Portfolio Management Quize1

Quize 11. High Color Detergent is issuing new shares of stock which will trade on NASDAQ. If Sue purchases 300 of these shares, the trade will occur in which one of the following markets?   Primary 2. Wilson just placed an order with his broker to purchase 500 of the outstanding shares of GE. This purchase will occur in which one of the following markets?   Secondary 3. Hi-Tek Shoes is a private firm that has decided to issue shares of stock to the general public. This stock issue will be referred to as a(n): initial public offering 4. A firm that specializes in arranging financing for companies is called a(n): investment banking firm 5. The process of purchasing newly issued shares from the issuer and reselling those shares to the general public is called: underwriting 6. A public offering of securities which are offered first to current shareholders is called a(n): rights offer. 7. When a group of underwriters jointly work together to sell a new issue of securities, the underwriters form a(n): syndicate. 8. Which one of the following is the federal agency which regulates the financial markets in the U. S.? Securities and Exchange Commission 9.The document that must be prepared in order to receive approval for a stock offering is called a: prospectus. 10. Which one of the following transactions occurs in the primary market? sale of newly issued shares by the issuer to a shareholder 11. Debt securities promise __.I. a fixed stream of incomeII. a stream of income that is determined according to a specific formulaIII. a share in the profits of the issuing entity I or II only12. A fixed-income security is defined as a long-term debt obligation that pays scheduled fixed payments 13. Which one of the following is classified as a fixed-income security? -year U. S. Treasury security 14. Riverside Metals recently issued some debt that had an original maturity of nine months. This debt is best classified as a(n): money market instrument. Treasury bills are financial instruments issued by __to raise funds. the Federal Government 15. Money market securities are sometimes referred to as â€Å"cash equivalent† because they are safe and marketable. 16. Money Market securities are characterized by _. I. maturity less than one yearII. safety of the principal investmentIII. low rates of return I, II and III 17. Which of the following is not a money market security?Common stock18. Preferred stock is not a money market instrument.18. Money market instruments issued by a corporation are less liquid than those issued by the government.19. Which one of the following represents a residual ownership interest in the issuer? common stock20. An agreement that grants the owner the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell a specific asset at a specified price during a specified time period is called a(n) option contract.21. The value of a derivative security depends on the value of other related security.22. option contract is a derivative asset.23. An example of a derivative security is a call option on Intel stock23. A futures contract is an agreement: to exchange goods on a specified date in the future at a price that is agreed upon today.24. Great Lakes Farm agreed this morning to sell General Mills 25,000 bushels of wheat six months from now at a price per bushel of $9. 75. This is an exa mple of a:future contract.25. Uptown Jewelers purchased a futures contract on 200 ounces of gold to be exchanged 3-months from now. As the contract holder, Uptown Jewelers: will profit if the price of gold is higher three months from now.26. Which one of the following is the federal agency which regulates the financial markets in the U. S.? Securities and Exchange Commission27. A securities dealer is a(n): trader who buys and sells from his or her inventory.28. The SIPC: protects investors from missing assets when a brokerage firm closes.29. To be considered liquid, a security must be able to be sold quickly with little, if any, price concession.30. Which one of the following best describes a broker? intermediary who arranges trades between a buyer and a seller.31 The NASDAQ is the most important dealer market in the U. S. nd the NYSE is the most important auction market.32. The total dollar return on a share of stock is defined as the: capital gain or loss plus any dividend income3 3. One year ago, you purchased 400 shares of Southern Cotton at $38. 40 a share. During the past year, you received a total of $480 in dividends. Today, you sold your shares for $41. 10 a share. What is your total return on this investment? [$41. 10 – $38. 40 + ($480/400)]/$38. 40 = 10. 16 percent34. Todd purchased 600 shares of stock at a price of $68. 20 a share and received a dividend of $1. 42 per share. After six months, he resold the stock for $71. 0 a share. What was his total dollar return? 600 ? ($71. 30 – $68. 20 + $1. 42) = $2,712 ;35. Which one of the following is generally true concerning securities held in street name? The brokerage firm is the owner of record.36. The bid price is the price at which a dealer is willing to purchase a security.37. The ask price is the price at which a dealer is willing to sell a security.38. The difference between the price at which a dealer is willing to buy, and the price at which a dealer is willing to sell, is called th e bid-ask spread.39. You want to sell shares of stock at the current price.Which type of order should you place? Market40. You purchased XYZ stock at $50 per share. The stock is currently selling at $65. Your gains could be protected by placing a stop-loss order41. An order to sell that involves a preset trigger point is called a stop order.42. If an investor places a stop-loss order the stock will be sold if its price falls to the stipulated level. If an investor places a stop-buy order the stock will be bought if its price rises above the stipulated level.43. An order to buy shares of stock at a stated price or less is called a limit order.44. This morning, Josh sold 800 shares of stock that he did not own. This sale is referred to as a: short sale45. Which one of the following describes a short position? Selling a security that you do not own46. An investor with a long position in a security will make money: if the price of the security increases47. You short-sell 200 shares of T uckerton Trading Co. , now selling for $50 per share. What is your maximum possible loss? Unlimited48. You short-sell 200 shares of Tuckerton Trading Co. , now selling for $50 per share. What is your maximum possible gain ignoring transactions cost?Maximum gain=proceeds-minimum possible replacement cost=200($50)-200($0)=$10,000;49. The minimum equity that must be maintained at all times in a margin account is called the: maintenance margin50. Staci just used $6,000 of cash plus a $3,000 margin loan to purchase $9,000 worth of stock. This is the only transaction in her brokerage account. According to her account balance sheet, she now has account equity of: $6,000;51. Anita wants to buy $10,000 of securities in her margin account. Her advisor has informed her that she must pay a minimum of $7,000 in cash and maintain a minimum equity position of 30 percent.The initial margin requirement is 70 percent and the maintenance margin is 30 percent.52. What is the purpose of a margin call? t o demand funds to increase your margin position53. Sun Lee purchased 1,100 shares of Franklin Metals stock for $16. 80 a share. The stock was purchased with an initial margin of 65 percent. The maintenance margin is 30 percent. The stock is currently selling for $17. 60 a share. What is the minimum dollar amount of equity that he must have in this stock today to avoid a margin call? Minimum equity = 1,100 ? $17. 60 ? .30 = $5,808;54. You recently purchased 100 shares of stock at a cost per share of $23. 0. The initial margin requirement on this stock is 80 percent and the maintenance margin is 50 percent. The stock is currently valued at $17. 90 a share. What is your current margin position? Ignore margin interest. Margin loan = 100 ? $23. 80 ? (1 – . 80) = $476 Current stock value = 100 ? $17. 90 = $1,790Current equity = $1,790 – $476 = $1,314 Current margin = $1,314/$1,790 = 73. 41 percent;55. Ted is an engineer for True Tech and has just discovered a revolutionary m ethod for strengthening metals. He knows this knowledge will add value to True Tech's stock. Ted happens to mention this discovery and its value to his neighbor, Fred.Fred can be charged with insider trading if he: provides this information to a friend who will trade the stock and split the profits with him.56. Which one of the following had the highest average return for the period 1926 – 2009? small-company stocks57. You've borrowed $14,000 on margin to buy shares in Disney, which is now selling at $40 per share. Your account starts at the initial margin requirement of 50%. The maintenance margin is 46%. Two days later, the stock price falls to $38 per share Will you receive a margin call? NO How low can the price of Disney shares fall before you receive a margin call? (700P-$14000)/700P=0. 6 when P=$37. 04or lower ,58. Which one of the following is the federal agency which regulates the financial markets in the U. S.? Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)59. Over the lo ng term, which one of the following has historically had the LOWEST average annual rate of return? Long Term Government Bonds60. Which one of the following is the best definition of a money market instrument? debt issued by the government or a corporation that matures in one year or less61. Preferred stock is not a money market instrument62. Money market securities are sometimes referred to as â€Å"cash equivalent† because they are safe and marketable63. A fixed-income security is defined as: a long-term debt obligation that pays scheduled fixed payments.64. Liquidity RISK is defined as: Not being able to sell an investment conveniently and at a reasonable price. 6565. A financial asset that represents a claim on another financial asset is classified as a derivative asset.66. Uptown Jewelers purchased a futures contract on 200 ounces of gold to be exchanged 3-months from now. As the contract holder, Uptown Jewelerswill profit if the price of gold is higher three months from now.

Behind Mud Walls Paper

Modern India Behind Mud Walls Paper In order to understand India, one needs to understand its villages. Behind Mud Walls does a great job in providing a detailed background of an ordinary village life in India. Since seventy percent of Indians live in villages, it is important to learn about village lifestyle and the changes that take place in it. Only then one can learn about the cities because one needs to understand the relationship between the two in India. Behind Mud Walls provides the opportunity to examine a north Indian village from a non-Indian point of view; in other words, a non-biased point of view.Since the book is broken up into parts by years, it gives the reader a great way to examine the changes that take place in this village; it shows how it was then and how it is now. Karimpur in 1930 was very different from Karimpur in the 80’s and 90’s. Many changes were observed by Wisers and Susan Wadley, who writes the later chapters in the book. These changes w ere social, economic, educational, technological, political and cultural but most significant of these were social, and educational. The social changes with an emphasis on role of women, the slowing down of the Jajmani system and the rise in education will be the focus of this paper.What was Karimpur like in 1930? Women in Karimpur in late 1920s were very traditional. They had a purdah (covering of the face) on at all times and were dependent on males (husbands, father or brothers). They were uneducated and illiterate. They had limited movement outside the house and were usually tied to raising children and doing household work. They worked almost entirely in mud enclosures. Their days were spent largely in menial labor, ensuring that their family could subside on a day-to-day basis. Their days began at dawn, when they gathered water for their family and their daily tasks of cooking, brushing, and cleaning.They ground flour for bread. They milked the family's cow or buffalo. They pr epared the ovens or chulas for the day's cooking. They swept. They collected dung for fuel. They gathered vegetables from the fields. It is safe to say that these women lived entirely behind â€Å"mud walls†. (144). They were also not allowed to go to the fields by themselves to relieve themselves. (46). Moreover, a system called Jajmani was widespread in Karimpur when the Wisers first visited. It was basically a system that bounded upper castes to lower castes in the villages.There was exchange of goods and services between landowning higher castes and landless service castes. The relationship was to be permanent, hereditary and lower castes generally received grains against rendered services. Dhobis (washers), chamars (tanners), faqirs (beggars) dhanuks (midwives), sudras (lower caste), and bhangis (sweepers) were all treated in a degrading manner. (47). The upper caste people, the Brahmins, would not like when the Wisers’ children played with those of bhangis. A tou ch of a bhangi would bring pollution to the upper caste Brahmins since they carry human waste and clean the courtyards.The Brahmins dominated the village. They owned most of the land and also took part in religious rituals due to their priest roots. Therefore, the caste system was a major social structure in Karimpur. Every individual had to stay within their caste boundaries; everyone had a hereditary job to do. Two different castes could not marry and an upper caste could eat or drink anything offered by the lower caste. Even when the Wisers offered peanuts to the children, their parents refused to let them eat. Only food offered by Brahmins would be acceptable for other upper castes.Therefore, caste system played a huge role in the lives of people in Karimpur. Furthermore, education was very low in Karimpur in 1925. Both males and females could barely read or write. As a result, there were no technological developments and therefore, agricultural production was low. Lower educati on rate also meant that people strictly followed the caste system to keep order in the society. Another observation made by the Wisers during their first was that most village houses were made of mud and were called â€Å"kaccha† houses. An interesting relationship noticed by the Wisers was that of newly wed girls and their mother-in-laws.Mother-in-laws would keep an eye on their daughter-in-laws or â€Å"bahus. † These bahus would have to please their mother-in-laws and take care of the household and everyone living in the family or in this case joint-family where brothers and their families live together with their parents under one roof. Therefore, one can see that Karimpur described by the Wisers in 1930 was quite backward and orthodox. The next half of the paper will be focused on the changes that took place over the decades in Karimpur. What were the changes in the second half of the century when Wisers and Susan Wadley visited Karimpur?Firstly, the role of women had changed a little bit. Secondly, education had increased and more and more villagers had B. A. degrees and moved to cities to find work. Thirdly, technological changes had brought enormous agricultural growth in the farms. The rigid caste system had slowed down a little bit and the mutual relationship of Jajmani system had declined as well. Finally, the younger generation was more in touch with the world through cities and education, the lower castes had more access to land ownership and most of the mud houses were transformed into brick houses or â€Å"pakka† houses.The roles of women had started to change in the 60s and later as observed by Susan Wadley. The purdah declined except during ritual occasions. The dress style also changed. Head was less covered. They started to show more head and face unlike before. When women went out in the fields to work still wore long sleeve blouses and had their head covered. The ones who worked in their own courtyards or left their ho use briefly started wearing dhotis which was something shorter than saris and other traditional long sleeve garments that they wore. (193).This was a radical change. It really showed that times had changed and people were becoming a little more open-minded. The younger generation of women was far more educated than their mothers or sisters and also wore baggy pants (Panjabi suits) by 90s. At times they would refuse to help their female figures in preparing and collecting cow dung, calling it â€Å"dirty. † They no longer had to collect water for their families since the introduction of hand pumps in their courtyards. This made their job a lot easier. Women also experienced change in their work.Due to the decline in the jajmani system and male employment in the farms, women no longer worked on the farms. The decline in the jajmani system meant more opportunities for women. Female servants were more acceptable as household servants. The decline in the purdah also helped women s ince now they could get their own water without males, carry their own messages and pick their own flowers from the fields. (289). They also took part in Hindu rituals. At the same time, one can argue that the voice of women in a household declined. Females were excluded from farm work since men had moved to the cities for work.They were replaced by machines and pumps on the fields and farms, and traditionally employed women in caste-based jobs through the jajmani system were no longer employed. Therefore, the changes in the lives of women were both negative and positive although the changes in the levels of education in Karimpur definitely helped women. Education was beneficial to both men and women. Better opportunities for jobs and marriage increased education rates among men and women. Women were expected to be educated to train their future generations. An educated girl was a likely girl for a marriage proposal.In 1984, three schools were set up for both boys and girls. An asto nishing forty nine percent of boys attended school. That is a big percentage for a backward village like Karimpur. (291). Fifty seven percent of girls attended primary schools. (291). All these numbers aside, education was still a luxury not a privilege in Karimpur. It was only accessible to upper castes that had money and the poor could not afford the cost of books and clothes. It is also important to note that it was extremely difficult to pass the sciences in schools without proper tutoring. As a result, the spread and benefit of education remained low.Still, it was a crucial change because it did make life better for some of the people. Many Brahmins obtained B. A. and M. A. degrees and most were literate including women. Increased education for men meant more opportunities in the cities for work which meant more money to provide for families back in village. Those who stayed in villages chose to be intermediates between the Brahmins and the government officials in matters of th e village. Another reason why education was an important change for Karimpur was because it changed caste relationships. Education loosened the bonds of Brahmin dominance.Education brought knowledge and knowledge brought changes in caste relationships. Different lower castes were no longer tied to their jajmans or patrons. They were able to deal with banks, lawyers, doctors and government officials. There was a decline in the traditional jajmani system due to abundance of labor. The farmers no longer needed to maintain their workers when they could hire labor for a cheaper price. Wealthy farmers in the 80s did not need that many laborers. They had machines that took care of their daily work. Hand pumps were a great tool for rich farmers. (285).There were two new tractors in the village. As a result the whole relationship between the jajmans and their servants declined due to abundance of cheap labor and new technology in the farms. The jajmani system no longer provided services, wag e labor was more focused and employment networks were more focused and laborers were in constant demand. (283). Some lower castes were also able to raise their status in the society by changing their caste names. Scheduled or backward castes like the chamars and telis became jatavs and rathors, both subcastes of the Kshatriya. (262).This type of upward mobility shows that progress did take place and this is the type of mobility is portrayed in the sacred Hindu texts like the Vedas. The system of hereditary caste system was never propagated by any texts. Rather, a system based on meritocracy was promoted in ancient Sanskrit texts and it was good to see such changed in a small north Indian village. Thus, one can see many social changes in Karimpur starting in the 60s and lasting till the 90s. Other important changes that took place were the transformation of the kuccha houses into pakka houses. Pakka houses were no longer limited to Brahmins.Even a sweeper had a pakka house. (248). Ec onomic growth enabled people to buy bricks and build these new types of houses. Payments are done in rupees rather than grains due to cash economy. Jajmani system no longer controlled the exchange of goods. Agricultural production was booming due to technological changes and introduction of necessary materials by the government to increase production. Better seeds, more fertilizer and more irrigation were provided by the government. One can credit increased education for more interaction between the villagers and the government officials. 252). Crops other than grains were produced and more number of farmers from all castes planted more crops and vegetables unlike only the Brahmins forty years ago. Green revolution also brought tremendous change in agriculture along with introduction of pumped irrigation water. Family incomes increased for many castes and access to land ownership also increased for middle and lower castes. The dominant Brahmin influence declined over the years but t hey still had a huge presence in the village. Overall, Karimpur in 1920s was different from Karimpur in the second half of the century.The reason why it was different was because of the changes in the roles of women over the years, the decline in the caste and jajmani system, and increased education. These changes were tied to each other and a change in one system brought a change in another. Finally, Karimpur serves as a model for modern India; it shows how a socially orthodox and economically backward place can experience changes at all levels in the society and improve the lives of its people. Works Cited Wiser, Charlotte, William Wiser. Behind Mud Walls. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California, 2000.

Human Resource Development Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Human Resource Development - Assignment Example nd instructions, which would enable these individuals to achieve high level of knowledge, competence and skills for carrying out their works in an effective manner. (Holton and Baldwin, 2003; Velada and Caetano, 2007). Training involves learning process. However, there lies a difference in training and learning process. The training program is a teacher focused program, whereas the learning process is learner focused. In case of learning, the ultimate goal remains production of a learning process. In case of training, the ultimate goal is training the staffs within an organization. In case of learning, the learner plays an active role, whereas in case of training, the learner plays a passive role. Training plays an important role within an organization. There are various types of training needs within an organization. The training helps in the analysis or assessment in a broader concept and plays a number of roles. Organizational needs- The organization needs training and development programs to educate and increase the knowledge of their employees, which in turn strengthen the organizational goals, strategies and objectives. The training program is sometimes suggested as the best solution of meeting the business problems. Personal needs- The potential participants would achieve experience, knowledge and learning. The training increases the knowledge, skills and ability of the individuals and enhances them in improving their individual performances thereby improving the performance of the overall organization. Performance needs- If the employees are not performing up to the desired or established standards then the training and development programs helps in improving their level of performances. This tries to reduce the performance gap of the employees in an... This paper stresses that the organization needs training and development programs to educate and increase the knowledge of their employees, which in turn strengthen the organizational goals, strategies and objectives. The training program is sometimes suggested as the best solution of meeting the business problems. Contemporary training initiatives aim at linking the employers of the organizations with the skill brokers where these skills brokers would be offering independent and impartial advice to the organizations and match the type of training needs with the best suitable training providers in order to provide the best training and development programs to the employees. This essay makes a conclusion that training is a systematic modification of attitude and behavior of any individual by means of implementation of various learning programs, instructions and events, which would be enabling these individuals to achieve increased level of knowledge, competence and skills for performing their functions in an effective manner. It is very important for an organization to implement an effective training and development program for training and increasing the skills, knowledge and ability of its employees. The impact of training and development programs on the reaction, learning, behavior and results reflect the success or failure of such programs. The UK government has played an important role in supporting the training and development programs in the organization.

Derrida Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Derrida - Essay Example Further, Derrida asserts that â€Å"all of these aspects are linked with presence and more valued or treasured aspect than the other, which is connected with absence† (Derrida 33). Deconstruction theory presents the metaphysics of presence by locating its ideal binary oppositions and illustrating the speciousness of their order by refuting the potentiality of understanding the superior or powerful element of the hierarchy or order in the absence of its inferior or less powerful counterpart. Refuting an inner or intrinsic and absolute implication or meaning to one of the aspects of the order or hierarchy ‘diffarence’ is unraveled. In this case, Derrida asserts that difference refers to the perceptual sequence of contacts between existence or presence and absence. In this sense, an idea is constructed, understood, and located in terms of what it is not and self-efficient implication is never attained. It is important to note that Western language and thought have al ways been at the center of in determining absolute truth. This presents hurdles or limits on what humans can think or believe. It offers a platform for existence or being and for knowing (how people think). Deconstruction theory failed to identify if God plays a role in determining the absolute truth, which neglects the concepts of uncertainties. Instead, Derrida states that any concept of a fixed center was a structure or configuration of authority imposed on people by their past or by societal institutions (Silverman 44-45). Derrida’s deconstruction theory aimed to call for re-evaluation and re-assessment of all western ideas and values founded on the Kantian critique of human though or reason. Deconstruction principles were built on elemental oppositions, which all dialogue has to highlight if it aims to make reasonable arguments and sound decisions. This is because identity is perceived as constructs, which are in a position to generate meaning via the interplay of differ ence within a scheme of different signs (Derrida 111). Critique of post structuralism movement Post modernist philosophers such as Nietzsche believed that the earth is full of disorder or confusion and it has no objective or aim. Post structuralism refutes the concept of a literary text containing a solitary purpose or meaning or a single being or existence. Instead, post structuralism advocates that every person or reader establish a new and personal meaning, purpose, and being/existence for any given text. Post structuralism has been criticized for the failure to address questions from a realist perception. Post structuralism does little to explain the self-reflective celebration, which gives an individual the freedom to decide and choose any or all subject positions. Post structuralism dismisses the ability of people to learn and understand the world as an entirety on the basis that it is a contemptible effort to construct or constitute grand narratives (Besley 65-69). Derridian ideas reject these arguments and assert that people should be given opportunity to reason or think for themselves. Foucault and his views as a post structuralist and what he says about language or feminism Foucault based his arguments about post structuralism

Transnational Movements and Ideologies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Transnational Movements and Ideologies - Essay Example Civil unrest and internal conflicts threatens the calm in most Arab countries such as Syria, Egypt owing to disunity exerted by the activities of the Islamic movements, each of the Arab nations comprise of different ethnic and cultural values with unique tribal makeup. Each of these tribes has different preferences with regard to governance and community demands. As such, the groups form movements with unique goals and objectives regardless of the ideology adopted. The goals range from demand for various social freedoms such as speech, religion among others to national recognition. Most are the times that the movements are at war with each other following differences that emerge over supremacy. The major concern lies with the tension created among citizens resulting in clashes within the Arab states. The high levels of polarisation in the countries have seen loss of lives, destruction of property among other social and economic consequences. Civil unrest has been demonstrated in vari ous Arab countries such as Egypt, Libya, Syria following the wide spread Arab uprising. For instance, Syria is entangled in a civil war from January to April 2012 after mass protests seeking to establish political reforms. The evolution of Islam to a political front has seen growing radicalisation and extremism among the masses calling for reforms. This has been seen as the democratisation of the Arab world, which has deepened erosion of governance triggering the aforementioned Arab uprisings. These creates a concern among Arab states on the role of religion in politics and in an effort to separate the two, rifts emerge among those seeking to maintain the status quo and those seeking reforms. As such, the governance by the elite is threatened by the notion of a harmonious existence of Islam and democracy, which has seen different reactions to the same (Rubin 412). For instance, the government Turkey has been in the forefront to promote tolerance and address socio-economic issues such as unemployment. This is seen as a move to curb the radicalisation of transnational movements and the proliferation of related ideologies in the country. The extent of radicalisation, organisation, and funding of the transnational movements may see calls for independence. This is especially so with political groups that set up military organisation to assert their control over a region. As such, the affected country is faced with calls for cessation and recognition of independence of the regi on failure to which, rebellion and violence may result. The onset of the 2012 Tuareg Rebellion in Mali sought to emulate the Arab uprising, but resulted in a coup d'etat in March 2012 (BBC). The conflict has seen the rebel group declare independence from Mali and demand recognition in spite of rejection by the African Union and the European Union. This has seen sustained conflicts in the affected countries, and should independence be granted; other movements may emerge to claim

The case against hurting others Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The case against hurting others - Essay Example The focus is on the concept of â€Å"How would you like it if someone did that to you?† (Nagel, 1987. p. 64). The point emphasized by Nagel here is that a person should endeavor to step into the shoes of the other individual. Then the perspective of reality would become evident, and perhaps, the action could be avoided. He further argues that people fail to appreciate the viewpoint of the other person because their own orientation about the facts is not only specific, due to being a different person altogether . Kant on the other hand, almost refers to the doing of these acts as an act of duty, wherein a person would be internally compelled to undergo a task. He feels that it is important to take heed of situation as a consequence of one’s internal drive, instead somebody from the outer world forcing an action.  Nagel also tends to believes that the concept of majority is a more generalized concept, and cannot be left at the whims of individuals. Universal good, thoug h is not clearly defined, yet it exists as unison. It is only for a person to explore the same in appropriate conditions and circumstances, whereby the true inner persona of the individual will come out. In the context of hurting others, this is a very important stance, the fact remains, that of there is a concept of universal good, then a person should not harm others in the first instance. Therefore, he should make that realization earlier in, and should begin to establish the norms that would help him world.... Nagel also tends to believes that the concept of majority is a more generalized concept, and cannot be left at the whims of individuals. Universal good, though is not clearly defined, yet it exists as unison. It is only for a person to explore the same in appropriate conditions and circumstances, whereby the true inner persona of the individual will come out. In the context of hurting others, this is a very important stance, the fact remains, that of there is a concept of universal good, then a person should not harm others in the first instance. Therefore, he should make that realization earlier in, and should begin to establish the norms that would help him live appropriately in the world. The reality is that the integrity of the will is imperishable. In the perspective, the meaning can be inferred in the same line. The will alone can have no integrity - it has to be linked with man himself, as per Kant. Therefore, again extrapolating the fact that the mind is sure to dominate the proceedings of life, despite what course of actions are to be taken, the case against hurting people becomes clear. The soul as an entity can never destroy, as it is the true emblem of existence for man - his distinguishing factor. These factors give an intrinsic line of reasoning for the person who is about to or intends to harm somebody. When the established pattern of thought is already present, then the person will automatically restrain himself from doing the superfluous. The concept of uniformity of behavior and thought has always triggered the minds of people who want to dwell into the science of what humans may do in a particular scenario. However, it is interesting that

The Changing Interaction of Finance, Information and Technology Coursework

The Changing Interaction of Finance, Information and Technology - Coursework Example This has raised questions on the efficiency of the IT departments of companies in carrying out the requirements as stipulated in the act. There were also criticisms about the failure of SOX act in various aspects related to the IT. This paper discuss about the impact of S-OX act on the IT department and a review about the various aspects about the act. â€Å"IT supports the corporation’s drive to comply with SOX by securing and protecting financial data on the network.† (Networkinstruments.com, 2011) The Act requires the companies to impart the compliance process as an integrated business process. The Act also requires continuous risk management and also regular checks about the IT control measures that are put into place as per the Act. The act also put additional accountability on the officers or firm which attests that the companies’ financial reports are true and represents the present state of the firm. The relevant components for the S-OX are internal envir onment, Risk assessment, Control activities, Information and communication and Monitoring. (COSO framework) Sarbanes Oxley Act- Implementation and Impact upon IT departments In order to implement the act effectively, it is very crucial to keep the program cost effective and also sustainable. There should be a cost-effective process in place to provide a greater transparency into the infrastructure and control measures to assure the correctness of the financial reports. In order to keep a continuous track on the system it is very much important that all the processes must be automated and sustainable. When we try to understand the impact of S-OX on IT departments, we need to keep in mind that the act was primarily created for the detection of accounting fraud, make the higher management accountable for the malpractices if any in the organization. The IT comes into picture where it assists the financial practices undertaken in picture. Since all transactions would be recorded in the f ully computerized work environment and also all the audit processes would be recorded, the role of IT comes in. They are responsible for keeping a tab of all the transaction and audit and to retrieve these data when it is required. This essentially means that the pressure created on IT departments is not a direct result of the implementation of S-OX act, since the act is focussed on the accurate disclosure of the financial statements and making the people accountable for their actions. The pressure on the IT departments is coming from within the company as it is the only department which can realistically overview and keep a continuous track of the activities of a firm. â€Å"Companies are increasingly turning to technology in their Sarbanes-Oxley Act compliance efforts in order to automate internal controls or streamline their activities, according to new research and interviews last week with corporate executives.† (Hoffman, 2005) Involving IT would help to reduce the time and efforts that needed to create the compliance reports at quarterly and annually. This would also reduce the costs involved in the process. Benefits to IT department while adopting the Sarbanes Oxley Act The benefits of the Act cannot be limited as benefit to IT department alone. Since the positives would finally impact the performance of the company.

Academic English Writing in Bioscience Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Academic English Writing in Bioscience - Essay Example This paper seeks to address both good and bad factors that have arisen from organ donation. The body organs that are usually considered for donation include hearts, kidneys, lungs, livers, and the pancreas. Body tissues that are donated include skin, corneas, connective tissues, bone, and blood vessels. According to (Tilney, 2003:137), â€Å"the donation of a liver, heart, pancreas, and lungs can only take place if the donor is brain dead. The donation of body tissues like skin, bone, and corneas, on the other hand, can take place in spite of age as well as with any fatal outcome.† In the last decade, there are some factors that have increased the number of organ transplant that have been successfully carried out. These include: 3) The creation of improved methods for the maintenance of donor organs after their surgical removal. According to (Bramstedt and Down, 2011:61), there was a five percent increase in the total number of organ transplants carried out in 2010 in the United Kingdom compared to the previous year. This amounted to 3706 people receiving new organs. More transplant centres were also started in the major hospitals. According to (Bramstedt and Down, 2011:94) doctors felt more prepared to take on additional transplant cases because of the improvement of technologies that preserve the state of the organs when in transit to the recipient. On one hand, organ donation gives another person who was close to death a chance to live. Supporters of organ transplants point out that extending life to another person is the noblest thing that any human can do. On the other hand, as (Schwartz, 2005:58) states, the opponents of organ donation have in the past pointed out that organ donation operations are fraught with risks for the donor. This is not something that is often spoken about. According to (Schwartz, 2005:76), â€Å"as a half of all liver donors usually have to deal with complications like more surgical

Harlem Renaissance Essay Example for Free

Harlem Renaissance Essay I. Introduction The Atlantic slave trade caused the large movement of Africans across different parts of the world largely in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. This African Diaspora brought about eleven million of black people in the New World (P. Larson. â€Å"Reconsidering Trauma, Identity, and the African Diaspora: Enslavement and Historical Memory in Nineteenth-Century Highland Madagascar†). The descendants of those that were brought in the Americas, chiefly those in the United States working as slaves in the south, later experienced another diaspora: moving from the south to the north to escape the hardships brought about by intense racial discrimination. A large portion had settled in the city of Harlem, New York City which opened up a surge of excellent creative works done by blacks and became in vogue for some time. This period came to be known as the Harlem Renaissance, also variously known as the New Negro Movement, or the New Negro Renaissance. This was a period of outstanding creativity expressed in visual arts, writings, and music during this large movement of black population, wherein the African-American Diaspora has moved into larger cities. It changed the character of black American artworks, from conventional imitations of white artists to sophisticated explorations and expressions of black life and culture that revealed and stimulated a new confidence and racial pride. The movement centered in the vast black ghetto of Harlem, in New York City, thus the name of the movement. Harlem became the place of gathering for aspiring black artists, writers, and musicians, sharing their experiences and providing mutual encouragement for one another. The term Harlem â€Å"Renaissance† is a misnomer. If measured by quantity alone, it was more a birth than a â€Å"rebirth†, for never before had so many black Americans produced so much literary, artistic, and scholarly material at the same time. If measured by quality, however, it was actually a continuum, the quickening of a lively stream fed earlier by the important works of poet Paul Laurence Dunbar, novelist and short story writer Charles W. Chestnutt, poet and novelist Hames Weldon Johnson and the essays of Du Bois. The Harlem Renaissance created a significant breakthrough, wherein it marked the first time wherein literary and artistic works done by African Americans gained in national attention and interest. Doors of opportunities were opened for such works to be publicized and presented to the general public, which before were not possible. Although its main achievement is found primarily in literature, it also bore the great African-American works in politics and other creative mediums such as visual art, music, and theater that explored different aspects of black American life (R. Twombly. â€Å"Harlem Renaissance†). II. Background and Discussion During the early part of the 1900s, Black Nationalism and racial consciousness began to emerge particularly during the 1920’s. One key factor that helped this development was the surfacing of the black middle class, which in turn were brought about by the increasing number of educated blacks who had found employment opportunities and a certain degree of economic advancement after the American Civil War (â€Å"Harlem Renaissance†). During World War I, thousands of black people left the depressed rural South for jobs in northern defense plants. Known as the Great Migration, more African Americans established themselves in cities such as Harlem, in New York City. They were socially conscious, and became a center of political and cultural development of the black Americans. This population created racial tensions over housings and employment that resulted in increased black militancy about rights, including vigorous agitation by the national Association for the Advancement of colored People (NAACP) and other civil rights organizations. Foremost for this black movement’s agenda, which was expressed in various mediums, is to clamor for racial equality. Championing the cause were black intellectuals W.E. B. Du Bois and Alain Locke. White responses to these developments were both negative and positive. The Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacist groups reached their peak of northern popularity during the 1920’s. At the same time unprecedented white interest in racial maters created a large audience for black authors who began to settle in the district of New York City known as Harlem. Like other black ghettoes, Harlem was a new, untapped source of themes and materials, which partially accounts for its popularity among artists and intellectuals, but unlike other ghettoes it was a newly constructed, fashionable, residential section. Functioning as a kind of black mecca, Harlem’s excellent housing, its prestige, excitement, and cosmopolitan flavor, attracted a black middle class from which sprang its artistic and literary set. A. General Characteristics Not all works during this movement is militant in nature. However, participants and contributors in the Renaissance were intensely race-conscious, proud of their heritage of being black, and much in love with their community. Most of them, some more subtly than others, criticized racial exploitation. Partly as a tribute to their achievements and partly as a reflection of their racial self-awareness, the Renaissance members were collectively called â€Å"New Negroes†, also indicating that they had replaced the (largely white created) literary image of the comic, pathetic plantation Negro with the proud, busy, independent black man of the northern city. The â€Å"New Negroes† were generally integrationists, optimistically interpreting their own individual successes as harbingers of improvement in race relations. Acceptance from Harpers, Harcourt, Brace, Viking, Boni Livewright, Knopf, and other front-line publishers began coming through quick succession, boosting more optimism among African-American contributors of the Harlem Renaissance. Rather than depicting a new movement of style, the art during the Harlem Renaissance is united by their common aspiration of depicting and expressing in artistic form the African-American psyche and life. Common characteristics can be found among such works such as the birth of racial pride among black Americans. This called for tracing its roots and origin by taking attention and interest to the life of blacks primarily in Africa and South America. Also, such strong social and racial consciousness brought a strong desire for equality in the American society, both socially and politically. But one of the most common and significant characteristic of the Harlem Renaissance was the abundant production of a variety of creative expressions. Diversity was the main distinctive quality, brought about by an experimental spirit of the movement such as in music which ranged from blues, jazz, to orchestra music. B. Primary Artist of the Harlem Renaissance:   Aaron Douglas (1898-1979) The celebrated artist of the Harlem Renaissance was Aaron Douglas, who chose to depict the New Negro Movement through African images which bore â€Å"primitive† techniques: paintings in geometric shapes, flat, and rugged edges. In his works, Douglas wanted the viewers to know and recognize the African-American identity. As such, Aaron Douglas is often referred to as the â€Å"Father of African American Art†. Born in Topeka, Kansas, Douglas was able to finish his B.A degree. Moving to Harlem in 1925, Aaron immediately set to work, creating illustrations for prominent magazines of the Harlem Renaissance. Douglas was influenced in his modernist style under the tutelage of German artist Winold Reiss, a style which marked most of his celebrated works and incorporating both African and Egyptian strokes of illustration and design. It was Reis who encouraged Douglas to take African design into his works which became his trademark (â€Å"The Harlem Renaissance: Aaron Douglas†). Such manner of African â€Å"primitive† style caught the attention of the main proponents of the Harlem Renaissance, namely W.E.B. Dubois and Alain Locke who found Douglas’ works as an appropriate embodiment of the African-American heritage. They were encouraging young artists to depict their African legacy through their artworks. Even though at a time when DuBois stilled considered Henry Tanner more important, Douglas has fairly established a reputation as the leading visual artist of his time. Harlem Renaissance painters are united by the desire to promote and portray the life and condition of blacks, particularly African-Americans. However, at this point the similarity ends. Harlem Renaissance artworks are as varied in style as the artists themselves. Although like Douglas, most painters of this period received formal trainings and as such, their style and strokes are no different from other non-black artists. What only separate the artists of the Harlem Renaissance from others are their themes and subjects. III. Conclusion A. Ending and Significance As a conclusion, one of the strengths of the Harlem Renaissance was also a serious weakness. Because they were dependent on white patrons and viewers for popularity, black artists were not fully free to explore the mechanisms that perpetrated racial injustice, nor could they propose solutions unacceptable to whites. Furthermore, when the Great Depression dominated American life during the 1930’s, the whites, who had been the bulk of the Renaissance audience, concentrated on economics and politics, oblivious to black American suffering. American arts and letters took up new themes, and although the best artists continued to work, they ultimately lost popularity. The Great Depression drove many black artists to scatter; and were mostly forced to leave New York or to take other jobs to tide them over the hard times. Creativity was drowned by necessity. Nevertheless, despite its many weaknesses and disadvantages, the Harlem Renaissance was a milestone in black American culture and the basis for later achievements.

Wal-Mart Organizational Structure Paper Essay Example for Free

Wal-Mart Organizational Structure Paper Essay As an organization Wal-Mart has grown into a global and multimillion dollar company in America and around the world. They have been at the top of the list for the fortune and global 500 for years. They make big headlines both good and bad. They are in the United Kingdom, China, and Brazil, and all over the world. Wal-Mart started its global market in 1991, where they opened up a store in Mexico City. The profits were not that good at the beginning because they opened the store using plans and strategies they use in the United States. Those internal and external factors in globalization affected the four functions of management such as planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. It was a learning experience for the organization and they had to assemble different plans for more international stores. When we think of technology in companies like Wal-mart, we think of marketing technology. With marketing technology, Wal-mart uses all functions of management. These functions had to be planned, organized, controlled, and their managers have to take the lead to convince or motivate the employees to carry out the marketing strategies in order for them to be effective. For example, anybody can market a sale in their stores, but if it is not planned, organized, or controlled, the store will not meet the goals, which can include an increase in sales, or an increase in the amount of customers coming into the businesses. When Wal-mart first started their business, they were clothing, small appliances, and home goods type of business. Through the years of their technology innovation, they saw how they can benefit from expanding their sales to food, pharmacy, sporting goods, and even an auto center. As they moved forward, they brought in private banks, eye care centers, nail salons, hair salons, and even a place for professional photos. Their careful planning and organizing helped them to become one of the largest retail stores not only in America but also nation-wide. Their strategies to make this happen were very successful because of the four function of management working well when they made these changes. Wal-mart is a perfect example of the way the four functions of management can work. Not only work but also work effectively with organized planning, controlling the needed changes, and acquiring the right management in place to take the needed charge for it all to come together. Without technology and the four functions of management, Wal-mart would not be the successful business it is today. There are many internal and external factors that affect functions of management. When we speak of Diversity, which is a variety or range of different things, and we look at the Planning, organizing, directing, and controlling functions of management. An organization may look at hiring different ethnic backgrounds, ages, genders as well as focus on offering different types of services within the organization. Meeting the needs of the community will be very important for business to grow; therefore bi-lingual staff will be a plus. Store location is a keen factor as well, so an organization may have greater opportunity in a location where there is no competition. Advertisement will come into play when organizing. What types of advertisements to use will have to be decided upon. Billboards, TV commercials, newspaper inserts, English/Spanish, or even flyers may be considered. There are also sales papers in every entrance of every store for customers to look through as they shop. The set-up of the store also falls under organizing, figuring out the layout of items and additional services like urgent care centers or nail spas. Directing and Controlling of an organization will depend mostly upon management. Policies will be set on ways to encourage, motivate, and train employees. According to the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, â€Å"Organizations need to make cultures that allow workers from various fields to succeed.† An organization needs to have policies in place that provide opportunity for everyone to improve. Targeting customers from different ethnicities and age are important as well as offering an array of product, designating adequate handicap parking spots, shopping carts, and motorized scooters. Customer surveys and employee job performance reviews are also a part of Controlling. The ethics function will focus on the moral principles that govern a group’s behavior. Initially during planning, a company may be sure that items not appropriate for children are locked away, such as explicit CD’s or weapons. When organizing, customers are more likely to shop at a store where the staff is courtesy, kind, respectful, and helpful. The Directing and Controlling functions are monitored more so by management to ensure that policies are adhered to, and tracked for compliance. Excellent customer service will be a focus because happy and satisfied customers are return customers. Although as consumers, this is an area that many stores are losing their focus on. In Business Ethics: The Law of Rules, the author states â€Å"Rules have the greatest impact when they cause people to behave differently than they would have behaved in the absence of the rule.† This would mean that if there is a policy in place for monetary incentives for the employee with the most customer service nominations, and more employees are trying to obtain the incentive, the â€Å"great impact† will be that more employees are exuding excellent customer service and more often. Though there are many other stores that offer the same items as Wal-Mart such as Target, K-Mart, Sams, owned by the same person. Customers like Wal-mart better because of the great prices and can do more at this one location; they can at the other similar stores. In conclusion, Wal-Mart is still the leading organizational business to this day, mixing the good with the bad situations that come about. There are many internal and external factors that affect Wal-Mart, globally, technically, and ethically. Diversity and innovation also play roles in leadership and management. The reason I have chosen Wal-Mart as my topic for this assignment is that it is a great organization to research and discuss because of its popularity. Most of the family shopping is done at the local Wal-Mart. Clothing, Groceries, household items, pet supplies, and even my oil changes on the family car are done at Wal-Mart. After doing research I realized the effect that legal issues, ethics, and corporate social responsibility have on management planning. These are the reasons Wal-Mart has been at the top of the list for the fortune and global 500 for years. REFERNCES Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory: Oct2010, vol. 20 Issue 4 p 867-886, 20p Authors: Pitts, David W Heckling, Alisa Hawes, Daniel Melton, Erin Business Ethics: The Law of Rules Ã…  Ã„ eulovs, D., Gaile-Sarkane, E. (2011). E-MARKETING FOR A COMPANY: EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL INFLUENCE. Economics Management, 16947-953.

A study on Fraud prevention and Detection

A study on Fraud prevention and Detection The aim of this writing is to present how fraud is defined today, why fraud prevention and detection is global concern and introduce main means of detecting and preventing fraud. It can be seen that fraud can range from small employee theft, fruitless behaviour, embezzlement of company`s assets and fraudulent financial reporting. This kind of actions can have strong adverse effect on company`s market value, reputation and it reduces company`s power to achieve its strategic objectives, etc. Lately, numerous cases that found themselves in limelight of public attention, such as Enron and WorldCom, sensitized everyones awareness about the effect of fraudulent and deceptive reporting. Therefore, large number of companies started to be more proactive in taking serious measures to prevent and detect its occurrence. The jeopardy of fraud can be minimized through effective combination of prevention, deterrence and detection measures. As it will be described in more detail in the rest of this paper, fraud can be very hard to detect. As means of detection are becoming more sophisticated, so do the ways of committing fraud. For this very reason every company should strongly emphasise fraud prevention, which can definitely reduce chances for fraud to take place, and fraud detection, which can create atmosphere at work that fraud will be detected and committers will be punished. Moreover, costs for fraud prevention are less expensive than the time and money needed for fraud detection and investigation. Definition Defining fraud can be harder than it seems. It is a term that can be heard very often in everyday life. Though, what is meant by fraud in business world can be somewhat different. Finding consistent meaning and precise definition of fraud is crucial for understanding it. For this reason a few legal definitions of what is considered by fraud will be presented. In UK fraud is defined in Fraud Act form 2006. In explanatory notes to Fraud Act 2006, Chapter 35 it can be seen that there are several ways fraud can be committed, such as: by false representation (person must make dishonest and false representation with clear intention to gain or cause loss to other party), by failing to disclose information (failing to disclose an important information to another person to which you have legal duty to disclose it, is considered as fraud), by abuse of position (abusing privileged position, where by virtue of this position a person is expected to protect another`s financial interest and do not act against those intersperses), by gaining or losing property dishonestly (whether material or intellectual), possession of items for use in fraud, making or supplying articles for use in fraud (for example manufacturing machines for false money making), by participating in fraudulent business carried out on by sole trader (fraudulent trading for under the companies legislation), by taking part in fraudulent business carried on by a company, obtaining service dishonestly (for example by avoiding payment) and liability of company officers for offences by company (if a person has specific corporate role for which is responsible, it usually applies to directors, managers, etc). In USA there are numerous state and federal laws which are regulating fraud in number of areas, such as consumer fraud, insurance fraud, corporate fraud, etc. Summary of what is generally perceived as fraud leads one to conclude that there are some similarities with fraud definition in UK by Fraud Act 2006. In both cases there must be purposive misinterpretation of facts made by one, fully aware party in order to cause injury or damage (material, intellectual, etc.) to other party. Fraud of failing to disclose information in U.S. is interpreted as omission or `purposive failure to state material facts, which nondisclosure makes other statement misleading` (www.uslegal.com) Moreover, in Canada fraud is classified as criminal offence. In Canada`s Criminal Code, Article 380 (1) and 380 (2) it is stated clearly that fraud is considered to be any fraudulent behaviour designed to manipulate other party, so as this party will give something of value to him/her by means of lying purposively misleading the second party although fully aware of falseness of that act hiding a fact from the other part which may have prevented the party to suffer any kind of loss or damage. Additionally, `every one who, by deceit, falsehood or other fraudulent means, whether or not it is a false pretence within the meaning of this Act, defrauds the public or any person, whether ascertained or not, of any property, money or valuable security or any service (or) with intent to defraud, affects the public market price of stocks, shares, merchandise or anything that is offered for sale to the public` Canada`s Criminal Code, Article 380 (1). Contemporary researchers (Weirich and Reinstein, 2000; Albrecht et al., 1994, 1995) define fraud as intentional deception, stealing and cheating investors, creditors, public, government bodies, etc. Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS) No. 82 identifies two separate fraud types: Fraudulent financial reporting or management fraud (managers try to report inflated profit, overstates assets and revenues or understate expenses and liabilities with intention to modify financial statements) and Misappropriation of assets or employee fraud (employees steal money or other companies belongings). This statement also points out different fraud schemes such as employee embezzlement, management fraud, investment scams, vendor fraud, customer fraud, and miscellaneous fraud. However, it can be concluded that though these countries have similar definitions of what fraudulent activities are considered to be, there are substantial differences. Businesses operating in different countries, especially multinational companies, must be aware of these differences, acts and statements as they are the one in greatest danger suffering from not thoroughly knowing them. Causes associated with individuals committing fraud Fraud Triangle Before explaining main methods and bodies within company responsible for prevention and detection of fraud, psychological factors that might influence the behaviour of fraud committers must be mentioned. It is suggested (Moyes and Hasan, 1996; Hernan, 2008) that the best way of fraud prevention is understanding what main drivers of fraud are. The three following drivers are most commonly known as fraud triangle. Need there are numerous types of financial pressure, gambling habits or maybe unreasonably high expectations of high returns that create enough pressure for management to commit financial statement fraud. Some warning signs of pressure in organization and among employees could be discovered by internal control questionnaires, interview with managers, surveys or communication with employees. Opportunity people often see opportunity to commit fraud when internal control system in organization is weak. Internal auditors and managers should from time to time test the effectiveness of various types of control in order to reduce opportunities for fraud. Justification the third component of fraud triangle is rationalization for fraudulent activity. There are a lot of different explanations and justifications of fraudulent activity. Some fraudsters concludes that they did not get a deserved promotion and want to make things right on their own. Others did not get deserved bonuses at the yearend or they rationalize their act as just borrowing from the company. The risk is higher in companies with poor management structure and unclear bonus system. Hernan (2008) suggests evaluation of management competences, objectivity and transparency in order to identify and spot on time fraud risks. If management, internal control or any other entity in a company, which duty is fraud prevention and detection, is aware of these factors, then that entity will certainly be more effective in developing mechanisms of fraud detection and punishment The Cost of Fraud Before any prevention and detection method or entity within a company is discussed the cost of fraud must be explained as only then when we realise how big damage fraud can cause, we are able to truly understand significance of internal controls, audit committee, management, internal auditors, independent auditors and certified fraud examiners. Fraud is a global problem affecting organizations of all types and sizes. According to the Association of Certified fraud examiners (ACFE) estimates that US companies loose approximately 5% of their annual revenues to fraud. Majority of frauds are detected by tips or accidently. The most frequently type of fraud are: asset misappropriation (91,5% of reported frauds), corruption accounts for 30,8% and financial statements fraud accounts for 10,6% ,with median loss estimated at 2 million dollars. Most recent large fraudulent schemes were Enron (63 billion dollars in assets) and WorldCom (107 billion dollars in assets) were investors lose billions of dollars. According to Adams et al. (2006), the greatest financial impact of fraud is in small firms and businesses. The loss of 7% of revenues (estimated by ACFE) is also significant for large companies but small companies will probably be out of business because of it. On the other hand, when fraud occurs companies could suffer from damage of brand and reputation. Stakeholders could see that as an early warning sign. Big bills caused by fraud are almost never paid by committers, but unfortunately, by innocent parties such as consumers, insurance companies etc. This just amplifies opening statement how important job of bodies in charge of fraud detection and prevention is. Fraud prevention and detection Many authors (Mclnnes and Stevenson 1997, Adams et al 2006, Hernan 2008, Grambling et al 2009) suggests that prevention of fraud is the most cost-effective way to deal with possible financial and reputation loss. For all of the reasons mentioned in previous sections of this work it is crucial for every company to develop mechanism for effective detection and prevention of fraud. Statement on Auditing Standards No. 99 by AICPA (2002) suggest that there should be a body within a company with appropriate overight function. Oversight function can take many forms such as audit committee, board of directors etc. Measures this entities can implement are divided into three categories: create atmosphere of honesty and high ethics; evaluate the risks of fraud and implement adequate processes, procedures, and controls necessary to reduce the risks and the opportunities for fraud develop an appropriate oversight process The pivotal role in the process has the companies CEO. Although the management is responsible for implementing these activities, without CEOs support, this process is likely to be successful. In the oversight process specific companys entity has specific role in preventing and detecting fraud. The most important entities will now be discussed and their role will be explained. Culture of honesty and high ethics Every organization should posses a set of core values and nurture culture of honesty and high ethics. This set of values is often involved in companys code of conduct which has aim to guide employees in everyday activities (often include topics like ethics, confidentiality, conflicts of interests etc.). Management must show to employees through their actions that dishonest or unethical behaviour will not be tolerated. It is also important for management to create: a positive workplace environment. For example, if employees work in bad work environment, the chances of committing fraud against a company are greater To hire and promote appropriate employees Provide training to new employees and introduce them with code of conduct Require from employees to annually sign code of conduct and to write about possible breaking of code of conduct If fraud occurs in organization, the appropriate steps should be taken to examine all aspects of fraud and to improve existing internal controls Implement and Monitor Appropriate Internal Controls As mentioned before in work, people often see opportunity to commit fraud when internal control system in organization is weak. That is the main reason why organization should be put more effort to minimize fraud opportunities. According to AICPA (2002) some risks are inherent within the environment of the company, but large number of them can be most can be discovered with a proper internal control system. One process for assessment of fraud risk takes place; the company can recognize controls, processes and other procedures that are crucial for reducing identified risks. Committee of Sponsoring Organizations (COSO) report of the Treadway Commission states that effective internal control should include: a well-developed control environment an effective and secure information system, appropriate control and monitoring activities. Information technology plays pivotal role in operations and transactions over information generated by computers. For this reason management need to implement and sustain proper controls (automated or manual). Especially, management is obliged to assess whether internal controls have been implemented in those areas where high risk of fraud exists and in entities where financial reports are processed. Reporting of fraudulent activities can be going on temporary basis, hence management should evaluate internal controls responsible for short term financial reporting. The institute for fraud prevention in 2007 mentioned that upper level management is usually involved in fraudulent financial reporting by overriding internal controls involved in controlling the process that fraudulent financial reporting by upper-level management typically involves override of internal controls within the financial reporting process. Because management has the ability to override controls the need for a strong value system and a culture of ethical financial reporting becomes more important. This helps create an environment in which other employees will decline to participate in committing a fraud and will use established communication procedures to report any requests to commit wrongdoing. The potential for management override also increases the need for appropriate oversight measures by the board of directors or audit committee which will be discussed in the following section. Fraudulent financial reporting by lower levels of management and employees may be detected by appropriate monitoring controls, such as having higher-level managers review and evaluate the financial results reported by individual operating units or subsidiaries. Unusual fluctuations in results or the lack of expected fluctuations may indicate potential manipulation by some department managers or employees. DEVELOP AN APPROPRIATE OVERSIGHT PROCESS After implementation of code of conduct, core values and internal control process into organization, management should also develop an appropriate oversight process to overlook internal controls and reduce as much as possible risk of fraud. The oversight process contains management, internal auditors, audit committee, independent auditors and certified fraud examiners. Audit Committee or Board of Directors Gramling et al. (2009) in his work argue that audit committee is critical element of internal controls and have important stewardship responsibility to shareholders. Also he cited former SEC chairman Arthur Levitt who described audit committee as one of the most reliable guardians of the public interest ( Gramling et al.,2009,p.24). According to research taken by Cohen et al.(2009), audit committee effectiveness has been improved since Sarbanes-Oxley act of 2002. From auditors perspective, audit committee has enough expertise to identify main risks and oversee internal controls. It is crucial that audit committee members be independent of management to provide oversight and comply with regulations. This could be a problem especially in smaller companies. Also smaller companies facing with another problem- How to find and recruit quality and qualified members for audit committee. AICPA(2005) suggested to audit committee to consider periodical meetings with representatives from each of the above mentioned groups (internal auditors,external auditors etc.) to discuss any matter could affect the financial reporting process and increase the risk of fraud. The main duties of audit committee should be to: evaluate managements identification of fraud risks and implementation of antifraud measures. Audit committee can by active oversight support management in implementation of appropriate fraud prevention measures. The final aim is better protection of all stakeholders. The Report of the NACD Blue Ribbon Commission on the Audit Committee (2000) emphasized the importance of role which audit committee plays in helping the board of directors in oversight duties, with regard to companys financial reporting processes and internal control systems. When taking the oversight responsibility, the audit committee must take care not to override managements control responsibilities. Therefore, they should have a good communication with internal and external auditors and may consider to review from time to time firm`s reported information with forecasted ones and industry averages as well. In addition to this SAS 60 in AICPA (2002) argues that communication with external auditors could improve strength of the firms internal control and give higher potential to deal with fraudulent financial reporting 10 See Statement on Auditing Standards No. 60, Communication of Internal Control Related Matters Noted in an Audit (AICPA, Professional Standards, vol. 1, AU sec. 325), and SAS No. 61, Communications With Audit Committees (AICPA, Professional Standards, vol. 1, AU sec. 380), as amended. Audit committee, as part of their oversight duties, should try to motivate management to encourage all employees to report everything that looks like unethical behaviour, fraud, or any violations of the code of conduct. The committee should then receive periodic reports from management and employees, describing the nature of any possible unethical behaviour. Report of the NACD Best Practices Council (1998) suggests that if senior management is involved in fraud (according to Deloitte survey 2008, which is the case in 68 per cent of all financial statement fraud), next management level is very likely to be cognizant of it. Hence, it would be recommended that audit committee has an open communication with one or two levels of management under senior executives. In this way they could take part in fraud identification at the top positions of the organization. Usually, the audit committee has the power to investigate all suspicious activities that catch their attention and within the realm of their responsibilities. They could also benefit from assistance of accounting and professional advisors. All committee members must be educated about finances and have at least one expert in that field. Management Mclnnes and Stevenson (1997) argue that according to statements in SAS 110 management is responsible for the prevention and detection of fraud. Also Cadbury committee (1992) requires from directors to report on effectiveness of a companys internal control system. On the other hand, Kranacher and Stern- Cpa journal argue that despite the responsibility for preventing fraud lies on management of company, auditors should be also prepared to detect fraud. Authors underpin their statement with presentation of SAS 99-Consideration of fraud in financial statements, which set new fraud standards for auditors. It requires from auditors to discuss with management about possible frauds in organization and to be aware of risk that fraud may occur and be material for financial statements. The main concerns about fraud prevention could be data presented from The institute for fraud prevention in 2007 that executive directors (CEO and CFO) could deceive auditors and audit committee by providing false information. Their analysis further indicates that in 21% of the financial statements fraud cases, external auditors were named as participants. Also in 40% of companies where fraud took place, board members were participants. This can be significant obstacle in effective fraud detection. Similar evidences could be seen from Deloittes survey taken in 2008 about financial statement fraud. CEO, CFO and controller of the company were involved in 68% of individuals who committed financial statement fraud. Other members of management were involved in 24% of all financial statement fraud. That survey can give us a lot of interesting data about financial statement fraud. For example, most common fraud schemes are revenue recognition (38%, especially recording of fictitious revenue), manipulation of expenses (12%) , improper disclosures (12%) and manipulation of liabilities and assets etc. The financial fraud schemes are most common in industries like telecommunications, technology, media and entertainment. The average duration of fraud schemes has been seven years in 2008 and has increasing trend. Responsibility of management is to supervise the employees` activities. They typically do that by implementing and montiroing all control means previously mentioned. Management is also able to commence, take part in, or direct means against fraudulent acts. Audit committee is responsible (if there is no audit committee the board of directors is in charge) to supervise activities of senior managers and think about risks that fraudulent financial reporting brings. Mclnnes and Stevenson (1997) in their work conclude that although general public perceive external auditors as strongest defensive against corporate fraud that is not their primary objective. Board of directors have a duty to safeguard the assets of their companies and to report on the effectiveness of their companies internal control system (section 404 of SOX). The most effective way of implementation of measure for reducing wrongdoing is to establish them on a range of core values that could be embraced by the company. These values consist of important key principles that have the potential to guide all employees` actions. Then this values could be taken a step further and a platform for detailed code of conduct could be forms. Companys code should entail specific descriptions about what is permitted and what is prohibited. At the end management must be clear in stating that all employee`s will be hold accountable in the company`s code of conduct. Also Mclnnes and Stevenson (1997) argue that board of directors are responsible for prevention and detection of fraudulent activities by others in the company, but on the other hand it is not clear who has a legal responsibility for preventing and detecting fraudulent activities by directors. Internal Auditors Organized audit team can very effectively be involved in many aspects of oversight control. Their familiarity with how entity operates can help them identify indicators of fraud. The Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing (IIA Standards), issued by the Institute of Internal Auditors, state The internal auditor should have sufficient knowledge to identify the indicators of fraud but is not expected to have the expertise of a person whose primary responsibility is detecting and investigating fraud. Internal auditors are in position to asses fraud risks and control, and suggest actions for risk minimization and control improvement. Some standards, such as IIA Standards, even require from internal auditors to perform assessment of possible company`s risk. These assessments of risk then provide starting point for audit plans and internal control tests are based on them. Additionally, the same standard demands that all audit plans are presented and permitted by the audit company (where audit committee does not exist this should be presented to board of directors). Furthermore, audit plans provide guarantee for affirmation of management`s control. Internal audit can have two roles detection and deterrence. Internal auditors are included in fraud deterrence by analysing and evaluating the appropriateness and efficiency of internal control systems, though Hillison et al (1999) states that it is responsibility of management. In executing this responsibility, internal auditors should: evaluate the control environment identify control weaknesses have strong communication with management Hillison et al (1999) argue that internal auditors should pay attention on cash transactions as well as on other non-balance sheet assets. The following steps should be taken: increased use of analytical review (because ratio analysis and trend analysis sometimes could show us unusual relations with other accounts, especially when we have several years data to analyse and compare Cohen et al.(2009) stated that reliance on internal auditors has increased in the post-SOX period, mainly because of section 404. Internal auditors could use a lot of techniques (analythical or other procedures) to prevent and detect fraudulent behaviour in organization. They could search for particular types of fraud or they could check high-risk accounts for frauds. Every suspicion of fraud or management involment should be directly reported to the audit committee. Independent Auditors and existing audit approach to prevent fraud External auditors have a significant role in oversight process. They should provide information to management and audit committee about possible risks. In order to have full benefit from external auditors, management should have open communication with them. Glover and Aono (1995) in their work presented basic audit-risk model which consists of three elements: inherent risk, control risk and detection risk. They stressed that auditors should understand clients internal control system because they should determine how much they can rely on accounting information generated from clients financial reporting system. On the other hand, McKee and Norway (2006) argue that auditors become too predictable in their audits and that fraudsters could anticipate their actions. Moreover, the public and stakeholders expects from auditors to do better job at fraud prevention (that is the main reason of existence of audit expectation gap). Audit plans should incorporate an element of unpredictability according to SAS 99 and ISA 240 in order to decrease fraud risk. The main benefits of unpredictable auditors approach according to authors would be increasing chances of fraud discovery (more effective audit), deterrence of fraud will be also increased (because of reduced opportunity to commit fraud) and audit will become more enjoyable. On the other hand, this will have impact on costs associated with unpredictable audit approach: extra planning time, extra time to perform necessary procedures and additional training time. Also, authors suggested a following procedures for unpredictable audit approach: random sampling, unannounced inventory observation, changing techniques from prior years, test some small and low risk accounts etc. Certified Fraud Examiners Certified fraud examiners as professionals could have the important role in oversight process. They have a lot of knowledge and experience in fraud detection and prevention and could use their knowledge to assist the audit committee and internal auditors. As professionals from outside the company they can give more objective opinion about internal control system. Also, they can evaluate possible risks of fraud ( especially fraud committed by top management) and implement appropriate measures in order to minimize it. fraud.5 5 Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, 2006 Report to the Nation on Occupational Fraud and Abuse (Austin, TX: ACFE, 2004), p. 18 Ernst Young International Fraud Group, Fraud: the Unmanaged Risk: An International Survey of the Effects of Fraud on Business (London, UK: Ernst Young, 1998), p. 2. To conclude, despite management have responsibility to conduct adequate fraud risk assessment, audit committee should overlook quality of the financial reporting process. According to Silver et al. (2008), audit committee should not only apply traditional fraud risk assessment (like segregation of duties), but to consider and incorporate proactive approach. In order to be good in their stewardship role they should improve their accounting and fraud knowledge , search for collusive fraud and obtain feedback. Conclusion Some organizations have significantly lower levels of misappropriation of assets and are less susceptible to fraudulent financial reporting than other organizations because these organizations take proactive steps to prevent or deter fraud. It is only those organizations that seriously consider fraud risks and take proactive steps to create the right kind of climate to reduce its occurrence that have success in preventing fraud. It was also found that organisations with strong internal controls, internal auditors and audit committees were better equipped to deal with fraud in any form according to Alleyne and Howard(2005)

To Kill A Mockingbird - Relationship of Two Characters :: Kill Mockingbird essays

To Kill A Mockingbird - Relationship of Two Characters In the beginning, all was good and calm in the lives of the Finches. Members of the family included Atticus, Jem, Scout, Aunt Alexandra, and Calpurnia. The relationship of two of the main characters, Atticus and Jem, is of particular interest. In the beginning section of To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the relationship of Atticus and Jem is simple. Jem sees Atticus as older and less active then the fathers of his friends at school. For example, Scout states, "Jem was football crazy. Atticus was never too tired to play keep-away, but when Jem wanted to tackle him Atticus would say, `I'm too old for that, son (89).'" As the story line began to progress, Jem started to admire his father. After the episode with the mad dog, Jem had said, " ` `d you see him, Scout? `d you see him just standin' there?...'n' all of a sudden he just relaxed all over, an' it looked like that gun was a part of him...an' he did it so quick, like...I hafta aim for ten minutes `fore I can hit somethin'...(97).'" Jem no longer felt that his father was useless. The middle section of the book shows many different sides to the relationship between Atticus and Jem. Atticus does not like to tell his children how to behave. This quote shows how Alexandra is making him tell Jem and Scout how to behave. The tension is shown easily. "Before bedtime, I was in Jem's room trying to borrow a book, when Atticus knocked and entered. He sat on the side of the bed, looked at us soberly, then he grinned. `Er-h'rm,' he said. He was beginning to preface some things he said with a throaty noise, and I thought he must at last be getting old, but he looked the same. ` I don't exactly know how to say this,' he began. `Well just say it,' said Jem. `Have we done something?' Our father was actually fidgeting. `No I just want to explain to you that-your Aunt Alexandra asked me... son, you that you're a Finch, don't you?' `That's what I've been told.' Jem looked out of the corners of his eyes.

Superficial Love in Shakespeares A Midsummer Nights Dream :: Midsummer Nights Dream Essays

Superficial Love in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream In the first soliloquy of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Helena talks primarily of a love that contains depth, a love that looks at who a person is, personality-wise, as opposed to nothing more than their appearance. Helena explains, "Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind" (1.1.240). In the shallow culture in which Helena lives, and even in today's society, it is difficult for people to look beyond the outer shell and follow a deeper perception. The concept of the "perfect person" is constantly drilled into people's minds. In Helena's day, this was through expectations taught to children from their parents. Today, this type of expectation comes mostly from the media and entertainment industries. Helena describes love as the "admiring of his qualities" and as possessing the ability to "transpose to form and dignity" (1.1.238-240). Though this may not be a perfect definition, it is much closer to the Biblical definition as described in 1 Corinthians than most common definitions of Helena's day. Because of the strong influence of the shallow culture in which Helena lives, she, too, finds it difficult to keep society's pressure out of her definition of love. One of the first things she points out in her soliloquy is the fact that, "Through Athens I am thought as fair as she" (1.1.232). She then proceeds to explain how she wishes Demetrius would think she is as fair as Hermia. If Helena believes so strongly in love coming as a result of admiration of one's personality, one must question why she loves this man who focuses merely on the appearance of women and pays no regard for who they are as a person. Then, again, the number of men in her day who didn't found their love on such superficial characteristics was probably pretty low, if not zero. Either way, Helena's perception of love is not perfect, her thoughts are still influenced by the surrounding culture. Helena's interpretation of love, as a deep, powerful emotion is virtually unseen in the rest of the play. Rather, the opposite, superficial love, plagues most characters of the play. Theseus, Demetrius, and Lysander constantly offer comments about females. Rather than focusing on who these women are, these comments pertain to the appearance of the women.

Is Social Networking an Effective Marketing Tool Essay

Marketing Strategies Many businesses have started to incorporate market strategies as a way of increasing profitability. Small business can create market strategies to target their market more effectively and have a competitive edge over competition. Lyndon Simkin, (2000) stated â€Å"If the â€Å"right† opportunities are pursued, customers are properly probed, the â€Å"right† customers targeted with a marketing proposition designed to give a business an edge over its rivals, it is highly likely that customers will be satisfied, market share will rise in core target markets and profitability will accordingly support a viable future.† Having a strategy in place will allow you to set objectives such as increasing your share of the market that your business currently is in. Market strategies for small businesses are to develop the growth of the company. Analysing you target market and introducing a way in which you can target this market. The following are how marketing strategy allows business to set objectives Current product/current market Market penetration is a strategy of increasing your share of existing markets. You might achieve this by raising customers’ awareness of your products and services or finding new customers. Current product/new market Market development is a strategy of finding and entering new markets with your current product or service range. The new market could be a new region, a new country or a new segment of the market. New product/current market Product development is a strategy for enhancing benefits you deliver to customers by improving your existing products and services or developing new ones. New product/new market Diversification is a strategy that usually carries high costs and high risks. It often requires firms to adopt new ways of doing business and so has consequences far beyond simply offering new products/services in a new market. It is therefore usually a strategy to be adopted when other options are not feasible. http://www.is4profit.com/business-advice/sales-marketing/marketing-strategy.html Marketing Tools Online There are many marketing tools available for businesses to use and utilising the best one to fully create brand awareness for your product is vital. Geoffrey J. Simmons, (2007) realises â€Å"Companies are finding that they are having to redefine their marketing and branding strategies due to the unique characteristics of the internet and its capacity to change old rules.†. Due to the growth of users using internet, marketing tools have been developed so that businesses can market their products online. Marketing online has been as an important way for business to create brand awareness and target customers effectively. Online advertisement is now seen as the most effective way of marketing therefore many different ways have been introduced to advertise on the internet. Amalesh Sharma, (2011) stated â€Å"The development of data intensive instruments, transformation of societal and relationship management, optimization of Search engine marketing, exclusive networking and other online resources are eliminating the traditional form of marketing.† Search Engine Optimization Marketing Search engines are seen as essential way of companies to be seen by potential customers. Kristin Kennedy, Bonnie Brayton Kennedy, (2008) stated â€Å"The key to being found by the right people at the right time lies with search engines. There are essentially two ways a customer will find a business site via a search engine, through an organic or a pay-per-click (PPC) listing.† Using a search engine you are allowing yourself to be found new customers but search engines don’t offer differentiation so many of your competitors can be listed alongside you therefore not giving your business the competitive edge. Search engine optimization can be a less effective way for small business as it is marketed alongside big companies which was found out by Kristin Kennedy, Bonnie Brayton Kennedy, (2008) they stated a â€Å"small manufacturer of gold jewelry will probably not get top billing over Tiffany’s on the organic list, unless they spend a significant amount of time and money on developing their web site design and advertising.† E-mail Marketing Small businesses have been using email marketing as a way of marketing their products and reaching out to the target market. Anita Jackson, Ray DeCormier,stated â€Å"E-mail offers a promising tool to enhance brand loyalty as it helps marketers keep in touch with their customers on a regular basis at low cost.† Small businesses are using this method to create and reach out to their target market. Using this mthod to market their business and product to create more brand awareness. http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?issn=0263-4503&volume=17&issue=3&articleid=854456&show=html http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?issn=1061-0421&volume=13&issue=7&articleid=857868&show=html http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?issn=1751-5637&volume=12&issue=4&articleid=1937676&show=html Do you feel other ways of online marketing would benefit your company more? http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?issn=0263-4503&volume=18&issue=3&articleid=854495&show=html ) Lyndon Simkin, (2000) (http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?issn=0263-4503&volume=25&issue=6&articleid=1628110&show=html#idb72) Geoffrey J. Simmons, (2007) .†( http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?issn=1751-5637&volume=12&issue=4&articleid=1937676&show=html ). Amalesh Sharma, (2011) Kristin Kennedy, Bonnie Brayton Kennedy, (2008) (http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?issn=0140-9174&volume=31&issue=10&articleid=1746719&show=html)

French Revolution, Cause and Effect 1789

The pivotal event of European history in the eighteenth century was the French Revolution. From its outbreak in 1789, the Revolution touched and transformed social values and political systems in France, in Europe, and eventually throughout the world. France's revolutionary regime conquered much of Western Europe with its arms and with its ideology. But not without considerable opposition at home and abroad. Its ideals defined the essential aspirations of modern liberal society, while its bloody conflicts posed the brutal dilemma of means versus ends. The revolutionaries advocated individual liberty, rejecting all forms of arbitrary constraint: monopolies on commerce, feudal charges laid upon the land, vestiges of servitude such as serfdom, and even (in 1794) black slavery overseas. They held that political legitimacy required constitutional government, elections, and legislative supremacy. They demanded civil equality for all, denying the claims of privileged groups, localities, or religions to special treatment and requiring the equality of all citizens before the law. A final revolutionary goal was expressed by the concept of fraternity, which meant that all citizens regardless of social class, region, or religion shared a common fate in society, and that the well-being of the nation sometimes superseded the interests of individuals. The resounding slogan of Liberty, Equality, Fraternity expressed social ideals to which most contemporary citizens of the Western world would still subscribe. I. Origins Those who made the Revolution believed they were rising against tyrannical government, in which the people had no voice, and against inequality in the way obligations such as taxes were imposed and benefits distributed. Yet the government of France at that time was no more tyrannical or unjust than it had been in the past. On the contrary, a gradual process of reform had long been underway. What, then, set off the revolutionary upheaval? What had changed? An easy answer would be to point to the incompetence of King Louis XVI 1774-1792) and his queen, Marie Antoinette. Good-natured but weak and indecisive, Louis was a man of limited intelligence who lacked self-confidence. Worse yet, his young queen, a Hapsburg princess, was frivolous, meddlesome, and tactless. But even the most capable ruler could not have escaped challenge and crisis in the late eighteenth century. The roots of that crisis, not its mismanagement, claim the principal interest of historians. The philosophes In eightee nth-century France, as we have seen, intellectual ferment preceded political revolt. For decades the philosophes had bombarded traditional beliefs, institutions, and prejudices with devastating salvos. They undermined the confidence that traditional ways were the best ways. Yet the philosophes were anything but revolutionaries. Nor did they question the fact that elites should rule society, but wished only that the elites should be more enlightened and more open. Indeed, the Enlightenment had become respectable by the 1780s, a kind of intellectual establishment. Diderot's Encyclopedia, banned in the 1750s, was reprinted in a less expensive format with government approval in the 1770s. Most of France's 30 provincial academies_learned societies of educated citizens in the larger towns had by that time been won over to the critical spirit and reformism of the Enlightenment, though not to its sometimes extreme secularism. Among the younger generation, the great cultural hero was Rousseau (see picture), whose Confessions (published posthumously in 1781) caused a sensation. Here Rousseau attacked the hypocrisy, conformity, cynicism, and corruption of high society's salons and aristocratic ways. Though he had not exemplified this in his personal life, Rousseau came across in his novels and autobiography as the apostle of a simple, wholesome family life; of conscience, purity, and virtue. As such, he was the great inspiration to the future generation of revolutionaries, but the word â€Å"revolution† never flowed from his pen. Underground literature More subversive perhaps than the writings of the â€Å"high enlightenment† was the underground literature that commanded a wide audience in France. The onarchy's censorship tried vainly to stop these â€Å"bad books,† which poured in across the border through networks of clandestine publishers, smugglers, and distributors. What was this fare that the reading public eagerly devoured? Alongside a few banned works by the philosophes, there was a mass of gossip sheets, pulp novels, libels, and pornography under such titles as Scandalous Chronicles and The Private Life of Louis XV. Much of this material focused on the supposed goings-on in the fashionable world of Paris and Versailles. Emphasizing scandal and character assassination, this literature had no specific political content or ideology. But indirectly, it portrayed the French aristocracy as decadent and the French monarchy as a ridiculous despotism. II. Fiscal Crisis When he took the throne in 1774, Louis XVI tried to conciliate elite opinion by recalling the Parlements or sovereign law courts that his father had abolished in 1770. This concession to France's traditional â€Å"unwritten constitution† backfired, however, since the Parlements resumed their defense of privilege in opposition to reforms proposed by Jacques Turgot, Louis, new controller general of finances. Turgot, a disciple of the philosophes and an experienced administrator, hoped to encourage economic growth by the policy of nonintervention or laissez-faire. When agitation against him mounted at Versailles and in the Paris Parlement, Louis took the easy way out and dismissed his troublesome minister. The king then turned to a Protestant banker from Geneva with a reputation for financial wizardry, Jacques Necker. A shrewd man with a strong sense of public relations, Necker gained wide popularity. To finance the heavy costs of France's aid to the rebellious British colonies in North America, Necker avoided new taxes and instead floated a series of large loans at exorbitant interest rates as high as 10 percent. Short of a complete overhaul of the tax system, little improvement in royal revenues could be expected, and the public would bitterly resist any additional tax burdens that the monarchy simply imposed. Facing bankruptcy and unable to float any new loans in this atmosphere, the king recalled the Parlements, reappointed Necker, after tarying several other ministers, and agreed to convene the Estates General in May 1789. III. Estates General to National Assembly The calling of the Estates General created extraordinary excitement across the land. When the king invited his subjects to express their opinions about this great event, hundreds did so in the form of pamphlets, and here the liberal or â€Å"patriot† ideology of 1789 first began to take shape. The Third Estate While the king accorded the Third Estate twice as many delegates as the two higher orders, he refused to promise that the delegates would vote together (â€Å"by head†) rather than separately in three chambers (â€Å"by order†). A vote by order meant that the two upper chambers would outweigh the Third Estate no matter how many deputies it had. It did not matter that the nobility had led the fight against absolutism. Even if they endorsed new, constitutional checks on absolutism and accepted equality in the allocation of taxes, nobles would hold vastly disproportionate powers if the Estates General voted by order. In the most influential of these pamphlets, Abbe Emmanuel Joseph Sieye posed the question, â€Å"What is the Third Estate? † and answered flatly, â€Å"Everything. † The enemy was no longer simply absolutism but privilege as well. Unlike reformers in England, or the Belgian rebels against Joseph II, or even the American revolutionaries of 1776, the French patriots did not look back to historical traditions of liberty that had been violated. Rather they contemplated a complete break with a discredited past. As a basis for reform, they would substitute reason for tradition. Cahiers For the moment, however, the patriots were far in advance of opinion at the grass roots. The king had invited citizens across the land to meet in their parishes to elect delegates to district electoral assemblies, and to draft grievance petitions (cahiers) setting forth their views. Highly traditional in tone, the great majority of rural cahiers complained only of particular local ills and expressed confidence that the king would redress them. Only a few cahiers from Iarger cities, including Paris, alluded to the concepts of natural rights or popular sovereignty that were appearing in patriot pamphlets. Very few demanded that France must have a written constitution, that sovereignty belonged to the nation, or that feudalism and regional privileges should be abolished. Elections Virtually every adult male taxpayer was eligible to vote for electors, who, in turn, chose deputies for the Third Estate. The electoral assemblies were a kind of political seminar, where articulate local leaders emerged to be sent by their fellow citizens as deputies to Versailles. These deputies were a remarkable collection of men, though scarcely representative of the mass of the Third Estate. Dominated by lawyers and officials, there was not a single worker or peasant among them. In the elections for the First Estate, meanwhile, democratic procedures assured that parish priests rather than Church notables would form a majority of the delegates. And in the elections to the Second Estate, about one third of the delegates could be described as liberal nobles or patriots. â€Å"National Assembly† Popular expectation that the monarchy would provide leadership in reform proved to be ill-founded. When the deputies met on May 5, Necker and Louis XVI spoke to them only in generalities, and left unsettled whether the estates would vote by order or by head. The upper two estates proceeded to organize their own chambers, but the deputies of the Third Estate balked. Inviting the others to join them, on June 17 the Third Estate took a decisive revolutionary step by proclaiming its conversion into a â€Å"National Assembly. † A few days later 150 clergymen from the First Estate joined them. The king, who finally decided to cast his lot with the nobility, locked the Third Estate out of its meeting hall until a session could be arranged in which he would state his will. But the deputies moved to an indoor tennis court, and there swore that they would not separate until they had given France a constitution. Ignoring this act of defiance, the king addressed the delegates of all three orders on June 23. He promised equality in taxation, civil liberties, and regular meetings of the Estates General at which, however, voting would be by order. France would be provided with a constitution, he pledged, â€Å"but the ancient distinction of the three orders will be conserved in its entirety. † He then ordered the three orders to retire to their individual meeting halls. This, the Third Estate refused. When the royal chamberlain repeated his monarch's demand, the deputies, spokesman dramatically responded: â€Å"The assembled nation cannot receive orders. Startled by the determination of the patriots, the king backed down. For the time being, he recognized the National Assembly and ordered deputies from all three estates to join it. Thus the French Revolution began as a nonviolent, â€Å"legal† Revolution. IV. The Convergence of Revolutions The political struggle at Versailles was not occurring in isolation. Simultaneously, the mass of French citizens, already aroused by elec tions to the Estates General, were mobilizing over subsistence issues. The winter and spring of 1788-1789 had brought severe economic difficulties, as crop failures and grain shortages almost doubled the price of flour and bread on which the population depended for subsistence. Unemployed vagrants and beggars filled the roads, grain convoys and marketplaces were stormed by angry consumers, and relations between town and country were strained. This anxiety merged with rage over the behavior of â€Å"aristocrats† in Versailles. Parisians believed that food shortages and royal troops would be used to intimidate the people into submission. They feared an â€Å"aristocratic plot† against the Third Estate and the patriot cause. Bastille When the king dismissed the still-popular Necker on July 11, Parisians correctly assumed that the counter-revolution was about to begin. Instead of submitting, they revolted. Protesting before royal troops (some of whom defected to the insurgents), burning the hated toll barriers that surrounded the capital, and seizing grain supplies, Parisian crowds then began a search for weapons. On the morning of July 14 they invaded the military hospital of the Invalides where they seized thousands of rifles without incident. Then they laid siege to the Bastille, an old fortress that had once been a major royal prison, where gunpowder was stored. There the small garrison did resist and a ferocious firefight erupted. Dozens of citizens were hit providing the first martyrs of the Revolution, but the garrison soon capitulated. As they left, several were massacred by the infuriated crowd. Meanwhile, patriot electors ousted royal officials of the Paris city government, replaced them with a revolutionary municipality, and organized a citizens militia or national guard to patrol the city. Similar municipal revolutions occurred in 26 of the 30 largest French cities, thus assuring that the capital's defiance would not be an isolated act. The Parisian insurrection of July 14 not only saved the National Assembly from annihilation but also altered the course of the Revolution by giving it a far more active, popular dimension. Again the king capitulated. Removing most of the troops around Paris, he traveled to the capital on July 17 and, to please the people, donned a cockade bearing the colors of white for the monarchy and blue and red for the city of Paris. This tricolor was to become the flag of the new France. The Great Fear These events did not pacify the anxious and hungry people of the countryside, however. The sources of peasant dissatisfaction were many and long standing. Population growth and the parceling of holdings were reducing the margin of subsistence for many families, while the purchase of land by rich townspeople exerted further pressure. Seigneurial dues and church tithes weighed heavily upon most peasants. Now, in addition, suspicions were rampant that nobles were hoarding grain in order to stymie the patriotic cause. In July peasants in several regions sacked the castles of the nobles and burned the documents that recorded their feudal obligations. This peasant insurgency eventually blended into a vast movement known as the Great Fear. Rumors abounded that the vagrants who swarmed through the countryside were actually â€Å"brigands† in the pay of nobles who were marching on villages to destroy the new harvest and cow the peasants into submission. The fear was baseless, but it stirred up hatred and suspicion of the nobles, prompted a mass recourse to arms in the villages, and set off new attacks on chEteaus and feudal documents. Peasant revolts and the Great Fear showed that the royal government was confronting a truly nationwide and popular revolution. The night of August 4 Peasant insurgency worried the deputies of the National Assembly, but they decided to appease the peasants rather than simply denounce their violence. On the night of August 4, representatives of the nobility and clergy vied with one another in renouncing their ancient privileges. This set the stage for the Assembly to decree â€Å"the abolition of feudalism† as well as the tithe, venality of office, regional privilege, and social privilege. Rights of Man and Citizen By sweeping away the old web of privileges, the August 4th decree permitted the Assembly to construct a new regime. Since it would take months to draft a constitution, the Assembly drew up a Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen to indicate the outline of its intentions. A rallying point for the future, the Declaration also stood as the death certificate of the old regime. It began with a ringing affirmation of equality: â€Å"Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be based only on common utility. The Declaration went on to proclaim the sovereignty of the nation as against the king or any other group, and the supreme authority of legitimate law. Most of its articles concerned liberty, defined as â€Å"the ability to do whatever does not harm another . . . whose limits can only be determined by law†; they specified freedom from arbitrary arrest; freedom of expression and of religion; and the need for represent ative government. The Declaration's concept of natural rights meant that the Revolution would be based on reason rather than history or tradition.