The Status of Women Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Status of Women - Essay Example Denied higher level schooling, and schooling in general in some cases, prevented from obtaining any legal rights or owning property as a separate entity from their father or husband and with a majority of her household work unconsidered in terms of the physical work she could accomplish, women had little opportunity to do anything other than be a wife and a mother. Against this backdrop, women who found themselves in non-traditional situations - the widow, the businesswoman, the intellectual - continuously struggled to find a better balance between men and women that allowed women some of the freedoms afforded to men, while women who fell within the societal norms also found themselves being forced into a more dominant role. Roles began shifting slowly as women grew into and then out of the ideology of the True Woman into that of a New Woman in personal and public spheres. As they moved from the rural setting to the industrialized city setting, women in America saw tremendous changes in the way they were expected to live their lives - from lives of working alongside the men in the fields they moved to working exclusively within the home, finally setting the stage by the end of the nineteenth century for the advances of the women's movements that would dominate the early part of the twentieth century. Colonial America saw la... "During the early history of the United States, a man virtually owned his wife and children as he did his material possessions. If a poor man chose to send his children to the poorhouse, the mother was legally defenseless to object" (Comptons, 1995). "Before the middle of the nineteenth century, the property rights of American married women followed the dictates of common law, under which everything a woman owned became her husband's property upon her marriage" ("Married Women's Property Acts", n.d.). However, there were some women who lived in colonial America who "worked in professions and jobs available mostly to men. There were women doctors, lawyers, preachers, teachers, writers and singers" (Comptons 1995). This was because "prior to the 1800s, there were almost no medical schools, and virtually any enterprising person could practice medicine. Indeed, obstetrics was the domain of women" (Comptons 1995). Even this changed, though, by the beginning of the nineteenth century when women were again relegated to the acceptable positions of writing and teaching only as the educational requirements for these professions were increased and women, fulfilling their obligatory role of wife and mother at an early age, were unable to complete the necessary training. These restrictions on what a woman could do or own were partly due to the fact that most women were not considered intelligent enough to consider all the consequences involved in managing business or political situations. Most could not prove otherwise as they did not have the access to formal schooling that would have provided them with these skills. "In colonial times, formal learning had a low priority. Girls' education typically took place at home, where

Superpower Machine Essay Example for Free

Superpower Machine Essay Every once in a while I cant help but think about what it would be like if I have powers. If I can build a machine that can do anything, I want a machine that can transform me into any hero I want with any superpower there is. It would be an amazing thing to have the ability to do something noble and help people while having fun at the same time. In case of an emergency, I can turn into someone with superman or batman powers or any other hero depending on the situation. For example,if there was any trouble at sea, I can turn into Aqua man or if speed is needed I can easily become Flash. Another power that I am curious enough to try is the power of invisibility. I think it would be exciting to observe people when they do not know that anybody is around. I would also love to have the power to read somebody elses mind. Although somethings are better left unsaid, still, it would be brilliant to know what people are thinking. The bottom line is that these heroes make a big impact in the lives of people they do not even know and I want to be a part of it. Hackneyed as this may sound, Uncle Ben was right in saying that with great powers have great responsibilities. Saving the say is not all about the glamor and the excitement like what televisions and movies are portraying. Everyday we have regular unsung heroes like policemen and fireman who are willing to go to inside a burning building at the verge of collapse with just saving the trapped victim inside. In our everyday lives we encounter heroism that we do not even notice because we have our own notion about what a hero is and what it would be like to be saved. A man giving up his seat in the subway or a young lad helping an old lady cross the street; this is a typical picture of the modern day hero. They are no batman or superman but they end up saving the day. I guess I do not need any machine to make a difference in the world after all but it would still be great to have it as an option.

Hamlet †the Irony Essay -- Essays on Shakespeare Hamlet

Hamlet – the Irony  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚   The existence of considerable irony within the Shakespearean tragedy Hamlet is a fact recognized by most literary critics. This paper will examine the play for instances of irony and their interpretation by critics.    In his essay â€Å"O’erdoing Termagant† Howard Felperin comments on Hamlet’s â€Å"ironic consciousness† of the fact that he is unable to quickly execute the command of the ghost:    Our own intuition of the creative or re-creative act that issued in the play also assumes a struggle with the literary past, but one of a more complex nature. It would seem to be Hamlet who is unable to impose successfully the model of an old play upon the intractable material of his present life, and Shakespeare who dramatizes with unfailing control the tragic conflict between his heroic effort to do so and his ironic consciousness that it cannot be done, with the inevitable by-products of hesitation and delay. (107-108)    Right at the outset of the drama, there is irony exhibited in the manner in which Shakespeare characterizes King Claudius – he is simply the perfect ruler – and yet, shortly hereafter when the ghost appears, he is revealed as a truly evil sort. George Lyman Kittredge, in his book, Five Plays of Shakespeare, describes the Bard’s excellent characterization of Claudius:    King Claudius is a superb figure – almost as great a dramatic creation as Hamlet himself. His intellectual powers are of the highest order. He is eloquent – formal when formality is appropriate (as in the speech from the throne), graciously familiar when familiarity is in place (as is his treatment of the family of Polonius), persuasive to an almost superhuman degree (as in his manipulation of the i... ...go: Greenhaven Press, 1996.    Rose, Mark. â€Å"Reforming the Role.† Modern Critical Interpretations: Hamlet. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986.    Rosenberg, Marvin. â€Å"Laertes: An Impulsive but Earnest Young Aristocrat.† Readings on Hamlet. Ed. Don Nardo. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1999. Rpt. from The Masks of Hamlet. Newark, NJ: Univ. of Delaware P., 1992.    Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 1995. http://www.chemicool.com/Shakespeare/hamlet/full.html No line nos.    Wright, Louis B. and Virginia A. LaMar. â€Å"Hamlet: A Man Who Thinks Before He Acts.† Readings on Hamlet. Ed. Don Nardo. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1999. Rpt. from The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Ed. Louis B. Wright and Virginia A. LaMar. N. p.: Pocket Books, 1958.      

Analysis of Cancer - The Enemy Within Essay examples -- Exploratory Es

Cancer - The Enemy Within      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Abstract: Cancer has been known and feared since antiquity, but its imperative danger could only be realized until fairly recently. Indeed as knowledge of the disease grew in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, fear increased when people became more aware that most cancers had no available cure. Cancer is a disease in which abnormal cells reproduce without control, destroy healthy tissue, and eventually cause deterioration to the body. This paper is a discussion on how cancer develops and spreads, some of the various types of cancer, and the causes of the disease.    Cancer is a disease in which cells multiply without control, destroy healthy tissue, and endanger life. About 100 kinds of cancer attack human beings. This disease is a leading cause of death in many countries. In the United States and Canada, only diseases of the heart and the blood vessels kill more people. Cancer occurs in most species of animals and in many kinds of plants, as well as in human beings.    Cancer strikes people of all ages but especially middle-aged persons and the elderly. It occurs about equally among people of both sexes. The disease can attack any part of the body and may spread to virtually any other part. However the parts of the body which are most often affected are the skin, the female breasts, organs of the digestive, respiratory, reproductive, blood-forming, lymphatic, and urinary systems.    The various cancers are classified in two ways. The primary body site, as and by the type of body tissue in which the cancer originates. They can thus be divided further in to two main groups; carcinomas and sarcomas. Carcinomas are cancers that start in epitheli... ...r are fatal. In the past, the methods of treatment gave patients little hope for recovery, but the methods of diagnosing and treating the disease have improved greatly since the 1930's. Today, about half of all cancer patients survive at least five years after treatment. People who remain free of cancer that long after treatment have a good chance of remaining permanently free of the disease. But much research remains to be done to find methods of preventing and curing cancer.    Bibliography Allison, Trent. Background into Medicine. New York: Lincoln Press, 1982. Drummond, Phillip. Cancer. 1st ed. New York: Prentice Hall Publishers, 1984 Harris, Jules E.. "Cancer." Encyclopedia Britannica. 1993 ed. Sipp, Warren. Encyclopedia to Cancer. New York: National Academy Press,1989. Veels, Thomas. Science of Cancer. Washington DC, 1984.

Racial Divides in The Last of the Mohicans Essay

Throughout James Fennimore Cooper’s novel The Last of the Mohicans a common theme of interracial friendship and love and the difficulty it takes to overcome such an obstacle, is shown strongly in the work. In the novel Cooper shows how the America people of European decent treat those that are native, by showing how negatively they treat the Native Americans. Chingachgook and Hawkeye have a friendship that is genuine and deep, bypassing the normal relationship between that of a white man and a Mohican Indian. Interracial love and romantic relationships are condemned in The Last of the Mohicans, for example when, Cora, the older daughter of Munro, is approached by Magua and he explains his desire for their marriage it is preceded that their relationship is uncomfortable as well as awkward whereas Uncas and Cora’s mutual relationship ends in a terrible tragedy. Cooper makes it apparent that race was important in each individual’s acceptance and respect in the early American community, but the bond and friendship between Hawkeye and Chingachgook is stronger than the American community’s influence; there is also a common theme of interracial romantic relationships being impossible because of how Cora’s relationships with Uncas and Magua both come to an end. Numerous critics agree that Cooper’s novel makes the relationship between the Native Americans and the white Americans noticeably different from their affiliation with their own race. â€Å"The Last of the Mohicans shifts its action back in time to the mythopoetical realm when the future of American hung in the balance between the primitive and the civilized, between the French and the British, between the white and red men.† (Burt 1). Burt suggests that with the treatment between the characters it shows America at a different stage, one that is still being built on and not quite finished in construction. Burt also suggests that That the last of the Mohicans is honest in Cooper’s portrayal of the interaction that is between the two main races of the novel, all the way to the depths of the â€Å"psychology of Native Americans and their place in American culture and conscience.† (Burt 1). The racial conflicts in the novel are shown when â€Å"multiple cultures interact without physical conflict, settle their differences through dialogue.† (Rinne 15). The conversation that is presented throughout the novel seems to help settle some of the disputes, between many individuals like Alice and Magua, a relationship that exemplifies how white and red men confront one another. This concept of interracial interaction between the people of the novel, despite the bond between Hawkeye and Chingachgook, is shown clearly that it is not a pleasant connection. â€Å"As they traversed that short distance, not a voice was heard amongst them; but a slight exclamation proceeded from the younger of the females as the Indian runner glided by her unexpectedly and led the way along the military road in her front.† (Cooper 17). Alice shows her fear towards that of the Native blood, unlike her sister Cora, Alice struggles with others more. She is afraid and a symbol of the people that are not always shown in Cooper’s novel. As she continues to look at him, â€Å"an indescribable look of pity, admiration, and horror as her dark eye followed the easy motions of the savage.†(Cooper 17). She represents the way many of the other women of the time felt; uneasy and unsure of these people of any different race. Alice’s background is why she is chosen to represent the white population, since she is of pure blood. Throughout this novel the other American’s are shown as treating the Natives with little respect because of racism, believing that with their possessions such as their clothes, weapons, and education they are to be held to a higher standard and supreme to the Natives that surround them. In The Last of the Mohicans Cooper begins a trend with the creation of Hawkeye and Chingachgook’s relationship a â€Å"prototype for Ishmael and Queequeg, Huck and Jim, The Lone Ranger and Tonto–† (Burt 1). Hawkeye and Chingachgook have â€Å"a stark, stripped human relationship of two men, deeper then the deeps of sex.† (Burt 1). Cooper shows just how deep of a friendship these two men can have looking past all of the racial boundaries that are in position from the surrounding society. Despite the way interracial relations between the civilized and the savage were looked down upon Hawkeye and Chingachgook’s relationship continues without any such interference. Cooper makes the relationship important especially in the times of need, during the battle scenes and while they complete acts that make it clear that Hawkeye and his group are the protagonists of the story. This is a strong and deep connection between the two men making a statement for the time period, in which the story is set in. The constant reoccurrence of Hawkeye and Chingachgook’s relationship as friends in the Cooper’s novel shows the power of this symbol. The two men constantly look out for one another’s well being, Chingachgook gives Hawkeye information and reassures him his â€Å"ear shall drink no lie.† (Cooper 32) simply because they are friends. As the book continues the two men and the bond that is between them is proven to be deeper then the expectation of the average American community of the time. Through their dangerous journey they stumble upon much conflict, yet instead of burdening their friendship, it only builds their relationship as friends. Without one another they would have not made their journey through the forest protecting the young women as they did. Despite the thoughts of the Americans their relationship made things better rather than if they had not sought help from their friendship. Parts of Cooper’s novel â€Å"The last of the Mohicans derives its power from exploring threats to racial purity. Uncas and Cora deviants from the white norm threaten to cross radical lines and must be killed.† (Burt 3). Whereas â€Å"Heyward and Alice are free to marry and reproduce,† (Scalia 2) because unlike Cora and Uncas are following the â€Å"white norm.† Cooper sends the message that interracial romance and love is predestined for failure. Cora and Magua’s relationship is awkward despite Cora’s initial attraction towards the Indian. Cora and Uncas relationship ends in the terrible tragedy of death, because of her refusal to marry Magua. Cooper also suggests â€Å"it is Cora’s dark blood that accounts for her boldness†¦ accounting for the mutual yet sublimated attraction of both Cora and Uncas.† (Blakemore 43). Blakemore explains that their relationship contained mutual feelings towards each other even though their r elationship is considered unacceptable. From the beginning of the novel the factor of interracial coupling is there because of Cora’s mother being of a different race. Although the element is there Cooper also implies that these relationships are hopeless, for example when Magua and Cora’s relationship is uncomfortable and unnatural. â€Å"‘Listen’ said the Indian, laying his hand firmly upon her arm as if willing to draw her utmost attention to his words; a movement that Cora as firmly but quietly repulsed by extracting the limb from his grasp.† (Cooper 121). Cora does not let Magua touch her despite his efforts to keep her under his control. Where like Magua and Cora’s relationship is a failure so is Uncas and Cora’s because it ends in tragedy of each characters death. â€Å"Magua recoiled a step; and one of his assistants, profiting by the chance, sheathed his own knife in the bosom of Cora.† (Cooper 413). Cora is killed before her and Uncas are allowed to love one another fully. Although this relationship is considered improper their desire for one another is still persistently shown throughout the novel. In conclusion, James Fennimore Cooper’s novel The Last of the Mohicans is a powerful novel filled with many different issues involving interracial tribulations. Using some of the main characters Cooper is able to show how white Americans would treat the Native Americans negatively. Cooper also keeps in mind the different type of relationship that is built between Chingachgook and Hawkeye, which happens to be deep and strong. Also, the romantic aspect of relationships that is represented in The Last of the Mohicans is clearly shown to be an impossible happening for the characters. The Last of the Mohicans shows the importance of race in the early American community and how treatment towards those who are different is shown, yet despite the fact that interracial friendship is frowned upon Hawkeye and Chingachgook keep a firm grip upon their friendship; a final theme is the troubles that form between when two of different races are to fall in love. Cooper does a beautiful job showing each of his interracial interaction points clearly in his novel. Work Cited Blakemore, Steven. â€Å"†Without a Cross†: The Cultural Significance of the Sublime and Beautiful in Coopers The Last of the Mohicans.† Jstor.org. University of California Press. Web. 20 Jan. 2012. Burt, Daniel S. â€Å"The Last of the Mohicans.† The Novel 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Novels of All Time, Revised Edition. New York: Chelsea House Publishing, 2010. Bloom’s Literary Reference Online. Facts on File, Inc. 20 Jan. 2012. Cooper, James Fennimore. The Last of the Mohicans: A Narrative of 1757. New York: New American Library, 1962. Print Rinne, Craig. â€Å"White Romance and American Indian Action in Hollywood’s The Last of the Mohicans.† Jstor.org. University of Nebraska Press. Web. 20 Jan. 2012 Scalia, Bill. â€Å"The Last of the Mohicans.† In Werlock, Abby H.P., ed. The Facts on File Companion to the American Novel. New York: Facts on File, Inc., 2006. Bloom’s Literary Reference Online. Facts on File, Inc. 20 Jan. 2012

The Useful Generic List in VB.NET

The Useful Generic List in VB.NET Generics extend the power and flexibility of VB.NET in a lot of areas, but you get a bigger performance benefit and more programming options in the generic List object [List(Of T)] than with any other. To use List(Of T), you have to understand how to implement the many methods that the .NET Framework provides. Below are three examples using ForEach, FindAll, and Sort, that demonstrates how the generic List class works. The very first step is to create a generic List. You can get the data in a lot of ways, but the simplest is to just Add it. The code below shows how to classify my beer and wine collection! Starting Code There first needs to be an object that will represent a bottle from the collection. In a Windows Forms application, the Form class has to first be in a file or the Visual Studio designer wont work correctly, so put this at the end: Public Class Bottle Public Brand As String Public Name As String Public Category As String Public Size As Decimal Public Sub New( _ ByVal m_Brand As String, _ ByVal m_Name As String, _ ByVal m_Category As String, _ ByVal m_Size As Decimal) Brand m_Brand Name m_Name Category m_Category Size m_Size End Sub End Class To build the collection, Add the items. This is whats in the Form Load event: Dim Cabinet As List(Of Bottle) _ New List(Of Bottle) Cabinet.Add(New Bottle( _ Castle Creek, _ Uintah Blanc, _ Wine, 750)) Cabinet.Add(New Bottle( _ Zion Canyon Brewing Company, _ Springdale Amber Ale, _ Beer, 355)) Cabinet.Add(New Bottle( _ Spanish Valley Vineyards, _ Syrah, _ Wine, 750)) Cabinet.Add(New Bottle( _ Wasatch Beers, _ Polygamy Porter, _ Beer, 355)) Cabinet.Add(New Bottle( _ Squatters Beer, _ Provo Girl Pilsner, _ Beer, 355)) All of the above code is standard code in VB.NET 1.0. However, note that by defining your own Bottle object, you get the benefits of multiple types in the same collection (in this case, both String and Decimal) and efficient, type safe late binding. ForEach Example The fun starts when we use the methods. To begin, lets implement the familiar ForEach method. The Microsoft documentation includes this usage syntax definition: Dim instance As List Dim action As Action(Of T) instance.ForEach(action) Microsoft further defines action as delegate to a method that performs an action on the object passed to it. The elements of the current List(T) are individually passed to the Action(T) delegate. Tip: For more on delegates, read Using Delegates in Visual Basic .NET for Runtime Flexibility. The first thing you need to code is the method that will be delegated. Misunderstanding this one key point is the source of most of the confusion of VB.NET students. This function, or subroutine, is where all of the customized coding for the Of type objects is done. When performed correctly, youre essentially done. Its really simple in this first example. An entire instance of the Bottle is passed and the subroutine selects anything needed out of it. Coding the ForEach itself is simple too. Just fill in the address of the delegate using the AddressOf method. Sub displayBottle(ByVal b As Bottle) ResultList.Items.Add( _ b.Brand ) ResultList.Items.Add(-) Cabinet.ForEach(AddressOf displayBottle) End Sub FindAll Example FindAll is a little more complicated. The Microsoft documentation for FindAll looks like this: Dim instance As List Dim match As Predicate(Of T) Dim returnValue As List(Of T) returnValue instance.FindAll(match) This syntax includes a new element, Predicate(Of T). According to Microsoft, this will represent the method that defines a set of criteria and determines whether the specified object meets those criteria. In other words, you can create any code that will find something in the list. I coded my Predicate(Of T) to find anything in the Beer Category. Instead of calling the delegate code for each item in the list, FindAll returns an entire List(T) containing only the matches that result from your Predicate(Of T). Its up to your code to both define this second List(T) and do something with it. My code just adds the items to a ListBox. Private Sub FindAllButton_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles FindAllButton.Click ResultList.Items.Clear() ResultList.Items.Add(FindAll Example) ResultList.Items.Add(-) Dim sublist As List(Of Bottle) sublist Cabinet.FindAll(AddressOf findBeer) For Each r As Bottle In sublist ResultList.Items.Add( _ r.Brand - _ r.Name - _ r.Category - _ r.Size) Next End Sub Function findBeer(ByVal b As Bottle) _ As Boolean If (b.Category Beer) Then Return True Else Return False End If End Function Sort Example The final method this article examines is Sort. Again, Microsoft uses some terminology you might not be familiar with. There are actually four different overloads of the Sort method: Sort()Sort(IComparer(T))Sort(Comparison(T))Sort(Int32, Int32, IComparer(T)) This lets you use sort methods defined in the .NET Framework for the list, code your own, use a system defined comparison for the type, or sort part of the collection using a starting position and count parameter. In this example, since I use the following syntax to actually perform the sort, Im using the third overload. x.Name.x.Name.CompareTo(y.Name)(y.Name) Ive coded another delegate to my own comparer. Since I want to sort by my Name, I pull just that value out of each instance of the Bottle object that is passed and use the Sort(Comparison(Of (T))). The Sort method actually rearranges the original List(T). Thats what is processed after the method is executed. Private Sub SortButton_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles SortButton.Click ResultList.Items.Clear() ResultList.Items.Add(Sort Example) ResultList.Items.Add(-) Cabinet.Sort(AddressOf sortCabinet) For Each r As Bottle In Cabinet ResultList.Items.Add( _ r.Name - _ r.Brand - _ r.Category - _ r.Size) Next End Sub Private Shared Function sortCabinet( _ ByVal x As Bottle, ByVal y As Bottle) As Integer Return x.Name.CompareTo(y.Name) End Function These methods were selected to demonstrate the major ways that the Framework methods in List(T) are actually coded. Theres a whole raft of other methods, however. Thats what makes List(T) so useful!

How Oprah Winfrey Overcame Failure

How Oprah Winfrey Overcame Failure Imagine being born in rural 1950s Mississippi to an impoverished teenage mother. Imagine suffering abuse from the age of 9, then running away from home at 13, only to become pregnant at 14 and lose your first child. Now imagine you’re Oprah. Sound implausible? It’s actually true. Oprah was able to turn the tables on this disastrous upbringing, but it took guts and grit. She moved to Tennessee to live with her father, and began to excel in school. She did well in speech and debate. She even won a state beauty pageant. All while working part-time reading news for a local radio station until she could earn a scholarship to college at Tennessee State.In college, this wounded girl became a powerhouse of a woman. She majored in communications, and landed her first post-graduation job at a Nashville station. That turned into a bigger gig with an ABC affiliate in Baltimore. Soon after that, she was hired as a primetime news co-anchor, an incredible feat considering she was a yo ung, black woman in an era where old, white men made and enforced all the rules.There was a publicity campaign before her debut. The network wanted to broaden their viewership. Suddenly, Oprah Winfrey was thrust into the spotlight with high expectations. She was set up for failure. When the show failed, she was blamed- and not her old, white, male co-host. She was demoted to a writing and reporting gig, but was a slow writer and too caring for the kind of hard-nosed reporting required. (On one notable occasion, she was so moved by the plight of a family who had lost their things in a fire, that she donated some of her blankets and supplies to them, drawing flack from her boss.)Even Oprah herself looks back on these years as a failure. But she did not give up. Instead, she took stock of the situation, realized that, while she loved television, she preferred human interest stories to hard news. And while she loved hosting, she had to have significant chemistry with a co-host to make t hat relationship worthwhile.Eventually, all of this soul-searching paid off. She took a job co-hosting a show called People are Talking with Richard Sher. To anyone else, this would have been considered a step down. But Oprah made lemonade. The show was successful enough to run for five years, after which Oprah was recruited to host a morning talk show in Chicago. That show became a household name. And Oprah became an international sensation.What Oprah had was a unique combination of empathy, determination, and the ability to keep moving forward when all else had fallen apart. Her ability to excel in business while not being business-oriented is a marvel. Moral of the story? Have passion, believe in your dreams, believe in yourself even when no one else does, and keep going when hope is lost. Don’t be afraid to fail.Oprah Winfrey: A Profile in Failure

Reading Motivation - Activities for Elementary Students

Reading Motivation - Activities for Elementary Students Teachers are always looking for ways to boost their students reading motivation. Research confirms that a childs motivation is the key factor in successful reading. You may have noticed students in your classroom who are struggling readers, tend to have a lack of motivation and do not like to partake in book-related activities. These students may have trouble selecting appropriate texts, and therefore do not like to read for pleasure. To help motivate these struggling readers, focus on strategies that will help spark their interest and boost their self-esteem. Here are five ideas and activities to increase your students reading motivation and encourage them to get into books. Book Bingo Motivate students to read a variety of books by playing Book Bingo. Give each student a blank bingo board and have them fill in the squares with some of the suggested phrases: I read a mystery bookI read a funny bookI read a biographyI read an animal storyI read a book about friendship Students can also fill in the blanks with I read a book by..., or I read a book about... Once they have their bingo board labeled, explain to them that in order to cross off a square, they must have met the reading challenge that was written(Have students write the title and author of each book they read on the back of the board). Once the student gets bingo, reward them with a classroom privilege or a new book. Read and Review A great way to make a reluctant reader feel special, and motivate them to want to read, is by asking them to review a new book for the class library. Have the student write a brief description of the plot, main characters, and what he/she thought of the book. Then have the student share his/her review with their classmates. Thematic Book Bags A fun way for younger students to boost their reading motivation is to create a thematic book bag. Each week, select five students to be chosen to take home a book bag and complete the assignment thats in the bag. Inside each bag, place a book with theme-related contents in it. For example, place a Curious George book, a stuffed monkey, a follow-up activity about monkeys, and a journal for the student to review the book in the bag. Once the student returns the book bag have them share their review and activity that they completed at home. Lunch Bunch A great way to pique your students interest in reading is to create a reading lunch bunch group. Each week select up to five students to participate in a special reading group. This entire group must read the same book, and on a determined day, the group will meet for lunch to discuss the book and share what they thought about it. Character Questions Encourage the most reluctant readers to read by having them answer character questions. In the reading center, post a variety of character pictures from the stories your students are currently reading. Under each photo, write Who am I? and leave space for children to fill in their answers. Once the student identifies the character, they must share more information about them. Another way to do this activity is to replace the photograph of the character with subtle hints. For example His best friend is a man in a yellow hat. (Curious George). Additional Ideas Enlist parents to come in and be a mystery reader.Participate in the Pizza Hut Book-It program.Have a Read-a-Thon.Pair students together with a book buddy.Play Name That Book where students have to guess the title of the book you just read to them.

Topics to be Investigated Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Topics to be Investigated - Research Paper Example An Evaluation of the Extent to Which Social, Economic, and Environmental Factors Influence the Process of Waste Disposal Waste disposal is a process that involves myriad activities and also brings on board different stakeholders that play different roles. Social, economic, and environmental factors are the likely critical aspects that influence waste disposal and management. While the activities, stakeholders, and influential factors are known, the extent to which these factors influence the process of waste disposal is fundamental to assess, evaluate and subsequently discover. The operational relationship between the activities, stakeholders, and influential factors in the process are uncertain or unknown, making necessary to discover this relationship. Research problem: Social, economic, and environmental factors influence waste disposal processes, but the magnitude and extent of this influence need to be researched. Paradigm Shifts in the Use of Alternative Green Energy Sources in Combating Climate Change Climate change has persistently become a global issue, with the trends in global warming and climate change, in general, showing an over the years increase. This has raised the need for the alternative use of green energy sources in order to try and reverse the contemporary trends in climate change. The paradigm shift from the use of pollutant energy sources to the use of green energy sources in combating climate change is a critical aspect of discovering. This follows the fact that the substitution of alternative sources of energy is personally uncertain.

Different Types of Data in Criminal Justice Assignment

Different Types of Data in Criminal Justice - Assignment Example 2. The age issue could lead to confusing findings in substance abuse research. This is because most countries have laws that prescribe the legal drinking age. For instance the legal drinking age in United States is 21 while in United Kingdom it is 18 (Bamforth, 2009). As a result, youths who are below the drinking age may give wrong age for fear that legal action may be taken against them. Therefore, giving such information may be difficult to the respondents. This is a powerful graph used to show the proportion or relative sizes of data. For this survey the percentage of males and females involved in substance abuse could be better presented using pie chart. Each gender would be represented by each segment of the pie chart. A bar graph consists of vertical and horizontal bars whose lengths indicate the magnitude of the data. In this research, the bar graph would be appropriate in representing the amount of substance abused or the popularity of the substance. The frequency or the amount of substance would be placed on the vertical axis while the type of substance would be on the horizontal axis. The trend of change between the drinking age and the years could be well captured in by line graph. This would be done by plotting the average age against the year. By doing so, the relationship between age the year would be

Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Essay Example The seven wastes include motion; transportation; waiting time; overproduction; inventory; processing time; and defects. Other common wastes are energy; untapped human resources; and by-products. Motion and transport are related to layout; organisation; and engineering. Waste arises as motion and transport does not always result in useful work. In the current case study, motion and transportation includes rearrangement of storage areas that are temporary before and after manufacture or product components; and movement associated with searching fixtures, jigs, tools, equipment, materials, etc. Movement allows an opportunity for product damage during handling and movement; poor space utilisation – large distances between stages or large gangways or storage areas; higher labour cost from low productivity; large batches waiting for transport – large inventories, long leadtimes, low responsiveness. Waiting time, overproduction and inventory are related to scheduling; setups; communication; quality; skills; reward systems; breakdowns; and layout. Waiting time could be caused by material; machine; or labour. Lack of material could be caused by scrap; breakdown; poor schedule; or poor supplier. Machine unavailability could be caused by breakdown; setups; large batches; or unavailability of tools, jigs, fixtures, etc. Skills shortage, absenteeism, or operating or supervising more than one machine could cause skill shortage. Overproduction could be a case of too much or too early. Too much is when there is more production than needed. This could be caused by setups that are long, improper scheduling for EOQ, or inadequate design of processes. Too early includes production earlier than required. This could be caused by lack of machine capability, subcontracting of operations, long in-process delays, or long leadtimes. Overproduction could also be caused by unbalanced material flow; cushion storage; safety storage; and lot delays.

Ratio analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Ratio analysis - Essay Example The former is used to compare the performance of the firm within itself in terms of aspects such as improvement in management skills and finance handling. The latter is used to compare the performance of the firm within its industry of operation. Such comparisons will consider fundamental aspects of operations like profitability. In profitability, an increase or decrease is established and the causes of each including what can be done to stabilize profitability and grow it further. The liquidity of the firm is also quite fundamental as this would enable management know how to plan operations and sources of financing. Therefore, ratio analysis is used in the determination of trends as it strives to expose the strengths and weaknesses of the company. Ratios can be either favorable or unfavorable depending on whether the increase or decrease is in the desired direction (Dess 2012). For our analysis of Apple Incorporation’s financial statement of the year 2012 compared to that of the year 2011, we will categorize ratios into the following - Profitability Ratios; Liquidity ratios; Efficiency Ratios and Capital structure ratios. Profitability Ratios They measure the ability of the company to generate profits from their asset investments. Such ratios include- Gross Profit margin, which is the profit before expenses generated by sales as a percentage. There is the Net Profit margin which are the earnings before depreciation and tax generated by sales; Then there is the Return on Equity(ROE)/Net Worth/ Shareholders funds/ Investments(ROI), this is the ratio of the earnings after tax plus preference dividends contributed by share capital and reserves. The fourth ration in this category is the Return on total assets (ROTA) which indicates how much the Fixed and Current Assets of a company contributes to the Earnings before Interest and Tax (EBIT). Return on Capital Employed is the next, it indicates how equity and Fixed interest capital contributes to the EBIT, and finally we have the Operating Expenses Ratio indicating the percentage of sales consumed by the operating expenses. An increase in these ratios from the previous period is considered favorable while a decrease in the last ratio is considered favorable. The ratios as shown by the financial data by Apple incorporation between the years 2011 and 2012 financial statements are as shown in the table below. RATIO FORMULA YEAR 2012($ in Millions) YEAR 2011($ in Millions) 1. Gross Profit Margin = (Gross Profit/Sales)*100 (66,662/156,508)*100 = 43.87% (43,818/108,249)*100 = 40.48% 2. Net Profit Margin =(EBIT/Sales)*100 (55,241/156,508)*100 = 35.30% (34,790/108,249)*100 = 32.14% 3. ROE/ROI =(EAT+ Pref. dividends/Owner’s Equity)*100 (41,733/118,210)*100 = 35.30% (25,922/76,615)*100 = 33.83% 4. ROTA =(EBIT/Total Assets)*100 (55,241/176,064)*100 = 31.38% (34,790/116,371)*100 = 29.90% 5. ROCE =(EBIT/Total Capital Employed)*100 (55,241/118,210)*100 = 46.73% (34,790/76,615)*100 = 45.41% 6. O perating Expenses Ratio =(Operating Expenses/Sales)*100 (13,421/156,508)*100 = 80.58% (10,028/108,249)*100 = 9.26% As indicated by the profitability ratios, there was a general increase in profitability of Apple Inc between the year 2011 and 2012. The gross profit margin shows a rise from 40.48% in 2011 to 43.87% in 2012. Such an increase was because of the increase in; sales from 108,249 in 2011 to 156,508 in 2012. An increase of the net profit margin from 32.14% to 35.3% is because of the i

My Journey to outer space Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

My Journey to outer space - Essay Example My presence on the spaceship put me in a state of shock but gradually I adapted to the situation. The spaceship was headed towards the planet Saturn where the team members of my crew were to witness certain changes in the outer shell of the planet. This change was considered to have happened because of a reported explosion. I wandered around the spaceship and was delighted by seeing objects and machines that I had never seen. Despite of being in a different place, I started to like my surroundings. My attention drifted to one of my crew members, Ronald, who was sitting around a table that had navigation and mapping devices. The charm of those devices attracted me towards Ronald and lured me to ask the meaning of the terminologies that he was mentioning to the pilot of the ship. Later, it was Ronald and the pilot who explained to me that the term light year and Parsec were both units of length and that the spaceship had to travel 4.28 light years to reach Saturn and to ascertain the distance, a method referred to as parallax was used. During our journey, I witnessed different stars, meteors and asteroids. Few of the celestial bodies that I witnessed glowed in such a way that it displayed a red shade; this was referred to as Red shift in the astronomical language. When I first heard about the distance I thought that it would take many years to reach the destination but within a few hours, I heard an announcement which stated that we were approaching our destination. I was really looking forward to step on Saturn but at that particular moment, I fell with a thud on the floor and my eyes opened. I realized that it was just a

Ratio analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Ratio analysis - Essay Example The former is used to compare the performance of the firm within itself in terms of aspects such as improvement in management skills and finance handling. The latter is used to compare the performance of the firm within its industry of operation. Such comparisons will consider fundamental aspects of operations like profitability. In profitability, an increase or decrease is established and the causes of each including what can be done to stabilize profitability and grow it further. The liquidity of the firm is also quite fundamental as this would enable management know how to plan operations and sources of financing. Therefore, ratio analysis is used in the determination of trends as it strives to expose the strengths and weaknesses of the company. Ratios can be either favorable or unfavorable depending on whether the increase or decrease is in the desired direction (Dess 2012). For our analysis of Apple Incorporation’s financial statement of the year 2012 compared to that of the year 2011, we will categorize ratios into the following - Profitability Ratios; Liquidity ratios; Efficiency Ratios and Capital structure ratios. Profitability Ratios They measure the ability of the company to generate profits from their asset investments. Such ratios include- Gross Profit margin, which is the profit before expenses generated by sales as a percentage. There is the Net Profit margin which are the earnings before depreciation and tax generated by sales; Then there is the Return on Equity(ROE)/Net Worth/ Shareholders funds/ Investments(ROI), this is the ratio of the earnings after tax plus preference dividends contributed by share capital and reserves. The fourth ration in this category is the Return on total assets (ROTA) which indicates how much the Fixed and Current Assets of a company contributes to the Earnings before Interest and Tax (EBIT). Return on Capital Employed is the next, it indicates how equity and Fixed interest capital contributes to the EBIT, and finally we have the Operating Expenses Ratio indicating the percentage of sales consumed by the operating expenses. An increase in these ratios from the previous period is considered favorable while a decrease in the last ratio is considered favorable. The ratios as shown by the financial data by Apple incorporation between the years 2011 and 2012 financial statements are as shown in the table below. RATIO FORMULA YEAR 2012($ in Millions) YEAR 2011($ in Millions) 1. Gross Profit Margin = (Gross Profit/Sales)*100 (66,662/156,508)*100 = 43.87% (43,818/108,249)*100 = 40.48% 2. Net Profit Margin =(EBIT/Sales)*100 (55,241/156,508)*100 = 35.30% (34,790/108,249)*100 = 32.14% 3. ROE/ROI =(EAT+ Pref. dividends/Owner’s Equity)*100 (41,733/118,210)*100 = 35.30% (25,922/76,615)*100 = 33.83% 4. ROTA =(EBIT/Total Assets)*100 (55,241/176,064)*100 = 31.38% (34,790/116,371)*100 = 29.90% 5. ROCE =(EBIT/Total Capital Employed)*100 (55,241/118,210)*100 = 46.73% (34,790/76,615)*100 = 45.41% 6. O perating Expenses Ratio =(Operating Expenses/Sales)*100 (13,421/156,508)*100 = 80.58% (10,028/108,249)*100 = 9.26% As indicated by the profitability ratios, there was a general increase in profitability of Apple Inc between the year 2011 and 2012. The gross profit margin shows a rise from 40.48% in 2011 to 43.87% in 2012. Such an increase was because of the increase in; sales from 108,249 in 2011 to 156,508 in 2012. An increase of the net profit margin from 32.14% to 35.3% is because of the i

Ethical Code of Conduct Thesis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Ethical Code of Conduct - Thesis Example Ways to Implement the Ethical Code of Conduct 10 Consequences of Violation of Code of Ethics 11 Conclusion 12 References 14 Introduction With the technological innovations and advancements in the other sectors of the world, health has become one of the primary and significant sources of concern for an individual in the twenty first century. This is due to the reason that health enormities are escalating with the globalization that the world is experiencing in the contemporary world. However, with the emergence and development of the health care organizations, much awareness has come under creation for an individual. These health care organizations are key responsible for diagnosing, and treating the diseases, illness, injury or other physical and psychological harm that a person may encounter during his life. The health care serves as a promoter and upholds the healthiness, fitness, and wellbeing of the entire populace around the world as its fundamental purpose. Moreover, the key highlighting point of health care profession is to sustain, improve, and enhance the quality of life on whole of the general population. However, several code of ethical conduct needs to come under implementation for those in governance, management, and professional staff of the health care organizations. ... the ethical code of conduct also provides with the principles or the guidelines that can be set as a foundation for resolving the ethical dilemmas that can come under occurrence. In other words, ethical codes are the core values that grants the related people with the necessary actions that needs to come under performance in normal circumstances as well as when a conflict occurs. Value for people, reliability, commitment, devotion, and excellence should be the foundation stones while setting up an ethical code of conduct (Pera &  Tonder, 2005). One of the health care organizations that will come under discussion is Acute Care hospital, which is a subdivision of secondary health care. Here, the professional staff provides the patients with short-term care or support. However, the patients come under treatment for their serious illness, severe injury or during the recovery from surgery (Green, 2009). Facility Background Acute care facility comes under the division of secondary health care where immediate care comes under provision for the patients suffering from trauma, serious injuries or illness, or recovery from surgery. It is a care provided on a short-term basis, where the hospital facilities send the patients to their home or other medical treatment centers such as rehabilitation center, nursing home and few others when they see stableness in the health conditions of the patients. In addition, the patients come under treatment by the team of health care professionals ranging from medical to surgical areas of expertise. â€Å"Hospitals, emergency departments, dialysis centers, clinical laboratories, urgent care centers and few long-term-care hospitals and facilities are all types of acute care facilities that come under offering† (Green, 2009). Emergency or urgent

Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation Essay Example for Free

Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation Essay Martin Luther is credited for starting the Protestant Reformation by declaring the corruption he saw in the Roman Catholic Church. By standing firm in his faith and openly going against the church, hes able to get the people thinking for themselves and discovering the truth of their leaders and religion. Martin Luther was born November 10, 1483 in Eislenben, Germany, to copper miner Hans and peasant Margaretha Luder. Living in poverty, his father is set on Luther becoming a lawyer for higher income and family honor. In 1501, he enrolled at Master of Arts in Erford, and received his Bachelors degree in 1502 and Masters in 1505. He then enrolled to the law school. In 1505, hes caught in a thunderstorm and asks God for deliverance. Since he lived through the fright, he then devotes himself to God, dropping out of law school and joining the monastery, although against his fathers orders. While searching for personal salvation, Luther took his spiritual growth very seriously and often times punished himself. He spent most hours praying and confessing. Through this, he began to notice his frequent and awful sins. He was told to follow after academics which he then taught theology at the University of Wittenberg. On October 18, 1512, he is given a Doctorate in Theology. In 1513, he studied Psalm 22 and gained enlightenment. He realized, as Paul said, The just will live by faith, and that salvation comes with solely faith and not religious works or practices. Luthers knowledge of the Scriptures and his analytical mind caused him to see the power-hungry church leaders corruption. A major issue Luther saw was the selling of indulgences which were ways to get people of the church to pay for prayers and salvation. The Roman Catholic Church used these indulgences to put fear into their followers and money into their own pockets. Along with that complaint and others, Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses to the church door on October 31, 1517. Within two weeks, the news of his rebellion spread through Germany and throughout Europe in two months. The Johannes Gutenberg Printing Press played a vital role in this expansion. Within days, many copies of the news was made and sent out. This gave the people of the church and of the nations concrete evidence of their leaders  corruption. Soon, the fear of the people faded and so did the churchs power. In 1520, Luther is threatened with excommunication from the church. In January of 1520 he is excommunicated and named as a heretic. In April of 1521, the Diet of Worms met and Luther is questioned about his act. He is told to recant but he refuses to do so unless the Scriptures would have him do otherwise. In 1522, Luther translates the New Testament to German where again, the printing press made it available to society. He also formed his own church, Lutheranism, and teaches his practices and gains followers. On June 13, 1525, he married former nun Katharina von Bora and went on to have six children together. As time goes on, he gains many health problems and dies at the age of 62 on February 18, 1546. Through personal enlightenment and rebellion, Martin Luther started the transformation of the Christian church and many of its practices today. By refusing the deception of the church, he leads a revolt against the church and sets the example of strong, unshakable faith. Luthers impact on religion didnt stop in the 1500s, and is still standing firm and modeling the religion of society now.

Improving Pay for Performance with SOP

Improving Pay for Performance with SOP INTRODUCTION: Executive pay has been a big controversial issue over the past twenty years due to various governance failures which have generated a forceful policy debate on the appropriate role of shareholder voice in corporate governance (e.g., Bebchuk 2007; Bainbridge 2006). Some say the pay is too high and is set by captured boards while some say it reflects the marketplace in action. Therefore, some companies are either willing to or mandated to give shareholders an advisory vote on the prior years compensation of top executives-a say on pay (SOP). SOP is a term used for a rule in corporate governance whereby stakeholders are given the opportunity to vote on the enumeration of executives. SOP potentially not only gives shareholders an advisory vote on pay practices, but also increases scrutiny from shareholders over top managements compensation at most companies. Therefore, this study illustrates how SOP improves pay for performance. Under certain circumstances, this study will show that pay for performance has been increasing significantly after the adoption of SOP. When further decomposing executive pay into its cash-based and equity-based components, this study finds evidence of an increase at most companies in the relationship between performance and these compensation components, and the potential to enhance transparency, governance, and accountability, which, in turn, should lead to greater efficiency and social responsiveness (Bebchuk, Friedman, and Friedman, 2007). MAIN: This study is going to discuss further about the principal of SOP and its effect on pay for performance in firms and the related principal-agency problems in corporate governance. SOP might have not been a new concept in corporate governance in the UK, but some firms in developed and developing countries have been implementing this concept over these years around the world. SOP is known as one of the recent phenomenon of shareholder activism, a voice mechanism for shareholders (Hirschman, 1970). It is the effectuation of providing shareholders the right to vote on executive compensation program at the annual meeting. The regulation changes a variety of attitudes toward corporate governance and disclosure habitudes of all public companies. This concept allows shareholders to either raise their voices or express their opinions against executive compensation programs. In other words, instead of letting top executives to decide the level of compensation plans, shareholders can use their voting rights to either approve or give advice on executive compensation plans that link to top executives performance. To clearly justify, SOP is seen as a friendly tool to express, improve the dissent, giving advice on remuneration, but not an aggressive governance rule to destroy firm value or dissociate the relationship between principal and agent. While companies are not bound by SOP advisory votes, the act not only requires firms to disclose the vote results after the shareholders meeting, but also report whether and how the board considers the voting results in the following year. Consistent with this argument, De Franco, Hope and Larocque (2013) find that additional disclosures improves board effectiveness at monitoring executive c ompensation and in strengthening the link between pay and performance. SOP was used formally in UK in 2003, but in fact it was unofficially started and practiced in July 1999 as non-binding vote on executive compensation or remuneration. In the early of 2001, there are various companies beginning to propose the remuneration committee report, and there is an evidence that the number of firms submitting the proposal grew rapidly in 2002. After the UK, several EU countries consequently adopted this principle such as Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, then it spreaded to Australia and USA. It has been lasting for nearly 15 years in the UK while in the USA, this concept started in 2010 and became compulsory in the same year, which is relatively brief and the current knowledge of SOPs results and effects are still limited along with many academic discussion and practices. Basically, the objectives and models of SOP vary considerably across the world. Under Dodd-Frank, SOP in the USA requires companies to hold a non-binding vote on compensation at least once every three years. Afterwards, firms are also required to request shareholders to regulate the frequency of future say on pay votes at least once every six years but no less than that, also the shareholders are given the option of doing annually or every two or three years. However, in the UK, the government presented the Directors Remuneration report to record for a shareholders vote on current level of compensation at every annual general meeting. Pay for performance is currently a big issue in corporate governance due to several executive compensation scandals. Additionally, House Report 110088 noted that the average of a CEO in a top company earned approximately 140 times higher than the pay of a regular employee in 1991; nonetheless, this ratio increased exponentially to about 500 to 1 in 2003. The compensation for CEOs is divided into 2 parts which are fixed compensation such as cash and bonuses, and variable compensation ,also called performance-based compensation. The variable compensation which strongly relates to CEOs performance, including option grants, stocks option,.etc will be determined comprehensively in this study so as to favour the practical impact of SOP. Refer to Jensen and Meckling (1976), the traditional principal-agent theories stated that the owner of the firm constructed the compensation contracts to the agent in terms of maximizing the value of the firm. Muller-Kahle (2013) finds some evidence that, w hen CEOs have a dominant ownership stake, firm monitoring is diminished and firm performance suffers. However, most of public companies generates it infeasible for shareholders to debate the managerial compensation. In the phenomenon, the executive compensation scandals occurred frequently and severally than we could imagine. For examples, Tyco International was reported a CEOs scandal in 2005, its CEO Dennis Kozlowski and CFO Mark H. Swartz were convicted of stealing $600 million, these money was symbolized as the excess of executive remuneration, i.e. Kozlowski gave his wife $2 million birthday gift on Islands Mediterranean at companys expense. From our point of view, if Say on Pay was introduced and implemented earlier, those compensation scandals would had possibly not happened and also its reasonable to achieve and practice the SOP policy at the moment. According to Vicente Cuà ±at, Mireia Gine, and Maria Guadalupe (2013), the main purposes of Say on Pay is to raising shareholders voices, concentrating on the shareholders interests but also focusing on values that CEOs added to the firm and the transparency of CEOs interests. It leads to the improvement of the agency problem. Although a variety of evidence are against the benefits of Say on Pay, Bebchuk (2007) contended that a formalized say on pay vote is able to overcome the psychological barriers and support the negotiation of better compensation contracts. Indeed, many articles suggest that the approach of SOP does have a positive correlation between both firms value and the issue of pay for performance. We believe that there is nothing 100% right or wrong in all circumstances and its inherently difficult to determine precisely influences of any corporate governance regulation. Hence, the objective of this paper is to approve the improvements of Say on Pay on pay for performance in corporations in terms of increasing firms values, shareholders values, reducing agency problems and enhancing the transparency of executive compensation under certain conditions. First condition is firms with excessive or ineffectiveness CEO remuneration, as stated by Core at el. (1999), less effective boards are regularly related to high abnormal CEO compensation and low sensitivity pay for performance, which means that SOP is likely to benefit to the firm with weaker corporate governance and incompetent remuneration design. Secondly, firms with independent-minded shareholders willing to vote against management are likely to face more pressure if the say on pay is achieved; thirdly, firms are willing to b oost performance, enhance compensation and reform as a consequence of shareholder pressure. Due to Baird and Stowasser (2002), the first benefit of implementing SOP is certainly promoting accountability and transparency in the compensation report. To earn stakeholders support or prevent litigation, boards not only have sought to enhance disclosures concerning executive compensation plans but also publish an annual directors remuneration report over the past year, which causes directors more carefully to consider shareholder interests when designing executive pay plans. The recent trend confirmed the increased directors accountability after the introduction of say on pay (Cai et al. 2007, 2009; Del Guercio et al. 2008). As found in the previous articles, Davis (2007) stated that the Say on Pay proposal did associate smoothly with the communication and relationship between shareholders and board of directors. Refer to the UK evidences, after annual general meeting and the accurately analysis of remuneration report, there is a substantially development in the connection and tr ansmission between compensation committees and shareholders. Firms are more opened to a dialogue with shareholders to justify a broader compensation decisions and practices. Companies will not only have the opportunity to include additional resolutions on specific compensation decisions, but also have the opportunity to ask shareholders views on specific compensation decisions, including decisions related to various aspects or categories of pay. Each company, however, will be required to permit shareholders to vote on a resolution addressing all of the compensation disclosed in the annual proxy. This finding may advance scrutiny and also lead to more informed voting decision and the acceptance of a remarkable premium. Also, Deane (2007) and Davis (2007) suggested that SOP probably superior adjusts for principal-agent interests and enhance corporate governance and performance. The SOP allows shareholder to raise their voices in executive which definitely better align with CEO and shareholders interests, consequently, it comes up with the reduction of agency cost and a more adequately compensation contracts. Due to Peter Iliev and Svetla Vitanova (2015), the market reacted positively to the practices of Say on pay votes and the general supports of directors from shareholders are spotted to be increased. In practices in the UK, the impact of SOP was found to be positive as well, Fabrizio and David A. Maber (2013) analysed that the adoption and implementation of say on pay to the UK regulation was escorted with positive stock price reactions at firms with high dissent compensation conflicts and particularly practices diluting punishment for poor performance. By the same token, enforcing SOP may potentially increase Earnings per shares (EPSs), Return on assets (ROA) and Return on equity (ROE), the appliance also gains profitability and efficiency, higher growth in labour yield and constructive effect on accounting statement in the following years after the binding vote. As a result of Vicente Cuà ±at, Mireia Gine, and Maria Guadalupe (2013), the shareholder value increased by 5.4 percent after Say on Pay implementation, this such high market gains were explained by the improvement of CEOs performance under shareholder pressure and the effect of better alignment of pay for performance and also the reduction of pay for failure. Those evidences are consistent with the aims of this study that say on pay is used as a value-creating governance mechanism to contribute value to firm and shareholders. According to Stephen Davis Millstein Center Fellow (2007), advisory Say on Pay votes are extensively seen as having been an influential committing factor in taming the rate of increase, reduce controversial compensation of CEO, pressure firm to increase sensitivity between compensation and performance curbing opportunities for reward for failure and tying compensation dramatically closer to performance. As we mentioned above, not every firms reported the same results on the impact of SOP. However, we do find the strong positive influence in the firm with high dissent between shareholders and directors and the firm with excessive CEOs compensation based on the managerial power viewpoint (Bertrand (2009), Frydman and Jenter (2010), Murphy (2013). As documented by Fabrizio and David A. Maber (2013), their tests were coherent with Core et al(1999) s research that the introduction of SOP was followed by positive stock price reaction, especially in the firms with controversial compensation report and those which abate penalties for poor performance. Correa and Lel (2013) also recorded a numerical decrease in CEO pay of 6.1% after implementation of Say-on-Pay regulation in a sample of countries. Moreover, by using regression analysis on large sample of UK firms, Fabrizio and David (2013) tested on some vital elements in CEO pays including bonuses, equity awards to evaluate whether the sensitivity of CEO compensation is highly adequated to performance along with economics factors before and after the regulation. In general, they concluded that even though others economic elements persist unchanged, there is still a significant rise in the sensitivity of CEO pay to poor performance in less observable elements of pay. Moreover, this finding is consistent with the result of Ertimur, Muslu, and Ferri (2011) which is the most pronounced in high dissent firms and firms maintaining excessive executive compensation before SOP, means that SOP policy does reduce the excessive performanced-base salary to create value and link the remuneration more dramatically to the performance. Various companies either removed or altered provisions that investors considered as rewards for failure such as generous severance contracts and low performance hurdles, often in response to institutional investors explicit requests. Fabrizio and David A. Maber (2013) examined this issue on high dissent(HD) firm (with 20% dissent vote) and low dissent(LD) firm (with less than 5% dissent vote) before and after the vote , the result showed that the high dissent firms reducing the notice periods of severance contracts after the first vote (80%) are likely to be higher than before the vote (20%) and also substantially higher than the low dissent firms (33.3%). Therefore, this figures suggested that say on pay is the reason of reduction of controversial compensation, besides, 70% of low dissent firms scaling down the notice period before the vote which is the evidence of elimination of dissension between shareholders and executives. Moreover, a variety of firms established a formal proces s for proactive consultation with their major shareholders going forward (Ferri and Maber, 2011). As a result, the threat of a vote was effective in inducing firms to revise CEO pay practices ahead of the annual meeting and decreasing the situation of pay for failures and the growth rate of pay. Meanwhile, they also analysed the second most influenced remuneration item which is performance-based vesting conditions in equity grants. During the following years that performance targets are not accomplished, this retesting provision is seemed to contribute for reexamining and subsequently assists for the potential pay for failure. After the research, they concluded that before the first vote, HD firms and LD firms achieved 5% and 25% respectively to reduce or remove this issue. Nonetheless, the result changed significantly after the SOP vote, HD firms agreed to shorten or abolish retesting provision with statistically 76.3%, while the LD gained 28%. Generally, several evidences support that these contractual modification are the direct repercussion of SOP regulation. Base on the top 100 companies 2016 surveys in the US, SOP is raising shareholders voices and putting more pressure on CEO in order to perform better, however, we found that shareholder doesnt empower themselves to manipulate the CEOs compensation. In fact, the number of companies adopting this policy is increasing, in 2016 there are 95 over top 100 US companies holding say on pay vote in 2016, 94 out of 95 firms held approval say-on-pay votes which is higher than 2015 and only 1 firm didnt approve which also failed in both 2014 and 2015. As being reported, 41 corporations reviewed and elected not to significantly change the compensation report, while 20 noted modification into the remuneration in response to the vote. In table 4, the Say on Pay approval rate in 2016 is relatively high with 78% receiving approval rates in excess of 90% and only 6% for-voting below 70%. This figures coordinate with data in the last 2 years 2014 and 2015, which the approval rates are comparably high. Th is finding suggests that the even shareholders have more control power in the firm, they are not likely to destroy the value or raise the unfairness and dissension through the firm. In contrast, they seem to use this policy as a friendly tool, not an aggressive regulation, to raise their voice and cut down excessive expense in compensation. Furthermore, this regulation is contributing to the competitiveness of the British economy and the attraction of London as an international capital market (Stephen Davis Millstein Center Fellow,2007). The UK Department of Trade and Industry confirmed that the votes lead to a better planning by corporations, fewer surprises, better dialogue with shareholders, and apparently, it can reduce downside risks and big scandals among quoted companies in recent years. Due to London Stock Exchange, by involving Say on Pay voting rights, London will possibly be equipped with a more competitive border in order to attract capital, comparing to New York. Last but not least, while companies are not bound by SOP advisory votes, it requires companies to disclose the vote results after the shareholders meeting. In addition, firms must report whether and how the board considers the voting results in the following year. Ferri and Maber (2013) study the market reaction in 2002 to SOP that mandates non-binding but advisory vote on the compensation report and find that firms with high dissent alter the compensation composition, thereby improving pay for performance. Moreover, in a sample of the largest UK companies from 2002 to 2006, boards reduced excess salary as well as the dilutive effect of stock option grants in response to past negative non-binding votes (Carter and Zamora,2009). Consequently, shareholders right of non-binding votes could provide a useful mechanism that addresses the potential problem of incomplete firms management, suggesting that monitoring and reward mechanism dynamics can effectively coexist between owners and firm managers, thereby improving corporate governance (Kimbro and Xu, 2016). Conclusion To conclude, we investigate the impact of the right of shareholders non-binding but advisory votes on say-on-pay. We find evidence that firms either modified or altered their compensation structures in order to win shareholders positive votes. CEOs compensation decreases in most firms while larger decreases are found in firms that overpaid their CEOs in the previous year. Similarly, affected firms linked their pay mix to more close for performance. In terms of voting itself, shareholders are not more likely to vote for executive compensation when the firm pays excessive pay for top management, or has a large increase in CEO compensation compared to previous years. Moreover, among the components of the compensation plan, shareholders are more likely to vote against the plan when they contain other compensation, such as private bonuses unrelated to performance, which have been opposed by critics of executive pay. Most importantly, SOP does not limit the level of compensation or empower shareholders to control the interests of top management. It can be seen as a friendly corporate governance tool to prevent conflicts of the issues between top management and shareholders regarding pay for performance. Additionally, this study finds that the increase in pay for performance after the implementation of SOP is larger in firms with excessive pay for CEO relative to firms with average level of pay for CEO. The evidence suggests that SOP do increase the executive compensation monitoring ability for investors who care about the long-term value of a firm but who are lack of the ability to influence executive compensation structure before SOP. By contrast to most prior studies on the impact of SOP on executive incentives and compensation, the evidence shown in this study is consistent with SOP improves rather than weakens the alignment of managerial wealth and shareholder interests in certain circumstances. References: Bainbridge S. 2006. The Case for Limited Shareholder Voting Rights. UCLA Law Review, 53: 601-636. Bainbridge, Stephen M. The Corporate Governance Provisions of Dodd-Frank. (2010). Bainbridge, Stephen M. Is Say on PayJustified?. (2009). Baird, J. and Stowasser, P. (2002) Executive compensation disclosure requirements: The German, UK, and US approaches, PracticalLaw.com, PLC Document 4-101-7960, September 23. BBC News. 2003. Glaxo defeated by shareholders. May 19. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3038381.stm Bebchuk, L. (2007) Written testimony submitted before the Committee on Financial Services, United States House of Representatives, Hearing on Empowering Shareholders on Executive Compensation, March 8. Bebchuk, L., Friedman, A. T., Friedman, W. J. 2007. Empowering shareholders on executive compensation: hearing on H.R. 1257 before the H. Comm. on Fin. Ser., 110th Cong. 68: Cai J. and R. Walkling. 2007. Shareholders Say on Pay: Does It Create Value?. Working Paper, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA. Cai J., J. Garner and R. Walkling. 2009. Electing Directors. Journal of Finance   forthcoming. Carter, M. E., Zamora, V. 2009. Shareholder remuneration votes and CEO compensation design, Work. Pap. Boston College. Cheffins B. and R. Thomas. 2001. Should shareholders have a greater say over executive pay? Learning from the US experience. Working Paper, Vanderbilt University Law School, Nashville, TN. Choi, S., J. Fisch and M. Kahan, 2009. Director Elections and the Role of Proxy Advisors. Southern California Law Review 82, 649-702. Core, J.; R. Holthausen; and D. Larcker. Corporate Governance, Chief Executive Officer Compensation,and Firm Performance. Journal of Financial Economics, 51 (1999), 371-406. Core, J., and W. Guay. The Use of Equity Grants to Manage Optimal Equity Incentive Levels. Journal of Accounting and Economics, 28 (1999), 151-184. Cuà ±at, V., Ginà ©, M. and Guadalupe, M. (2013). Say Pays! Shareholder Voice and Firm Performance. Review of Finance, 20(5), pp.1799-1834. Davis, Stephen. Does say on paywork? Lessons on making CEO compensation accountable. Policy Briefing 1 (2007). Deane, S. Say on Pay: Results from Overseas. The Corporate Board (July/August 2007), 11- 18. De Franco, G. Hope, O.K., Larocque, S. 2013. The effect of disclosure on the pay-performance relation. J. Account. Public Policy 32(5), 319-341. Del Guercio, D., L. Wallis, and T. Woidtke. 2008. Do Boards Pay Attention When Institutional Investor Activists Just Vote No? Journal of Financial Economics 90: 84-103. Deloitte, Executive Directors Remuneration (London: September 2006) Digital.shearman.com. (2017). Corp Gov Survey 2016 Corporate Governance Survey. [online] Available at: http://digital.shearman.com/i/739764-2016-corporate-governance-survey/59? [Accessed 22 Mar. 2017]. Ertimur, Yonca, Fabrizio Ferri, and David Oesch. Shareholder votes and proxy advisors: Evidence from say on pay. Journal of Accounting Research 51.5 (2013): 951-996. Ertimur, Y., F. Ferri, and V. Muslu. 2011. Shareholder Activism and CEO Pay. Review of Financial Studies 24(2): 535-592. Ferri, F., and D. Maber. Solving the Executive Compensation Problem Through Shareholder Votes? Evidence from the U.K. Working paper, Columbia University and Harvard Business School (2007). Ferri, F., Maber, M. 2013. Say on pay votes and CEO compensation: Evidence from the UK. Rev. Financ. (17), 527-563. Financial Times (1998) The fat cats keep getting fatter, August 1. Fortune.com. (2017). Surprise surprise: Say on Pay appears to be working. [online] Available at: http://fortune.com/2015/07/08/say-on-pay-ceos/ [Accessed 22 Mar. 2017]. Gordon, J., 2009. Say on Pay: Cautionary Notes on the U.K. Experience and the Case for Shareholders Opt-in. Harvard Journal on Legislation 46:323-64. Hodgson, Paul. A brief history of say on pay. Ivey Business Journal 73 (2009): 1. Kimbro, Marinilka B., and Danielle Xu. Shareholders have a say in executive compensation: Evidence from say-on-pay in the United States. Journal of Accounting and Public Policy 35.1 (2016): 19-42. Jensen, M. C., and W. H. Meckling. Theory of the Firm: Managerial Behavior, Agency Costs and Ownership Structure. Journal of Financial Economics, 4 (1976), 305-360. Jeffrey N. Gordon, Say on Pay: Cautionary Notes on the U.K. Experience and the Case for Shareholder Opt-in, 46 Harv. J. Legis. 323, 325 (2009) Larcker, David F., et al. Ten Myths ofSay on Pay. (2012). List25.com. (2017). Cite a Website Cite This For Me. [online] Available at: http://list25.com/25-biggest-corporate-scandals-ever/ [Accessed 22 Mar. 2017]. Magnan, Michel, and FCA Claudine Mangen. Is say on pay an effective governance tool? Analysis and recommendations. (2011). Manifest and MMK, The Executive Director Total Remuneration Survey (London: May 2007); RREV, Trends in Executive Remuneration 2006 (London: April 2007); New Bridge Street Consultants, The 2006 FTSE 100 Executive Directors Remuneration Survey (London: 2006); PIRC Corporate Governance Annual Review 2006 (London: 2006). Muller-Kahle, M. I. 2013. The impact of dominant ownership: The case of Anglo-American firms . J. Manage. Gov. 19(1), 71-89. . SEC, Securities and Exchange Commission, 2010. Concept Release No. 34-62495, available at:http://www.sec.gov/rules/concept/2010/34-62495.pdf

Essay on Camus’ The Stranger (The Outsider): Finding a Rational God th

Finding a Rational God through Nature in Camus' The Stranger (The Outsider)    Turning towards nature for fulfillment, The Stranger’s Meursault rejects the ideology of God as a savior and is consequently juxtaposed against Jesus Christ’s martyrdom, Christianity and the infamous crucifixion. To the inexperienced reader, Meursault appears to be an extreme atheist. Later in Albert Camus’ novel, he is revealed as a humanistic soul that’s in touch with the universality of the earth and soil he treads upon. Through the use of blunt and undefined nature images, Meursault’s revelations and newfound trust within an environment outside of society are softly whispered by Camus. In essence, Meursault imposes his need for meaning upon nature as well as upon a God who rejects him. Through this imposition, he hopes to acquire an immortality which is similar to a Christian afterlife. The arguments of nature as a religion and as an entity separate from God are jointly focused upon in the modern criticisms and interpretations of The Stran ger I will discuss. Pantheism, a quasi-religious worship of nature, comes into mind when looking at Meursault’s final communion with the world. Is pantheism a mere excuse for Meursault’s actions or rather a secret reality of his which the public is not ready to confront or understand? Icons and stereotypes accompany this enigmatic, suggestive natural imagery and are employed by Camus to show the irrationality in both society’s and Meursault’s assumptions of religion and of Christianity. One is left with the question of Meursault’s acceptance of death; is Meursault’s embracing of his fate representative of his fall into the abyss of traditional Christian faith or indeed a turn towards a happy medium in nature?... ...thood Without God.† In Mansions of the Spirit. Ed. George A. Panichas. New York: Hawthorn Books, Inc. Publishers, 1967. 313-324. Hanna, Thomas L. â€Å"Albert Camus and the Christian Faith.† In Camus: A Collection of Critical Essays. edited by Germaine Bree. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1962. 48-64. Harrison, Paul. â€Å"Scientific Pantheism: Basic Principles.† Elements of Pantheism. [cited from April 20 1999]. Availible from http://members.aol.com/heraklit1/basicpri.htm Peyre, Henri. â€Å"Camus the Pagan.† In Camus: A Collection of Critical Essays. edited by Germaine Bree. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1962. 65-70. Piper, H.W. The Active Universe. London: The Athlone Press 1962. Sprintzen, David. Camus: A Critical Examination. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1988. Woelfel, James W. Camus: A Theological Perspective. New York: Abingdon Press, 1975.      

Affermative Action Essay -- Affirmative Action Essays

Affirmative Action   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Affirmative Action efforts were started in 1964 to end the long history of overlooking qualified people of color and women from higher education. Affirmative Action sets standards for a business or office of admissions, so that a white man does not have the upper-hand over an equally or greater educated minority. The initial way the government tried to justify Affirmative Action was to develop a human resource approach: first identifying the problem, which is racism then establishing the solution (Phillips 67).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The intent of Affirmative Action helps cut down discrimination in the work place and in schools, despite the fact that some believe that affirmative action is a form of reverse discrimination. In contrast, the first goal of Affirmative Action was to help people who were poor or badly educated, elevating them to positions for which they were not objectively qualified (Buckley 95). Cousens, author of Public Civil Rights Agencies and Fair Employment indicates that the Affirmative Action techniques have the advantage of not only persuading employers not to discriminate when hiring or accepting, but to expand employment and educational opportunities for minority groups (22). Therefore, Affirmative Action is legitimate because it does reduce discrimination in the work place and related areas such as University acceptance of college students. In the end, it should in no way be abolished.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  However, Affirmative action is highly controversial. Right now Proposition 209, in California which bans all programs involving race and sex preferences run by the state, has passed but it will not be put into total action due to some questions of constitutionality (Ayres 34). The law will start slowly first, ending Affirmative Action in the schools of California, leading up to the abolishment of Affirmative Action all together. An argument was declared by Mark Rosenbaum of the Southern California Branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, â€Å" Proposition 209 should be declared unconstitutional because it singles out women and minorities and, at a time when discrimination still exists, sought to preclude them from attaining constitutionally guaranteed right, like jobs and schooling.† (Ayres 34). As R... ...Maybe the world hasn’t exactly found equality as a result, but with Affirmative Action, the world is a lot closer to equality than without it. Works Cited Applebome, Peter. â€Å"Affirmative Action Ban Changes a Law School.† New York Times   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  2 July 1997: a14. Ayres, B. Drummond, Jr. â€Å"Affirmative Action Battle Moves to Courts.† New York   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Times 1 Dec. 1996: 34. Benac, Nancy. â€Å"Clinton Defends Preference Programs, Backs Reforms.† Associated   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Press Writer. . 19   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  July, 1995. Buckley, William F., Jr. â€Å"The Two Sides.† National Review 14 Oct., 1996: 95 Cousens, Frances. Public Civil Rights Agencies and Fair Employment. New York:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Praeger, 1969. Hair, Penda D. â€Å"Color Blind-or Just Blind?† Nation 14 Oct. 1996: 12. â€Å"Once to Every Man.† National Review 16 June, 1997: 12. Phillips, D. Rhys. Equality in Employment. Ottawa: Canadian Gov., 1985: 285 Porter, Horace. â€Å"Affirmative Action: 1960’s Dreams, 1990’s Realities.† Chronicle of   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Higher Education. 29 Nov. 1996: B6

Time dispersion parameters

When a signal is transmitted, this signal can endure a deformation caused by contemplations and scattered extension waies in the wireless channel, and these phenomenons cause that an indistinguishable signal arrives at different times at its finish. These different times are due that to the signal arrives via multiple waies and in different incident angles. The clip difference between the arrival minute of the first multipath constituent and the last 1 is called hold spread. In order to compare different multipath channels and to develop some general design guidelines for wireless systems, some parametric quantities are used to quantify the multipath channel. Some of these multipath parametric quantities are the average extra hold, rms delay spread, and maximal extra hold, and can be determined from a power hold profile. However, the mean extra hold and the rms delay spread are often used to quantify the clip diffusing belongingss of broad set multipath channels.Mean Excess DelayThe Mean Excess Delay is the first minute of the power hold profile ( PDP ) and is defined byRMS Delay SpreadThe root-mean-square ( RMS ) hold spread is likely the most of import individual step for the hold clip extent of a multipath wireless channel. This parametric quantity calculates the standard divergence value of the hold of contemplations, weighted relative to the energy in the reflected moving ridges. This parametric quantity can be considered like the square root of the 2nd cardinal minute of the power hold profile and is defined by We must take into consideration that these holds are measured comparative to the first noticeable signal arriving at the receiving system at = 0, and their equations do non trust on the absolute power degree of P ( ) , but merely the comparative amplitudes of the multipath constituents within P ( ) .Maximum Excess Delay ( X dubnium )The maximal extra hold ( X dubnium ) of the power hold profile is defined as the clip hold value after which the multipath energy falls to X dubnium below the maximal multipath energy ( non necesarily belonging to the first arriving constituent ) . It is besides called extra hold spread, but in all instances must be specified with a threshold that relates the multipath noise floor to the maximal standard multipath constituent. The values of these clip scattering parametric quantities besides depend on the noise threshold used to treat P ( ) , and if this noise is set excessively low, so the noise will be processed as multipath and therefore doing the parametric quantities to be higher.EnvironmentCoherence BandwidthCoherence bandwidth is a statistical step of the scope of frequences over which the channel can be considered â€Å" level † . If we define Coherence Bandwidth ( BC ) as the scope of frequences over which the frequence correlativity is above 0.9, so If we define Coherence Bandwidth as the scope of frequences over which the frequence correlativity is above 0.5, so The coherency bandwidth of the channel gives a good indicant about the frequence fluctuations of the channel in relation to the bandwidth of the familial signal. We can hold two different instances, depending on this bandwidth. If a signal with a bandwidth larger than Bc is transmitted through the channel, it will be capable to frequency selective deformation. The channel will be, in this instance, referred to as a frequence selective attenuation channel. However, if the signal transmitted has a bandwidth well less than Bc, it will see amplitude fading merely with no deformation since the channel features will be the same all over the spectrum of the signal. In this instance the channel is referred to as a frequence non-selective ( level ) melting channel.

Does It Pay Off

Compare/ assess HSBC and Citi-corps IT strategies. Do they invest in IT primarily as a way of cutting costs and improving their operational efficiencies, or do they invest strategically with a view to entrench their competitive positions? As noted in the conclusion of the article written by the Asia Case Research Center and the University of Hong Kong HCBC and Citigroup have both developed into global financial institutions.Both organizations have heavily invested in Information Technology and, as is self-reported in both companies’ financial statements, both are committed to using IT to gain a competitive advantage. That is where the similarities end. When we examine the details it is obvious that although both firms have heavily invested in IT advancements the types of projects and overall approach are very different. Let us first look at HSBC. The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation was founded by Thomas Southerland in 1865 with branches in London Shanghai, and San F rancisco.By the year 2007 the company had grown to have 9500 offices, 200,000 shareholders, 310,000 employees and over 125 million customers spanning 76 countries. HSBC built their business based on the philosophy of managing for value from 1998 through 2003 with the objective of providing a satisfactory return on shareholder capital. One of the primary ways HSBC attempted to accomplish this strategy was through its approach to leveraging technology.An example of the company’s technology strategy is found in a statement which was part of the company’s 1996 annual report. In this report the company described its IT policy as a strategy based on harnessing the power of new technology to provide new and better services for their customers while simultaneously improving the banks operational efficiencies. Then stated the challenge they saw as a global financial services organization factored highly around their ability to link different parts of the group more closely toge ther.As one progress’s further into the details of HSBC’s information technology approach numerous examples of this 1996 strategy are apparent in the organizations approach to the use of information technology. HSBC’s history appears dotted with instances of the development of ground breaking Independent systems, outsourcing to save costs, and acquisitions of emerging technologies. Despite the hefty price tag the company remained focused on providing innovate value added products and services to both current and prospective customers. Outsourcing is one key to the operational efficiency approach mentioned in its 1996 annual report.HSBC opened its first offshore processing center in China in 1996 and by 2007 had more than 18,000 employees across Asia spanning ten (10) Asian countries. HSBC estimated that by transferring its back office processing to India and China it saved the organization approximately 30 million U. S dollars annually. Further savings were real ized in 2003 when the bank merged and consolidated HSBC and HSBC Finance’s technology service teams later leading to the offshoring of the HSBC Group Service Center creating another 67 million in annual savings.In total HSBC claims that offshoring provides the bank an estimated cost savings of over 100 million U. S dollars annually. Meanwhile HSBC took on more IT staff to support service improvement projects and online banking. Heavily investing in platforms and applications designed to extend or streamline the online process HSBC fully embraced ecommerce. Beginning in 1998 with their successful Y2K testing and implementation HSBC heavily invested in the internet as a means of reaching new customers and deepening current customer relationships.Some of the projects were internally innovated however, most were a product of strategic acquisitions and/or partnerships with other organizations HSBC is very focused on innovation the company has used its innovative focus to successfu lly leverage the power of the internet to reach customers around the world. To create the world’s most inclusive efficient internet portal the company has worked with several different organizations that could assist in furthering its digital capabilities Some examples of these partnerships are:.Working with Compaq to design an internet payment gateway, partnering with HTK to enable merchants to set up online store fronts, working with MasterCard to develop and launch Asia’s first electronic wallet, cooperating with IBM to develop multichannel banking services, teaming up with Sky digital satellite to launch the UK’s first television banking system, and finally a joint venture with Merrill Lynch to introduce online brokerage services. At the same time the bank was partnering with multiple organizations developing several technology offerings things were also being innovated internally.HSBC developed and delivered many value added products and services like launc hing mobile banking and secure net payments for merchants in 1999, the creation of Ibusinesscorporation. com and HSBC. com. HSBC. com which was designed to create a common presentation of all HSBC’s services at any time anywhere to any of its customers was the crown jewel of the technology strategy. Overall the company dedicated a large percentage of its IT budget time and focus on the development, expansion, functionality and inclusiveness of creating a comprehensive online presence.HSBC spent 164 million dollars on the website hsbc. com in 2001 alone. The internet strategy seemed to pay off for HSBC creating large gains in number of customers and transactions. Overall gains were seen in commercial and consumer banking with increases in customer numbers in both divisions. Overall the bank saw its customer number increase 24% with online transactions increasing a whopping 116%. however this massive push online left the company with 26 websites and over 1. 1 billion dollars in expenses.In contrast to the HSBC’s strategies for utilization of IT recourses Citicorp followed the diversified financial services model built on the belief that different financial service products should be conglomerated to balance earnings and to create less earnings volatility. The company believed it was more cost effective to cross sell financial products in one go than to sell them separately. Different than the wide corporate structure found within HSBC Citicorp only consists of three major business groups all primarily supported by standard corporate infrastructure. While both banks focused on lobal growth HSBC focused on innovation and leveraging the internet to reach current and potential customers Citi corps approach was that of growth, commonality, and local control. Unlike HSBC, Citigroup took an integrated approach to its IT governance worldwide. By using a combination of packaged and customized software to develop group wide platforms Citigroup enhanced the s trength of its extensive international branch network to facilitate knowledge exchange across borders. Since IT projects at Citi were often initiated with a local business unit typically they were designed with local solutions in mind.The only truly global requirement placed on the innovating branch were that the local system be capable of effectively and efficiently being linked with Citi groups existing system and that security arrangements could be made. The key for Citi was the consistent platform and the ability to share knowledge across space not necessarily that it was internet driven and deployable to the whole world. Also in stark contrast to the HSBC strategy of cost savings through outsourcing, Citigroup pursued IT outsourcing only in a very limited way and not for strategic initiatives.While HSBC was building strategic initiatives with numerous external companies Citigroup took on projects like the 750 million dollar project in the 90’s to integrate the banks 60,0 00 personal computer and 2,000 LAN’s worldwide into a common global network and system infrastructure. The power of its integrated technology platform would later be demonstrated by the rapid integration of the 750 branch CitiFinancial system By 2000 Citigroup had leveraged its strong common technology platform and its international branch presence to launch its own online presence, Citi on the net.Directly related to their standard technology and growth platforms by the end of the year 2000 Citigroup had over 800 million online accounts in an effort to deliver convenience and value to its clients. Citigroup created new internet units including e-commerce, e-business, and e-capital markets to empower the existing business lines while simultaneously creating an internet operating group to drive the corporate internet strategy and again use it to coordinate efforts across divisions. By 2002 Citi on the net had been replaced by â€Å"my citi. om† providing the platform ne cessary to allow the bank the ability to make online banking available in over 90 countries ultimately leading to processing over 39 million transactions around the world in rout to being named â€Å"best of the web 2003† The banking giants internally driven internet strategy seemed to culminate with the launch of Citibank direct in 2006 and nearly 10 billion dollars in deposits. Overall in my perception of the IT strategies of both Citi and HSBC their direction of IT investment does not appear to fit into one black or white strategy however appears more likely to exist on a continuum.I believe there are examples of both HSBC and CITI investing in IT as a way of cutting costs and improving their operational efficiencies. With HSBC one example of this is outsourcing. With regard to Citi one example is the focus on standard systems providing local solutions. Additionally, I believe both organizations also used technology effectively as strategies to entrench their competitive p ositions. HSBC as a platform to cost effectively expand its global reach without the costly build-out of constructing an extensive global brick and mortar branch network through the use of the internet.In contrast, for CITI to be able to provide local solutions by leveraging its global knowledge, services, and offerings to provide value added products and services to current and prospective clients. In closing not addressed directly in the article but appears to be relevant as I look at the different IT approaches taken by both Citi and HSBC is where they started. Both companies come from different backgrounds created in different environments for the purpose of serving different clients.Although eventually their worlds collided their roots seems quite different. I can’t help but wonder, to what degree were the different approach to types and amounts of investment in IT between the two global banking giants has to be attributed to (1) Different business strategy’s with each company recognizing its own path of least resistance to accomplish their organizations goals. (2) The best way to leverage the current asset base of each individual organization. 2. In your assessment, which one of the companies do you think was cleverer in its IT investments?Both organizations appear to have shown the ability to differentiate one’s organization through the use of technology when technology that can complement their overall business strategy comes available. For Citibank this availability arose through an increase in recourses by the organization; conversely, for HSBC through technological advancements made in the market place. My perception is that both companies utilized IT investments like a vehicle, to get from where they were to where they wanted to be.The numbers provided in the back of this report show the companies are strikingly similar in many ways despite their very different beginnings and historical decisions regarding investment in IT. Fiv e factors compared n the report are compiled below that both demonstrate their striking similarity but also provide clues to who at least for now is winning the battle for global banking clients. Category(2006)| Citi-Bank| HSBC| Leader| #of Employees| 325,000| 312,000| Citi-Bank| IT expenditures| 3762| 4810| Citibank| Net-Profit| 21538| 16358| Citi-Bank| Total Assets| 1,884,318| 1,712,627| Citi-Bank|Market Capitalization| 269. 1| 212| Citi-Bank| | ROA| 1. 14%| 0. 96%| By doing some basic calculations using the numbers above it is easy to see that as of the time of this report the company with the best history of performance was clearly Citi-Bank. Although total assets and number of employees are strikingly similar the difference in the organizations is clearly found in three areas. Net profit, IT expenditure’s, and market capitalization. ROA for HSBC is . 96% which signifies it is destroying shareholder capital by losing 4 cents for every dollar invested.Conversely, Citi-Bank with an ROA of 1. 14% is creating value by transforming every 1$ invested in the company into 1. 14 cents providing a 14% return annually. Another metric not common in finance but appears pertinent here would be an employee to IT expenditure’s ratio where HSBC spent $15,416. 67 per employee and Citi-Bank spent $11,575. 38. The second ratio that appears to point to an adjusted IT strategy for HSBC is a total asset to IT expenditure ratio in which again HSBC spends 28% of its total assets on. IT where Citibank again has a better ratio at 20% of its total assets.Neither of these last two ratios is very common but both appear to be where HSBC could attempt to close the Gap in financial performance between the two companies. Finally of note needs to be the difference in market cap Assuming both companies have a fairly equal amount of issued common equity the fact that Citi-Banks market cap is 57 billion dollars higher that HSBC demonstrates to me that when the marginal investor c ompares the perceived future performance comparing both companies current business plan investors believe with more confidence that Citi-Bank will generate I higher return on investment and stronger cash flows than will HSBC.Despite HSBC’s efforts to cut costs be on the forefront of banking innovation Citicorp clearly was able to leverage its vast global network of fixed assets in a standardized approach more successfully than HSBC was able to leverage the internet to increase its profitability through global expansion. In closing I again wonder if part of the increased performance Citicorp sees beyond that which is seen by HSBC is related to cultural bias Simple current consumer preference in the majority of the cultures in which both firms operate.In conclusion, the writer would like to briefly mention potential factors that came to mind while reading this article. Thinking outside the numbers part of me believes that although trends are less prevalent than they have been f or generations past, several groups of people, are particularly fond of being able to bank at a physical location. Some don’t believe in banking at all. Like the trail that amazon is blazing in the online retail market place online banking platforms are different than most people are used to.Change is often strange and sometimes difficult but if HSBC’s IT strategy is ever to pay off it must hope like amazon that as time passes if more people become comfortable with the idea of online banking their model may thrive. However, until that time unless it were to drastically change its business model and begin to invest in a global network of physical bank branches HSBC’s best strategy may be to stay the course of investing in driving customers more towards the feeling of convenience than perceived safety.