Mother Teresa A Charismatic Leader - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 2 Words: 525 Downloads: 7 Date added: 2019/05/23 Category History Essay Level High school Tags: Mother Teresa Essay Did you like this example? A charismatic leader is a very skilled communicator, they are fluent or persuasive in speaking or writing, and because of that they are able to convey on a profound, enthusiastic dimension with their followers. There normally have talent to convey with a big number of people is what makes them really good in business and politics. Charismatic leaders are often known as the best to deal with problems and in showing passion on their line of work. Mother Teresa is a good example of a charismatic leader; because of her work devotion to the poor. She was a catholic nun that after spending precisely 20 years teaching other nuns at St. Maryrs School for Girls, decided to chase what she believed was her destiny. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Mother Teresa: A Charismatic Leader" essay for you Create order She called herself the Jesus spouse for all eternity. Mother Teresa was known for her charity, selfishness and courage; her capacity for hard work and organization. She devoted her life to what she believed in with fidelity end joy. Before she made what she called her destiny a reality, Mother Teresa moved to India and became an Indian citizen, she did a basic medical training in Patna, India. She also was the founder of a school in Kolkata, India. Mother Teresa had to wait for the Vatican approval that took 2 years in order for her to found the Missionaries of Charity that started only with twelve members and then she was joined by her formers students. Following that in the years 1950rs and 1960rs she started to create a nursing home, many mobile clinics, an orphanage and a family clinic. She did not stop in Europe, in 1965 she opened a foundation in Venezuela, in 1968 in Tanzania, and in 1971 she opened her first charity house in the New York. It was in 1979 when Mother Teresa received a Nobel Peace Prize. From this year until 1997 she was able to gather 4,000 followers and a little less than 600 foundations in 123 countries. During her life she never stopped traveling around the world visiting her charity foundations and fulfilling her destiny, given love to the unloved and taking care of the uncared for, until her final days. Mother Teresa died on September 5th 1997, the day of her funeral not only the poor were there to pay their respect, but people from high social class from Presidents to Queens all over the world were also there to pay their respect. She was loved by everyone! Mother Teresa Used to say Let us always meet each other with a smile, for the smile is the beginning of love. Advantages and Disadvantages of a Charismatic leader We can say that A Charismatic leader has many advantages. They normally are impetus for social change. On the other hand, they are not able to work properly on an organization that is not flexible upon a situation. Advantages They motivate their followers to work as a group for the same mission; Their organization is united because they make sure every follower understands their vision and mission; They are devoted to their mission. Disadvantages Their organizations can be vulnerable when the leader is not around anymore; They can become self-centered and forget about the law.

The Collapse Of A Society - 1484 Words

No single reason can usually be attributed to the collapse of a society. Civilizations both thrive and fall due to numerous reasons. Invasion from foreign forces, natural disasters, overexpansion, and decay of religious beliefs can all be attributed to decline in civilizations, but looking further into the decline there is another pattern. The breakdown in moral behavior precipitates the collapse of civilizations. The desire for power and wealth most often cause morality to decay. This pattern is significant for the reason that the decline in moral behavior brings about other problems that also contribute to the societal decline such as distrust in government and loss of civic virtue. Understanding the internal problems allows people to better understand why civilizations thrive and why they fail and apply that knowledge elsewhere. Between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, in what is now modern day Iraq was once a region known as Mesopotamia. Between 1800 and 1750 B.C.E Mesopotamia was ruled by Hammurabi. Hammurabi is best known for creating a legal code for the inhabitants of Mesopotamia. The Code of Hammurabi was carved on a large pillar and set out for everyone to see, the significance of this being that the laws were not able to be changed based on things such as social class. Not only was this a set of laws for the Babylonian people, but also a set of moral standards that created a more civilized society. According to Hammurabi in the prefix the code sets out to â€Å"causeShow MoreRelatedThe Collapse Of Complex Societies1079 Words   |  5 Pages The word â€Å"collapse† has a number of connotations associated with it. Some view it exclusively the degradation of societies of the highest order. Others see it as the complete disintegration of economic prospects and commerce. Some even think of it po litical ruin with the demise of states and ruling factions that maintain order. 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Essay about Cyber Security as an International Security Threat Essay Example For Students

Essay about Cyber Security as an International Security Threat Essay Cyber Security as an International Security Threat National and International Security is a sum of the actions taken by countries and other organizations that can guarantee the safety and well being of their population. It is vital for a nation to pre-emptively discover what issues could affect their security, and take action to prevent any detrimental or harmful events from happening. With the development of technology and the transition into a more technologically savvy society, cyber security has become one of the most prevalent and important economic and national security issues that the United States will come to face. United States President Barack Obama has identified cyber security as a key issue the nation will face. President Obama declared that the â€Å"cyber threat is one of the most serious economic and national security challenges we face as a nation† and that â€Å"Americas economic prosperity in the 21st century will depend on cyber security (â€Å"Foreign Policy Cyber Security,† 2013). † To begin with, cyber security is described as the body of technologies, processes and practices designed to protect networks, computers, programs and data from attack, damage or unauthorized access (Lewis, 2002). In a foreign policy brief, the White House described the importance of combatting cyber security. They said: Cyberspace touches nearly every part of our daily lives. Its the broadband networks beneath us and the wireless signals around us, the local networks in our schools and hospitals and businesses, and the massive grids that power our nation. Its the classified military and intelligence networks that keep us safe, and the World Wide Web that has made us more interconnected than at any time in human history. We must . .t line of defense against cyber threats, defending against cyber threats by enhancing U.S. counterintelligence capabilities and increasing the security and monitoring of cyber space, and strengthening the future cyber security environment by expanding cyber education, research and development efforts, and working to define and develop strategies to deter hostile or malicious activity in cyberspace. The government and industry alike must work effectively to combat this threat. As President Obama said in early on in his tenure, â€Å"It’s the great irony of our information age, the very technologies that empower us to create and to build also empower those who would disrupt and destroy (â€Å"Foreign Policy Cyber Security,† 2013). † It’s not necessarily about not how big your gun is, but instead how many buttons you can press.

Of Mice And Man Essays - American Literature, Literature

Of Mice And Man The book that I have read that has really stayed with me is Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. I really enjoyed reading it which is unusual because I usualy don't enjoy reading to much. There was something about George and Lennie's friendship that really made me think. Seeing how they were and how they shared life was really intresting. George didn't have to bother with Lennie, he could have abandoned him and gone on his own way. But he did not do that, he stayed with Lennie watching over him almost like a parent to a child. Even though Lennie always got Georege in trouble, George never stoped loving him and always stood by him. The friendship they shared went beyond what was transparent they each shared a dream and both knew they ment the world to each other. I felt that if these totaly different people could get along and look out for each other, why can't we get along with people who are different than us. They made me realize that I could learn something from how to treat people who are differnt than me. What I also liked about it was the way they never stopped trying to reach their dream. This made me think that if they could work hard for there dream why can't I. It showed me that it does not matter were you come from or what you do, it is okay to dream and work as hard as you can to reach it. For all it shows for friendship and loyalty it also shows how sometimes you have to do things you never thought you would do. For example in the end when George is forced to shoot Lennie in the head you would never have thought he would do that, but you can see that under the circumstances he had no other choice. He only had two choices let the other people get to him first and watch them torture Lennie while he died a long horrible death or do it himself and get it over quick were Lennie did not know what hit him. This is also true in life, many times we are faced with tuff choices and even though they may be the hardest you will have to go through, you know that that is the only way. You come to the realization that everything you thought you was about, can all change with a blink of the eye.

The Evolution of a New Pattern of Strikes in Vietnam

The Evolution of a New Pattern of Strikes in Vietnam Free Online Research Papers There have been almost 1,500 strikes in Vietnam since the introduction of the Labour Code in 1995 but labour disputes and industrial relations in general have just become a topic of research for the last four or five years. From 2004 to early 2006, MOLISA, VCCI and VGCL the tripartite constituents in Vietnam each carried out their first research on labour disputes and strikes. Despite their difference in focus and coverage, the three researches share a common view of the picture of strikes in Vietnam, that is: strikes mostly occur in FDI sector in the South of Vietnam with strong concentration in labour-intensive industries such as textile, garment and footwear and strikes are spontaneous reaction of workers to violations of workers rights by employers rather than organized industrial actions. The 2004 paper on Strikes and Industrial Relations in Vietnam by Dr. Chang Hee Lee (ILO expert) and Prof. Simon Clarke (Warwick University) for the first time pointed to the evolution of a new pattern of strikes and labour disputes in Vietnam, which is the shift from rights-based disputes to interest-based disputes. In other words, rather than walking out to claim their rights in law, workers now go on strike to demand for better meals, higher salaries, less overtime working conditions that are higher than what is stipulated in law or labour contracts. The unprecedented wave of strikes in 2006 and the most recent spurry of strikes in March 2007 reaffirmed the above new pattern of labour disputes and unveiled other changes in the nature of strikes in Vietnam and in the psychology of workers. For instance: strikes now are more about demands for better interests of workers; they are organized by hidden leaders who, no matter for good or bad reasons, have managed to mobilize hundreds, even thousands of workers to strike. This paper attempts to sketch a picture of new patterns of strikes in Vietnam on the basis of review of previous research, strike statistics available and observation and interviews during several field visits both the North and South of Vietnam. Availability of Statistics The ambition to provide a comprehensive analysis of strikes in Vietnam has been hindered by shortage of strike statistics and information. It is important, therefore, for readers to be fully aware of the availability of statistics to have a fair understanding of the analysis in this paper. There are two channels of strike reporting in Vietnam: one is through the union system and the other through the labour administration reporting system. The unions at district level used to report monthly to the provincial VGCL which, then, reports back to the legal department of central VGCL. The Legal Dept. of VGCL would prepare a synthesis report every quarter which is published in the Lao Dong daily and other related press. Since 2007, however, due to the surge of strikes in the South, the VGCL requires provincial unions to report every week. In MOLISA, there is no single focal point for strike-related issues. DOLISAs used to report on labour disputes, strikes, labour standards to the Legal Department and collective agreements to the Employment and Labour Policy Department. However, after the issuance of Decree 03 on 6 January 2006, the Wage and Salary Department was appointed the focal point in the implementation of the Decree and automatically, they also received quarterly stri ke reports from provincial labour administration. It is expected that with the coming foundation of the National Labour Relations Council (NLRC), these overlappings will be removed and the strike reporting task will be handed over to the Secretariat of NLRC which bases in MOLISA. There is a significant difference between the strike statistics of MOLISA and VGCL. Normally, that of the latter is 10% -15% higher than MOLISAs figures. The following analysis is based on the synthesis reports from 1995 to 2006 and quarterly reports of both VGCL and MOLISA for the first three months of 2007. The synthesis reports provide the total number of strikes every year by ownership (SOEs, FDI, Vietnamese private), by nationality (Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and others) and by location (HCMC, Binh Duong, Dong Nai and other locations). The report for the first three months of 2007 is more detailed with names of companies, date of strike, location, sector, number of workers involved and causes of strikes as reported by strike taskforces. Due to the availability of information, the analysis will be split into two parts: a general observation of trends of strikes from 1995 to 2006 and a more detailed analysis of new features of strikes which emerged in the late 2006 and early 2007. Regulatory framework for industrial actions in Vietnam The 1994 Labour Code together with the Amendment in 2002 lay out a lenghthy and complicated procedure for industrial action and settlement of labour disputes. In theory, a dispute has to go through the company conciliation council, arbitration council and the court before workers are allowed to go on strike a process that takes weeks to complete. Also, there are a number of conditions to be satisfied if a strike is to be considered a legal action, such as: strike decision has to be made by the company union, all conciliation and arbitration measures have been exhausted, and the strike is endorsed by a majority of employees. None of over 1,000 strikes so far has gone through all the above steps and neither were they organized by the union. As a result, in 2006, Chapter 14 of the Labour Code which regulates strike settlement procedures was revised. Now labour disputes are distinguished into two types: right-based and interest-based, each of which will go through different procedures of settlement. Another major change is that in ununionised enterprises, workers representatives are allowed to organize strikes and negotiate with the employer. However, as a common practice in Vietnam, the revised Chapter 14 will not be implemented until a government decree and ministerial circulars that provide detailed instructions on stipulations of the legislation are promulgated. This process is expected to last for around one year after the new Chapter 14 was approved. In the mean time, strikes are still settled in an informal way which actually has been adopted so far by local authorities that is by the intervention of adhoc strike taskforce. The strike taskforce, set up by provincial local authority, consists of representatives from the labour administration (DOLISA) and union (provincial VGCL). Unfortunately, VCCI and other employers organisation are rarely a part of the taskforce. When a strike happens, the taskforce would visit the enterprise, gathering workers demands, negotiating with the employer and persuading workers to get back to work . This approach, to some extents, has been successful in recovering social peace and sta bility. Nonetheless, as explained later, the approach is being challenged. Strikes in Vietnam from 1995 to 2006 Strikes are most pervasive in the foreign-invested sector. In eleven consecutive years from 1996 to 2006, strikes in this sector account for over 50% of the total number in the country. There is no sign that this trend is diminishing as in 2006, the number of strikes triples that of 2005 and accounts for 74.2% of the total figure of strikes in the country. Together with the equitization process, the SOE is shrinking rapidly and strikes in this sector has decreased significantly from 18.3% in 1995 to 1.0% in 2006. No strike has been recorded in the SOE sector in early 2007. Encouraging trend can be observed in the private sector which includes both the equitized SOEs (commonly referred to as stock companies) and private businesses owned by Vietnamese despite the fact that the percentage of strikes in the private sector over the total number fluctuates around 25%-30%. The reason is that the private sector has been booming at a much higher rate than its labour relations problem. A brief review of strikes in Ho Chi Minh city in the late 2005 and early 2006 shows that the Tet wave of strikes in this sector started at companies in industrial-processing zones then spread to companies in the same area/district. Taiwanese companies seem to have more strikes than any other investors (see table 2), including Korea and Hongkong and this trend is getting worse, especially in 2006 when the number of strikes in Taiwanese enterprises doubles that in Korean ones and accounts for 44.6% of the total number of strikes in the whole country. However, it does not mean that the problem in Korean companies is decreasing as the number of strikes here keeps rising every year from 12 cases in 1995 to 76 in 2006. By location, Ho Chi Minh city has always been facing with more strikes than any other province in Vietnam. Since 2004, it appears that Dong Nai and Binh Duong have been catching up. This trend will become more visible in the later analysis of the first three months of 2007. Though the data available from 1995-2006 does not elaborate the number of strikes in IPZs and outside but according to unofficial sources of information, a wave of strikes often is initiated in IPZs, normally in FDI companies, then spread to companies outside the zones. This was also the case of the wave of strike during Tet of 2006. It is difficult to define causes of strikes as workers demands as reports by the union and labour administration may only reflect the tip of the iceberg. Yet, according to the VGCL, over 90 percent of strikes in the last 12 years is employers violation of labour legislation/workers legitimate rights. Common types of violation include: exceeding overtime limit, delayed payment of wages and salaries, paying less than the minimum wage, among others. Members of provincial strike taskforces, particularly those in the South, however, point out the increasingly common mixture of right and interest demands or in other words, claim of legal rights and higher-than-law benefits. For example, workers walked out not only because of delayed payment, excessive overtime hours, but also due to the quality of food provided by the company, low bonus, or unsatisfactory wage increase rate. This new feature was captured and analysed further in the mentioned paper on Strikes and Industrial Relations in Vi etnam by Chang Hee Lee and Simon Clarke. Both reports of MOLISA and VGCL do not include information about the industries where strikes happened. A recent survey on strikes and labour disputes carried out by MOLISA in the framework of ILO/Vietnam Industrial Relations Project in 2005 showed that strikes are most pervasive in labour-intensive, export-oriented industries such as textile and garment, footwear, engineering, wood processing, and electronics. As most companies in these sectors are small suppliers of bigger brand names, exporting to the lower-end markets, they are exposed to market fluctuation and the pressure to keep production cost, including labour cost, at the lowest level possible. Also, it is not by chance that these sectors concentrate in certain provinces/cities, particularly Ho Chi Minh city, Binh Duong and Dong Nai in the South. After exhausting the local labour force, now most of these companies rely on migrant workers who struggle with lack of decent accommodation, high living cost, and poor spiritual l ife . All these factors exacerbate the conflict of interests between labour and management, making the possibility of strike more visible than any where else. No strike since 1995 was organized, initiated or led by the official union cell in the company. As mentioned in the introduction, strikes are described by the labour authority and VGCL as spontaneous reactions of workers against the violation of employers over their rights, implying that there is no organizing force behind these industrial actions. In other cases, they blamed on bad elements (bad workers who have personal conflict with the company and wish to retaliate by inciting other workers to stop working) or gangster-like workers for inciting others to walk out. However, a recent research on Preliminary Portrait of Informal union leaders in Vietnam shows that most strikes were organized, not by the formal union but the informal union leaders. These people can be relatively divided into two types: (i) bad workers who incite others to strike for retaliation or for other personal purposes and (ii) workers who have influence over others and wish to protect the interests of themsel ves and other workers. Some of the latter have managed to set up their own networks of informal union in the company. They are protected by other workers and enjoy sympathy and support of formal union and white-collar workers who actually benefit from their protest. The first three months of 2007 A New Pattern of Strikes The first quarter of this year observed the emergence of a new pattern of strikes which actually might have been found here and there in the picture of labour disputes in Vietnam but had never become prominent as such. First, it is the rise of wildcat strikes in Japanese companies which, so far, have been famous for good compliance of the labour legislation. Out of nearly twenty strikes in Japanese companies in 2007, mostly in the late Februrary and March, ten disputes happened in engineering companies situated in Dong Nai IPZs. The biggest strike was in Mabuchi Motor, a unionized Japanese engineering company in a Dong Nai IPZ with the participation of 6,500 workers. Workers in Mabuchi Motor complained about the low salary increase rate, unsatisfactory bonus, and bad meals. Settling these interest-based strikes requires a different approach. After the wave of strikes in 2006, Ho Chi Minh city, Dong Nai and Binh Duong have set up their provincial strike taskforces consisting of representatives of the union and labour administration. When informed of a strike, the taskforce would visit the company, trying to settle the case. However, more than an intermediary, the taskforce, in many cases, act on behalf of strikers in negotiating with the employer. They also distinguish demands of workers into legitimate (legal) and illegitimate (higher-than-legal standards) and pick only the former for negotiation with employers as there is no ground for workers to force employers to respond to demands that are higher than the legal provision . This approach of dispute settlement, unfortunately, did not work in Japanese companies recently as some employers, for example the owner of Harada Vietnam a Japanese engineering company in Dong Nai IPZ, wished to resolve the stri ke bilaterally between management and workers, refusing a visit of the strike taskforce. We [the company] do not violate the law so this is just the problem between us and workers. Let us solve it ourselves, the director of Harada said. The first quarter of 2007 observed the second contagion of strikes. The first one happened right before and during Tet of 2006 revolving around misunderstanding of the MW policy and adjustment of MW in the FDI sector. It started first in Freetrend a Korean footwear company in Linh Trung 1 IPZ, Ho Chi Minh city then spread to the whole zone and other zones in the city and Dong Nai and Binh Duong. Unlike the contagion in 2006, the second wave of strikes happened one month after Tet, in the late February and March of 2007, when labour shortage becomes a severe problem, especially for companies that rely on migrant labour force because migrant workers often quit or change their jobs after Tet. The recent surge of foreign investment after Vietnams accession to the WTO has also created more employment opportunities for workers. While companies face with tougher competition, workers enjoy higher bargaining power and this situation encourages workers to demand for higher salaries and bet ter working conditions, which may turn into either the exit decision by workers (especially in case of individual disputes) or industrial actions if demands are not satisfied by the employer. A new feature of the second wave of strikes is that it first emerged in Dong Nai and spread to Binh Duong while it remained calm in Ho Chi Minh city. Before 2007, strikes normally lasted for one or two days and even in serious cases, workers would get back to work on the fifth day in fear of being dismissed by employers (the labour code allows the employer to lay off workers that take more than 4 days off in one month without reporting legitimate reasons). Strikes in the early 2007, however, lasted longer, from three to five days, some even seven or eight days despite support of strike taskforces in settling disputes . They were also better-organized. Apart from scattering leaflets, sticking appeals for strike in toilets, strike organizers sent demands to the employer in advance and managed to control strike within the company campus and ensured that strikers take no violent actions so that they do not have to confront the police. In the case of Pouchen a Taiwanese footwear company in Dong Nai organizers of strike required workers (7,000 workers took part in the strike) to contribute VND1,000 each to support the strike . Response of the Government, VGCL and employers organisation Since the first wave of strikes in 2006, the government and the Party have been alerted of potential threats of instability embedded in wildcat strikes. As an immediate response, the Government issued Decree 03 on 6 January 2006 to raise minimum wages in the FDI sector. Then, Labour Code Chapter 14 on dispute settlement was revised and approved by the National Assembly in November 2006. It is planned that the whole Labour Code will be amended by 2009. A tripartite National Labour Relations Council which advises the Prime Minister on industrial relations and provides a forum for tripartite consultation will soon be established. With influence from the Politburo, the VGCL has undergone significant reshuffle of personnel and organisation since 2006. A new leadership was installed at both the central and provincial level, particularly in Ho Chi Minh city, Dong Nai and Binh Duong. Capable union officers are seconded to industrial, processing zones where strikes happen most often. In the last annual meeting with the Prime Minister in March 2007, the VGCL proved to be more proactive in pushing for better accommodation for workers in IPZs and collective negotiation at sectoral level. However, the fragmented structure of VGCL at local level will be a big obstacle to any reform effort to strengthen its capacity at enterprise and local level by VGCL in the future . A difficulty facing any tripartite initiative is the weakness of employers organisation. VCCI and VCA are the only two recognized employers representative organisations but they fail to cover the majority of companies in the country. Members of VCA are cooperatives and a small proportion of SMEs while VCCI membership includes only SOEs and big corporations in limited number of provinces. Major foreign investors associations (Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese) that prove to be influential over the local business community, local authority and central governmentare are not members of VCCI or have withdrawn from the organisation. At the provincial level, therefore, neither VCCI nor VCA is able to take up the task of coordinating employers associations to speak a single voice in tripartite fora. However, if other business associations continue to be marginalised in formal discussion, any tripartite or bipartite initiatives would not be as effective and feasible as they should be. Summary of major findings New features of strikes in Vietnam: Strikes last longer, from three to five days, even eight days in some cases; The number of interest-based strikes has increased rapidly in 2007 Strikes are better organised There is an increase of strikes in Japanese companies Strikes now spread from textile, garment and footwear to electronics, engineering, wood processing Location of strikes moves to Dong Nai and Binh Duong rather than Ho Chi Minh city The adhoc strike taskforce is being challenged by employers who do not violate the law. Research Papers on The Evolution of a New Pattern of Strikes in VietnamTwilight of the UAWResearch Process Part OneThe Project Managment Office SystemInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductPETSTEL analysis of IndiaRelationship between Media Coverage and Social andThe Relationship Between Delinquency and Drug UseOpen Architechture a white paperBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of Self

Washington Irvings Famous Story of a Sleeping Man

Washington Irving's Famous Story of a Sleeping Man Rip van Winkle  is an 1819 story by Washington Irving, American short-story writer. The story was published as part of The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, and was based on a German fairy tale. It chronicles the story of a man who falls asleep in the Catskills just before the American Revolution, and wakes up 20 years later to a completely different society.   Rip ends up in the mountains in the first place while trying to escape his nagging wife, and meets a man struggling with a heavy keg of moonshine. He helps the man carry it to a hollow where they encounter strange men playing a game of ninepins. Rip drinks some of their moonshine, and falls asleep 20 years later with a rusted musket and a long beard. He later learns that the man with the keg was the ghost of Henry Hudson.   Here are some questions for study and discussion about Rip van Winkle: Who are the strange men that Rip encounters in the hollow? Is it helpful to know that the story is based on a German fairy tale? Why or why not? Is Rips long sleep a reward (perhaps for helping the men playing ninepins) or a punishment (for being a generally lazy guy)? What is the portrayal of women in the story, including that of Rips wife Dame van Winkle? Can you think of a more contemporary story where a nagging wife is so central to a storys plot? How does Irving reveal character in Rip van Winkle? Compare/Contrast Rip van Winkle with Gulliver of Gullivers Travels by Jonathan Swift. Are there other characters in literature that compare to Rip van Winkle? Is Rip van Winkle consistent in his actions? Is he a fully-developed character? Discuss some of the symbols in Rip Van Winkle. Compare Rip van Winkle  with The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. How are they similar? How are they different? How essential is the setting to the story? Could the story have taken place anywhere else? What if the story had been set before and after the Civil War, or the War of 1812? How realistic is Irvings depiction of the Catskills? Why did he choose to set the story there? How does time figure into the story? Why was Rips slumber 20 years long, and not 10 years or 30 years? What would a sequel to Rip van Winkle have looked like? What would you expect Rip would be doing in another 20 years time? Is Rip van Winkle a tragedy or a comedy? Is there a central moral or lesson to be learned? Is this a childrens story? Why or why not?

The Distinctive Features Of Jesus' Image In Matthew And Luke Essay

The Distinctive Features Of Jesus' Image In Matthew And Luke - Essay Example Christ is able to lead people by giving each of them the opportunity to find personal salvation as well as to continue His good work in Israel by teaching others the truth of God: â€Å"But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel† (Matthew 10:6). Jesus warns the Israelites that they will have the difficult task of discovering the truth of God to ordinary people. He tells them that they can be rejected, however, nothing and no one should break their faith in God and God's truth: â€Å"And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell†. Christ explains that the Jewish people can find spiritual salvation only if their souls become a fertile ground for the grain of God's truth. Otherwise, the human soul cannot find a way to God. People should be prepared for various trials and temptations on the way of their spiritual enlightenment. Christ warns people that the way to God involves the spiritual struggle with their vices and sins. This manifestation of the Jewish wisdom of Christ is inseparable from his missionary teaching. Christ focuses on the fact that only adherence to his ethical teaching can give the possibility of salvation, and thus can open a road to eternal life. In general, the essence of the Jewish wisdom of Jesus Christ implies that all people should perceive each other as if they are brothers and sisters. Integrity, honesty and mutual assistance should be the criteria of the life of Jews.

Discuss why line-managers might not have an enthusiastic attitude Essay

Discuss why line-managers might not have an enthusiastic attitude towards equality and diversity policies. To what extent might diversity practitioners help to overcome this problem - Essay Example "If managers do not see the business case reflected in the behaviours and skills which an organisation values and the way in which performance is measured and monitored, then the business case risks being a paper based exercise that makes little impression on managers.† Echoing a sense of concern, Hodges (2008) feels that line managers must be encouraged to appreciate the strategic link between corporate social and diversity goals, vis-à  -vis, production, sales, and profitability goals through concrete case studies and examples. Hodges adds that line managers must feel involved in the diversity absorption process, which essentially can be facilitated through effective engagement with diversity practitioners. The Discussion Statement: This essay explores the nuances of diversity management, and examines some of the challenges that line managers face in adapting with a diversity policy for their team. The paper also studies some of the best practices exemplified by diversity practitioners in corporate, to seamlessly implement effective diversity practices in organizations. â€Å"Diversity is acknowledging, understanding, accepting, valuing, and celebrating differences among people with respect to age, class, ethnicity, gender, physical and mental ability, race, sexual orientation, spiritual practice, and public assistance status.† Diversity management, Foster and Harris (2005) opine, â€Å"Encourages innovative practices in human resource management that values employment relationship by addressing individual needs.† Potentially, employers see immense advantage in deploying demographically diverse workforce. Diversity, as opposed to equal opportunity, extends beyond legislation and focuses more on differences amongst individuals and groups (Laflà ¨che, 2005). The liberal perspective has moved the diversity discourse from providing equal opportunities

Before The Great Depression Essay Example for Free

Before The Great Depression Essay After the First World War, the United States entered into a period of relative prosperity. Actual GDP of the country exceeded potential GDP by about 15%. Almost all industries experienced high growth rates, as demand for every major product almost doubled in a span of 10 years. Financial institutions too enjoyed some measure of growth during this period. The available credit both to businesses and private individuals rose by 40% in a span of 6 years. Real wages increased by about 5% in two years. Agricultural products were exported to many countries at a relatively high price (especially in Europe). In general, the economy of the United States was all but in a state of growth. Much of the prosperity gained from this time period was due to the policies of the Republican government, specifically to the secretary of commerce, Herbert Hoover. With his direction, some of the implemented policies were as follows: 1) Creation of powerful ties between the government and businesses. It was the intention of the Republican administration to improve its relationship with businesses as a means of maintaining economic stability; 2) Formalizing trade relationships with other countries such as the USSR. With the guidance of Hoover, formalization of trade relationship would eliminate wastage in export production and increase efficiency in the import sector of the US economy; 3) Subsidization of infant industries. Some of the infant industries in the country were heavily subsidized for almost 10 years. Afterwhich, these industries were expected to adapt to competition in the foreign market; 4) And, increased funding for social welfare. During the administrations of Harding and Hoover, funding for social welfare and health infrastructure were increased. This measure though was a means to increase Republican support in the 1928 elections (in which the Democrats won). The First World War had a lasting impact on the foreign policy of the United States. When the British prime minister and the French premier asked President Wilson to allow the United States as a major member of the League of Nations, the latter reluctantly agreed. In truth, many of the Americans at that time were not very eager to intervene in the affairs of other nations, as it might involve the United States into another major war. Here was the birth of isolationism. From the Wilson administration to that of Roosevelt before the Japanese attack of Pearl Harbor, the country remained indifferent with the affairs of Europe. The idea of isolationism was simple. If a country were to avoid a major war, then it must not intervene in the state of affairs of other countries (except when it was attacked). This was not the whole story. Many Americans felt that it was more rational to direct the energies of the country towards economic development rather than impinge on the sovereignty of other countries. The prosperity which the United States enjoyed for almost a decade was temporary. Early in 1927, there were signs that the economy was on its dead end. Production increased at a decreasing rate. Financial institutions invested much of their capital to risky assets. Industries which were heavily subsidized showed no improvements. Unemployment rate increased by about 5%. The United States began to experience the difficulties of having a trade deficit. Foreign borrowers of the United States failed to pay their loans. There was also a significant decline in consumption and a significant increase in savings. All these factors led to the Crash of 1929 which allowed Roosevelt to be elected as president of the country. Here, the period of the Great Depression began. Reference Morison, Samuel Eliot. 1964. The Oxford History of the American People. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Jean-Luc Picard as a Leader :: Star Trek Essays Papers

Jean-Luc Picard as a Leader Jean-Luc Picard, Captain of the Starship Enterprise, is a good leader because of his ability to guide and direct his crew in such a way that protects the Federation from its enemies and inspires others to have similar goals. Every leader has their own unique characteristics and Picard is no different. He is able to utilize his crew members' talent's, ship's technology, and his own experiences to be the best leader he can be. Webster's New World Dictionary defines a leader as one who guides or directs in a course that inspires the conduct of others. As well, a leader is one who makes decisions based his or her knowledge gained personally and from other sources. A leader is also aware of all the consequences of their actions and the ability of those that they lead. He must be a responsible and trust worthy person because of the many people who follow him and depend on him. Jean-Luc Picard has these qualities and uses them to the best of his ability to lead his crew on the Starship Enterprise. In the episode "The Defector," Picard shows that he is a leader by making smart decisions and by giving direction to others. From the beginning, Picard is directing the android Data in a scene from Shakespeare's play Henry V , with the help of the halo deck. He is giving advice on how Data can act more as a human. He explains why King Henry has gone in disguise among his troops before the battle. Picard explains that it was to find out the state of the Kings army's morale and confidence (The Defector, Dec 30, 89) . Picard knows that it is important to know the confidence of his crew because it directly corresponds to him because he is like the king of the Enterprise. Later, in another encounter with Data, Picard asks him to make a record of the events before their possible war with the Romulans . The last thing he asks Data is, " How is the spirit of the crew ?", and as Data responds , "they are confident, why do you ask?" Picard responded by saying that, "It would be hard to disguis e myself and walk among my crew like King Henry did" (The Defector, Dec 30, 89). This shows that Picard is generally concerned about his crew as any leader would be.

Rock and elaborate spectacle

â€Å"Editors of Rolling Stone later summarized, ‘Rock ‘n' roll has always been a frank and sometimes vulgar music, with plenty of things for its critics not to like.' † (Fore 1999:96). There is no doubt about it. Rock and elaborate spectacle were meant to be together; Like chocolate and red roses on Valentine's Day†¦ only more dysfunctional (where the roses are tattoos and the chocolate gets to be licked off someone). From Elvis' swiveling hips to Jimi Hendrix making love to and then â€Å"sacrificing† his guitar (to whatever) by setting it on fire and smashing the hell out of it to KISS and their incredible costumes and make-up to Prince and his ass-cheeks-cut-out pants to etc. All part of the random theatrics enthralled fans expect from the rock show. The more attention you can get, the better your chances of becoming a rock star. Welcome to the world of glam rock. â€Å"We just get out there and rock. If your amp blows or your guitar packs it in, smash it up and pick up another one. And that's how it always was with us. We can't even stop and tune up. Those kids are all wound up. A second or two is too much for them. They've gotta have it.† -AC/DC guitarist Angus Young (Friedlander 1996:232) The simplest, most recognizable used form of rock spectacle is, of course, the destruction of thousands of dollars worth of instruments and sound equipment for the pure sake of breaking or blowing â€Å"shit up† (although in some instances, as in the case of Jimi Hendrix, it is a sign of respect). No one is really sure who first started this phenomenon (actually no one can agree) but rock fans have seen this act about a million times over, still remaining shocked and amused by the simplicity and perverse beauty of it. In fact, many people believe that you have not truly earned the title â€Å"Rock Star† until you have broken some piece of equipment in front of a live audience elevating the act to not only a way to satisfy the spectators' craving for damage but also to initiate yourself into a select few. And why not bang the hell out of a five thousand dollar guitar or nail all the furniture in your hotel room to the ceiling? You can afford it! Furthermore, as a rock star you are expected to be wild and do the things the average fan could only dream of doing. However, breaking guitars was only the beginning of rock's more aggressive attempts to shock the audience. While the act is still pretty cool to witness, by the 70's, rockers were ready to shock the hell out of you instead of just make you jump. Which leads us into make-up, hair, costume and the adoption of an outer-worldly persona. â€Å"Absent were the flower children and euphoria of psychoactive enlightenment, replaced by personal narratives of heroin addiction, ghetto drug connections, and sexual perversity. These shocking explorations of self-destructive behavior tested society's cultural sensibilities; they also didn't have much of an impact on the rock/pop mainstream.† (Friedlander 1996:250) The first band to come to mind when 70's rock, make-up, and costumes collaborate are the Knight's In Satan's Service, or more commonly known by their abbreviation: KISS. KISS, like many glam rockers, performed to huge stadium audiences. They had to be larger than life to get the attention of all the people in the middle and back rows as well as the front. Furthermore, their personas were highly marketable (From t-shirts to comic books to action figures, etc.). Despite their name and appearance though, their songs such as â€Å"Rock an' Roll All Night†, â€Å"Detroit Rock City†, â€Å"Calling Dr. Love†, were tame compared to the likes of Iggy Pop or David Bowie. â€Å"David Bowie's The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust (1972) carries advice on the back cover: TO BE PLAYED AT MAXIMUM VOLUME.† (Gracyk 1996:100). The epitome of androgyny, Ziggy Stardust was Bowie's first persona, an intergalactic rock star, with orange hair, make-up, and futuristic costumes, trying to save the world but doomed to fail (Campbell 1999:196). As with all his personas, the music on the album served to complete his mysterious character. Fans could probably guess that Gene, Paul, Ace, Peter, Eric, and Vinnie of KISS did not walk around all day in their outfits but Bowie could play his part so well that it was hard to tell whether or not he was only trying to be the most outrageous or if he was like that in the real world too. † ‘As we approach the ‘8o's, the country is literally laughing, dancing, jogging and dressing up again. We have entered The Glitter Era.' † -John Davidson (Calder 1992:274) Androgyny became a trend in 70's rock that held over into 80's rock. It was the ultimate way to shock your audience and make a statement. In the 70's there was of course, Bowie, Marc Bolan, Freddy Mercury, and the immensely popular Rocky Horror Picture Show featuring everyone's favorite transvestite from the planet Transexual in the galaxy of Transylvania, Dr. Frank N. Furter. The 80's brought in Prince, Boy George, Grace Jones, and sometimes Madonna. All challenging society's set gender roles. Why androgyny though? Many say that rock music itself, while still predominantly performed by males, is an androgynous form of music because it combines all other forms of music considered â€Å"male† or â€Å"female†. Others maintain that the trend was in response to the sexual revolution. Though these rock shockers succeed in getting the attention they so adamantly strive for, the most successful rock stars had always been presented as â€Å"real people.† The illusion that we could know the real Elvis, McCartney, or even the real Monkees was fostered by such superficial means as fan magazine interviews or facts on the back of bubble-gum cards, but it was also implicit in Elvis's insistence on his own style of recording the songs of others, and explicit in those performers who wrote their own songs. (Shumway 1992:131) Still, the diversity and color that glam rockers add to the spectrum is not something to discourage. Many fans strive on the fact that their heroes are super heroes, gods and goddesses with fantastical powers who they can fantasize about being. Who wants to be a â€Å"real† person all the time anyway? We get to be that everyday.

Corporate Governance in Family Businesses in Serbia

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE IN FAMILY BUSINESSES IN SERBIA PhD Katarina Djulic, Faculty of Economics, Finance and Administration, [email  protected] edu. rs MSc Tanja Kuzman, Faculty of Economics, Finance and Administration PhD Katarina Djulic is Assistant Professor at FEFA on subjects of Corporate Finance and Corporate Governance. She also works as Senior Consultant in KPMG Serbia. She worked as an Associate Operations Officer at the International Finance Corporation, World Bank Group, on the Corporate Governance Program. She holds a Bachelor of Law from the University of Belgrade, a Master of Law (LL.M. ) from Northwestern University, a Master in Public Policy from Harvard University JFK School of Government, and a PhD degree from the University of Belgrade Faculty of Economics. Prior to joining IFC, Ms Djulic worked as a legal adviser to firms in Belgrade and New York and afterwards at the Ministry of Finance, first as an adviser to the Minister and then as an Assistant Minister in cha rge of the Financial System Division. She also worked for European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in London in Office of General Council.PhD Djulic was a member of Board of Directors in DDOR, Novi Sad, a member of Supervisory Board in Jubanka, Beograd and Chairwoman of Supervisory Board in Central Securities Depositary and Clearing House, Republic of Serbia. MSc Tanja Kuzman is Teaching Assistant at Faculty of Economics, Finance and Administration. She teaches Corporate Governance and Corporate Finance. She is also Advisor for Corporate Governance and Corporate Finance in Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia, Executive Director of the Institute at Faculty of Economics, Finance and Administration and a Member of the Board of Directors of Alumni FEFA.She holds University of Sheffield Masters Degree with Distinction in Banking and Finance, where she was proclaimed as one of the best students, and a BA from the Faculty of Economics, Finance and Administration. She was awa rded with two HEAD’s list certificates for outstanding academic achievement of the University of Sheffield and in February 2011 she started her PhD studies in Finance. From September 2009 to December 2011 she worked as Coordinator of the National Competitiveness Council of the Republic of Serbia and Junior Advisor for Economy and Finance in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration.In July 2011 she has spent a month working for European Commission, Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs in Brussels, on the issues related to the financial stability and financial institutions of the European Union. She has finished training on European Negotiations organized by Centre des etudes europeennes de l’ENA from Strasbourg. Abstract Family businesses constitute the world’s oldest and most dominant form of business organizations. In many countries, including Serbia, family businesses play the key role in the economy growth and workfor ce employment.Yet many of them fail to be sustainable in the long-term often due to some specific governance challenges (family business succession, professionalization of the management etc. ). In Serbia, it has recently been recognized that family businesses need more institutional support in the area of corporate governance. The corporate governance scorecard (questionnaire on key aspects of corporate governance) for family businesses in Serbia was developed as part of cooperation between the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the IFC.This paper presents the results of the scorecard used in assessing corporate governance in seven family businesses in Serbia. Analyses of the results represent a unique case study that provides an overview of the quality of corporate governance in family-owned companies in Serbia. It shows that the state of corporate governance in family businesses on the Serbian market has a lot of distance to go to reach best practice. All companies recognize th e fundamental importance of family governance to their business. However, they lack knowledge and guidance on how to systematically deal with governance challenges.Key words: family businesses, corporate governance, scorecard, board of directors, transparency, controlling environment. Paper classification: Case study. INTRODUCTION Family businesses are one of the oldest and most common forms of business organizations, drivers of economic growth and economic development, representing a large percentage of the total number of companies in the world. Family businesses in most countries in the world account for over 70% of the total number of businesses and have very significant impact on economic growth and employment. For example, in the U.S. family businesses create 59% of new jobs, while their share in the GNP is 50%, and they represent nearly 90% of all businesses (Kuratko and Hodgetts, 2004). Family businesses in Spain and Latin America produce, respectively, 75% and 60% of the GD P (Network for Family Enterprise, 2008). Poutziouris (2000) also notes that in addition to economic growth and employment, family businesses build entrepreneurial spirit and enable knowledge transfer between generations as well as development of a sense of loyalty, long-term commitment and corporate independence.Therefore it is considered that the creation, growth and sustainability of family businesses is crucial for the development of national economy. According to data of the KPMG Canadian Centre for family business in next 20 years 15 trillion dollars of wealth in the world will be transferred from one generation to another. The same source also points out that 70% of family businesses do not survive the transition to the second generation, 90% do not survive the transition to the third generation, and 95% of family businesses do not plan succession.Other sources confirm these findings indicating that only 5-15% of the family businesses continue to exist in the third generation of the successors of the founder (Davis and Harveston, 1998; Neubauer and Lank, 1998; Poutziouris, 2000, Ibrahim and Dumas, 2001; Grassi and Giarmarco, 2012 ). The reasons for the unsustainability of family businesses are sometimes exactly the same as the reasons for all other businesses. Management processes, informality and lack of discipline are the most common weaknesses of family businesses (IFC, 2008). In the process of managing the family usiness, unlike other businesses, feelings and family problems can be involved complicating in that way the management process. On the other hand, the lack of procedures and informality in the conduct of business, can lead to inefficiencies and conflicts, while lack of planning in terms of succession, property management and absence of policies for the employment of family members leads in most cases to the failure of the family business. All the above mentioned reasons for the failures of family businesses stem from various weaknesses in Co rporate Governance (hereinafter: CG) practices employed in family businesses.Therefore, several researchers have investigated the relationship between the level of CG and family businesses as to determine whether these two variables are positively or negatively correlated. In their study Cheung et al (2010) have found that quality of CG appears very significant for family businesses. They have shown that good CG practices in family businesses are linked to higher stock returns and lower unsystematic risks (Cheung et al, 2010). Results of their study for family businesses are consistent with findings of Renders et al (2010) who found a positive correlation between CG practices and company performance.Furthermore, Renders et al (2010) have proven that higher CG ratings lead towards improved operating performance and higher market values of companies. These positive effects of CG ratings on market values of companies have also been recorded in emerging and transition countries (Gary an d Gonzales, 2008; Khanchel El Mehdi, 2007; Black et al, 2006; Durnev and Kim, 2005; Black, 2001). Notwithstanding, Cheung et al (2010) and Geksen and Oktem (2009) find that family businesses have poor CG practices.Cheung et al (2010) explain that family businesses, which in most cases have concentrated ownership structure, are associated with low level of CG. Furthermore, their finding indicates a concerning fact that family businesses improve their CG practices slower than their peers (Cheung et al, 2010). Geksen and Oktem (2009) also find that practices which prevail in family businesses strongly contradict the recommendations of the CG codes of best practices. When it comes to Serbia the picture is more or less the same as in all developing countries.We have large number of family businesses which went from being an entrepreneurial project to holding structures, now with several hundreds of employees. Family businesses in Serbia perceive CG as something abstract, fleeting, someth ing that is hard to define and measure, and hence there is the conviction that CG does not bring concrete, tangible and quick benefits. Better business results which follow concerted CG efforts are nearly never exclusively linked to improved CG mechanisms as from stances of family businesses in Serbia.At best, they are ready to admit that CG can contribute to moderately improved business results. Despite this perception, the goal of the authors was to investigate the level of CG in family businesses in Serbia in order to be able to recognize the main weakness/problems and provide recommendations which could solve them. This paper presents the findings of analysis of CG practice in 8 Serbian family businesses that responded to the invitation for assessing CG practice using the scorecard methodology.The scorecard was developed by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia (CCIS) as part of the Program for Improving CG, with the support of the IFC and with participation of one of t he co-authors of this paper. The scorecard consists of questions that are systematically organized into CG areas that reflect the basic principles of good corporate governance. Based on the scorecard the CG rating in Serbia can be created and even though it is quite hard to produce a quantitative evaluation of CG the scorecard can still be a valid indicator of good or bad CG practices. The paper is divided in three additional sections.The introduction is followed by a presentation of the methodology used in assessing corporate governance practice. In second part, results of the assessment of CG in family businesses in Serbia are presented. In conclusion, closing considerations followed by recommendations for further CG improvements in family businesses in Serbia are noted. METHODOLOGY The CG scorecard for family businesses in Serbia, developed as part of cooperation between the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia and IFC, is a questionnaire whose questions are systematically presented under headings that reflect the basic principles of good CG.Responses to questions generate a score that is expressed as a percentage and indicates what percentage of best practice was applied by a given family business in a particular CG area. The main goal of the scorecard approach is to enable companies to easily assess their own CG practices, to allow investors to determine their preference regarding the level of CG which companies need to have in order to be considered as possible investment and to enable comparison across countries and industries (Bassen, 2004; Strenger, 2004).The scorecard is divided into the following five areas of corporate governance: 1) commitment to good CG practices; 2) board of directors; 3) supervision, control and independent audit operations; 4) transparency and disclosure; 5) owners; Each of these areas has a relative importance expressed in percentages in relation to the total of 100%. In view of the fact that each area is significant in its own way and has a different contribution to governance, their relative importance differs accordingly.A relatively greater weight is carried by two areas for which experience shows that they represent vital points of good CG in a company –company commitment to CG principles and supervision, control and independent audit operations. As a result these two areas are weighted with 25%, board of directors and owners are weighted with 20%, while transparency and disclosure is weighted with 10% in the final score. In each of the specified areas there is up to eight questions that reflect recommended practice for realizing principles to which a particular area is dedicated.Answers to those questions are graded with marks from 1 to 10, where each mark is related to certain percentage of the mark for that specific area. A total result of around 50% means that a company has implemented CG practices as required by relevant legislation. In order to achieve a score of over 50%, a comp any needs to go beyond the requirements of statutory regulations. Finally, a particular quality of the scorecard is that it takes account not just of the overall score, but also of the scores of individual CG areas, which gives a test company a clear indication of the areas in which its CG practices lag behind the company average.The CCIS and the IFC, with participation of both authors in the process, have conducted an assessment of CG practices in 8 family businesses in Serbia. Family businesses were guaranteed confidentiality in respect of scoring and results, with a view to ensuring objectivity and realistic assessment of current status. ASSESSMENT RESULTS Commitment to good CG practices As first area in the scorecard it consists of questions which provide a general sense of the level of CG practices employed by the family business.The scorecard for this area seek to establish: (i) the existence of a CG code (whether developed in-house or whether an existing code has been adopted ), (ii) to what extent the company’s internal corporate documents reflect the CG principles, (iii) whether implementation of CG principles is discussed in company (if yes, how often and on which level), and (iv) do principles of CG and corporate social responsibility take into account the interests of various stakeholders, thus preventing conflicts.The figure below summarizes the scores of family businesses for this area (companies are designated by letters to ensure confidentiality of results). [pic] Chart 1: Commitment to good CG practices. CG Codes are not present in six out of eight family businesses, implying that those companies have not developed their own codes and have not adopted the existing codes of CCIS or Belgrade Stock Exchange. Despite that fact, owners and higher management have shown a great level of consciousness regarding the importance of CG and further improvements they need to make in CG area.When it comes to conversations about CG and succession proces s in most cases owners and family members talk about those issues from time to time and except family members involved in family business management others lack the interest or they are rather passive in the whole process. Internal documents exist in all companies but they usually satisfy the minimum requirements prescribed by law and do not encompass the CG best practices and principles. Most of internal acts exist formally due to legal requirement but they are not implemented in conduct of family business.Furthermore, owners and higher management have clear strategy for future development of family business, but that strategy in not formalized in the form of document. Due to that fact family members adhere to goals mentioned and set through formal or informal conversations between family members and higher management. Although poorly implemented in practice, family businesses show a clear vision of how their business should be organized and in which direction should be developed. All family businesses recognize the importance of corporate social responsibility.Therefore they pay more attention to local communities in which they undertake their operations but their corporate social responsibility in most cases boils down just to the philanthropic activities. In conclusion we can state that in family businesses in Serbia there is the absence of CG codes, that business strategies are not formalized in the form of documents, that internal documents fulfill legally determined norms but do not encompass the CG best practices and principles, that owners and higher management attach a high level of importance to CG and that family businesses in Serbia undertake large number of philanthropic activities.Board of directors In assessing the functioning of the board of directors questions in this section try to give a snapshot of practices regarding the management of family businesses and the role of the owner in them. In this CG area family businesses are asked whether there is a clear demarcation between operational and strategic/supervisory level in the company, is there a ormal board of directors or some other body which is responsible for the formulation of the strategy and supervision of the management, if there is a board of directors is there an internal act on the functioning of the board which defines needed competencies of the members of the board of directors and their responsibilities, is the function of the general manager and president of the board of directors clearly separated, how compensation of the members of the board is determined, is there a process of evaluation of effectiveness and quality of the work carried out by the board, whether the board establishes committees which could contribute to the quality of their work, is there the annual plan of board of directors meetings and whether members of the board of directors get the materials for the meeting in advance. [pic] Chart 2: Board of directors. In all of the tested comp anies there is the absence of Board of directors. Members of the families often have management functions and are directly involved in the operational management of the business.On the other hand, they are usually the ones determining the strategic path of future development of the family business implying in that way that there is no clear distinction between operational and strategic/supervisory level. In most cases owners convenes meetings when he assesses the need for doing so and only in two family businesses there is clear and established dynamics of these meetings. Only in one of the tested companies owner of the family business is not as the same time a director and there is no overlapping of responsibilities and in just two companies owner sees themselves as president of the board of directors in future. Three of the tested companies have family meetings during which they discuss performance of the family business, family issues which can influence the business and its futu re development.When it comes to the professional management, in only two of the companies tested, managing of the company is undertaken by family members and externally hired professionals which proves the low level of consciousness and the need for professionalization of the management. In most of the family businesses there is no established and formalized reward system. Absence of reward system is also a potential problem, because it reduces the possibility of objective and adequately rewarding or punishing of employees. The commonly established practice in tested companies shows that owners usually determine the rewards, its level and they make assessment of the effectiveness of the management. Even though the test has shown that owners of family businesses have aversion for professionalization of the management they feel reluctant in hiring external experts and consultants from time to time.Based on the results of the scorecard we can conclude that in family businesses there is no formally established board of directors and that there is no clear distinction between operational and strategic/supervisory roles. Supervision, control and independent audit operations In this area the questions concern internal controls, internal audit function, external audit and reporting mechanisms in the company. Seeking to determine whether the company has any kind of internal supervision system in place, the scorecard focuses on functions rather than on formal bodies. It tries to gauge comprehensiveness, sophistication and effectiveness of the existing system. The area has a 25% weight in the final grade.Two groups of questions focus on the system of internal controls – Has the company formalized its procedures? If yes, who is in charge of development of such a system? Have the owners formally discussed risks and have they analyzed the existing procedures and the company’s modus operandi in light of the identified risks? How does the company ensure that it is compliant with relevant laws and regulations? The next two groups of questions relate to the internal audit function – Does it exist in any form? Is it formalized? What kind of resources does it have at its disposal? Is it independent from the management? The third group of questions relates to the external audit and tries to capture the company’s experience with external auditors in the ast couple of years – Does the company have an external auditor? Who is the external auditor of the company? Has the external auditor ever issued a qualified opinion? The last question relates to the supervisory level of the company (the board if it exists or the owner(s)) and seeks to define to what extent and in which way the management communicates with the company’s supervisory bodies. [pic] Graph 3: Supervision, control and independent audit operations. In the tested companies, internal controls are either altogether absent or they have been introduced in response to customers’ or regulatory demands without any prior analysis of internal risks in the company.The tested companies that operate in regulated industries (food production, medical supplies, transportation) and that are export-oriented received relatively higher scores since there is a large number of international industrial standards in these industries/markets that allow companies to adopt these standards routinely rather than to develop independently in-house internal control systems. Although these standards represent a type of internal control system, an internal control system should not be reduced to their implementation. In order for an internal control system to fulfill its purpose, it must be implemented in an adequate control environment and be based on a company-specific and comprehensive risk analysis and assessment. None of the tested companies has any form of internal audit function and the entire supervision is performed by the owner personally and, sometimes , the employed members of the family.This monitoring style lacks a structured approach and a supporting system. Supervision is performed either continuously, which is extremely cumbersome keeping in mind operational responsibilities of the owner, or on an ad hoc basis. Often, the owner does not have sufficient technical knowledge to supervise all the business processes in the company and as a consequence he focuses on the business areas where he feels comfortable resulting in considerable supervisory â€Å"blind spots†. Supervision further suffers as the business expands since at certain point in time, the owner’s physical capacity becomes limitation for an effective supervision. Finally, since the owner often operationally anages the company, he effectively supervises himself which is far from good practice. The external audit function seems to be understood inadequately. The companies still perceive external audit primarily as an expense so the function is introduced only if it is legally required. It often happens that the owner does not have any direct communication with the external auditor. The contact person for the external auditor is, in the majority of cases, the head of accounting (whose work is verified by the auditor). Where the function exists, the auditors, as a rule, are small, local businesses that issue unqualified opinions. Their mandates are automatically extended for the period of 3 – 4 years.Transparency and disclosure Although a great majority of family businesses in Serbia are small and medium non–listed companies, some of them are rather big and require a solid organizational structure, some have extensive international business operations, and others seek significant external funding (from banks primarily but also from individual investors and private equity funds). Due to these considerations, the scorecard has a part that relates to transparency and disclosure. However, since the scorecard primarily focus es on non-listed companies, this CG area has relatively smaller significance and it contributes only 10% to the final grade.In this domain the scorecard seeks to determine whether the company has a reporting policy (formalized or not), whether it uses its website for publishing relevant information and, finally, whether all relevant information is also released in English (which allows a company to reach a far broader investor and/or client base). After this, the scorecard focuses on specific types of information which practice indicates to be of greatest interest to stakeholders. Thus it seeks to determine whether the company releases in timely manner: (i) its financial statements, (ii) its management report, (iii) materially significant information, (iv) biographical information of all members of management i. e. family members that are involved in business, and (v) related party transactions. [pic] Graph 4: Transparency and disclosure.The poor results presented in chart 4 are not surprising since, as already mentioned, the tested companies are mostly small and medium family businesses. In addition, there are no legal requirements for non-listed businesses regarding transparent business operations. Thus, the research confirms once again the assumption that companies in Serbia, as a rule, tend to fulfill only the legally prescribed minimum. Some companies have decently informative websites but they contain only marketing information relevant for customers. The companies that export have also websites in foreign languages. No single company in the tested group has a structured approach to information disclosure. Some of the tested companies do have monthly or quarterly bulletins that are distributed to their customers.Financial statements, as a rule, are not public and if some financial information is available on the company website, it is out of date. Only one company in the tested sample regularly prepares an annual report because it participates in interna tional tenders and this exercise helps it present its business efficiently to a more sophisticated business community. A majority of the interviewed owners stated that they would like to keep their business within the family and that they did not plan an IPO. Finally, most of the tested businesses engage in related party transactions but, as expected, these transactions are not regulated neither are they transparent.The research indicates that Serbian companies are still not adequately motivated to publish information and still continue to misunderstand the importance of transparency in business. Owners The last CG area of the scorecard deals with owners. This part of the scorecard focuses on key issues of family governance and has a 20% weight in the final grade. The scorecard tries to determine if there is any formal document which spells out family business guiding principles such as â€Å"family protocol†, â€Å"family business rules† etc. Formally establishing the se rules could result in the most important piece of work achieved by the family business in managing its family component and the process of succession. The econd group of questions tries to determine quality, effectiveness and timing of communication between family members that are actively involved in the business ant those members that pursue other interests and thus are not familiar with the day-to-day state of the family business. The purpose of this communication is to provide a forum that allows all the family to learn more about the family business and to provide them with an opportunity to express their views on family issues that impact the business as well as business issues that impact the family. The third group of questions enquires about the family grooming plan. The grooming plan outlines the most important business skills required by successors to effectively manage the family business at the transition date. The scorecard tries to determine how the family prepares the next generation for management succession and if it has a formalized grooming plan.The fourth group of questions asks if the family has developed an employment policy for family members. It’s understandable that the senior generation would like to have all their children involved in the family business. However, allowing children a safe employment haven just because they have no better alternative, can cause major problems. Thus, having criteria that outline what is required and expected from the family members who wish to be employed in the family business is crucial. The fifth and sixth groups of questions try to determine if the family members have any formal form of communication which would allow them to manage the key family component separately from managing business operations.The purpose of this forum is to lay out agreed ground rules and objectives for the firm and to discuss major issues (like succession) while minimizing the threat that conflicts in the famil y could jeopardize the business. [pic] Graph 5: Owners. The tested companies scored the highest in this CG area. The primary reason for such a good result is great commitment of the first generation to prepare the second generation for the future transition. Although only one of the interviewed owners is familiar with basic CG mechanisms that family businesses have at disposal for managing ownership and management succession, all of them expressed great readiness to learn and to apply these mechanisms in their businesses.In fact, all the interviewed owners have been trying to find ways to manage these challenges and all of them expressed a great concern regarding succession process in their businesses. Now, there might be some research bias since the tested businesses volunteered to engage in the CG testing and all were attending a workshop on CG organized by CCIS. It is probably true that a random sample would yield lower scores in this CG area as it would in Commitment to good CG practices. Still, we believe that a succession threat is looming over the first generation of Serbian entrepreneurs and that all of them are experiencing problems due to a lack of the entrepreneurial tradition in Serbia and a lack of CG knowledge.None of the businesses had any form of family protocol neither did they have any formal for gathering family members involved in business to discuss family issues that affect the business and to prevent conflicts. Further none of the businesses had a formal channel of communication between the family members involved in business and those that are not but they all claim that communication is regular and intensive. The grooming plan is, as a rule, somehow implemented in practice but it is not formal neither does it lay out ground rules for the second generation aspiring to join the family business. Finally, no formal family employment policy exists in any firm but there are certain guiding principals that are clear to both family and non-fam ily employees alike in almost all businesses.We can conclude that the research has indicated (i) a great need for raising awareness among Serbian first generation entrepreneurs on CG issues and mechanisms; (ii) an avoidance of the first generation to formalize the ground rules assuming that this formalization would lead to family conflicts and that it might destabilize both the family and the business; (iii) a fear that the upcoming ownership and management succession will not be performed smoothly and successfully; and (iv) an honest commitment of the family businesses to implement good CG mechanisms if it would help them overcome governance obstacles. CONCLUSION Serbia has a relatively short entrepreneurial history. Serious attempts to establish a family business could be linked primarily to the post-Milosevic period, i. e. after 2000. This research is providing a scan showing where the first generations of Serbian entrepreneurs, i. e. the first generation of owners of Serbian fam ily businesses is today from the governance point of view and what kind of family governance challenges they face. As it was already mentioned, there is a certain bias which should be taken into account when interpreting the scores of the tested businesses.All of the tested businesses attended a workshop organized by CCIS for family businesses, they were present when the scorecard was launched and they applied to participate in a pilot CG testing voluntarily. This indicates that these businesses will most likely show greater commitment to CG and a deeper understanding of the family governance issues relatively to an average family-owned firm in Serbia. This also explains relatively higher scores in the CG areas Commitment to good CG practices and Owners. Still, we believe that the results obtained from this pilot testing are a good approximation of general state of affairs in Serbian family-owned businesses.Specifically, most of the family businesses in Serbia will sooner rather tha n later face serious succession challenges. Most of them still avoid putting these issues formally on the agenda, but there are triggers that will or have already forced them to do so. These triggers might be results of some positive or some negative circumstances. â€Å"Positive† triggers include: age and retirement plans of the first generation owners and/or CEO; a boom in the economy or the firm’s industrial sector which could lead to a rapid expansion of business; an external take-over initiative coming from a strategic partner; a need for a significant external funding to finance the rapidly growing business etc.On the other hand, typical â€Å"negative† triggers would be: health problems and physical and/or physiological exhaustion of the first generation owner/CEO; marriage problems of the first generation owners or their children; financial problems; a significant loss of the market share; conflicts among the owners and/or their heirs etc. The testing co nfirmed that the interviewed owners had serious doubts that the management and ownership succession could occur smoothly i. e. without seriously destabilizing the family business. What are obstacles that prevent the Serbian family owners from tackling the succession challenges more successfully? According to the testing and the interviews, there are three major challenges that need to be resolved. First, there is a substantial lack of CG knowledge among owners of family businesses in Serbia.CG is usually perceived as an expensive exercise created primarily for listed companies. Most of the interviewed owners were not aware that a significant body of research in CG refers to family businesses only. Second, tackling succession presses some emotional and financial concerns of the first generation. Often, the founder of the firm, who belongs to the first generation, has invested emotionally a lot in the family firm. He feels that the family firm is a great part of his life and his legac y for the generations to come. From the financial point of view, the greatest assets of the founder(s) have, as a rule, been invested in the family business and they are quite illiquid.Lacking any reasonable diversification, the founder is exposed to a serious financial risk. Without a clear exit strategy and a meaningful succession plan, the founder creates a void in the governance and ownership systems which present a great burden for the heirs. The results have also shown that most of the interviewed owners lack time, capacity and knowledge to successfully resolve these issues. Relatively higher scores in the CG area that relates to Supervision and control mechanisms could be explained by an obvious need to professionalize the firm and to decentralize the management. Most of the businesses are economically healthy and have had a rapid expansion of business that outgrew its respective organizational structure.The owners show the greatest readiness to implement practical supervisio n CG mechanisms since they expect that these mechanisms would increase effectiveness of their control over the business and the â€Å"outside† managers and thus reduce a burden which they barely handle. However, we have to emphasize that better supervision, although of a great value, cannot substitute for unresolved succession issues. Poor management and ownership succession would almost certainly lead to a collapse of the family business in the next generation despite good internal controls, internal audit function or any other form of internal and/or external supervision. Low scores in the CG area that relates to Board indicate that most of the businesses have not separated the supervisory and strategic level on one hand and the operational level on the other.This leads to a common situation that even in rather big family-owned businesses in Serbia that employ more than 1000 employees, we still have so-called one-man show and the key man risk. This risk scatters away invest ors and leaves these businesses without substantial external funding. It is rather common that many rapidly developing Serbian businesses finance their investments form short-term lending since banks refuse to carry governance risks over an extended period of time. This lack of good professionals at the helm of their companies, most of the interviewed owners explain with a lack of qualified managers to whom they could entrust the family business.Finally, the lowest score in transparency area is somewhat expected. As already mentioned, these businesses are not listed and there are no legal rules that would insist on greater transparency for bigger, closed companies. While this is understandable, it also indicates that the Serbian businesses do not see any value in transparency per se which begs further investigation. Our assumption is that in very non-transparent, public and private sectors in Serbia too much of transparency is perceived as an unnecessary exposure to both the governm ent tax authorities and competitors. The businesses are convinced that transparency would only lead to vulnerability without bringing any other value-added.Scorecard results imply that in family businesses in Serbia CG is on a low level, that there is a huge space for improvements and even quick wins which can significantly contribute to the business operational functioning as well as contribute to its overall performance. The authors will continue to further employ the scorecard and assess the CG level in family businesses as to create a solid basis for scientific conclusions in the area, but as well to see whether improvements through time will be made. LITERATURE Black, B. (2001) The corporate governance behavior and market value of Russian firms. Emerging Markets Review, 2, p. 89–108. Black, B. , Jang, H. and Kim, W. (2006) Does corporate governance predict firms’ market values? Evidence from Korea.Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, 22, p. 366–413. Bassen, A. (2004) The importance of good corporate governance by institutional investors: The Scorecard for German Corporate Governance. International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, 2(3), p. 244-263. Gheung, Y. , Stouraitis, A. and Weiqiang, T. (2010) Does the Quality of Corporate Governance Affect Firm Valuation and Risk? Evidence from a Corporate Governance Scorecard in Hong Kong. International Review of Finance. 10(4), p. 403-432. 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Today, our world is faced with many diseases. Some Essays

Today, our world is faced with many diseases. Some Essays Hiv Today, our world is faced with many diseases. Some havent been discovered and some have no cures. The immune system fights off many of these diseases, but what happens when it fails us? One of the most deadly, incurable disease the world is faced with today is the Human Immunodeficency Virus (HIV). There is no none cure yet. Viruses cause colds and the flu. Viruses are microscopic particles that invade the cells of plants, animals, fungi, and bacteria. They often destroy the cells they invade. How do viruses reproduce? A virus first enters a cell in one of three ways: direct penetration, endocytosis, or membrane fusion. The virus takes over the cells machinery and is thus forced to make the viruss proteins and RNA. When the virus has entered, viral RNA is released in to the cell and reverse transcriptase occurs. Reverse trancriptase is when the cell makes a DNA copy of the viral RNA. It then produces the proteins and genes the virus needs to be assemble. The virus can then be released by three ways: lytic, lysogenic, and persistent. A virus, although not considered to be alive, does have a life cycle. First the virus attaches to a cell, which it recognizes by its surface markers. Then it penetrates the cell and gets inside. Next, it replicates and makes copies of itself. It then assembles itself back together and the new viruses are released. A virus cannot replicate by itself; it has to infect a cell. The virus is always the same size. It doesnt have a metabolism. A virus has three different shapes it can be: helical, polyhedral, and enveloped. It is made up of nucleic acid (RNA or DNA), and surrounded by a protein coat. Certain viruses can survive harsh conditions. Pathogens, disease-causing agents, have to enter the body to cause illness. There are several ways for them to get into the body: through the genitals, breaks in the skin, and natural openings. The immune system usually stops these invaders from getting in. The primary way to stop pathogens is by the skin. But, the skin has natural openings where they can get in. The eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and genitals are all natural openings. The second line of defense is at these natural openings. The pathogens get stuck in the mucus lining of the nose and mouth or are killed by the saliva and stomach acids; tears from the eyes; earwax; and acidic secretion of the vagina all stop pathogens but they dont get them all. The third line of defense is the Tortiory Response. There are two different kinds, innate (which you are born with and is non-antigen specific and acquired (which you acquire through life and is antigen specific). Innate has three different reposes to it. The first: phagocytic cells eat live viruses, bacteria and, dead cells. The second: natural killer cells are non-specific and destroy all infected cells. The third: interferon binds to the surface of surrounding healthy cells and activates their genes to create an antiviral state. Acquired immunity has different parts to it: macrophages (ingest viruses and expresses information to other cells; intructs and recognizes), T4-cells (instruct), T8-cells (respond), B-lymphocytes (respond), and lymphokines (rate control). There are two different kinds of acquired immunity: humoral and cell mediated. The humoral response involves the production of antigen-specific antibodies. Those antibodies neutralize he virus, help macrophages ingest and T8-cells to destroy it, and cause the destruction of the viral envelope. Colonal selection is part of the humoral response. The T4-cells get the right B-cells and activate them. The B-cells produce antibodies quickly then start to divide. Once they divide, they are called plasma cells and are able to produce 2,000 antibodies per second for 4-5 days. The cell-mediated response develops T8-cells that destroy host cells that have been infected already. T8-cells can tell the difference between regular and infected cells. HIV is a very deadly disease. There are certain risk behaviors associated with the disease. HIV is mainly transmitted by sexual contact or either by IV drug use. Anal sex carries a higher risk of getting it than vaginal or oral sex. The probability is 1/33 to 1/10 people. Vaginal intercourse also caries a high risk. Male to female