Terrorism and Its Indirect Victims Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Terrorism and Its Indirect Victims - Essay Example Of course, we can't forget the many police, firefighters, and other people on the streets who were buried in rubble or hit with falling bricks or other types of debris. All of these describe the direct victims are a terrorist attack, those who were killed or maimed. In the bombing of the Oklahoma City Federal Building, we find many direct victims as well, though these numbers were nowhere near the thousands who lost their lives when the two planes crashed into the World Trade Center Twin Towers. It is not difficult to understand and visualize these victims and what the direct effect was on them from these attacks. These are the direct victims; those who suffered death or severe injury from a terrorist attack. On the other end of the scope, there are the indirect victims. Who or what are these indirect victims The first one that comes to mind for anyone is the families of the direct victims: wives, children, parents, other relatives, and friends. These are the ones who suffer, being without a loved one on which they depended either emotionally or financially. Additionally, according to a review published October 4, 2001 by InView (http://www.newss.ksu.edu/WEB/News/InView/100401terrorism.html), the psychological effects of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center will last for quite a long time. "There will be a lot of people who will suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. We saw it with the Oklahoma City bombing and those who were in Vietnam," Rappoport said. "Some people will not recover too well and the emotional damage will be permanent (Paragraph 5)." The indirect effects of terrorism can often be worse than the direct effects, The victim, if he or she survives, recovers from the physical injuries, but the emotional damage, a indirect result of the attack, is likely to continue for many years. For those victims who have lost their lives, as the many during the attacks on the World Trade Center, the psychological damage to their loved ones will continue for many years to come. The loved ones are going to have to continue without the presence of the person who was directly affected by the terrorist attack, and that is going to be a difficult task to accomplish. For the wives and children, the effects will be more long term because suddenly one woman must become both mother and father when her psychological well-being is not at its highest peak. The hardest part is that it's not going to go away like it does during an auto accident; these are events the family and children will face on a daily basis. It is likely that both the Oklaho ma City Bombings and the attacks on the World Trade Center are events that later generations will be reading in their Social Studies and History classes. What about the terrorists Can we classify them as victims as well Certainly, they are responsible for a horrendous act of violence, but at the same time, it may not always be of their own free will. An article from the April 2005 ChronWatch and published on the Internet (http://www.newss.ksu.edu/WEB/News/InView/100401terrorism.html, "Why Good Muslims Become Terrorists") explains the effect that a belief in Islam has on its people. These excerpts from the original article written by Ali Sina explains that it is not the Muslims

Psychology (personality) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Psychology (personality) - Essay Example Adler’s strategies can be compared to various points of scripture from the Bible. From the point of both aggression and withdrawal, the section of Genesis in which the Lord expels Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden is applicable. â€Å"Because thou hast†¦ eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of they life† (Holy, 1945). This passage shows both agression and withdrawal, because the Lord is aggressively expelling the couple, and they are being made to withdraw into the world. There tends to be more about punishment in Genesis, showing more aggression. Excuses can also be explained and correlated to scriptures and sections of the Bible, including passages from Job. In terms of applying Adler’s theories to scripture, one can see how the three major safeguarding strategies are put forth as described by Adler in terms of personality, and of cou rse, human beings are still human beings, just as in the Biblical

An Investigation of Vietnams Barriers of Economic Growth and Development Essay Example for Free

An Investigation of Vietnams Barriers of Economic Growth and Development Essay Over the past few decades, Vietnam has made remarkable recovery from the damage of war and political reforms. Under Vietnams communist party, the countrys economy has transitioned from a centrally planned economy to a socialist-oriented market economy. Making it a multi-sectored commodity economy regulated by the people, whilst under state management and ownership. Numerous reforms, along with the modernization of the financial system, have led to rapid growth for Vietnam economically. In 2010, the Gross Domestic Product (PPP) of Vietnam was $275,639 million and ranked 40 out of 182 listed countries according to the International Monetary Fund. This is most likely due to rapid industrialization that has and is taking place. Industry and construction contributed approximately 40.9% of GDP in 2010 whereas the share of the agriculture sector has fallen to 21%. Although the rise in GDP has brought about a decline in poverty, larger school enrolment rates, bettered infrastructure, etc, this rapid growth rate has also brought with it negative factors that may hinder subsequent economic growth and development. For instance, Vietnam is facing large budget and trade deficits. In 2010, the current account balance (CAB) of Vietnam was -8.51 billion US dollars based on the International Monetary Fund, with the countrys trade deficits amounting to US$12.4 billion. CAB value, being a negative, shows that the amount spent on imports coming into Vietnam is higher than that earned from the countrys exports. The problem is that the imports are of a higher value than the exports and this is the consequence of relying on a narrow range of primary products (This point on low value exports will be elaborated on, under cultural factors). Similarly, the government is blowing its budget, causing the fiscal deficit to rise to 7.4% of GDP in 2010, which shows the extent at which the governments total expenditure has exceeded the revenue that it generates. This overshot the governments target of 6.2%. On one hand, the government expenditure on basic social and physical infrastructure is a necessity for any developing country. However, this continual over-spending can place the government in a state of debt, which may interfere with economic growth and development. Also, the corrupted state misspends and embezzles a good share of export earnings, foreign investment and revenue (To be covered later under political instability). In order to taper down trade deficits, the government has been forced to devalue the Vietnamese currency (dong) to the exchange rate of 17,961 dong : US$1. However, the dong is continually being devalued. According to Le Dang Doanh of the Economic College of Hanoi, devaluation might temporarily help to reduce Vietnams imports, but it will also boost inflation because the imported fuel will rise. Doanhs views are very apt as devaluation of the exchange rate will make exports more competitive and appear cheaper to foreigners. This will increase demand for exports whilst making imports more expensive. Hence, reducing the demand for imports. However, this devaluation has caused a rise in the inflation rate in Vietnam. In January 2011, the consumer-price index rose to 12.17%. This is higher than the 11.8% increase in December 2010. Bring about higher prices for education services, food, housing and building materials within the country. These high prices are not easily met by the poorer of the country. It is no surprise, therefore, that Vietnams per capita GDP (PPP) of $3,123 (ranked 128) by the International Monetary Fund, meaning that the average income of a person living in Vietnam is approximately $8.70 per day. This is equivalent to earning US$3.20 a day according to nominal per capita GDP. One reason for this is that Vietnams rate of growth of population is higher than that of its GDP. Vietnam, with a growing population of over 89 million, is the 13th most densely populated country in the world. The Human Development Index (HDI) re-illustrates Vietnams lower development and welfare. It weighs real national income per year, the adult literacy rate, average years of schooling, and life expectancy in ranking a country in terms of development. The closer the HDI value is to 1, the more developed the country is said to be. The 2010 HDI value of Vietnam is 0.572, ranking the country 113 out of 169 countries with comparable data. Having a HDI value between 0.5 and 0.8, Vietnam is said to have medium human development. However, this value still remains below the average HDI value of East Asia and the Pacific (0.650) and that of the world (0.624). On a scale from 0 1, the index for health is 0.869, education is 0.480 and income is 0.448. Additionally from the 2010 report, 21.45% of the population is living below US$1.25 per day and 25,632 per million of the population is affected by natural disasters. It appears that the prime reason for the relatively low HDI value of Vietnam seems to be due to the decline in infrastructure and income amongst its citizens. This brings us to the next section of my investigation. Along with the problems arising in Vietnam, its current economic situation could have been and still remains a result of the various factors below: Income Poverty The Vietnam government has made effective attacks on poverty, reducing the countries share of income poverty from 58% to 21.45% in 1993-2010. Due to industrialization and reforms, more jobs and opportunities were created. The rise in income for people working in industrial zones resulted in more than a third of the population being pulled out of poverty. However, the increasing number of people moving into the city areas has caused property demands, and hence prices, to rise. Additionally, inflation is increasing the prices of staples remarkably, making it difficult for low-income urban and rural residents. In fact, a study in 2006 by the Vietnamese Academy of Social Sciences concluded that even higher growth rates will be required than in the past as poverty is still deep and widespread, and the remaining millions of people vulnerable to poverty fall far below the poverty line. This prevalent income gap in Vietnam, particularly the income disparity between the rural and urban areas not only lowers the basic standard of living in the country due to inequitable development, but also reduces consumption. This drop in consumption, coupled with the investment fever of the higher income-earners, might cause deflation. Although deflation may seem to help lower-income citizens to purchase more goods, price drops will hamper profits of firms and, hence, the overall economic growth of Vietnam. This will lead to even lower income distributed to workers, and even retrenchment, as companies would need to cut down costs. As a result, economic development is hindered, as the government will not have sufficient funds to spend on improving infrastructure in the country. Therefore, the basic standard of living subsequently drops. Vietnams capital, Hanoi, is already feeling the negative effects of this lack of infrastructure due to the poverty cycle as it is constantly plagued by power blackouts (See lack of infrastructure below). Political Structure/Corruption To date, the government continues to maintain control of the largest and most important firms in the country. The government recently issued new limitations for state-owned enterprises (SOEs) on the extent at which they can diversify away from their core business. Conversely, policy changes tend to take a long time to be put into effect and SOEs will take an equally long period of time to respond to such directives. One way to overcome this conservatism, the minimal or gradual change in society, is if the government gives up political control of the economy and diminishing the bureaucratic nature of commerce in Vietnam. However it is unlikely that the Communist leaders will allow this to happen. Additionally, Vietnam relies heavily on SOEs to generate wealth for the nation. Under each company, workers enjoy the same share of benefits from growth despite any disparity in productivity. Therefore, there is no incentive for workers to perform better at their job and the economy will not be able to reach high growth rates or attract foreign investors. Public officials and state employees, thus, resort to getting extra money any way they can. The current state structure creates loopholes for corrupt people to plunder state budget. Already, there have been cases where government officials have been arrested for squandering a significant share of investments that come into the country. The 2010 Corruption Perceptions Index placed Vietnam 116th out of 178 countries, with a transparency score of 2.7. Corruption and lack of political transparency causes citizens to lose confidence in their leaders and weakens national unity. Possible uprisings may occur and instability hinders national construction and defense (Continued in lack of infrastructure below). Lack of infrastructure Vietnams energy-generating capacity is not at a high enough level yet to support its production in industrial zones. However, at the moment the government budget is not enough to solve the electricity supply problem. First of all, if fewer goods are produced due to lack of electricity to operate machinery efficiently, economic growth will decrease. Furthermore, power surges disrupt the everyday lives of citizens, transportation, etc. Lowering the standard of living in Vietnam. As mentioned above, the bureaucracy of official procedures stops the country from building the roads, power stations and other public works due to the slow speed at which such changes take effect. These factors are needed to maintain efficient production of goods and services and, hence, growth rate. Particularly, the lack of road systems hinders economic development, as it is difficult for citizens to gain access to different areas of the country. Cultural Factors Initially an agriculture-based economy, Vietnam depends on seafood and rice as main exports for the country. Many of these low-value products are the livelihood of people living in rural areas. The school attendance is much lower in rural areas as compared to urban areas and this lack of education leads to the lack of skills necessary to carry out jobs in industrial zones. Therefore, their focus on agriculture has translated to the country over-depending on primary products as its main exports. This narrows the range of products, which can be purchased through international trade. This negatively impacts potential economic growth. On the other hand, an increasing number of people living in urban areas own cars and factories are producing goods constantly in order keep up with the ambitious growth targets of Vietnams Communist leaders. The emissions from choking traffic and constant construction are starting to take a toll on the environment. The pollution, therefore, impedes the economic development of the developing country. In conclusion, we can see that despite Vietnams improving economic growth, numerous debts accumulating in the country and the devaluation of currency can hinder further potential growth rates. These factors overlap with the Communist Partys political control of the economy and the slow change of economic policies, lack of infrastructure to support capital production and exporting low-value products, which in turn hinder economic growth. Additionally, over-population, growing income gaps between rural and urban areas, inefficient building of infrastructure and environmental damage created by excessive and rapid industrialization, have impeded on economic development by lowering the basic standard of living of the country. In order for Vietnam to grow and develop economically in the future, the political structure needs to allow a more efficient change in both social and economical policies. More importantly, the country needs to stop prevalent corruption and give firms incentives to generate more economic growth and, thus, attract more foreign investments for the country. Sources -http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTPOVERTY/Resources/WDR/English-Full-Text-Report/ch2.pdf -http://www.arcadia-asia.com/commentaries/201003-Arcadia%20Market%20Commentary.pdf -http://www.viet-studies.info/kinhte/vietnam_OxfordAnalytica.pdf -http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTPRS1/Resources/383606-1106667815039/gov_spending_vietnam.pdf -http://www.economist.com/node/11041638?story_id=11041638 -http://www.icsead.or.jp/7publication/workingpp/wp2006/2006-18.pdf -http://www.economywatch.com/economic-statistics/country/Vietnam/

Enron and the role of tone at the top in fraud

Enron and the role of tone at the top in fraud Research and review the Enron case against the concept of tone at the top. Produce a referenced report and bibliography which demonstrates specifically how the conduct of the senior leadership in Enron shaped the dominant culture of the company and how this contributed towards an acceptance of the use of Fraud for personal gain within Enron. The central purpose of this report is to examine and review the Enron case; the most profiled, serious white collar crime reported in the world today. The report shall specifically look at the how the companies ‘tone at the top’ contributed to their failure and also how the demeanour of the senior leadership within the company shaped the culture of the company and how this contributed towards an acceptance of the use of Fraud for personal gain within Enron. In the business atmosphere it is important for there to be a trust between management and employees, and that either party does not abuse their positions for personal gain, as doing so can often have detrimental effects on a business as proved by Enron. The eventual demise of the Enron Corporation was a result of a lack of ethical corporate behaviour, corporate greed and the utilisation of special purpose entities, which were used to hide financial debt. A large contributing factor to the fall of Enron was down weak tone at the top of the company. However other factors such as mismanagement of risk and over extension of capital resources, philosophical differences in management, involvement in mark to market accounting, earnings to assets failures and the tone set by the management of the company to overestimate assets to meet targets for greater bonuses also contributed to the failure of the company. To remove competition – Ir. in Jacobs? He was bought out using the employees’ pension fund, a move which is morally wrong. People to mention Jeffrey skilling – CEO of enron Ken Lay – background? Little management experience and qualifications 1999 – annual report – Ken Lay – we support employees Cressey – fraud 3 elements – pressure, opportunity and rationalisation. Arthur Anderson their accounting company – desperate to gain contracts in the competitive market. They became involved in the Enron scandal and even shredded important documents which were requested by investigators later on. ‘Tone at the Top’[1] refers to the moral construct which is formed in a workplace. ‘The tone is set by top management, the corporate environment within which reporting occurs.’[2] ‘Tone at the top is described as†¦. ACFE’ Examples of good tone at the top – following the code of ethics Zero tolerance to crime and fraud within a company Good tone at the top of an organisation reduces the likelihood of rationalisation for ‘unethical’ behaviour, creating an honest and trustworthy work environment. Good tone at the top doesn’t always lead to a successful business, however it gives a business a better chance. Don’t cover anything up. Example IBM suffered a bad spell, were honest and open about it and discussed how they could improve the situation. Enrons code of ethics, which integrity, respect, communication and excellence. Enrons bad tone at the top Enrons foundations wernt based on the marketing of a successful product, but a free market which they thought they could abuse. poor business ethics including the ‘rank or yank’ scheme which enron employed, employees were ranked on their performance and would dismiss the bottom 15% if they didn’t improve within the consecture 6 months. This strategy meant that employees were scared of loosing their jobs, therefore didn’t question business practises and were even often forced to make unethical decisions for themselves. Employees rationalised their actions, as they had to commit fraud in order to meet targets and keep their job safe. Enron recruited young employees who had just graduated, who were ‘impressionable’ and who needed the job, therefor would not question or report the operating style of the company. Enon needed contant funding to provide high returns with little risk. It has been discovered that an organisation can be dictated on the upper management’s attitude towards integrity and ethical values; this suggests that if the manager’s outlook can dictate employee’s views, it therefore can increase or decrease the chance of fraud occurring within the business. Corporate greed often destroys a company,[3] as it did with the Enron Corporation. In the mid 1990’s Enron was the dominant energy company in the United States, and one of the leading companies in the world and later on in 2001, they went onto filing for bankruptcy. Enron went bankrupt the way that most companies fail, investing in projects that are too risky, and therefore they were unable to keep up with the debt obligations of the firm. (niskanen, 2005, p. 2). High level managers in mark and skillings teams were taking advantage of huge compensation packages for having completed deals through questionable practises. , however the firm’s success was down to an elaborate scam ran by executives of the company. The rapid suc ­cess and the pos ­i ­tive scrutiny the com ­pany was receiv ­ing from the press and finan ­cial ana ­lysts, supplemented fuel to the company’s com ­pet ­i ­tive cul ­ture. Jefferey Skilling a company executive ran a staff of executives who used loopholes, mislead financial information and used deception to hide billions of pounds of debts they were in from previous failed projects and deals. The culture at Enron was that any ‘ethical wrongdoing is to be hidden at any cost; deny, play the dupe, claim ignorance, lie, quit’.[4] Enron used a technique called ‘mark to market’ this is an accounting technique which is used by recording the price/value of a security on a daily basis to calculate the profits and losses, this allowed Enron to project earnings from long term energy contracts as their current income, this was how they distorted their balance sheets to inflate their revenue by manipulating projections for future revenue. This technique made it difficult to see how the company was making money, and therefore stock prices remained high for the company however Enron wasn’t paying high taxes, therefore this method allowed the company to make money without bringing in taxable money, by doing this the company had wiped out ‘$70 billion of shareholder value but also defaulted on tens of billions of dollar of debts’[5] This approach increased the pressure at the top of the company, the company used bonuses to push employees to keep the business going. The organisational culture for the company was seen as a ‘dysfunctional corporate culture’ whose main focus was on profit gains through the means of bonuses. practice was carried out at all levels of the organisation, disregarding the quality of cash flow or profits, in order to achieve a better rating for their performance tables. This meant that stakeholders and lenders saw inaccurate figures. fraudulent reporting and accounting was to ensure that the business kept up with the stock price value. This practice enabled employees within the organisation and executives to receive large bonuses.[6] These are common features that indicate that tone at the top failed in the Enron’s business environment and it also produces evidence that moral ethics can affect a whole organisation. If cor ­po ­rate lead ­ers encour ­age rule defiance and fos ­ter an intim ­i ­dat ­ing, aggres ­sive envi ­ron ­ment, it was indisputable that the eth ­i ­cal bound ­aries at Enron eroded away to noth ­ing. In 2001, Richard Grubman an Analyst from Wall Street discovered that Enron weren’t producing their balance sheets or financial statements. The CEO of Enron Jeffrey Skilling responded to this by saying, â€Å"Well, thank you very much. We appreciate it†¦ a–hole!†[7] This comment made gives a picture of the culture ran within the organisation and also gives an idea of the tone at the top of the company, that executives who ran the company didn’t have high standards of civility or integrity. When their malpractice was discovered Lay and Skilling argued that they were participating in ‘normal business practice’,[8] however their defensiveness towards the situation intensified the awareness of such ‘Gaming the system’.[9] The failure of the Enron Corporation identified certain judgements which need to be considered with regards to business ethics, the issue isn’t the fact that fraud was classed as acceptable in that business environment. The occurrence of disreputable practices and the systematic temperament of the misinterpreting and reporting of financial reports in the case lead the UK and US to implement regulations to stop this behaviour happening in other businesses. Accord ­ing to Schein (1985) there are five pri ­mary mech ­a ­nisms that a leader can use to influ ­ence an organisation’s cul ­ture atten ­tion, reac ­tion to crises, role modelling, allo ­ca ­tion of rewards, and cri ­te ­ria for selec ­tion and dis ­missal. Schein’s assump ­tion is that these mechanisms rein, force and encour ­age behavioural and cul ­tural norms within a business environment. However the exec ­u ­tives at Enron used the five mech ­a ­nisms to rein ­force a working cul ­ture that was morally indecent, exposing the company and employees to degen ­er ­a ­tion, lying, cheat ­ing, and stealing. Rafraf commented that the executives in the company were solely focused on profit and gains in the short term and not achieving long sustainable business goals or profits,[10] he suggested this was their main focus, regardless of business ethics.[11] A previous employee commented that executive Jeffery Skilling was ‘driven by the almighty dollar.’[12] It was evident in the Enron case that employees were ‘overconfident’ therefore it has been suggested that this behaviour can often lead to fraudulent behaviour to become or stay successful.[13] The company went under investigation after scrutiny from its own employees who whistle blew as they didn’t like the way that the business was being ran as the activities that were undertaken to stay successful were unethical, morally wrong and illegal. A former employee commented, â€Å"We are such a crooked company.’[14] Executives such as Kenneth Lay soon started to sell off their own shares whilst also pocketing some money.[15] Whilst in the meantime Lay was telling workers in company to buy shares as they were incredibly low, this supports that it was executives within the company who determined this crooked culture within the organisation. The company executives were charged for fraud and money laundering. Tone at the top failed at Enron, as business procedures show that morale ethics can affect the whole organisation. Business ethics were not evident in the company, regardless of position in hierarchy. Tone of the Top allows a business to have control over itself, the stronger the tone at the top, the more likely the business is to be successful, however it has been suggested that organisations who rely too much on tone at the top give businesses too much independence. The reason for Enron’s failure was due to the lack of tone at top, ethical values and morals also didn’t play a role in the decisions which were made at the expense of the business, employees and customers. This particular case of failure in business highlighted the fact that when tone at the top is not implemented into a business, employees often follow the decisions made even if they are ethically immoral, this can be down to personal circumstances and a need for the job. There are regulations in place t hat deter organisations and employees from committing this white collar crime and also the criminal law prosecution. The Enron case highlights how an organisation can quickly sink if they lack tone at the top, however the case failed to provide a message against ‘gaming the system’[16]. Tone at the top is imperative in a business that wishes to be successful, as otherwise the company can be led astray by an individual who has no business morale and lead the company into committing fraud to make the company successful. Conclude The poor tone at the top at Enron allowed the management to profit through their illegal business practises. This was also the case for many employees who were taught in an environment that allowed for personal gain, from illegal activities. Enron had a code of ethics, which was evidently not followed. code of ethics, Honesty and integrity. Followed by all ranks of a company to set a good ‘tone at the top’, ethical behaviour. National commission on fraudulent financial reporting suggests; identify and understand the factors that lead to fraudulent financial reporting, design and implement internal controls within the company, which detects/prevents this behaviour. Integrity is an important characteristic to behold, as compliance goes hand in hand. This attitude encourages whistle blowers and deters staff from using rationalisation and justification to commit fraudulent behaviour. The main element in the fraud triangle, therefore reducing the likeliness of fraud within a company. A culture of narcissm fostered at Enron, rewarding individuals for unethical practises, such as CFO chief financial advisor Andrew Fastow who created an illegal scheme Chewco to hide enrons mounting debt. Mark and skillings dispute to which business model to follow, accounting scandals emerged to the public in 2001, finally brought Enron to the ground. Enron culture developed – trait theory Stogdill found leadership changed depending on situations encounted, 5 major leadership traits intelligence, self confidence, determination, integrity and sociability (northhouse, p. 19) Traits worked together to provide effective leadership, balance between individual leader n situational factors needed to influence group member behaviour and develop healthy organisational culture. One or more of the traits are lacking in the leader, problems can arise in the social exchange between leader and group members. Impacting in a negative manner the development of organisational culture. Enron: absence of key trair – integrity. Enrons leadership did not live out the ethics they claimed to have valued. Mixed deontology and universal ethical egoism help to understand how the culture of narcissm at enron developed from an ethical framework. Trait and transformational theories help us to make sense of what went wrong at enron from a leadership perspective. Bibliography Journals Kershaw. D, Evading Enron: Taking Principles Too Seriously in Accounting Regulation [2005] The Modern Law Review 594-625, 596 King. A, Tone at the Top: Why Investors Should Care [2013] Strategic Finance 25-31, 28 McBarnet. D, After Enron Will Whiter Than White Collar Crime Still Wash? [2006] British Criminology Journal 1091, 1098 Rafraf. T, From Thriving to Surviving: The Bad Apple Conduct at Enron [2002] Journal of Business Ethics 1-19. Schrand. C, The Slippery Slope to Fraud [2010] 1-5 Websites Annual Fraud Indicator 2012’, Home Office, March 2012 p8 http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/agencies-public-bodies/nfa/annual-fraud-indicator/annual-fraud-indicator-2012?view=Binary/> accessed 28st March 2014 Enron Online Blog, Jeff Skilling is Not Crazy for Calling Grubman an Asshole (Enron Online Blog ) http://enron-online.com/2011/07/21/jeff-skilling-is-not-crazy-for-calling-grubman-an-asshole/> accessed 28st March 2014 Inman. P, UK is weak on tackling white collar crime and short sellers, says HBOS chairman (The guardian 2008) http://www.theguardian.com/business/2008/jun/27/hbosbusiness.regulators> accessed 30th March 2014 Partnoy. F, The Unregulated Status of Derivative Enron: Testimony at Hearings before the US Senate Committee on Government Affairs (Financial Sense 2002) www.financialsense.com/editorials/2002.partnoy.htm> accessed 24th March 2014 , The Enron Scandal (Socialism Today 2002) http://www.socialismtoday.org/63/enron.html> accessed 28th March 2014 Willet. B Always. T, For Investors, X Marks the Spot, Whether They Choose To See It Or Not (Fallstreet 2002) www.fallstreet.com/enron> accessed 30th March 2014 Unknown, Tone at the Top, ethical dilemmas (Corporate Compliance Insights 2012) http://www.corporatecomplianceinsights.com/tone-at-the-top-ethical-dilemmas/> accessed 27th April 2014 B Jensen, Accounting Fraud (Bob Jensens Enron Quiz 2012) http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudEnron.htm> accessed 27th April 2014 Unkown, How Cooking the Books Works Read more at: http://www.caclubindia.com/forum/how-cooking-the-books-works-75658.asp#.U2OHc4FdXHQ (Caclubindia 2010) http://www.caclubindia.com/forum/how-cooking-the-books-works-75658.asp> accessed 27th April 2014 Unknown, Enron Ethics — The Culture of Enron (Business School 2010) http://business.mattprindle.com/leadership-skills/enron-ethics-the-culture-of-enron/> accessed 26th April 2014 Wang , The Effect of Tone at the Top on Internal Auditors (Tone at the Top Assessment 2012) http://cbe.anu.edu.au/media/2429892/wangancaar.pdf> accessed 27th April 2014 1 [1] Treadway Commission, Setting the Tone (COSO 2013) http://www.coso.org/NCFFR-Summary.htm> accessed 01st April 2014 [2] [3] [4] B Willet T Always, For Investors, X Marks the Spot, Whether They Choose To See It Or Not (Fallstreet 2002) www.fallstreet.com/enron> accessed 30th March 2014 [5] F Partnoy, The Unregulated Status of Derivative Enron: Testimony at Hearings before the US Senate Committee on Government Affairs (Financial Sense 2002) www.financialsense.com/editorials/2002.partnoy.htm> accessed 24th March 2014 [6] P Clauss, T Roncalli G Wesiang, Risk Management Lessons From Madoff Fraud [2009] 505-543, 507 [7] Enron Online Blog, Jeff Skilling is Not Crazy for Calling Grubman an Asshole (Enron Online Blog ) http://enron-online.com/2011/07/21/jeff-skilling-is-not-crazy-for-calling-grubman-an-asshole/> accessed 21st March 2014 [8] D McBarnet, After Enron Will Whiter Than White Collar Crime Still Wash? [2006] British Criminology Journal 1091, 1098 [9] [10] [11] T Rafraf, From Thriving to Surviving: The Bad Apple Conduct at Enron [2002] Journal of Business Ethics 1-34, 19 [12] R Simms, Changing an Organizations Culture Under New Leadership [2000] Journal of Business Ethics 65-78 Vol 25, 67 [13] C Schrand, The Slippery Slope to Fraud [2010] 1-4, 2 [14] , The Enron Scandal (Socialism Today 2002) http://www.socialismtoday.org/63/enron.html> accessed 28th March 2014 [15] P McAfee, the Real Lesson of Enrons Implosion: Market Makers are in the Trust Business [2004] The Economists 1-8 Vol 1 Issue 2, 4 [16] D McBarnet, After Enron Will Whiter Than White Collar Crime Still Wash? [2006] British Criminology Journal 1091, 1098

Graduation Speech: We Are Heros :: Graduation Speech, Commencement Address

I'd like to start by thanking everyone who has come tonight, because without you we would never have made it this far. It's been a long hard journey. Each one of us has gone through our own trials and tribulations. But the one thing that all of us have in common is that throughout the years we all had friends to share in the good times and the bad. Without friends this journey would have been impossible. Our friends gave us someone to talk to when times were bad, but most importantly they provided us laughs and many adventures. Now that our high school career has come to an end we will go our separate ways. This however does not mean that we have to lose contact with those whom we have spent so much time with. To lose contact would mean to lose part of our past. That is why I am asking each one of those graduating tonight to stay in touch with those who have gotten us this far. There should be no reason to lose touch in today's world of technology. By staying in touch the good times will be remembered and hopefully new adventures will be explored. The real message though, that I would like to leave to the class of 2006, is to undertake whatever your future holds to the best of your ability. I'm standing up here tonight, not because I am the smartest person, but because I took everything that school had to offer in stride. Even on nights when I wouldn't get home till midnight from sporting events, I still found time to finish my homework. I guess what I am trying to say is, as we move on into the next stage of our lives we will be faced with even more distractions than we could ever have imagined. Up until now life has been pretty easy. But, now that we are moving into another stage of our lives we will be burdened with new responsibilities and commitments. If there is any hope for anyone of us to succeed at what we have chosen to undertake, we are going to have to stay focused and use everything that we have learned thus far. If we don't, the harsh reality of the real world will catch us with our back turned. We will never have the slightest clue what hit us.

Stamp Act :: American History, Tax

The Stamp Act was passed by the British Parliament on March 22, 1765. The new tax was imposed on All-American colonists and required them to pay a tax on every piece of printed paper they used. Ship's papers, legal documents, licenses, newspapers, other publications, and even playing cards were taxed. The money collected by the Stamp Act was to be used to help pay the costs of defending and protecting the American frontier near the Appalachian Mountains (10,000 troops were to be stationed on the American frontier for this purpose).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The actual cost of the Stamp Act was relatively small. What made the law so offensive to the colonists was not so much its immediate cost but the standard it seemed to set. In the past, taxes and duties on colonial trade had always been viewed as measures to regulate commerce, not to raise money. The Stamp Act, however, was viewed as a direct attempt by England to raise money in the colonies without the approval of the colonial legislatures. If this new tax were allowed to pass without resistance, the colonists reasoned, the door would be open for far more troublesome taxation in the future.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Few colonists believed that they could do anything more than grumble and buy the stamps until the Virginia House of Burgesses adopted Patrick Henry's Stamp Act resolves. These resolves declared that Americans possessed the same rights as the English, especially the right to be taxed only by their own representatives; that Virginians should pay no taxes except those voted by the Virginia House of Burgesses; and that anyone supporting the right of Parliament to tax Virginians should be considered an enemy of the colony.

Internet as a Threat to Old Media

Broadcasting internet as a threat to old media Introduction Just a few clicks on the mouse and a whole world of information are available for free. The internet, whilst largely contributing to declining newspaper, magazines and books sales, decreasing the percentage of advertising on TV and radio, increasing of internet piracy and illegal downloading of films and music. Internet can at least provide a huge resource for journalist, authors, musicians, photographers, producers, editors, directors and all information workers.On the other hand, audiences and users of media mainly still believe on old media as they gain their information and follow latest news (which affect public opinion) from old media because they trust it and rely on its credibility when they compare it with internet . they thought that internet is the world of rumors. http://technorati. com/technology/it/article/do-you-see-the-internet-as/#ixzz16VrHKY7B Background Books writing with words was invented by the Sumerian s (southern Iraq) about five thousand years ago (c. 3100 BC). As far as we know it derived from symbols used for the keeping of accounts around four hundred years earlier.At first, writing was restricted to inscriptions, e. g. on stone, seals, brooches, and containers. The Sumerians then developed baked clay tablets, which can be regarded as the first books. These were soon followed by the papyrus rolls of the Egyptians, made from a plant native only to the Nile Valley. The traditional modern form of the book is called the codex. Meanwhile paper was invented in China as early as 105 AD, and was at first prepared from bark and hemp. This paper developed to a high standard, and paper-making later spread to Japan (c. 10 AD), and then to the Arab world along the Silk Road, via Samarkand in Central Asia. The Arabs introduced paper into Europe via Spain. Printing Printing was another Chinese invention. However such cast type did appear in Korea before developing quite independently in Eur ope. A major advance in the West was Johannes Gutenberg's printing from cast metal type (c. 1450 AD). However this was still hand composed on a mostly wooden press. This still relied on human power to operate. A steam-powered press invented by the German Friedrich Koenig followed in 1810.An American, Richard Hoe, invented the faster rotary press in 1846. Printing raced further ahead when the mechanical composition of type was perfected in 1886 with the Linotype compositor. Lithography was long used to print pictures for books. From this method came the idea for offset printing – in 1904 the first offset press appeared. In offset printing the method of â€Å"relief† printing from cast metal type, traditional since Gutenberg, is replaced by a smooth photographic plate. By 1980 offset printing was taking over from the older method in many countries. That was only the beginning of the modern printing revolution.From 1968 computers became involved in printing (the Linotron) . In 1983 the offset plate progressed to a format involving the laser-beam transference of stored digital information. Gradually printing worldwide became a digital and computerized process, and mechanical printing began to disappear. The Digital Revolution This change led to the irony that a series of advanced digital electronic processes now produced the traditional analogue material book. It was only a matter of time before the logical conclusion would be drawn – that books could exist in a purely electronic form.Moreover such books could incorporate new possibilities undreamed of in the printed codex book. For example, they could be instantly updated, be searchable electronically, include sounds ; video and even a dictionary, and interact directly with the new Internet, and therefore contain instant links to further information. The advent of digital book files also meant that traditional physical books could now be printed individually as required from a stored computer file (Print on Demand, or POD), rather than in the traditional large print runs.This meant both that books could be cheaper in general, and that it was financially practicable to print them in limited numbers for a more restricted readership than before. So rather than immediately displacing the printed codex, the advent of the digital book meant that the physical book could now flourish as never before. At the same time this change prepared the ground for a decisive future shift towards electronic reading. Dawn of the e-Book The electronic book (e-book), existing as a virtual entity stored in a digital file, began to emerge in its own right in the last years of the twentieth century.Like many new technologies it suffered from technical teething troubles, ineffective or inappropriate marketing, commercial rivalries that slowed its progress, and initial public scepticism or indifference. Gradually however the electronic book became capable of being read from an increasing variety of devices, and its vast potential began to be more widely understood. It became clear that the e-book would represent the next leap forward in the onward march of the book. While it can simply represent traditional texts it can also become a layered and interactive multimedia experience.Indeed the book of the future could even be spontaneously assembled from multiple sources for specific educational or entertainment purposes, by a single reader or group. The e-book therefore holds the promise of adding an unprecedented degree of flexibility to the concept of the book. The book is one of humanity's most enduring cultural artifacts and treasures. As it evolves, the greatest threat to its future is therefore not from technical advances but from the danger of new generations losing the inclination to read.The ability to read and write is our greatest tool in education, and, apart from the family, the single most important medium existing for the transmission of ideas and the continuance o f an evolving human culture. http://www. e-book. com. au/bookhistory. htm Newspapers â€Å"Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. † -Thomas Jefferson, 1787. The history of newspapers is an often-dramatic chapter of the human experience going back some five centuries.In Renaissance Europe handwritten newsletters circulated privately among merchants, passing along information about everything from wars and economic conditions to social customs and â€Å"human interest† features. The first printed forerunners of the newspaper appeared in Germany in the late 1400's in the form of news pamphlets or broadsides, often highly sensationalized in content. In the English-speaking world, the earliest predecessors of the newspaper were corantos, small news pamphlets produced only when some event worthy of notice occurred.The first successively publi shed title was The Weekly Newes of 1622. The first true newspaper in English was the London Gazette of 1666. Fo In America the first newspaper appeared in Boston in 1690, entitled Publick Occurrences. Published without authority, it was immediately suppressed, its publisher arrested, and all copies were destroyed. The first successful newspaper was the Boston News-Letter, begun by postmaster John Campbell in 1704. Although it was heavily subsidized by the colonial government the experiment was a near-failure, with very limited circulation.Two more papers made their appearance in the 1720's, in Philadelphia and New York, and the Fourth Estate slowly became established on the new continent. In 1783 there were forty-three newspapers in print. The press played a vital role in the affairs of the new nation, representing all shades of political opinion. The ratification of the Bill of Rights in 1791 at last guaranteed of freedom of the press, and America's newspapers began to take on a ce ntral role in national affairs. Growth continued in every state.In the Jacksonian populist 1830's, advances in printing and papermaking technology led to an explosion of newspaper growth, the emergence of the â€Å"Penny Press†; it was now possible to produce a newspaper that could be sold for just a cent a copy. Previously, newspapers were the province of the wealthy, literate minority. This sudden availability of cheap, interesting reading material was a significant stimulus to the achievement of the nearly universal literacy now taken for granted in America. In the 1850's powerful, giant presses appeared, able to print ten thousand complete papers per hour.At this time the first â€Å"pictorial† weekly newspapers emerged; they featured for the first time extensive illustrations of events in the news, as woodcut engravings made from correspondents' sketches or taken from that new invention, the photograph. Reporters, called â€Å"specials,† became the darlings of the public and the idols of youngsters everywhere. Many accounts of battles turned in by these intrepid adventurers stand today as the definitive histories of their subjects. Newspaper growth continued unabated in the postwar years. By the 1890's the first circulation figures of a million copies per issue were recorded.At this period appeared the features of the modern newspaper, bold â€Å"banner† headlines, extensive use of illustrations, â€Å"funny pages,† plus expanded coverage of organized sporting events. The rise of â€Å"yellow journalism† also marks this era. This is also the age of media consolidation, as many independent newspapers were swallowed up into powerful â€Å"chains†; with regrettable consequences for a once fearless and incorruptible press, many were reduced to vehicles for the distribution of the particular views of their owners, and so remained, without competing papers to challenge their viewpoints.By the 1910's, all the esse ntial features of the recognizably modern newspaper had emerged. Radio and television have gradually supplanted newspapers as the nation's primary information sources, so it may be difficult initially to appreciate the role newspapers. Not complete http://www. historicpages. com/nprhist. htm, Phil Barber, 03/08/2010 Magazines The term â€Å"magazine† is generally acknowledged to have come into usage with the publication in the 1730s of the Gentleman’s Magazine by Edward Cave. Its aim was to entertain with stories of crime and romance.It soon proved popular, not just for sale but for rental in public houses, coffee houses and barber shops. Magazines were more affordable than newspapers because printing technology allowed mass production. Taking their cue from America, British publishers produced all-fiction magazines such as Romantic Confessions and similar ‘penny dreadfuls’. General interest magazines such as Answers, Titbits (Tit Bits from all the Most In teresting Books, Periodicals and Contributors in the World), Home Chat, Comic Cuts and Pearson’s Weekly were also hugely popular. The early 20th century saw new styles of magazine such as Reader’s Digest hich included edited versions (digests) of articles and stories. International editions followed the same formula, later developing subscription as a means of ensuring a place in the competitive magazine market. â€Å"Life† magazine which traded on the quality of its pictures in a period when photography was accepted as an art form and photojournalism was regarded as a means of social commentary. â€Å"Life† used the slogan: ‘To see life, to see the world; to witness great events; to watch the faces of the poor and the gestures of the proud; to see strange things’.It had many imitators (or, perhaps more kindly, admirers) such as Picture Post and Illustrated in Britain and Paris Match and Stern in Europe. The end of the Second World War saw ne w titles emerged to satisfy the needs of increasingly affluent consumers who now had business and technical interests as well as expanding leisure pursuits. Interestingly, the emerging broadcast media – particularly television – were accommodated by the magazine industry that began to produce publications which included listings, reviews and background material.Later spin-offs would include comics based on television characters, and magazines dedicated to specific topics or programmes such as BBC Wildlife and Gardener's World. A web search will reveal the extent to which the big companies have other interests, particularly media interests other than publishing magazines. The Guardian Media Guide contains details of the sites run by all the main players in the publishing business. Ezine is an electronic newsletter or magazine. Ezine could reside on a website, intranet system or be sent throughout any network, including the largest network; the Internet.The key to succes s for the big companies is the advertising revenue generated by magazines, and the ability of specific interest magazines to provide clearly-defined target audiences. Not that there is complete freedom to publish any material that will make money: there are laws and regulations that affect magazines just are there are for other media forms. 2000 The Media Guide edited by Steve Peak and Paul Fisher (Fourth Estate) 2001 The Media Guide edited by Steve Peak and Paul Fisher (Fourth Estate) EzineArticles. om Lance Winslow, Expert Author , 18 Jul 2006 A decade on the streets Simon Rogers and Xan Brooks, in Media Guardian September 10 2001 http://www. mediaed. org. uk/posted_documents/Magazines. html Radio Radio owes its development to two other inventions, the telegraph and the telephone, all three technologies are closely related. Radio technology began as â€Å"wireless telegraphy†. It started with the discovery of â€Å"radio waves† – electromagnetic waves that hav e the capacity to transmit music, speech, pictures and other data invisibly through the air.Many devices work by using electromagnetic waves including: radio, microwaves, cordless phones, remote controlled toys, television broadcasts, and more. Guglielmo Marconi, an Italian inventor, proved the feasibility of radio communication. Radio-telegraphy is the sending by radio waves the same dot-dash message (morse code) used in a telegraph. Transmitters at that time were called spark-gap machines. It was developed mainly for ship-to-shore and ship-to-ship communication. Lee Deforest invented space telegraphy, the triode amplifier and the Audion.In the early 1900s, the great requirement for further development of radio was an efficient and delicate detector of electromagnetic radiation. The result of Lee DeForest's work was the invention of amplitude-modulated or AM radio that allowed for a multitude of radio stations. Online radio streaming was born in the 90s as a solution for the music industry to reinvent itself or as a solution for activists. WXYC is the first traditional radio station to announce broadcasting on the Internet. The term internet radio isn't just about live streaming on the internet but can also be an archive site with audio files.Online radio can be a terrestrial radio station that broadcasts to a bigger market, or an independent internet-only operator that is just starting. Web radio stations are a good solution for new markets, delivering independent music that listeners can't hear on regular radio. The advantage of internet radio services is that its services are usually accessible from anywhere in the world. Internet radio is distributed most often via streaming, in audio formats like mp3, Ogg Vorbis, Windows Media Audio, RealAudio and others. http://www. radiobunch. com/online-radio-history. html, http://inventors. bout. com/od/rstartinventions/a/radio_2. htm , Mary Bellis Television In the late 1800s, Paul Gottlieb Nipkow, a student in Germ any, developed the first ever mechanical module of television. He succeeded in sending images through wires with the help of a rotating metal disk. This technology was called the ‘electric telescope’ that had 18 lines of resolution. In 1923, an American inventor called Charles Jenkins used the disk idea of Nipkow to invent the first ever practical mechanical television system. From 1926 till 1931, the mechanical television system saw many innovations.Although the discoveries of these men in the department of mechanical television were very innovative, by 1934, all television systems had converted into the electronic system, which is what is being used even today. In 1927, Philo Taylor Farnsworth was able to invent a working model of electronic television that was based on Swinton’s ideas. His experiments had started when he was just a little boy of 14 years. By the time he became 21, Philo had created the first electronic television system, which did away with th e rotating disks and other mechanical aspects of mechanical television.Thus was born the television system which is the basis of all modern TVs. In 1948 there were early tests of cable television in the rural area of Lansford, PA. In 1956 the Ampex quadruplex videotape replaced the kinescope; making it possible for television programs to be produced anywhere, as well as greatly improving the visual quality on home sets. In 1957 the 1st practical remote control, invented by Robert Adler and called the â€Å"Space Commander,† was introduced by Zenith.. This â€Å"Golden Age† of television also saw the establishment of several significant technological standards.These included the National Television Standards Committee (NTSC) standards for black and white (1941) and color television (1953). In 1952 the FCC made a key decision, via what is known as the Sixth Report and Order, to permit UHF broadcasting for the 1st time on 70 new channels (14 to 83). This was an essential decision because the Nation was already running out of channels on VHF (channels 2-13). That decision gave 95% of the U. S. television markets three VHF channels each, establishing a pattern that generally continues today.Thus the â€Å"Golden Age† was a period of intense growth and expansion, introducing many of the television accessories and methods of distribution that we take for granted today. 1962 brought the 1st transatlantic reception of a television signal via the TELSTAR satellite. High definition television (HDTV) was also introduced during this period. In 1981 NHK, the Japanese National Broadcasting company, demonstrated their 1,125 line HDTV system to the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers at their Winter conference in San Francisco.In 1994 HDTV standards were established and a plan for the transition from analog to digital transmission of television programming has been rolled out throughout the decade. Not complete http://www. thehistoryoftelevi sion. com/ , Geno Jezek, 2006 http://www. fcc. gov/omd/history/tv/1990-today. html internet The Internet has become such an integral part of our lives, with such powerful capabilities, that it is easy to forget that this technological marvel was created by the long, hard, dedicated efforts of human beings — folks who had a vision of what universal networking could become and worked to make it happen.The conceptual foundation for creation of the Internet was largely created by three individuals and a research conference, each of which changed the way we thought about technology by accurately predicting its future: †¢Vannevar Bush wrote the first visionary description of the potential uses for information technology with his description of the â€Å"memex† automated library system. †¢Norbert Wiener invented the field of Cybernetics, inspiring future researchers to focus on the use of technology to extend human capabilities. The 1956 Dartmouth Artificial Intelli gence conference crystallized the concept that technology was improving at an exponential rate, and provided the first serious consideration of the consequences. †¢Marshall McLuhan made the idea of a global village interconnected by an electronic nervous system part of our popular culture. In 1957, the Soviet Union launched the first satellite, Sputnik I, triggering US President Dwight Eisenhower to create the ARPA agency to regain the technological lead in the arms race.ARPA appointed J. C. R. Licklider to head the new IPTO organization with a mandate to further the research of the SAGE program and help protect the US against a space-based nuclear attack. Licklider evangelized within the IPTO about the potential benefits of a country-wide communications network, influencing his successors to hire Lawrence Roberts to implement his vision. A special computer called an Interface Message Processor was developed to realize the design, and the ARPANET went live in early October, 196 9.The first communications were between Leonard Kleinrock's research center at the University of California at Los Angeles, and Douglas Engelbart's center at the Stanford Research Institute. The first networking protocol used on the ARPANET was the Network Control Program. In 1983, it was replaced with the TCP/IP protocol invented Wby Robert Kahn, Vinton Cerf, and others, which quickly became the most widely used network protocol in the world. In 1990, the ARPANET was retired and transferred to the NSFNET.The NSFNET was soon connected to the CSNET, which linked Universities around North America, and then to the EUnet, which connected research facilities in Europe. Thanks in part to the NSF's enlightened management, and fueled by the popularity of the web, the use of the Internet exploded after 1990, causing the US Government to transfer management to independent organizations starting in 1995. And here we are. http://www. livinginternet. com/i/ii. htm