Depends The most simple answer is a sentence stating It depends. After this, you can follow up by stating yes and no conditions. In other words, the meaning of the phrase: It depends. If it is sunny - yes, but if it is rainy - no. It depends if the weather is good or not. Another common conversational reply to a yes / no question is It depends. Sometimes, yes. Sometimes, no. However, as you can imagine answering a question with this doesnt provide much information. Here is a short dialogue as an example: Mary: Do you enjoy playing golf?Jim: It depends. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Answering the question with a more complete version provides more information: Mary: Do you enjoy playing golf?Jim: It depends. If I play well - yes, but if I play badly - no. It depends on noun / noun clause One of the most common ways to use it depends is with the preposition on. Be careful to not use another preposition! I sometimes hear It depends about... or It depends from ... these are both incorrect. Use It depends on with a noun or noun phrase, but not with a full clause. For example: Mary: Do you like Italian food?Jim: It depends on the restaurant. OR Mary: Do you like Italian food?Jim: It depends on the type of restaurant. It depends on how adjective subject verb A similar usage that takes a full clause is It depends on how plus an adjective followed by adjective and full clause. Remember that a full clause takes both the subject and verb. Here are a few examples: Mary: Are you lazy?Jim: It depends on how important the task is to me. Mary: Are you a good student?Jim: It depends on how difficult the class is. It depends on which / where / when / why / who subject verb Another similar use of It depends on is with questions words. Follow It depends on with a question word and a full clause. Here are a few examples: Mary: Are you usually on time?Jim: It depends on when I get up. Mary: Do you like buying gifts?Jim: It depends on who the gift is for. It depends if clause Finally, use it depends with an if clause to express conditions for whether something is true or not. Its common to end the if clause with or not.   Mary: Do you spend a lot of money?Jim: It depends if Im on vacation or not.

Achievements and Career Goals of Studying Respiratory Care (Therapy) Essay

Achievements and Career Goals of Studying Respiratory Care (Therapy) - Essay Example As an aspiring respiratory therapist in the future, my career goals involve the provision of superior health care and assistance to the patients sufferring from cardiorespiratory illnesses as well as to be a health professional who serve to create a positive difference in the life of each patient. My decision to become a respiratory therapist started when I was working as a certified nursing attendant. I felt the need to care and help my patients more, aside from assisting them with their activities of daily living. I have been working as a certified nursing attendant since April 2008. The relevance of my previous work to the health care field has made me acquire a lot of achievements. As a certified nursing attendant, my daily interaction with patients and physicians has provided extensive knowledge of information and techniques needed to diagnose human disorders.

Media and body image Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Media and body image - Research Paper Example In that regard, people have become victims of the media sources like magazines because they police and construct ideas on standards from fashion to everything in life. From an evaluation of the pictures and articles in the vogue magazine, it is clear that the media polices and constructs certain body images for both men and women; these body images are deliberate because audiences need something to feed on, to keep on reading the magazines, and the magazines themselves deliver just that. It is apparent that media treats the male and female body images differently, in addition to treating body images of heavy people and thin people differently. Evidently, all these body images pass across some subtle yet firm messages that reflect gendered societal views about both men and women; in that case, media constructs truths about life, thus, it is the most powerful influence on how both men and women often view themselves. There are clear indications that the Vogue magazine applies different standards in its portrayal of the body images for both males and females from the manner in which it portrays them differently. On a wider scope, the body images of b oth men and women in this magazine depict the sexes in stereotypical ways that constrain the readers’ perceptions of the limitless human possibilities. For instance, the body image of males in the vogue magazine depicts them as lively, powerful, daring, sexually aggressive and most importantly, they are depicted as being deeply involved and playing extremely important roles in human relationships (Horowitz). This magazine imposes this body image as the universal standard for males and as a result, it is consistent with the cultural views of males in society; however, the actual reality in the wider population is different. Truth of the matter is there are all sorts of imperfections in the body image of males in the

Corporate Collapse Case Study Part 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Corporate Collapse Case Study Part 2 - Essay Example In USA this procedure is a part of fraud accounting but in the UK it is used to provide flexibility in the existing accounting and regulatory system of the company. The sole purpose of accounting is to provide a true and fair view to the users of the financial information (Larson, 2008). Creative accounting does not necessarily mean the violation of GAAP rules or breaching of any terms and condition of the company. The accountants generally use this concept to insert flexibility in the accounting system and deliver a true and fair view to the users of the financial report and information (Jones, 2011). Mark to Market accounting on the other hand is used for updating the value of an asset or a liability to reflect the real market value of the asset/ liability (Wolnizer, 2003). This was mainly used for transaction related to future exchange and recently it is been used by banks and other financial institutions. This method got official recognition in the year 2009 by FASB (Financial Ac counting Standard Board). This method was used to prevent inappropriate use of financial value. Companies usually use this method for assets and liabilities but it is also used for future exchanges to meet the profit margin requirements. If the margin accounts are not monitored regularly then the current market value could drop drastically below the required levels. The process of internal audit adds significant value by preventing fraud accounting within the company and improving financial control. Audit failure leads to misappropriation of funds and non detection of fraudulent activities within the company. Companies which rely on external source for internal auditing process are likely to detect less error than those who conduct the process themselves (Idowu and Caliyurt, 2012). Examples of failure in the accounting procedure One of the most controversial accounting scandals was the â€Å"Enron scandal† in which Enron Corporation, a Houston based energy, service and commod ities corporation filed for bankruptcy in October 2001. The shareholders of the company lost $74 billion and thousand of employee lost their retirement accounts and jobs. The CEO of the company Jeff Skilling and former CEO Ken had not portrayed the huge debt amount in their balance sheet. In October 2000, the share price of the company skyrocketed to $90 per share and later in the November, 2000 the stock price dipped to $1(Bierman, 2008). The stock price of the company went down because Sherron Watkins, an employer of the company had raised suspicion about the high stock prices through the whistle blowing method. The CEO of the company and his accomplice was eventually caught and were termed for 24 years in prison (Accounting Degree, 2013). This had tarnished the image of Enron Corporation completely and the management of the company who had sought plans for IPO (Initial Public Offering) for the internet department could not continue with the plans of IPO. Another similar incident which had sparked controversies in USA was popularly known as the â€Å"World com Scandal†. In the year 2000, the CEO of MCI Communications Mr. Bernie Ebbers became one of the wealthiest men in the nation even amidst the financial crisis faced by the telecom

The kite runner Essay Example for Free

The kite runner Essay Leesh bear Friendship with a Kite The desire for friendship comes quickly. Friendship does not. Aristotle In The Kite Runner, the theme of friendship is probably one on the most obvious themes to spot. The book is centered around the friendships made, and how the friendships will test their true loyalty and sometimes even their lives. According to Mark Vernon friendship is a complex thing. He says this; A heavy burden is placed on friendship. We turn to friends for our happiness. Some say they trust friends more than family. And there are those who want to marry their best friend a very novel idea. Then, in the networked age, we believe, or hope, that friendship is elastic enough to connect us across the web of complex lives, and strong enough not to snap. But is it? For whilst friendship offers much, few ask about its perils and limitations, as well as its promise. This relates to The Kite Runner almost perfectly. As it would tor any book dealing with the hardships and tests ot friendship, but somehow this one seems to fit best with this novel. one of the characters who reflects a lot on friendship Is Amir. Amir not focusing so much on his friendship, but the question of friendship completely, how two people of ifferent races, one accepted by society and the other outcast can be friends. But In none of his stories did Baba ever refer to All as his friend. The curious thing was, I never thought of Hassan and me as friends either. Not in the usual sense anyhow Because history isnt easy to overcome. Neither is religion. In the end, I was a Pashtun and he was a Hazara, I was Sunni and he was Shia and nothing was ever going to change that. Nothing. When Hassan talks about friendship or more so reflects on it, he comes from more of a third party outsider point of view. He never really goes into detail, but the author ets us know he is caring and forgiving. Hassan writes letters to Amir filled with warmth and nostalgia for their time in Kabul. Somehow, Hassan never thinks to hold a grudge against Amir. Its unthinkable its simply not part of the makeup of this character. (shmoop. com) Even th ough they come trom different back rounds the tact that they are Ilke brothers Is really nice to see. Though the time they live In their friendship Is considered bad, they pursue It anyways. Many trials their friendship faced, yet they continued to keep eachother close. Then, when Amir attempts to fit Into society he leaves Hassan behind. Someone who he was so close to for so long. Too late we learn, a man must hold his friend unjudged, accepted, trusted to the end Oohn Boyle OReilly). Hassan was the one who helped Amir choose the path of his future career. Amir had taken advantage of the friendship between Hassan and him. He made fun of him whenever he had the chance, but Hassan never took it to heart and still perceived Amir as his best friend. One day while he read to Hassan, Amir made up the ending of the story and Hassan loved it. He said, That was the best story youVe read me in a 1 OF2 Hassan was both physically and mentally stronger than Amir. According to Baba, Amirs father, there was something wrong with Amir since his birth. Amir never stood up for himself and he was different for the fact that he liked poetry, something that Baba believed was not normal for a young boy. One day while Hassan and Amir were walking towards their tree, they came upon Assef and his friends. Assef was the son of one of Babas friends, an airline pilot. He was known for his brass knuckles and wanted to start an argument with Hassan and Amir. Right before he was going to hurt them, Hassan grabbed his slingshot and aimed it right at Assefs left eye. He let the boys go but said he was going to get revenge. This part of the story foreshadowed an event that occurred later in the story in which Amir and Hassans lives were changed forever.