The Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare Fairy Tale or Problem Play free essay sample

An in-depth look at the underlying themes of prejudice, loyalty and love, in this well known Shakespearean play. In this paper the author discusses whether the Merchant of Venice is a fairy tale, as exemplified by the romantic comedy genre, or a problem play. The author looks at the three themes he suggests run through the play: Prejudice, Loyalty and Love. He looks closely at the character of Shylock and how he has been depicted over time, from villain to someone who should be pitied and at the hypocrisy shown by the Christian characters; he examines the relationships between Antonio, Bassanio, Portia, Gratiano, Nerissa, Lorenzo, and Jessica and the resulting marriages and love is examined with respect to the platonic loyalty between friends and in the romantic exchanges between suitors and spouses. From the paper: The theme of loyalty in the play comes out through the interactions of several sets of characters. We will write a custom essay sample on The Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare: Fairy Tale or Problem Play? or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page First, there is Bassanio, who is close friends with Antonio friendship which survives many stressful situations in the play. The loyalty between Bassanio and Antonio becomes evident I the first act of the play when Antonio loans Bassanio a large sum of money and takes him on his word that he will repay it.

Yeatss poetic development

Yeatss poetic development Between the Celtic visions of THE WANDERINGS OF OISIN (1889) and the intellectual, often obscure poetry of the 1930s, Yeats produced a tremendous amount of works. In his early career Yeats studied William Blake's poems, Emanuel Swedenborg's writings and other visionaries. Later he expressed his disillusionment with the reality of his native country. Irish poet, dramatist and prose writer William Butler Yeats was born in Dublin on 13th June 1865 into an Irish Protestant family. His early years Yeats spent in London and Slingo, a beautiful county on the west coast of Ireland. the area was rich in both mythological and aristocratic traditions and, for both these reasons , is very frequently mentioned in Yeast's poems.His father, John Butler Yeats, a clergyman's son, was a lawyer turned to an Irish Pre-Raphaelite painter. He was passionately involved in London's artistic life in the 1870s as a supporter of the primary importance of pure emotion in art and an opponent of intellectual abst raction.en: Portrait of young William Butler Yeats by his ...Yeats's views on poetry and art were by no means unique, of course, deriving a great deal in particular from the "Pre-Raphaelite" group. He was already being encouraged to think of himself as a writer by his father, and the next nine years gave him a fine opportunity to soak his imagination in the Irish folk-lore which was to provide the impetus for much of his early poetry.In 1885 Yeats moved from Dublin High school to the Dublin School of Arts. In "Autobiographies" Yeats speaks of his youthful conviction:"only beautiful things should be painted , andthat only ancient things and the stuff of dreamswere beautiful"Shortly after joining the School of Art yeats also began to explore mysticism and the occult , encouraged by the famous , Madame Blavatsky , an interest which...

Environmental Health Assessment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Environmental Health Assessment - Essay Example The hydrocarbon wastes emitted by the oil refineries can do immense damage to the biological systems situated in their vicinity (Jahdali, 2008, p.34). The environmental pollution caused by the oil refineries has a broad scope that involves an above average level of pollutants in the air, large scale contamination of the soil and the above average contamination of the underground and above ground water resources (Jahdali, 2008, p.34). The gravest risk to the residents living in the neighborhoods like Torrance, which lie in the vicinity of a proposed petroleum refinery, will come from the utterly polluted air (Jahdali, 2008, p.35). The emissions from most of the oil refineries contain large amounts of sulfur dioxide, Nitrogen oxides, and heavy metals like zinc, lead, cadmium, besides loads of other pollutants like toluene, phenol and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (Jahdali, 2008, p.35). Sulfur dioxide is the primary pollutant emitted by the oil refineries that gets accumulated in the lower layers of atmospheric air. Rainfall and humidity cause this toxic gas to precipitate and settle down in the surrounding soil (Jahdali, 2008, p.35). Eventually this pollutant gets absorbed by the plants including the fruits and vegetables growing in the area. Sulfur dioxide has been known to cause a range of ailments like lung cancer, allergic rhinitis, lung inflammations and a number of other respiratory and cardiovascular diseases (Opera and Mihul, 2003, p.84). The damage caused by sulfur dioxide to the people living in the vicinity of the oil refineries comes from two sources i.e. through long term inhalation of the poll uted air and through the food chain. Besides sulfur dioxide, the other pollutants emitted by the petroleum refineries are also known to cause many debilitating and sometimes incurable diseases. Another potential risk to the people living around the oil refineries comes from asbestos that is widely used for insulation in the oil refineries. Thus not only the workers employed in the petroleum refineries get exposed to asbestos, but the people living around such facilities do get to inhale asbestos particles emitted by them. Asbestos has been known to cause pleural mesotheliomas and is a medically proven carcinogenic substance (You Claim, 2002). The threat caused by asbestos emissions from the petroleum refineries is particularly pertinent in the case of the US, which has nearly 150 petroleum refineries scattered across 32 states. Besides, various scientific studies have established beyond doubt that the children living in proximity to industrial pollutants face severe problems related to academic and physical growth (Krisberg, 2006, p.3). Exposure to air pollutants emitted by facilities like petroleum refineries has been known to cause augmented instances of Preterm Delivery in the residents living around them (Leem, et al., 2006, p.1). As per a British medical study, rampant instances of childhood leukemia were noticed near petroleum refineries and oil storage installations (Gilman, 1997, p.156). It is imperative that the health hazards associated with

The effectiveness of transitional justice mechanisms in Afghanistan Dissertation

The effectiveness of transitional justice mechanisms in Afghanistan. Is justice complementary or contradictory - Dissertation Example From decades of persistent strife and suffering to establishing the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, the country has come a long way towards the establishment of peace and security in the nation. However the success of transitional justice processes in the country remains precarious due to the ongoing security issues, political instability, and lack of political will. Recent years have however shown significant progress towards restoring normalcy in the country as is apparent from the rising awareness among the public and the need to end the culture of impunity. List of abbreviations used AIHRC Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission AC Amnesty Community ANDS Afghan National Development Strategy ARTF Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund HRVC Human Rights Violations Committee ICC International Criminal Court ICTJ International Centre for Transitional Justice CSO Civil Society Organisation DDR Disarmament Demobilization and Reintegration HRW Human Rights Watch RRC R eparations and Rehabilitation Committee SATRC South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission TJCG Transitional Justice Coordination Group TRC Truth and Reconciliation Commission Contents Ch. No. Topic Pg. No. 1. Introduction and Methodology 5 1.1. Introduction 5 1.2. Aim 6 1.3. Method and outline 7 1.4. Limitations 9 1.5. Literature Review 10 2. Transitional Justice in Afghanistan 17 2.1. History of transitional justice 18 2.2. Bonn Agreement 21 2.3. Current status of transitional justice in Afghanistan 23 3. Challenges to transitional justice in Afghanistan 26 3.1. Political environment 27 3.2. Lack of international and domestic political will for justice 28 3.3. Weak and malfunctioning judiciary 30 4. Interventions aimed at effective transitional justice 34 4.1. Truth and reconciliation commissions 34 4.2. Amnesty 40 4.3. Legal Reforms 43 4.4. Lustration 44 5. Recommendations for effective transitional justice 45 5.1. Evaluation of successful transitional justice in South Afric a 48 5.2. Recommendations for effective transitional justice in Afghanistan 60 6. Conclusion 64 1. Introduction and Methodology â€Å"Peace is the only battle worth waging† Albert Camus1 1.1. Introduction The past couple of decades have witnessed significant progress in terms of the popularity and acknowledgement of transitional justice mechanisms as fundamental to peace building in post conflict countries. The concept of transitional justice entails establishment of various mechanisms such as truth commissions, reparations, trials and judicial proceedings with a view to punish the perpetrators of past crimes and preventing a culture of impunity in the process. However this approach of ‘digging up the past’ has been widely debated in recent years due to the arguments put forward by critics stating that such mechanisms are likely to cause chaos and disrupt the existing peaceful environment leading to severe internal strife and fragmentation of an already divided s ociety. Proponents of the process on the other hand maintain that the transitional justice mechanisms are imperative in order to assist and guide any society from social, cultural and political deterioration towards healing and democracy by restoring human rights and punishing the crimes

Conversion and Adaptation of Buildings Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Conversion and Adaptation of Buildings - Essay Example After its construction, it existed under the Brentwood District Council (BDC). Major renovations and reconstructions had since taken place on the building including the construction of an additional single storey canted bay that was built to the left of the building’s front door. On its eastern side, there was a separate long six window bay unit that also had incorporated the timber-framing of the 16th century that it got enjoined with. The building, like the other Georgian buildings in the area, was formerly used as part of the Brentwood School. From 1973, it has been used as an Arts and Community Centre that is run by Brentwood Council, and as such has been very busy and well utilized (KITCHING, 2007, pg 104). The Old House has however undergone a number of degradation over the years; the flowerbed by the front door for instance looks like it needs better edging and particular attention from its owners. Other areas of concern include its rear elevation, the curtilage, and its general setting that has been severely derogated by legal changes and a supposed lack of appropriate landscaping. A careful analysis of the structure reveals that some of the signs that are attached to it and the presence of the free standing board in its front needs to be improved on to depict a building of the current century. The quality of the internal floors is also in a questionable state and in order to convert the building’s purpose, these have to be substantially worked on KITCHING 2007, pg 137). In the conversion of the Old House to multi use, for restaurant and residential purposes on its top floor, a lot of factors have to be taken into account. The restaurant and the residential purpose would help serve the commercial and the residential schemes of the public respectively. When doing any reconstruction or putting up new structures, particularly in such conservation areas, it is a

Approaches to Management and Organisational Behaviour

Approaches to Management and Organisational Behaviour Approaches to Management and Organisational Behaviour 1. Objectives This report is to further develop the understanding on the management and organisational behaviors of organizations by studying on several areas including the business background, organisational structure design and the organisations approaches of two organisations which are having similar business nature. Organisations approaches include motivation, leadership, learning knowledge management, human resource management, culture diversity, information technology and communication which would be discussed one by one in the following sections. Two organisations which are being studied and discussed in this report are Google Inc. and Microsoft Corporation. 2. Business Background Google Inc. (named as Google in this report) is a technology company which was founded by two Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin in Year 1998. Googles organisational mission is To organize the worlds information and make it universally accessible and useful aiming to develop and provide powerful search engine for letting people to find what they are looking for faster and easier. Google is acting as an Internet Information Provider with the core business on providing search services and advertising through internet. It provides various internet services (including e-mail services, online shopping services, YouTube and so on) and document processing solutions Google Doc, which is available online at free for people to view/ save/ edit/ save documents, to public. Besides, it also provides different kinds of customized intranet or software solutions on Search or Document Processing technology to enterprises. Apart from providing internet or intranet services via networked PCs, Google also working hard on developing the technology for allowing people to access information via mobile devices like operating system Android which is specifically designed to be used in mobile devices , and Chrome OS which is designed for portable PC such as netbooks.. Google grows so quickly that apart from the corporate headquarter, named Googleplex located in California U.S.A., it also has branches located in different countries (including USA, Europe, Asia, Canada, Latin America and so on) around the world and now having more than 19,000 employees worldwide. (Google Inc. 2009) Microsoft Corporation (name as Microsoft in this report) is a technology company which was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in Year 1975. Microsofts organisational mission and values are To help people and business throughout the world realize their full potential aiming to provide and support people the most innovative ways and technologies (including software and hardware devices) for bringing out peoples talent and achieving their goals at the highest level. Microsoft is acting as a worldwide software and hardware products and solutions provider with 7 core business categories (as below listed) covers the needs for different gradation of people, also covers both peoples living and business. Windows Client: including all Microsoft Windows embedded operating system, Information Worker: including all Microsoft stand-alone desktop applications like Microsoft Officeetc, Business Solutions: including all Microsoft customized business process applications and services, Server Tools: including all Microsoft server software, software developer tools and developer network, Mobile and Embedded Devices: including all Microsoft mobile devices like Pocket PC, Mobile Explorer microbrowseretc, MSN: including all Microsoft web-based services and Home Entertainment: including all Microsoft consumer hardware software, online games, TV platformetc. Microsoft is a globalized world size organisation. Apart from its headquarter located in Redmond, USA, it is now having over 40 offices in different countries and having over 90,000 employees worldwide. 3. Organisational Structure and Design 3.1 Organisation Structure of Google Google consisted of a lot of shareholders, every shareholder had the right to vote for the decision. At the same time, Co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin had the sufficient power to affect the final decision in order to make sure whole organization is under control. Although Google is now a globalized world sized organisation, it kept having a flat and short organisational structure rather than bureaucratic structure in order to able things to be done quickly since it believed time was peoples most valuable treasure. Besides, Google also believed innovation and acting were much more important than deciding. Thus, it empowered their engineers to make decisions and acts by themselves as long as their decisions were innovative and could lead the organisation to go further and quicker. Whole organisation was divided by function as shown as below structure chart (The Official Board 2009). Each functional department was worked as a team responsible for specific job function with clearly defined job duties instead of multi-functions. Google focused on people. It cared about the needs of the users (clients / customers) as well as the employees. All-hands meetings and team building activities were held regularly for understanding the needs and establishing the relationship among the employees. 3.2 Organisation Structure of Microsoft Microsoft was run by a board of directors who were elected every year during shareholders meeting. Meanwhile there were total five committees which handled more specific matters. These committees included: Audit Committee which oversaw account and audit issues; Compensation Committee which handled and approved the matters regarding the compensation to CEO or employees; Finance Committee which handled financial matters like proposing mergers; Governance and Nominating Committee which was in charge of corporate matters include nomination of Boards Antitrust Compliance committee which handled the laws issues. Each committee oversaw specific matters and under these five committees there were sixteen company offices located in different countries which handled the daily operation matters. The organisational chart of the company office is shown as below. (Cogmap 2009) Each company office was divided by function, and each function was further divided into small and more specific function which handled by a team. Microsoft focused on having things done fast rather than bureaucracy, each company office was empowered to make decision and the committees oversaw each company office through the data in their centralized data base system and regular meetings. Last but not list, Microsoft concerned about the needs and the growth of its employees. It aimed to provide employees a supportive, health and happy working environment which helped the employees do their best work and have sufficient resources for developing their own career. 3.3 Compare the Similarities and Differences of Organisational Structure between Google Microsoft Decentralisation is the process of which upper management authorizing or empowering lower peers to make decision which allow more flexibility on decision making. (Dubois Fattore 2009) On the contrary, bureaucracy is an organizational structure which has the main features including specialisation, hierarchy of authority, system of rules and impersonality according to Stewarts study. It focuses on procedures and all the power is centralised at Top management. All decisions can only be made by Top management instead of the employees and what employees can do is to follow instruction. Google and Microsoft were having very similar organisation structure. They both ran the organisation in decentralized structure instead of bureaucratic structure, such that their employees or individual departments were empowered to make some decision by themselves instead of having all decisions made by the top management. At the same time, Google and Microsoft had applied Human relation approach as their core approach to organisation and management, such that they focused on the psychological and social needs of people at work. They provided perfect working environment, benefits, opportunities on developing career and talent, team building activities which not only supported their employees basic social needs but also the psychological needs. 4. Approaches to Management Organisational Behaviour 4.1 Motivation Google believed every employee was equally important to its success and all employees were innovative and creative as long as they felt comfortable in their working environment and free to share their ideas. Thus, Google provided their employees the best working environment Googleplex. Apart from office, there were also cafà ©, gym, washing machines, video games machines and table tennis tables in Googleplex which were provided to all their employees. Besides, Google also believed innovation and acting were much more important than deciding. At Google, there was a 20-precent time, such that all employees were encouraged to spend 20% of their working time on developing any project that they were interested in or they thought was valuable. Google also empowered their engineers to make decisions and acts by themselves as long as their decisions were innovative and could lead the organisation to go further and quicker. In addition, Google not only emphasized on team achievements, but also cared about the individual accomplishment. Every employee was encouraged to take part in leading the organisation towards the success. (Google Inc. 2009) Microsofts organisational mission was To help people and business throughout the world realize their full potential. Microsoft believed in the power of technologies and it deeply believed its products and services helped people to bring out their potential. Employees were encouraged to improve existing products and services or develop innovative products for helping people and community. Microsoft believed all its employees were innovative, skillful, self direct and self control. As long as its employees ideas could lead the organisation towards the success, it provided full support for actualizing the ideas. Apart from providing perfect working environment and full support of resources, tools and facilities, Microsoft also provided options to its employees for choosing their career path by their own. Employees could choose to keep on further develop their professional by staying at their current position or choose to try to work on other functional field which is completely difference from their own original professional, that allowed the employees to go toward their dream and achieve what they want. (Microsoft Corporation 2009) With referenced to McGregors theory X and theory Y, Google and Microsoft were having the similar belief as theory Y. It believed all their employees were innovative, hardworking, creative, responsible, self direct and self control. Relationship among the organisation and employees were based on participation, commitment, trust and open. According to Maslows hierarchy of needs, Google and Microsoft not only fulfilled peoples basic needs (including physiological and safety), they also fulfilled their employees with the upper levels including love, self-esteem and self-actualization. 4.2 Leadership Google focused on people. Apart from the users who used their online services, it put its employees at the first place of the organization. Employees at Google were being inspired and trusted rather than managed. Leadership that was carried among the leader (top management) and followers (employees or subordinates) was a kind of Action-centred leadership established based on consideration. Google had a very clear objectives that they did Search and goaled to develop and provide perfect search engine. It encouraged employees to see their work as challenge and let employees believe challenge was fun. Besides, Google kept its working atmosphere casual, provided perfect working environment, encouraged employees to speak or express their idea and opinions freely which allowed the needs of each employee to be realized and fulfilled by the organisation. At the same time, there were clear principles guideline and principles which guided employees actions and provided a clear direction to emp loyees to follow. (Google Inc. 2009) Microsoft concerned about the freedom and the individual growth of each employee. It treated the relationship among employees, managers Microsoft as a kind of partnership. At Microsoft, managers acted like coaches who brought out the organisations needs and business priorities and provided support and efforts to the employees helping them to bring their talents in full play and do their best work. At the same time, Microsoft acted like a supporter for supporting the partnership between managers and employees by providing best working environment, opportunities and resources. Employees had freedom to choose how their career path goes. They could choose to keep on further development within their existing position or make functional change by trying different job positions among different functional departments which depended on each employees own ability and choose. (Microsoft Corporation 2009) Both Google and Microsoft were having the similar leadership approaches as McGregors theory Y that all employees should be inspired and respected instead of controlled since they all were innovative, responsible, self direct and self control. Google, Microsoft and McGregors theory Y believed employees enjoy their work duties and they were able and willing to seek out the ways to do their job best as long as they were guided appropriately and supported with sufficient resources. 4.3 Learning and knowledge management Google emphasized on discovering peoples actual needs, solving real-world problems and encouraging new ideas instead of just fitting the needs. Google supported its employees to keep on further study on what they were working on by providing tuition reimbursement as long as the employees had achieved certain grades or certification. Besides, Google also provided its own designed training to its employees in order to make sure all employees were skillful and knowledgeable enough to cope with their daily jobs and problems. (Google Inc. 2009) Microsoft believed every employee was responsible for his own career and all employees were able to learn through experience. Thus, it put efforts on providing a supportive working environment where employees could lean and grow while working. At Microsoft, education and training programs were also provided to employees for increasing their awareness, skills, knowledge and ability. Besides, there was tuition reimbursement program in order to encourage employees to keep on learning (Microsoft Corporation 2009) Learning is about change. Google and Microsoft understood that the world is changing every second and it was importance to have their employees kept on learning in order to maintain sufficient ability to cope with changes and challenges. They both used the ways of providing specific training programs and tuition reimbursing programs for letting their employees to learn the explicit knowledge. At the same time, Google focused on employees ability rather than experience and believed all its employees were innovative and creative when they felt comfortable and fun. Thus, it provided a perfect relax working environment and causal working atmosphere to its employees. While Microsoft believed in the power of tacit knowledge, it appreciated every employees own experience from different market and background and treated this as a kind of wisdom and wealth. Thus, it focused on giving a supportive working environment which allowed employees to learn while working. 4.4 Human resource management Google concerned people. It provided a perfect working environment to its employees and tried its best to recognize employees needs. Besides, Google respected and treated every employee equally as an important part. It favored ability rather than experience and focused on innovation and creativity of people rather than the technical skills, such that it provided equal chances to various types of people including fresh graduated students or non-experienced people to become a part of Google. At Google, it was committed to provide opportunities to employees to bring their talent into full play. Apart from assigned daily job duties, all employees were encouraged to develop their own ideas and work on the projects that they thought were valuable. This not only provided opportunities to employees to further develop their career along with their interest and skill, but also provided employees the chances to explore their talent. Google appreciated team success as well as employee individual accomplishment. Apart from this, Google had its own education program which aimed to improve its recruitment strategies and techniques for choosing the most suitable people to become a part of Google. (Google Inc. 2009) Microsoft focused on employees freedom, balance and autonomy. It aimed to provide a flexible workplaces and full support of programs and resources to their employees in order to allow them to fully develop their talents and do the best work. Besides, Microsoft provided options of career path for its employees to choose which allowed employees to develop their career paths by their own choice. Microsoft concerned about ability and innovation as well as technical skill and experience. It welcomed people who came from any marketing fields and background. At the same time, Microsoft also offered benefits including health benefits, broadband connection to employees home, social club, career guidance, financial planning program, car leasing problem and so on, which not only covered individual employees personal needs, but also covered the needs for their family for allowing employees to enjoy a balance lives while developing their career. At the same time, Microsoft had divided its busines s into 7 categories which streamlined their business and allowed the job duties for each employee to be more specific. Last but not least, Microsoft made use of software system which helped to record and evaluate the performance of each employee for making sure they were doing their best and rewarded appropriately. (Microsoft Corporation 2009) With referenced to Mullinss studies, a completed HRM philosophy should: recognize peoples needs and expectations; respect everyone; treat everyone equally and have a fair reward system; offer stable employment; provide good working environment; provide opportunities for self and career development; concern freedom and comply with laws. Both Googles and Microsofts HRM complied with the above 8 philosophies. They focused on peoples, treated all employees equally and provided employees the best working environment and opportunities for further development. The main difference among Google and Microsoft was that Google hired people who were innovative rather that skillful or experienced. While Microsoft hired people who were innovative as well as skillful and experienced. 4.5 Culture and diversity Even Google is a globalized world sized organisation, it insisted to maintain small company feel that every employee was encouraged to make use of all the facilities and spaces which were opened to them in office or Googleplex in order to make themselves comfortable and enjoyable to work at Google, since Google deeply believed innovative ideas were always came out when people felt comfortable. At the same time, Googles culture also emphasized on having fun and enjoying lives, it kept the working atmosphere casual, helped employees to treat work as challenges and challenges as fun and focused on team work as well as individual accomplishment. Apart from these, Google paid attention on ensuring all employees were having balance lives styles which included work, play and life. Besides, all employees were treated equally and were encouraged to share or express their ideas with different teams or Top management including Co-founder Larry or Sergey directly. In addition, Google emphasized on team achievements as well as individual accomplishment. Every employee was encouraged to take part in leading the organisation towards the success. Microsoft focused on innovation and getting things done rather than bureaucracy. It concerned about people and saw every employee as its most valuable treasures. Every employee was treated equally and provided with opportunities. Microsoft emphasized on work and life balance, it encouraged employees to enjoy their lives with their family while developing their career and professional. Microsoft had passion for technology and believed in the power of technology which could help people to develop or bring their potential fully out at anytime anywhere. As per Microsofts organizational mission To help people and business throughout the world realize their full potential, it believed all its products and services were helping people to build up and realize their potential. Microsoft believed diversity enriched its performance, products and their communities where its employees lived and worked in. It concentrated on seeking people who were skillful, honest, open, willing to face by challenges and committed to personal excellence and self-improvement. (Microsoft Corporation 2009) With referenced to the seven dimensions of organizational culture, Google and Microsoft were having similar organizational couture. They both emphasized on innovation, risk taking and people orientation. Besides, Google also focused on Team orientation while Microsoft focused on outcome orientation. 4.6 Information Technology To organize the worlds information and make it universally accessible and useful is Googles core mission. Google believed in the possibilities and boundless of the internet itself, it worked hard on developing the technology on accessing information and browsing web through the internet not only via networked PCs but also mobile devices, which allowed people (including its employees) to exchange or share information at anytime anywhere. Google put great effort on keep on modifying their software and upgrading their hardware / server setup in order to allow all the information was accessed in the fastest and simplest way. Apart from these, all employees were carrying a mobile devices like netbook or packet PC which allowed them to develop or express their ideas whatever or whenever there were new ideas come up to their mind. (Google Inc. 2009) As a worldwide software and hardware products and solutions provider, Microsoft believed Nothing is impossible for technologies. It worked hard on developing not only single category of technology but different categories including operating system, application solutions, network or internet technologies and mobile technologies. It took technology as a serious part of future and deeply trusted technology could bring people toward the upper level. (Microsoft Corporation 2009) Google and Microsoft were Technology Company, Google focused on developing the perfect search engine as well as other software solutions for allowing people to get the information they look for in the shortest and easiest way. While Microsoft focused on developing the technology for helping people to realize and bring out their potential. They both trusted in the possibility and huge power of technology, which provided people easier and better lives. At the same time, they realized the importance of information. They made effort in developing the technology for allowing people to access information more quickly and easily via various channels not only the internet but also the mobile devices or any other kinds of device. Apart from this, they also recognized the importance of the security of the information and tried hard to develop powerful salutation for protecting peoples privacy. 4.7 Communication At Google, all employees were greatly encouraged to share their ideas with different teams or the top peers of the organisation directly. For example, there were weekly all-hands meetings which allowed employees express their opinions. Since Google believed all its employees were innovative and self control as long as they were being comfortable and feeling fun, it provided the prefect and relax working environment and empowered its employees to make their own decision for carrying out their own ideas or projects. It also recognized the importance of information accessibility, it kept on developing new or optimizing the existing technologies and products for allowing people to access or exchange information more easily and quickly. All employees were communicated via multi-channels which increased the transparency and the flow of information among teams and different levels of management through out the whole organisation. (Google Inc. 2009) At Microsoft, all employees were welcomed to express their ideas. Relationship among the managers and employees was treated as a kind of partnership and respect rather than top-down relationship. Managers acted like coaches, they brought out the needs and the objectives of the organization, provided supports and advices for helping or allowing the employees to develop their individual career and talent along with the success of the organization. Apart from this, Microsoft made use of technology which allowed employees to access or share information among teams or departments via web base system (Microsoft Corporation 2009) Communication was a kind of exchange or transfer of information or understanding. With referenced to Eric Bernes the Ego-State (or Parent-Adult-Child) model, the core communication model that Google and Microsoft applied was Adult-to-Adult transactions. They respected their employees, focused on guiding and supporting their employees to solve problems, do their best work and further develop their career along with the organisations success rather than demanding, commanding, controlling or criticizing their employees. At the same time, Google also applied Adult-to-Child transactions, it made effort in keeping the working atmosphere casual and fun, and encouraging their employees to view challenges as fun in order to bring out their potential and maintain employees passion on what they are doing. Apart from this, Google and Microsoft encouraged employees to share their ideas with different teams and let them to communicate via multi-channels via decentralized networks. 5. Conclusion As a kind of Technology Company, Google and Microsoft were having quite similar organisational structure and managerial approaches. They both sought for three win situation (users win, employees win and the organization wins) rather than focused on organisations revenue only. They put the users and employees at the first place since they believed organisations would only win while all people including both their users (customers) and employees won. In order to cope with the rapid changes of this world, they both chose to run their organisation with decentralized structure instead of bureaucratic structure in order to allow more flexibility. Both organisations, which included Technical level, Managerial level and Community level, were divided by functions which allowed each functional group handles specific function. Google and Microsoft respected their employees, they believed their employees were innovative, self direct and self control same as McGregors theory Y. It was not necessary to control the employees, but higher level of employees needs, including the level of love / belonging, self-esteem and self-actualization according to Maslows hierarchy of needs, should be fulfilled for maintaining employees motivation on their work. At both organisatoins, employees were being inspired or guided for bringing out their talent in order to further develop their career path along with organisations success. Learning is about change. Both Google and Microsoft provided their employees training, education program or other supportive programs for encouraging them to keep on learning in order to have sufficient ability to cope with changes or solve problems by themselves. One main difference among Google and Microsoft was that Google did not concern much about employees working experience but it only focused on employees innovation and ability. For Microsoft, it concerned about employees innovation and ability as well as working experience. It treated employees individual working experience or background as a kind of valuable treasure and wisdom. Regarding HRM, Google and Microsoft followed Mullinss eight HRM philosophies. They tried hard to understand and fulfill their employees needs and expectations by encouraging their employees to express their opinions and providing employees sufficient support. They respected their employees without any discrimination. They treated everyone equally, offered stable employment, provided prefect working environment, provided opportunities, concerned freedom and complied with laws. With referenced to the seven dimensions of organizational culture, Google and Microsoft were having similar organizational culture. They both emphasized on innovation, risk taking and people orientation. Besides, Google also focused on Team orientation such that it appreciated team work, while Microsoft focused on outcome orientation which concerned about getting the result. Google and Microsoft realized the important of technology and recognized that information was a kind of very valuable treasure. They put all their effort on developing technology which allowed information to be searched, accessed or exchanged in the fastest and easiest way. They both make use of their own technologies to allow their employee to access and exchange information in the fasted ways. They also encouraged their employees to communicate in various channels. In conclusion, there was no golden organisational structure or golden managerial approaches, which were suitable for all organisations. The structure or approaches which were applied by Google and Microsoft might not be suitable for other organisations even they were same kind of Technology Company. The effectiveness of the organisational structure and managerial approaches was organisation dependent, such that the structure and approaches would only be workable with the organisation as long as they matched with the culture of that organisation. Each organisation should have its own design of the organisational structure and managerial approaches based on its culture and needs. Otherwise, the structure and approaches not only could not help the organisation, but might damage the origanisational health. References Cogmap (2009) Microsoft [online] available from [31 December 2009] Dubois, H.F.W. Fattore, G. (2009), Definitions and typologies in public administration research: the case of decentralization, International Journal of Public Administration, 32(8): 704-727. Google Inc.(2009) Google Corporate Information [online] available from [29 December 2009] Microsoft Corporation (2009) Careers Home [online] available from [30 December 2009] Mullins L.J. (2007) Management And Organisational Behaviour. 8th ed.

Auditor Independence Essay -- Auditing

1. Introduction 1.1 The objectives of audit Under the regulatory, directors are required to produce financial statements annually which give a true and faire view of the affairs of the company and its profit and loss for the period and accountable to shareholders. Auditors have a responsibility to plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance to the shareholders and other stakeholders of a company on the financial statements. The objective of an audit of financial statements is to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, thereby enabling the auditor to express an opinion on whether the financial statements are prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with an applicable financial reporting framework; and to report on the financial statements, and communicate as required by the HKSAs, in accordance with the auditor’s findings. (HKSA 200.11) In order to maintain the auditor’s integrity, objectivity, and independence, auditing standards have been issued for measuring of the quality of the auditor’s performance. Auditing standards are general guidelines to aid auditors in fulfilling their professional responsibilities in the audit of financial statements. They include consideration of professional qualities such as competence and independence, reporting requirements and evidence. (Soltani, 2007) 1.2 Code of ethics for auditor independence Audit independence is a very critical component if a business wishes to have an audit function that can add value to the organization. The audit report and opinion must be free of any bias or influence if the integrity of the audit process is to be valued and... ...to aid auditors in fraud detection and increase emphasis on professional skepticism. 4. Recommendations Since professional independence and skepticism are more important for an auditors on audit engagement. It is recommended that auditors should enhance professional skepticism to the financial statement audit. It includes increase the ability of auditor to detect fraud by training, enhancing ability through experience and paying more effort in audit plan. In order to enhance auditor independence, directors should disclose the audit and non-audit services fee to investors and let investors to evaluate the independence of the auditor. By separating of auditor duties for audit and non-audit services, it can be help to maintain auditor independence. By enhancing the internal control system and corporate governance, it can be help to reduce fraud risk.

Current and Non-Current Assets Essay

Current assets are items on a balance sheet. According to Investorwords, current assets equal â€Å"†¦the sum of cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, inventory, marketable securities, prepaid expenses, and other assets that could be converted to cash in less than one year,† (2008). If a company goes bankrupt, current assets are easily liquidated. Additionally, current assets are a source of funds for most companies. The importance of current assets to businesses is that these assets fund daily operations and expenses. Not only are current assets expected to be turned into cash, they many be sold, or consumed within a year. By contrast, non-current assets are not â€Å"†¦easily convertible to cash or not expected to become cash within the next year,† (Investorwords, 2008). Examples of non-current assets include fixed assets, leasehold improvements, andintangible assets, (Investorwords, 2008). The differences between current and non-current assets include time and form. Current assets are intended for use within one year, while non-current assets are not. If a company owns land and a building as the center of its business, that company is not going to convert the land and building,  non-current assets, to cash within a year. The company keeps both the land and building for longer time-periods. Another example of the difference between the two types of assets is equipment, or machinery. The company uses the equipment for its daily operations, and will not be done with the equipment within a year. The equipment is a non-current asset. Equipment and machinery belonging to a company depreciates over time. This is another characteristic of many non-current assets. Current assets do not depreciate within a year. Dividing assets and liabilities into current and non-current allows for the calculation of working capital. This is the amount of current assets minus current liabilities. Working capital is the relatively liquid part of the company’s financial position. The Order of Liquidity Assets are listed on the balance sheet in order of liquidity. Current assets come first. This order begins with cash and cash equivalents, including temporary investments maturing within 90 days, but excluding cash restricted for purposes other than meeting current obligations. Next in the order are short-term investments. Debt security investments are classified as trading, available-for-sale, or held-to-maturity securities. Investments in equity securities are classified as either trading or available-for-sale securities. Trading and available-for-sale securities are reported at fair value, while held-to-maturity securities are reported at amortized cost, (NACUBO, 2005). The order of liquidity on the balance sheet continues with receivables, which discloses the amounts of expected uncollectibles, nontrade receivables, and accounts pledged or discounted. Inventories are the next part of current assets, in which a company discloses the basis of valuation, pricing method, and completion stage of manufactured inventories. Last in the order of current assets are prepaid expenses, although expenses prepaid past the current operating cycle are reported as deferred charges in the â€Å"other asset† section of the balance sheet, (NACUBO, 2008). The order of liquidity on the balance sheet moves toward non-current assets. Long-term investments are the next item on the balance sheet. These include investments in securities, tangible fixed assets not currently used in operations, special funds, and investments in affiliated companies or nonconsolidated subsidiaries. Long-term investments are those that management intends holding for an extended period. Property, plant, and equipment are non-current assets next listed on the balance sheet in order of liquidity. Most of these assets are depreciable or consumable. The basis of valuation, any liens against the property, and accumulated depreciation or depletion is disclosed. Usually, a detailed classification of property, plant, and equipment is disclosed in a supplementary schedule, not the face of the balance sheet, (NACUBO, 2008). Intangible assets are next in the order of liquidity. Intangible assets are resources without physical substance providing economic rights and advantages. Limited-life intangible assets are amortized over their useful lives and reported net of the accumulated amortization. Indefinite-life intangible assets are not amortized; instead, they are assessed periodically for impairment. Some intangible assets expenditures are not capitalized, but expensed as incurred, (NACUBO, 2008). Last in the order of liquidity are â€Å"other assets†. This is a special classification for unusual items that cannot be included in one of the other asset categories. Examples include deferred charges, non-current receivables, and advances to subsidiaries. The classification of assets depends on the nature and the use of the item. Reference Business Accounting. (2003). Retrieved April 13, 2008 from URL http://home.millsaps.edu/ Investorwords. (2008). Retrieved April 12, 2008 from URL http://www.investorwords.com NACUBO. (2008). Balance sheet classification. Retrieved April 13, 2008 from URL http://www.nacubo.org

Money and Capital Markets Central Banks

Money and Capital Markets Central Banks Central banks normally control the interest rates through participating in the open market operations. A reserve bank would influence the state’s economy by either purchasing or issuing the government with marketable instruments (Elton, Gruber Brown 2006, p. 64). By selling, the central bank lowers the price of the marketable instruments in the open market.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Money and Capital Markets: Central Banks specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This leads to reduced interest rates of commercial banks and that of the entire economy. Similarly, the central banks may reduce the interest rates at which commercial banks borrow loans from central banks. This implies that commercial banks will respond by issuing loans to the public at reduced interest rates. In addition, the central bank may impose a ceiling on the interest rates above which the commercial banks would not be allowed to offer loans t o the public. Generally, interest rate is one of the monetary policies that are used to control various economic variables such as inflation rates and investments. The Indian Central Bank raised its interest rate in an attempt to improve the GDP growth in the year 2011. The central bank of India enhanced the benchmark repo rate by 0.025%. The interest stood at 8.5% as at mid October 2011. This move was essential since it would have seen the inflation rate contained within the accepted levels. According to the Reserve Bank of India, setting the interest rate for commercial banks gives guidance to banks as regards to the upcoming period (Currie 2011, p. 87). The interest rate of 8.5% was imposed with an expectation that inflation rates would decline in December 2011 and subsequently maintain the fall to 7% at the end of March 2012. According to the July Quarterly Review, the central bank of India had projected that the Gross Domestic Product would experience a growth of 8% for the yea r 2011 and 2012. Nevertheless, the September Quarterly Review indicated that the risk to the projected growth was declining. Many financial analysts claimed that based on the changes taking place in the economic environment, the downward baseline projection of Gross Domestic Product growth was expected to hit an average of 7.6% in 2011-2012 financial year.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Bank of England was keen to ensure that the interest rate was maintained at sustainable levels to allow the economy of England keep off from the disasters associated with the European economic crisis. As at August 2011, the monetary policy committee of the Bank of England maintained the base rate at 0.5%. However, it made no changes on its quantitative easing plan. The economic analysts of the UK claimed that interest rates would not probably rise until the following year that is, 2012. This was expected to occur following the signs of inflationary pressures, which were to hit the peak. The inflation rate had dropped to 4.2% at the end of June. Although there were possibilities that utility bills had the potential of rising above 5%, financial analysts perceived that any rise would be temporal. The central bank of China is known as the People’s Bank of China. Economists claim that the People’s Bank of China is the largest financial institution in the world in terms of financial resources (Wittner 2003, p. 48). Chinese government and other financial analysts refer to the Chinese interest rate as the base interest rate. Unlike other central banks in the world, the People’s Bank of China has an absolute power and control over the use of fiscal policies. This implies that the bank has the autonomy of imposing the interest rate to various commercial banks in China. Over the last decade, the People’s Bank of China has been known for its influence in setting interest rates for debt instruments, savings and loans. The difference that exists between the Chinese central bank and that of other countries is that Chinese interest rate is divisible by nine while that of other nations are divisible by 25 (Reilly Brown 2007, p. 67). This is because the Chinese financial year has only 360 days. This makes it easier to calculate both monthly and daily interest rates. In December 2008, the Chinese interest rate was 5.310% while in June 2011, the interest rate rose to 6.560%. A difference exists between the U.S. Federal Reserve and the People’s Bank of China in terms of setting interest rates. The Federal Reserve only determines the rate for the Federal funds, which is always used to control the overnight inter-banks rates. On the other hand, the Central bank of China controls the entire market including the interest rates that are used by commercial banks. Normally, the central bank of china sets floor for lending rates and ceilings for deposit rates.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Money and Capital Markets: Central Banks specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In the last two years, a number of central banks embarked on cutting their interest rates in an attempt to improve the economic performance. The central banks that have cut their interest rates in the last two years include the Reserve Bank of Australia, the Bank of Japan, the Bank of England and the European Central Bank. The Bank of England set the highest record after it cut its interest rate by 150 basis points. Although lowering the interest rate is important when the economy is facing high prices, it is more risky when there are high chances of inflation (Reilly Brown 2007, p. 56). List of References Currie, D 2011, Country Analysis: Understanding Economic and Political Performance, Gower Publishing Limited, New York. Elton, E, Gruber, M Brown S 2006, Modern Portfolio Theor y and Investment Analysis, John Wiley, New York. Reilly, K Brown, C 2007, Investment Analysis and Portfolio Management, Thomson, South Western. Wittner, P 2003, The European Generics Outlook: A Country-by-Country Analysis of Developing Market Opportunities and Revenue Defense Strategies, Datamonitor, London.

Using Pharma Bro and Other Pop-Culture Epithets

Using Pharma Bro and Other Pop-Culture Epithets Using Pharma Bro and Other Pop-Culture Epithets Using Pharma Bro and Other Pop-Culture Epithets By Mark Nichol Not long after Martin â€Å"Pharma Bro† Shkreli stepped out of the media spotlight, the notoriously greedy former pharmaceutical-company executive briefly popped back onto the popular-culture radar to helpfully illustrate how epithets have evolved (or devolved, as some may judge). Shkreli, at the time the CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals, became for a time the most hated man in the United States, based on the antipathy he inspired on social media for price gouging: He jacked up the price of a drug used to kill parasites in AIDS and cancer patients to more than fifty times its original price of about $13.50 per pill. Schadenfreude struck when he was arrested for securities fraud, and he was quickly dubbed â€Å"Pharma Bro† for his cocky frat-boy attitude. Recently, during an interview, he essentially told the world, â€Å"Don’t call me Pharma Bro† (the actual quote was the bro-ish assertion â€Å"Im not a ‘pharma bro,’ right?†), saying that the photograph he posted on Twitter showing him mimicking a rapper’s posturing, which prompted the coinage, was meant as a joke, but the epithet will likely forever be attached to him. What is an epithet, anyway? A more detailed discussion of epithets is provided in this post, but briefly, an epithet is a sobriquet, or nickname, and such usage is nothing new in popular media- or in writing in general. A few years ago, we were subjected to the hideous sight of Tan Mom, a woman who routinely spent so much time in a tanning salon that her skin turned a grotesque leathery brown. Before that there was Octomom, who, though she already had six children conceived through in vitro fertilization, gave birth to octuplets thanks to the same procedure. In the world of entertainment, a trend that flourished some years ago but has all but disappeared is to create an epithet by combining the names of two celebrities in a romantic relationship, producing such portmanteau monikers as Brangelina (for Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie); the latest such appellation, Kimye, refers to Kim Kardashian and Kanye West. Before that, other famous people were dubbed, for example, Elvis â€Å"the King† Presley, Joe â€Å"the Yankee Clipper† DiMaggio, and John â€Å"the Great Profile† Barrymore. More recent epithets have included Kung Fu Panda (or simply Panda) for Major League Baseball player Pablo Sandoval. But as the ubiquity of social media makes it easy for anyone to become a subject of notoriety, if only for the proverbial fifteen minutes of fame, it’s likely that we will become accustomed to designations like Pharma Bro, Tan Mom, and Octomom, whether those who bear the labels like them or not. Should you, however, use such nomenclature in your professional writing? Certainly, if such usage is pertinent, whether you’re referring to one of these temporary celebrities directly or just alluding to them (perhaps describing an unfortunate sunbather who went overtime in UV exposure as â€Å"Tan Mom†). But consider your audience, as well as chronology, when name-dropping someone who has earned a derisive epithet. Pharma Bro has been in the news repeatedly for the past couple of months, so readers are likely to know who you’re talking about. But in an informational article, you might opt for a gloss, or a brief description; I provided an extensive explanation above, but it might suffice to refer to â€Å"Pharma Bro, the notorious former pharmaceutical executive arrested for price-gouging AIDS and cancer patients.† If you’re making a humorous allusion, however, as in the â€Å"Tan Mom† example in the previous paragraph, you’ll sink the joke if you weigh it down with an explanation. Either trust your readers to get the reference, or omit it as a distraction to your point. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:50 Redundant Phrases to AvoidDisappointed + PrepositionOne Scissor?

Financial pros and cons Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Financial pros and cons - Essay Example Operating margin: The Company has a better operating margin in 2003 of 19.60% over the previous years. This indicates the company is very efficient in managing its operating expenses to generate revenue. Return on Capital Employed: The Company have earned handsomely for its investors as return so far on its capital employed stands at approximately 25% which is far more than the cost of capital, assuming it to be at 10%. Debt Equity ratio: This ratio identifies the solvency of the firm by measuring the leverage position of a company. Higher the ratio the more leverage a company is and vice versa and hence higher financial risk. Superior Living Inc. has a very low debt equity ratio i.e. 0.025 for 2003, which indicates the company has a very low financial risk as a result it will be very easy for the company to raise debt in the market and banks would be willing to provide loans to the company without much hassle. Raising money by going public indicates accepting money from investors in exchange of ownership and control of the company without the obligation of paying back the money. The company as per its convenience benefits the investors by paying dividend from time to time. This sounds like easy money for the company but the flip side is that the ownership and control over the company would be foregone for the amount invested via equity financing. In the case of Superior Inc. the company is comfortably placed in terms of book debts. The debt equity ratio very low which means the company has not used debt to the extent it should have used. Generally the ideal debt equity ratio should be 1:2 but for Superior it’s around 1:40. Therefore, the prudent course of action for Superior Inc. is too raise capital by debt financing route which also brings in tax advantage as interest paid on debts is deductible from profits and dividend paid on equity cannot be deducted from profits. Debt

Bullying in Nursing Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Bullying in Nursing - Research Paper Example Bullying in nursing manifests in different ways including false accusations aimed tainting someone’s reputation and competency, personal attacks, allocation of roles beyond one’s skills and lack of assistance from the seniors, and lastly intimidation among other ways. The bullying behavior translates into psychological and physiological effects on the victims, poor bedside patient outcomes as well as compromise in the organizational effectiveness and efficiency. The menace can be controlled through cognitive rehearsal training programs, implementation of code of conduct, creation of awareness and zero tolerance on bullying in all health care organizations. Keywords (Bullying, interpersonal relationships, intimidation, reputation, competency, code of conduct, cognitive rehearsal) Review of the Literature of a Researchable Problem Workplace bullying has emerged as global issue in healthcare organization, particularly affecting the nursing practitioners. Owing to the serio usness of this problem and its effects on the performance of nurses, several studies have been conducted with the aim of understanding and establishing strategies to avert or control its occurrence. Despite the existence of aggression and harassment behaviors in almost health care organization, bullying is viewed as form of repeated behaviors resulting in creation of a hostile working environment (Hutchinson, Wilkes, Vickers & Jackson, 2008). Researchers have proposed numerous strategies of dealing with bullying in nursing including training programs, establishment of stringent measure to protect nurses, and counseling programs. This paper entails review of literature from different scholarly articles on bullying in nursing. Simons, S. (2010). Bullying in the workplace-a qualitative study of new licensed registered nurses. American Association of Occupational Health Nurses, 58 (7), 305-311. This article entails a qualitative study of bullying among nurses to establish the different ways in which bullying manifests in the field of nursing. Simons (2010) examined the individual experiences of nurses as well as incidences of bullying witnessed during their practice. The study applied a descriptive qualitative research design to examine bullying behavior among newly licensed nurse. A survey study was conducted in the State of Massachusetts targeting nurses registered between 2001 and 2003 and about 511 responses were obtained through the email survey (Simons, 2010). The results of study revealed that about 139 nurses had been bullied and 14 others witnessed bullying incidences. Several themes describing the bullying behavior were identified including feeling out of the group, structural bullying, senior or old nurses exploiting newly registered nurses and the feeling of quitting the occupation (Simons, 2010). The phrase ‘nurses eat their young’ was particularly used to describe the hostility subjected to new nurses by their seniors. Senior nurses prop agated bullying in the working area through subjecting the newly registered nurses to ridicule, lack of information sharing and lack of assistance from the experienced nurses. Bullying in nursing accounted for a significant percentage of the employee turnover in the nursing field. Some of the respondents reported having left their jobs due to unbearable bullying in their working environments. Most of the bullying beha