New York City Zoning Regulations Vs The Death and Life of American Assignment

New York City Zoning Regulations Vs The Death and Life of American Great Cities - Assignment Example The New York City Zoning Regulations provides rules and guidelines for shaping the city. If compared to architecture and planning, zoning has a short history in it being a means of organizing how land is used. Zoning puts into place the use and size of buildings, the location of the buildings and to a greater extent the diverse neighborhoods’ density of the city. In line with the city’s tax, ability to budget and property condemnation, zoning is an important tool for undertaking planning policy. New York City is known to be a pioneer regarding zoning from the time the first nation’s comprehensive zoning was enacted in 1916. Considering the New York City zoning regulations, we can gauge that, some of these regulations reflect what Jane Jacobs is talking about in her book while some regulations do not reflect her ideas as we are going to discuss them. In her book, Jacobs praised density and concentration as opposed to dispersal and decentralization. Jacobs announces that housing activist Catherine Bauer has derived a perfect term meant for attacking regional planners for example Lewis Mumford. Decentrists proposed decentralizing big cities like New York. They wanted to squeeze them, disorient their enterprises, and dislocate their populations into smaller and separated cities. Decentrists felt that urban streets are bad environment for humans; hence, they recommended building houses away from the street. However, they suggested building houses inward in the direction of sheltered greens. These ideas took over mainstream thinking until Jacobs shoved them away in her book. Jacobs understood the meaning that density gives critical mass. Density means good services, good stores, restaurants and cafes. It also means safety in thatthere is life in the street and round the clock activity. NYC zoning regulations reflect this idea by allowing centralization in its policy. This has greatly improved safety in the city nowadays not only because of security by the police department in fighting crime strategically but because there are always people in the streets whether its day time or night time. This idea is one of Jacob’s brilliant contributions. As she writes, â€Å"There must be sufficiently dense concentration of people, for whateve4r purposes they may be there. This includes dense concentration in the case of people who are there because of residence†. Within this concept that is critic lays several others as we continue. Greenwich Villag e was another of Jacob’s important urban lab, the denser but mainly low-rise, working-class neighborhood. As a small-town girl, she took her lessons with respect to proper urban behavior as shown by her neighbors. Like Bernie Jaffe, who owned the candy store and who guides small children traversing the street; Joe Cornacchia, who owned corner deli and kept her keys in case of visitors and emergencies; the locksmith Mr. Lacey, the one who bawled the son of Jacob for running into traffic then he reported him to his dad. Jacobs respected and celebrated working class households plus their conservative, old-world although socially attentive morals. Ethnic neighborhoods emptied out into the suburbs, either voluntarily or coercively under urban renewal. However, Jacobs for saw tragedy in their departure, she admired their territoriality and their commerce enterprises which were frequently held in contempt to be too parochial and insignificant by intellectuals and the government offi cials. Divisively

African Americans Status in 1890 Essay Example for Free

African Americans Status in 1890 Essay There were many problems that African Americans faced in the 1890s some of which still exist in todays society. African Americans have come a long way and earned many rights but still live with the hardships that they had in the 1890s. The status of African Americans at this time in United States history was not good. Blacks had a very hard time living especially in the south. The problems that blacks dealt with were primarily found in the south where they were not accepted. Segregation became huge across the entire south after the Supreme Court ruled that Separate but equal was legal in the Plessy v. Ferguson case. Everything was separate but it was almost never equal. Whites always had things better than African Americans did. Blacks could not ride in the same train cars as whites. The national government gave blacks the right to vote but southern state governments took away that right through the use of poll taxes and literacy tests. A big problem that blacks faced was trying to stay alive. Many blacks were killed for no reason during this period of time. Jim Crow laws were set up to keep blacks from enjoying the same rights and privileges that whites enjoyed everyday. The Ku Klux Klan was set up by whites who had hatred for blacks. Blacks in the south feared for their lives and their families lives everyday. It was certain that African Americans would be confronted by racism each and everyday in the south. Relationships between blacks and whites have greatly improved in the last century but things still are not perfect and it is unlikely that they ever will be. The greatest changes were made during the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s when blacks stood up for themselves and gained their rights as American citizens. Laws were finally passed that made literacy tests and poll taxes illegal. Segregation came to an end after Brown v. Board of Education turned over the ruling made in Plessy v. Ferguson. There was no longer Separate but equal, it was now just equal. Although many big steps have been taken to stopping racism and segregation it still exists in our lives today. African Americans still see racism everyday even though they are now doing many things with whites. Blacks and whites have been able to peacefully interact with each other for decades but you still see newspapers talking about segregation and racism. The overall improvement has been very significant. Comparing todays society to the 1890s show a lot of good change yet there are still problems in our society with race relations.

Evaluate The Corporate Strategy Being Pursued At Lvmh Business Essay

Evaluate The Corporate Strategy Being Pursued At Lvmh Business Essay LVMH Moet Hennessey Louis Vuitton, a famous luxury corporation found by Bernard Arnault in 1984. At present, a host of famous brand name peoples are associated with LVMH such as Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Givenchy, Celine, Guerlain, Tag Heuer, Moet et Chandon, Pommery etc. In the following statement, it is aim at evaluate the corporate strategy being pursued at LVMH. In order to have an in-depth analysis, it will have a brief identification of corporate strategy in LVMH and an explanation of the rationale for the strategy in the beginning. Based on those parts, it will have an evaluation of corporate strategy at LVMH. Summary statements of strategy In the following, it is going to identify the nature of the corporate strategy being implemented at LVMH. The first part is going to explore the composition of LVMH. The composition of LVMH According to the case, LVMH group had covered a large spectrum of business by commencing an active external growth strategy towards luxury product companies with high development potential. It also used an acquisition strategy to narrowly focus on luxury brands for increasing the existing portfolio of the brands. LVMH group consists of a smattering of individual brands in five different products and services Wines and Spirits, Fashion and Leather Goods, Perfumes and Cosmetics, Watches and Jewelry, and Selective Retailing. In between, these brands are grouped into different clusters. It also comprised two Paris department stores La Samaritaine and Le Bon Marche; the DFS duty-free chain and Sephora perfumery chain. These had showed that LVMH is a really big company operated in the luxury business. Besides, LVMH had pursued a corporate sponsorship strategy, which supporting a wide array of public interest initiatives and aimed at the revitalization and promotion of Frances artistic heritage. It had also sponsored a host of exhibition and retrospectives in order to spreading its central mission Western Art de Vivre. The meaning of that is a sense of style, a vivid connection with the past and its tradition, transferred into the present. It is the cult of beauty and creativity at every level, combining ancestral know-how and craftsmanship with modern and a passion for quality, referred to case. This philosophy perpetuated the tradition of the most ancient and refined craftsmanship. LVMH provided a financial aid, LVMH Young Artist Award to art students for fostering the cultural instinct of young generations into talents, especially in fine arts and music. To strive promote young talent, LVMH supported young virtuosos by lending them Stradivariuses from its collection and organizing concerts. It sponsored a complete MBA program in luxury goods management at the top French business schools, ESSEC in order to create the future recruitment. The corporate centre manages the strategic business units Here comes to the second part to discuss about the corporate centre manages the strategic business units (SBUs). SBU is a division of the organization that has a unique business mission, product line, competitors, and markets relative to other SBUs in the same corporation (Johnson et al 2008). According to Mintzberg et al, the corporate strategy is the pattern of discussions in a company that determines and reveals its objectives, purposes or goals, produces the principal policies and plans for achieving those goals, and defines the range of business the company is to pursue, the kind of economic and human organization it is or intends to be, and the nature of the economic and noneconomic contribution it intends to make to its shareholders, employees, customers, and communities. (Mintzberg et al 2002) From the above summary of LVMH cover a large spectrum of business, the group seems to adopt the portfolio approaches. LVMH has to acquire new companies continuously with new profitable business and invested into a medium or long-term view, aim to strengthen the cash flow and develop its diversity and a balanced portfolio in terms of risks. A number showed that LVMHs profit had grown by 500% in eleven years and had multiplied 15-fold under the Arnaults way of running this approach. Now, it is going to review on LVMH major policy in central functions. referring the case, being as a group, commencing of synergies had created strengths within different branches, attract and retain the best talent worldwide. The Group allowed the branches to share the variety of departments provided by Headquarter. The synergies policy made every company benefited from Group resources and synergies in different categories, such as financial resources, administration (shared service centers), purchasing, RD, advertising negotiation, production, retail networks etc. Companies can be done at Group level to get specific support instead of go to the Headquarters. Explain the rationale for the strategy Approaches to corporate level strategy There are three different approaches when choosing corporate level strategy: Portfolio approach is based only on financial synergy; Linkages approach is based on operational approach and Core competencies approach is based on sharing organization-wide core competencies (Mintzberg et al 2002). According to the case, LVMH is adopted the portfolio approach which is based only on financial synergy. The Corporate centre acts as a financial investor in a set of autonomous businesses. It also adds value by keeping strict financial control and attempts to achieve a balance of businesses across the life cycle and with complementary financial needs (Mintzberg et al 2002). Boston Consulting Group (BCG) matrix There is one way to evaluate the corporate-level strategy to compare and evaluate each individual investment in the portfolio to determine whether or not the investment is currently performing to expectations and what the future prospects are for the investment. The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) matrix is a relatively simple technique for assessing the performance of various segments of the business (Johnson et al 2008 and Advameg Inc 2010). It classifies business-unit performance on the basis of the units relative market share and the rate of market growth as shown in Appendix Figure 1. The five different LVMH business spectrums are put into the four quadrants. The perfumes and cosmetics spectrum is as a question mark, which had the lowest market growth within other spectrums, compared with Figure 2. The strategy for these products have to continually gain market share through strong communication and innovation in this spectrum such as new product launching, new product line or strengthen existing products. A high market share becoming a BCG matrix star and it is belongs to Fashion and leather goods, which means this spectrum has a high-growth market. Stars can generate large cash flow for the business, as same as the largest account for the revenue from LVMH in Figure 2. Stars are the targets of large expenditures for advertising and research and development to improve the product and to enable it to establish a dominant position in the industry. For instance, Louis Vuitton entered into new markets, Lebanon and Dominican Republic; accelerate global expansion of Marc Jacobs; and to maintain policy of targeted investments and rigorous cost management for other brands. The spectrum of Watches and Jewelry is located at the middle of star and question mark, which has the high potential in market growth but account for a little market share. The strategy is to continue gain the market share, pursue up-market positioning through strong innovation and selective expansion of mono-brand store network. Cash cows are Wine Spirits and Selective Retailing spectrums that have high market share in a low-growth market. They are usually well-established products with wide consumer acceptance, so sales revenues are usually high. LVMH has to continually maintain rigorous management of costs and inventories and increase marketing programs like e-commerce in order to retain the market growth. Dogs are the businesses with low market share in low-growth markets. In LVMH, no one is belonging to this quadrant. Diversification Diversification is a strategy to increases the corporation scope radically from existing markets and products (Johnson et al 2008). It is the most radical strategic direction and more value creating than others. According to Porter, there are also three tests for diversification. Attractiveness test is the business which must be structurally attractive or capable of being made attractive. Cost of Entry test is the cost of entry must not capitalise all the future profits. Better-off test is either the new unit must gain competitive advantage from its link with the corporation or vice versa (Porter 1987). LVMH has the below reasons for diversification with potential value-creating. Efficiency gains: LVMH keep its companies at human size and group them in a separate Business Groups or Branches, allow the brands in each business to coordinate strategies and develop synergies with common interests such as research, purchasing, logistics and international distribution. Companies can take the benefits from synergies to share the existing Group resources once acquired new companies. It allows sharing variety departments and resources such as financial, administration, RD etc. Sharing resources can help LVMH to experience the economies of scale to reach efficiency and effective into a new activity (Johnson et al 2008). Stretching corporate parenting capabilities: LVMH had a wide range of business covering fashion, wine, perfumes to financial media that share very few operational resources or competences but creates value by adding parenting skills. The philosophy of creativity and the nurturing of creative talents are relevant to each business spectrum. Increasing market power: LVMH is obviously gaining market power with a diverse range of business by acquired new companies, invested with a medium or long-term view. The investments had permitted LVMH to finance in new development and strengthen cash flow that developed a balanced and diversified corporate portfolio. In order to increase the market power, the group expansion and the development of new subsidiaries had supported around the world. Value-adding to LVMH In this part, it is going to identify the activities by LVMH can add value. Envisioning: LVMH provide a clear vision that guide and motivate the business to maximize corporate-wide performance. The vision in LVMH is product quality, creativity, image, entrepreneurial spirit and the willingness of its people to always question their achievements and the striving to be the best, which is indissolubly linked to the entrepreneurial spirit. Each company was free to adopt the marketing and retailing strategies best suited to its needs, capitalize on distinctive positioning. Coaching and facilitating: can help to develop strategic capabilities by improving skills and confidence. It can also facilitate cooperation and sharing across the business. In order to provide high-caliber training to the employees, the group institutes a comprehensive training program in several regions such as Paris, Hong Kong, Tokyo to focus on development of personnel management and integration of LVMH. In addition, it launched a Global Leadership Program in order to step up the professional development of the most promising future executives through discussions on risk-taking and innovation moderated by business group leaders and the CEOs of Group companies. These kinds of programs are provided opportunities to learn management skills and build relationships for the group. Providing central service and resources: LVMH offer opportunities to management-level employees with internal mobility within the company, transferred to new position within the group by developed with special assignments to facilitate broadening of experience and perspective. It allows the employees to work for a defined period in a company and enable them to have varied and changing work environment and tasks. Intervening: Once the new graduates come into the company on management level are immediately given real jobs but not send to have training program first. It helps to find out if someone is not suitable for the work quickly at LVMH or find the initial responsibility too overwhelming leave soon. The way is helping them to find the people are interested by being part of something, have a dream to be achievable so that it becomes challenge to work at LVMH in order to monitor the performance and encourage performing better. Evaluate the corporate strategy being pursued at LVMH According to Rumelt, there are four criteria for strategy evaluation: Consistency: The strategy must not present mutually inconsistent goals and policies. The atmosphere of LVMH vision is scattering in each company. Its autonomy disciplines and the philosophy of creativity also bring employees loyalty toward working at LVMH. People in the group tended to have a strong feeling of ownership of their brands and cherished that they contribute to the development of the company without a lot of bureaucratic procedures and constraints. (Rumelt, 1980) Consonance: The strategy must represent an adaptive response to the external environment and to the critical changes occurring within it. LVMH had a foresight that hired new designers to run conservative traditional business become as profitable. Marc Jacobs had created new lines of product which were much more modern and identifying the brand with the desirable fashion world. He took the 146 year old LV logo and put it everywhere, starting off the trend of logomania. Thus, LVMH had given a new generation of designers the chance of their lifetime on creative design freely. It also dedicated people who are passionate about doing something of outstanding quality. (Rumelt, 1980) Advantage: The strategy must provide for the creation and / or maintenance of a competitive advantage in the selected area of activity. This is usually the result of superiority in resources, skills, or position. Customers who came to buy the products are not acquiring for functionality, they bought an image and a lifestyle, an intangible value. The employees who worked at LVMH professed to love the products they worked with and wanted to make sure that others loved their products. They were proud they were be the part of the Christian Dior family of the Louis Vuitton family and felt prestige involved in LVMH companies. (Rumelt, 1980) Feasibility: The strategy must neither overtax available resources nor create unsolvable sub-problems. The strategy should be reasonable in the light of the organizations resources: money and capital; management, professional and technical resources and time span. Companies did not go to Headquarters for specific support, they can be done the tasks by group level, tax planning, and recruitment of senior management level positions. The shared and synergies group resources enable companies increase their problem-solving capabilities and empowerment. (Rumelt, 1980) Conclusion Porters concluded that Portfolio approach is not a valid corporate level strategy in advanced economies. The first key element is to associate with corporate level strategy, to ensure that a corporate entity can achieve more profitability than the collection of different businesses under their control. There are four concepts for corporate level strategy to achieve (Porter 1987). Portfolio Management: is based on diversification through acquisition with no direct involvement of the management and strategy of subsidiary businesses by headquarters. Value adding is from maintaining strict financial controls and financial economies of scale, which the external capital markets are very efficient in capturing information about companies; and external investors can take swift action when necessary. As the size of the company grows, portfolio managers need to find more and more deals to maintain growth. Porter also concludes that it is no longer appropriate in advanced economies as it is no way to conduct corporate strategy. Restructuring: It allows for the acquisition of failing organizations and short-term measures to turn round the organization and it can only be a short term strategy as it is difficult to maintain a long term corporate strategy based only on restructuring. Linkage: A sustainable corporate level strategy can only be achieved by creating operational synergies through transferring skills and sharing activities exploit the interrelationships between businesses. Core Competence: It is based on sharing organization-wide core competencies Core competencies allow a corporate to gain access to a range of new markets and to gain competitive advantage over its competitors (Prahalad and Hamel, 1990). To conclude based on the above findings, it evidence that LVMH had pursued those four corporate strategies. When LVMH choosing an effective corporate strategy, it identifies the interrelationships among the existing business spectrums and select the spectrum of fashion and leather goods as core business to become the foundation of the corporate strategy. The LVMH group structure also facilitates interrelationships among the core businesses and lays the groundwork for future related diversification. Its shared resources provide diversification opportunities and allow transferring superior skills. Restructuring is seldom used at LVMH since it had an excellence management level people with high-caliber. The remuneration for them was based on a fixed base salary, a bonus, and stock options which are merit based. Finally, the diversified and balanced portfolio enables LVMH to share organization-wide core competencies successfully. Appendix Figure 1: BCG Matrix of LVMH Source: http://www.slideshare.net/sumit_thawrani/the-deal-presentation Figure 2: LVMH H1 2010 revenue by business group Source: LVMH First Half 2010 results

Essay examples --

All students come across difficulties in their studies. In other words all students have weaknesses regarding certain study skills. These weaknesses have a negative effect on the students and may make the life of the student miserable by causing him or her to not succeed in a subject or his or her course. Knowing how to improve these skills will help the student to turn his or her weaknesses into strengths. Motivation is my most problematic and pressing weakness. The first time that I was aware of my weakness with motivation was in high school; I only got motivated to study when there was a little amount of time before the exam or the due date for an assignment. This weakness has affected me negatively and because of it I got low grades in my tests and assignments. This weakness also prevents me from being able to plan effectively. The reason I think I have a low motivation to study is because of the many distractions in my life, like video games. I enjoy playing them for long periods of time. I also watch shows and hang out with friends. However I think that the real actual reason why I am not motivated to study is that I am not interested in my studies, or, in other words I do not find the things they are teaching us interesting. My second weakness is a lack of focus. The first time that I became aware of this weakness was soon after I noticed my low motivation. I am only able to focus for a small amount time, for example if a class lasts for two hours I can only focus for one hour, or in other words, I can generally focus for only half the duration of a class. This weakness also has affected me negatively as I can’t understand some parts from the teacher’s speech about the topic so my... ...to do things. I should be aware of my time, the place it really goes to. Sometimes when I find it hard to fit in everything that I want to do and there are things that are more important than others. I should identify my priorities and set due dates for it. I should be precise and comprehensive when it comes to managing my time. I should prepare a detailed diary/planner. I should put plan notes in places that I would remember them easily. I should carry out my plans according to a schedule. I should think of things that will disrupt my plans. I should experiment with saving time or managing my time, so that I will know what works and save time for the things I priorities. I should check if I am sticking to my plan. If not, I should make some changes to my plan to make it more realistic, or think of what I can do to so that I will not mess up my plan (Cottrell: 2013)

What Considerations Are Relevant?

Business Ethics: Midterm Essays 10/23/2012 What considerations are relevant when we assign blame for injurious acts? What is the distinction between excusing conditions and mitigating circumstances? Some say that moral responsibility is directed towards doing what is right and what is wrong. Well that is not necessarily the case; moral responsibility can also be aimed at at determining whether a person is morally responsible for doing something morally wrong. This is known as blame. Blame and moral responsibility can be used interchangeably.If someone is to be blamed for a wrong doing than that person is also held morally responsible for that wrong doing. Not all people are responsible for their wrongful or injurious acts. Injurious acts are harmful acts that one freely and knowingly intends to do. People have to consider the circumstances under which the person was morally right or morally wrong for their actions. Excusing conditions are conditions under which a person causes an inj ury on accident and is â€Å"excused† from blame and should not be held morally responsible. There are 3 considerations under which a person is not held morally responsible for an injury or a wrong.One is not held responsible if: â€Å"one did not cause or could not prevent the injury, one did not know he was inflicting injury, and if one did not inflict the injury out of his own free will. † When a person is morally responsible for an act of injury or wrong doing there are also 3 things to consider. A person is held responsible if: â€Å"one caused or helped cause it, or failed to prevent it, one did so knowing what he or she was doing and if one did so out of his out free will. † Excusing is when a person’s moral responsibility is excused by the absence of causality, knowledge and freedom.Mitigating factors can diminish a person’s moral responsibly but it depends on how severe the injury or wrong is. In addition to the excusing conditions, there are also 3 mitigating factions that can lessen moral responsibility. One circumstance leaves a person uncertain about what he or shit is doing. Another makes it difficult, but not impossible for the person to avoid doing it. The third circumstance minimizes a person’s involvement in an act. In general, the more serious the injury is, the less the mitigating circumstances will diminish responsibility.

Bloodlines Chapter Twelve

WHEN WE LEFT on our group date or family outing or whatever it was, Lee couldn't stop apologizing for his father. â€Å"I'm sorry,† he said, slumping miserably in the backseat of Latte. â€Å"There's no reasoning with him anymore. We tried to tell him that Tamara was killed by Strigoi, but he won't believe it. He doesn't want to. He can't take revenge on a Strigoi. They're immortal. Invincible. But some human vampire hunter? Somehow, in his head, that's something he can go after. And if he can't, then he can focus his energy on how the guardians won't go after these nonexistent vampire hunters.† I just barely heard Eddie mutter, â€Å"Strigoi aren't that invincible.† In the rearview mirror, I saw Jill's face filled with compassion. She was seated between Lee and Eddie. â€Å"Even if it's a fantasy, maybe it's better this way,† she suggested. â€Å"It gives him comfort. I mean, kind of. Having something tangible to hate is what gets him through. Otherwise he'd just give in to despair. He's not hurting anyone with his theories. I think he's sweet.† She caught her breath in that way she did when she'd said a whole lot all at once. My eyes were back on the road, but I could swear Lee was smiling. â€Å"That's nice of you,† he told her. â€Å"I know he likes having you around. Turn right up here.† That was to me. Lee had been giving me directions ever since we left Clarence's. We were just outside of Palm Springs proper, nearing the very impressive-looking Desert Gods Golf Course and Resort. Further guidance from him led us to the Mega-Fun Mini-Golf Center, which was adjacent to the resort. I searched for a parking spot and heard Jill gasp when she caught sight of the golf course's crowning glory. There, in the center of a cluster of gaudily decorated putting greens, was a huge fake mountain with an artificial waterfall spouting from its top. â€Å"A waterfall!† she exclaimed. â€Å"It's amazing.† â€Å"Well,† said Lee, â€Å"I wouldn't go that far. It's made of water that's been pumped over and over and has God only knows what in it. I mean, I wouldn't try to drink or swim in it.† Before I even had the car to a stop, Adrian was out the door, lighting a cigarette. We'd gotten in an argument on the way over, despite me telling him three times that Latte was a strictly no-smoking car. The rest of us soon got out as well, and I wondered what I'd signed up for here as we strolled toward the entrance. â€Å"I've actually never been mini-golfing,† I remarked. Lee came to a halt and stared. â€Å"Never?† â€Å"Never.† â€Å"How does that happen?† asked Adrian. â€Å"How is it possible that you've never played mini-golf?† â€Å"I had kind of an unusual childhood,† I said at last. Even Eddie looked incredulous. â€Å"You? I was practically raised at an isolated school in the middle of nowhere Montana, and even I've played mini-golf.† Saying I was homeschooled was no excuse this time, so I just let it go. Really, it just came down to having a childhood more focused on chemical equations than on fun and recreation. Once we started playing, I soon got the hang of it. My first few attempts were pretty bad, but I soon understood the weight of the club and how the angles on each course could be maneuvered. From there, it was pretty simple to calculate distance and force to make accurate shots. â€Å"Unbelievable. If you'd been playing since you were a child, you'd be a pro by now,† Eddie told me as I knocked my ball into a gaping dragon's mouth. The ball rolled out the back, down a tube, bounced off a wall, and into the hole. â€Å"How'd you do that?† I shrugged. â€Å"It's simple geometry. You're not that bad either,† I pointed out, watching him make his shot. â€Å"How do you do it?† â€Å"I just line it up and putt.† â€Å"Very scientific.† â€Å"I just rely on natural talent,† said Adrian, strolling up to the start of the Dragon's Lair. â€Å"When you have such a wealth of it to draw from, the danger comes from having too much.† â€Å"That makes no sense whatsoever,† said Eddie. Adrian's response was to pause and take out a silver flask from his inner coat pocket. He unscrewed it and took a quick drink before leaning in to line up his shot. â€Å"What was that?† I exclaimed. â€Å"You can't have alcohol out here.† â€Å"You heard Jailbait earlier,† he countered. â€Å"It's the weekend.† He lined up his ball and shot. The ball went directly for the dragon's eye, bounced off it, and shot back toward Adrian. It rolled and came to a stop at his feet, nearly where it had started. â€Å"Natural talent, huh?† asked Eddie. I leaned forward. â€Å"I think you broke the dragon's eye.† â€Å"Just like Keith,† said Adrian. â€Å"I figured you'd appreciate that, Sage.† I gave him a sharp look, wondering if there was any hidden meaning behind that. Mostly, Adrian seemed amused by his own wit. Eddie mistook my expression. â€Å"That was inappropriate,† he told Adrian. â€Å"Sorry, Dad.† Adrian shot again and managed not to maim any statues this time. A couple more shots, and he sank the ball. â€Å"There we go. Three.† â€Å"Four,† said Eddie and I in unison. Adrian looked at us incredulously. â€Å"It was three.† â€Å"You're forgetting about your first one,† I said. â€Å"The one where you blinded the dragon.† â€Å"That was just the warm-up,† Adrian argued. He put on a smile I think he hoped would charm me. â€Å"Come on, Sage. You understand how my mind works. You said I was brilliant, remember?† Eddie glanced at me in surprise. â€Å"You did?† â€Å"No! I never said that.† Adrian's smile was infuriating. â€Å"Stop telling people that.† Since I was in charge of the scorecard, his play was logged as four, despite his many further protests. I started to move forward, but Eddie held out a hand to stop me, his hazel eyes gazing over my shoulder. â€Å"Hold up,† he said. â€Å"We need to wait for Jill and Lee.† I followed his gaze. The two of them had been in deep conversation since we arrived, so much so that they'd slowed and lagged behind the rest of us. Even during his bantering with Adrian and me, Eddie had continually checked on her – and our surroundings. It was kind of amazing the way he could multitask. Thus far, Jill and Lee had only been one hole behind us. Now it was nearly two, and that was too far for Eddie to keep her in his sight. So, we waited while the oblivious couple meandered their way toward the Dragon's Lair. Adrian took another drink from his flask and shook his head in awe. â€Å"You had nothing to worry about, Sage. She went right for him.† â€Å"No thanks to you,† I snapped. â€Å"I can't believe you told her every detail of my visit that night. She was so mad at me for interfering behind her back with you, Lee, and Micah.† â€Å"I hardly told her anything,† argued Adrian. â€Å"I just told her to stay away from that human guy.† Eddie glanced between our faces. â€Å"Micah?† I shifted uncomfortably. Eddie didn't know about how I'd gone proactive. â€Å"Remember when I wanted you to say something to him? And you wouldn't?† I proceeded to tell him how I'd then sought out Adrian's help and found out about Lee's interest in Jill. Eddie was aghast. â€Å"How could you not tell me any of this?† he demanded. â€Å"Well,† I said, wondering if everything I did was going to result in the wrath of a Moroi or dhampir, â€Å"it didn't involve you.† â€Å"Jill's safety does! If some guy likes her, I need to know.† Adrian chuckled. â€Å"Should Sage have passed you a note in class?† â€Å"Lee's fine,† I said. â€Å"He obviously adores her, and it's not like she'll ever be alone with him.† â€Å"We don't know for sure that he's fine,† said Eddie. â€Å"Whereas Micah's a hundred percent okay? Did you do a background check or something?† I asked. â€Å"No,† said Eddie, looking embarrassed. â€Å"I just know. It's a feeling I get about him. There's no problem with him spending time with Jill.† â€Å"Except that he's human.† â€Å"They wouldn't have gotten serious.† â€Å"You don't know that.† â€Å"Enough, you two,† interrupted Adrian. Jill and Lee had finally reached the start of the Dragon's Lair, meaning we could move on. Adrian lowered his voice. â€Å"Your argument's useless. I mean, look at them. That human boy doesn't enter into it.† I looked. Adrian was right. Jill and Lee were clearly enthralled with each other. Some guilty part of me wondered if I should be a doing a better job of looking out for Jill. I was so relieved that she was interested in a Moroi that I hadn't stopped to wonder if she should even be dating anyone. Was fifteen old enough? I hadn't dated at fifteen. I'd actually, well, never dated. â€Å"There is an age difference between them,† I admitted, more to myself. Adrian scoffed. â€Å"Believe me, I've seen age differences. Theirs is nothing.† He walked off, and a few moments later, Eddie and I went to join him. Eddie maintained his simultaneous vigil of Jill, but this time, I got the impression the danger he was watching out for was right beside her. Adrian's laughter rang out ahead of us. â€Å"Sage!† he called. â€Å"You have got to see this.† Eddie and I reached the next green and stared in astonishment. Then I burst out laughing. We had reached Dracula's Castle. A huge, multi-towered black castle guarded the hole some distance away. A tunnel was cut out through the center of it with a narrow bridge meant for the ball to go over. If the ball fell off the sides before getting through the castle, it was returned back to the starting point. An animatronic Count Dracula stood off to the castle's side. He was pure white, with red eyes, pointed ears, and slicked-back hair. He jerkily kept raising his arms to show off a batlike cape. Nearby, a speaker blasted eerie organ music. I couldn't stop laughing. Adrian and Eddie looked at me as though they'd never seen me before. â€Å"I don't think I've ever heard her laugh,† Eddie told him. â€Å"Certainly not the reaction I was expecting,† mused Adrian. â€Å"I'd been counting on abject terror, judging from past Alchemist behavior. I didn't think you liked vampires.† Still grinning, I watched Dracula raise his cape up and down. â€Å"This isn't a vampire. Not a real one. And that's what makes it so funny. It's pure Hollywood camp. Real vampires are terrifying and unnatural. This? This is hilarious.† It was clear from their expressions that neither really understood why this would appeal to my sense of humor so much. Adrian did, however, offer to take a picture with my cell phone when I asked him. I posed by Dracula and put on a big smile. Adrian managed to snap the shot just as Dracula was raising his cape. When I viewed the picture, I was pleased to see it had come out perfectly. Even my hair looked good. Adrian gave the picture a nod of approval before handing me the phone. â€Å"Okay, even I can admit that's pretty cute.† I found myself overanalyzing the comment. What had he meant in saying even he could admit it? That I was cute for a human? Or that I had just met some kind of Adrian hot-girl criteria? Moments later, I had to forcibly stop thinking about it. Let it go, Sydney. It's a compliment. Accept it. We played through the rest of the course, finally finishing off with the waterfall itself. That was a particularly challenging hole, and I took my time lining up the shot – not that I needed to. I was beating everyone pretty handily. Eddie was the only one who came close. It was clear Jill and Lee didn't even have their attention on the game, and as for Adrian and his natural talent†¦ well, they were very solidly in last place. Eddie, Adrian, and I were still ahead of the other two, so we waited for them by the waterfall. Jill practically ran to it when she had the chance, gazing up at it with enchanted eyes. â€Å"Oh,† she breathed. â€Å"This is wonderful. I haven't seen this much water in days.† â€Å"Remember what I said about the toxicity,† teased Lee. But it was clear he found her reaction endearing. As I glanced at the other two guys, I saw that they shared the same feelings. Well, not exactly the same. Adrian's affection was clearly brotherly. Eddie's? It was hard to read, kind of a mix of the other two. Maybe it was a kind of guardian fondness. Jill made a gesture to the waterfall, and suddenly, part of it broke off from the tumbling cascade. The chunk of water shaped itself into a braid, then twisted high into the air, making spirals before shattering into a million drops that misted over us all. I had been staring wide-eyed and frozen, but those drops hitting me shocked me awake. â€Å"Jill,† I said in a voice I barely recognized as my own. â€Å"Don't do that again.† Jill, eyes bright, barely spared me a glance as she made another piece of water dance in the air. â€Å"No one's around to see, Sydney.† That wasn't what had me so upset. That wasn't what filled me with so much panic that I could barely breathe. The world was doing that thing where it started to spin, and I worried I was going to faint. Stark, cold fear ran through me, fear at the unknown. The unnatural. The laws of my world had just been broken. This was vampire magic, something foreign and inaccessible to humans – inaccessible because it was forbidden, something no mortal was meant to delve into. I had only once seen magic used, when two spirit users had turned on each other, and I never wanted to see it again. One had forced the plants of the earth to do her bidding while the other telekinetically hurled objects meant to kill. It had been terrifying, and even though I hadn't been the target, I'd felt trapped and overwhelmed in the face of such otherworldly power. It was a reminder that these weren't fun, easy people to hang out with. These were creatures wholly different from me. â€Å"Stop it,† I said, feeling the panic rise. I was afraid of the magic, afraid it would touch me, afraid of what it might do to me. â€Å"Don't do it anymore!† Jill didn't even hear me. She grinned at Lee. â€Å"You're air, right? Can you create fog over the water?† Lee stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked away. â€Å"Ah, well, it's probably not a good idea. I mean, we're in public†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Come on,† she pleaded. â€Å"It won't take any effort for you at all.† He actually appeared nervous. â€Å"Nah, not right now.† â€Å"Not you too.† She laughed. Above her and in front of her, that demon water was still spinning, spinning, spinning†¦ â€Å"Jill,† said Adrian, a harsher note in his voice than I'd ever heard before. In fact, I couldn't recall him ever addressing her by her actual name. â€Å"Stop.† It was all he said, but it was like a wave of something went through Jill. She flinched, and the water spirals disappeared, falling away in droplets. â€Å"Fine,† she said, looking confused. There was a moment of awkwardness, and then Eddie said, â€Å"We should hurry. We're going to be pushing curfew.† Lee and Jill set out to make their shots and soon were laughing and flirting again. Eddie continued watching them in his concerned way. Only Adrian paid any attention to me. He was the only one who really understood what had happened, I realized. His green eyes studied me, with no trace of their usual bitter humor. I wasn't fooled, though. I knew there had to be some witty quip coming, mocking my reaction. â€Å"Are you okay?† he asked quietly. â€Å"I'm fine,† I said, turning from him. I didn't want him to see my face. He'd already seen too much, seen my fear. I didn't want any of them to know how afraid of them I was. I heard him take a few steps toward me. â€Å"Sage – â€Å" â€Å"Leave me alone,† I snapped back. I hurried off toward the course's exit, certain he wouldn't follow me. I was right. I waited for them to finish the game, using the alone time to calm myself down. By the time they caught up to me, I was fairly certain I had wiped most of the emotions from my face. Adrian still watched me with concern, which I didn't like, but at least he didn't say anything else about my breakdown. Surprising to no one, the final score showed that I had won and Adrian had lost. Lee had come in third, which seemed to trouble him. â€Å"I used to be a lot better,† he muttered, frowning. â€Å"I used to be perfect at this game.† Considering he'd spent most of the time paying attention to Jill, I thought third was a pretty respectable performance. I dropped him and Adrian off first and then just barely got Eddie, Jill, and me back to Amberwood on time. I was more or less back to normal by then, not that anyone would've noticed. Jill was floating on a cloud as we went into our dorm room, talking nonstop about Lee. â€Å"I had no idea he'd traveled so much! He's maybe been more places than you, Sydney. He keeps telling me that he'll take me to all of them, that we'll spend the rest of our lives traveling and doing whatever we want. And he's taking all sorts of classes in college because he's not sure what he wants to major in. Well, not all sorts this semester. He's got a light schedule so that he can spend more time with his father. And that's good for me. For us, I mean.† I stifled a yawn and nodded wearily. â€Å"That's great.† She paused from where she'd been searching her dresser for pajamas. â€Å"I'm sorry, by the way.† I froze. I didn't want an apology for the magic. I didn't even want to remember it had happened. â€Å"For yelling at you the other night,† she continued. â€Å"You didn't set me up with Lee. I should never have accused you of interfering. He really has liked me all along, and, well†¦ he's really great.† I let out the breath I'd been holding and attempted a weak smile. â€Å"I'm glad you're happy.† She returned cheerfully to her tasks and to talking about Lee until I left to go down to the bathroom. Before brushing my teeth, I stood in front of the sink and washed my hands and arms over and over, scrubbing as hard as I could to wash away the magical drops of water I swore I could still feel on my skin.

Dilution Calculations From Stock Solutions in Chemistry

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A essays

A essays A Friend With Multiple Personalities The variance in personalities can be as massive as an ocean or as microscopic as an atom. Most people think of personalities as distinctive. I have found distinctive does not necessarily describe personalities. Renee is a friend of mine who has a very wide variance in personality. Renees personality can change within a matter of minutes. She calls me daily with a seemingly innocent conversation. The conversation always starts with simple inquires about the general health of family and friends. Suddenly, as if possessed by some demonic force, she will insult other people that we both know. She says things that I personally know to be untrue. When I try to point out what she is doing, she turns her anger toward me. At any point during a telephone conversation, she can exhibit any one of three different personality aspects. Each of these personality aspects demonstrates individual distinctions. One person can have multiple personalities. In fact, my friend has three aspect s of her personality. The three are the friend forever, the crybaby, and the rattlesnake personalities. The "friend forever" personality is the one with which I am most familiar. When she displays this personality, she concerns herself with others, she is willing to help out, and she always has a dry shoulder to loan for crying. Renee so easily fits into this category. Most days, she is a very loving and caring individual. She concerns herself with the welfare of others. While in this personality, Renee goes out of her way to call and inquire about the health of others. She offers her help in any situation. She may not be physically able to change a flat tire for a person, but she will hold the light so the person can see how to change the tire for themself. Renee always has a dry shoulder on which someone can cry without invitation. She will listen to a friend's problem for ...

A Study On Organizational Behavior Management Essay

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In Planning and Programming - Assignment Example The paper defines a project plan as the guide towards the execution and control of a project. Project plan forms a fundamental base towards the success or failure of a given project. According to Kerzner a project plan defines the appropriate methods to be employed during the project. The defined methods ensure successful completion of projects. Project plan ensures optimisation of the resources towards achieving the objectives of the project. The plan, therefore, acts as a guideline in maintaining a balance between resource utilisation and project schedule compliance. The plan ensures proper utilisation of project resources and timely completion of projects. The project planning process in the construction industry forms a fundamental activity for the entire project. The planning process consists of numerous stages. The stages include. †¢ Choosing of correct technology and construction method to be employed in the project. †¢ Establishing the work tasks. †¢ Defining the existing relationships between various activities. †¢ Estimating the activity durations. †¢ Estimating the resource requirements for the work activities involved. Numerous factors within the construction sector affect the planning process. The factors affecting the project planning process lie within the financial and time functions of the project. The factors can, therefore, be defined as cost factors and schedule factors. The chart below shows the factors affecting the planning process. ... These uncertainties form what project managers consider project risks. Risk management becomes an essential part of projects execution in ensuring the success of a project. Ireland (2006) defines the element of risk assessment as the critical analysis of the expected constraints and uncertainties before embarking on a project. Comprehensive analysis of the risks becomes essential in minimising the probabilities of project failure. Ireland continues to discuss that failure to analyse these factors efficiently and critically, poses surmountable problem of project failure. The process of risk assessment involves, identifying the uncertainties, analysing them, and prioritising the risks as analysed. The last phase, of prioritising, ensures the arrangement of the risks in relation to the impacts they may posses on the project. This phase allows project managers to eliminate the substantial risks perfectly while managing the other risks throughout the project duration. Financial planning P roject management process includes financial planning as an element within the execution process. A financial plan defines and identifies the financial needs of the entire project. All expenses expected within the project execution, need to be indicated within the scope of financial plan. Kerzner (2009) defines financial planning as the element of drawing the budgetary needs for the different phases of a project. Financial planning provides a breakdown of all expenses to be incurred at different stages during the project execution duration. The importance of financial planning lies in ensuring controlled utilisation of financial resources available for projects. Financial

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Module 4 TD-MGT 411 Workers Compensation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Module 4 TD-MGT 411 Workers Compensation - Essay Example Secondly, it proofing whether Scott was sick is another problem. Trying to investigate such may kill his moral at work and make him feel that the organization does not trust him. Thus investigating it may compromise his ability to deliver effectively. Again, the organization may incur great losses if he decides to file a compensation of whatever nature because he has a history of filing numerous compensations. Additionally, before being hired, he must have gone through an interview and the organization must have been satisfied that he will deliver and so firing him is another difficult option because there is no tangible evidence of gross misconduct. One cannot tell whether Scott is still the same or has changed for the better. Now with the new information concerning Scotts history I will constitute an independent investigating team to find out first whether the claims are true. Sometimes managers rely on rumors that are usually malicious and end up making outrageous decisions. When established that it is true; the independent team through their maneuvers will then investigate whether he has been sick and whether he has filed any compensation claim. From there, Scott himself will be given an opportunity to respond to the findings of the investigation and take an evidence-based

Know “Joe” Essay Example for Free

Know â€Å"Joe† Essay During the 2008 General Presidential election, candidates John McCain and Barack Obama used media technology to create compelling stories that would hopefully shift public opinion in their favor, especially among undecided voters. With this essay, I will be analyzing one of the more controversial stories that had been flung to the forefront of the election with the release of John McCain’s I am Joe the Plumber advertisement (Kurtz). I will first show how the GOP campaign used the actual Joe Wurzelbacher, the Ohio plumber constantly mentioned by the Republican nominee as the average American middle-class citizen, in this advertisement as a popular symbol in order to try to convince voters that the McCain/Palin ticket identified with the concerns of the average middle-class voter. In contrast to the populist rhetoric of the ad, I argue that this strategy in the end failed due to a shallow and false claim that Senator Obama was in support of a socialist tax agenda that would raise taxes on middle-class incomes under $250,000 (Bumiller). The Joe the Plumber ad begins with an out of context clip of Mr. Obama saying â€Å"I think when you spread the wealth around its good for everybody. † This quote came from a campaign stop in Ohio and is the basis for the entire ‘Joe the Plumber’ phenomenon that changed the way the American public imagined an average citizen. Mr. Wurzelbacher asked Mr. Obama if he would raise taxes on people in his income bracket and this was the off-the-cuff response Mr. Obama gave. The moment was caught on camera and the McCain campaign and tried to paint Mr. Obama as a socialist in their never ending strategy of trying to make Mr. Obama appear like he is out of touch with the current state of politics. Immediately after the opening clip, the camera cuts to a succession of three close-up shots of middle-aged white women saying directly into the camera, â€Å"I am ‘Joe the Plumber’. † Next, a female narrator rhetorically asks, â€Å"Spread the wealth? † as the words themselves dissolve into the group of frowning people on screen. Next, a combined sentence of two men ensues asking, â€Å"I’m supposed to work harder just to pay more taxes? † Then, a skeptical man rhetorically asks, â€Å"Obama wants my sweat to pay for his trillion dollars in new spending? † followed by another woman stating, â€Å"I am Joe the Plumber. † At this point the narrator comes back and says, â€Å"Barack Obama: Higher taxes, more spending, not ready. † These words are bold and flash on-screen shown against a smirking picture of Obama. Of course, the commercial ends with a smiling picture of John McCain with his voiceover, â€Å"I am John McCain, and I approve this message. † It is interesting to note that this campaign had largely been fought through the media. According to a study by the Campaign Media Analysis Group, John McCain’s campaign spent close to $120 million on broadcasting television ads (Election). This figure is hard to believe and it forces the audience to think critically about how much importance the swaying of public opinion has played in this election. With this much campaign money being spent on image creation, it is obvious that every nuance to every advertisement is purposeful in its intention and message. With this in mind, I will describe how the ad changed the way I approached mediated politics. Initially, the ad made me identify with the claims presented, after all, who really wants to pay higher taxes in the middle of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression? The people making these statements in the commercial appear to be average enough: they aren’t shown wearing expensive clothing or fancy jewelry, they talk directly into the camera, and they avoid hyperbole and demonstrate a genuine concern about these issues. Unfortunately for the McCain campaign these claims fall by the wayside upon closer inspection and research. As it turns out, the ‘real’ Samuel Joe Wurzelbacher â€Å"owed back taxes, did not have a plumbing license (he told the Associated Press he doesnt need one because he works for someone elses company), and may not have been registered to vote. † In addition, he has since admitted that under Obama’s proposed plan, he would receive a tax break because he only makes $40,000 a year; not the $250,000 he originally claimed as a small business owner (Chipman). The ‘trillion dollars in new spending’ that the ad claimed also turned out to be based on false information. The non-partisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget calculated that Obama promised a total of $990 billion in new spending over his first four-year term but his proposed spending cuts come to around $989 billion. This means that the net actually balances out (Dobbs). With all these false claims and the millions upon millions of dollars spent, I ultimately felt annoyed and cheated by this advertisement and the overall strategy employed by the Republican ticket. If the McCain campaign was going to continue to resort to attack ads based on false information then what would lead us, the average American public that they so repeatedly claim to identify with, to believe that they would tell the truth about important issues if they would have won the election? Another problem I have, not only with this particular ad, but with the Republican advertising campaign in general is the haste with which they adopt these media symbols without doing very much background checking on them prior to using then them for their own agenda. ‘Joe the Plumber’ is the key example here, but an even more troubling example may be McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin as a running mate. Both ‘Joe’ and Mrs. Palin greatly motivated and energized the Republican side in the short term, but as time progressed and the media and public had the chance to learn more about these campaign catalyst symbols, they eventually turned out to counter-balance the initial jolt they provided. For instance, the media picked up on the story that Governor Palin spent over $150,000 dollars on her campaign wardrobe at extravagant retailers like Saks 5th Avenue (Bumiller). This image directly contradicts the ‘average hockey mom’ mythical portrait that the GOP had fought so hard to perpetuate in order to capture middle-class citizens, especially females. Repeatedly, the Republican campaign of John McCain and Sarah Palin resorted to negative attack ads based on faulty, if not completely false, premises. The ‘Joe the Plumber’ ad continued this troubling trend. In fact, it may be the iconic example that eventually turned the tide against the Republican nominee, especially after considering that the media outted the ‘real’ Samuel Joe Wurzelbacher as a fraud and liar willing to bend his story to fit an ideological narrative. Despite this advertisement’s shaded attack against Barack Obama, in my opinion it actually did more harm to the Republican ticket due to the lack of honesty and the propagandist appeals to an imaginary middle-class whose interests are being manipulated and distorted through the media in order to sway public opinion to gain voter support. Works Cited Bumiller, Elisabeth, Jeff Zeleny. â€Å"McCain and Obama Hurl Broadsides at Each Other Over Taxes and Jobs†. The New York Times. 25 Oct. 2008. http://www. nytimes. com/2008/10/24/us/politics/24campaign. html? ref=politics. Chipman, Kim, Hans Nichols. â€Å"Obama, McCain Pit Plumbers vs Hedge-Fund Managers in Tax Debate. † Bloomberg Press. 23 Oct. 2008. http://www. bloomberg. com/apps/news? pid=20601087sid. Dobbs, Michael. â€Å"Obama’s ‘Trillion Dollar’ Spending Plan†. The Washington Post. 1 Oct. 2008. http://voices. washingtonpost. com/fact-checker/2008/10/obamas. â€Å"Election 2008. † The New York Times. 2 Nov. 2008. http://elections. nytimes. com/2008/president/advertising/index. html Kurtz, Howard. â€Å"McCain Ad: We Are All ‘Joe the Plumber’†. The Washington Post. 22 Oct. 2008. http://voices. washingtonpost. com/the-trail/2008/10/22/mccain.

History of Accounting Standards in the UK

History of Accounting Standards in the UK Accounting norms and standards, applicable for companies in the UK, emanate from the Companies Act, 1985, amended later by the Companies Act, 1989, and by subsequent statutory instruments. While the Companies Act lays down minimum reporting requirements, such as filing of accounts with the Registrar of Companies, other agencies like the Accounting Standards Board, (ASB) and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales, (ICAEW) are responsible for laying down accounting standards, and for the development and regulation of the accounting profession. The ICAEW, the English and Welsh accountancy body for accountants and auditors plays a major role in controlling the accountancy profession, and the conduct of its members. Accounting standards, known as Financial Reporting Standards, (FRSs) are issued by the ASB and form the guidelines for preparation of accounting statements. The Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, known as UK GAAP, governed the preparation of accounts, in the UK, until 2005. Most countries, in the past, had their own national GAAPs, each being quite different from the other. The international initiative for harmonisation of accounting practice has led to the adoption of International Financial reporting Standards, (IFRSs) by all listed companies in Europe. Listed companies in the UK have to prepare accounting and financial statements, in line with IFRS requirements, from 2005. Unlisted companies can continue to prepare their accounting statements under UK GAAP, and can switch to IFRS standards with more comfort. Accounting methods, in the UK, have traditionally depended upon accepted accounting principles, rather than a body of rules. Accounting statements aim to â€Å"portray the nature of accounting entities operating in a free economy characterised by private ownership of property†, (Principles based or rule based accounting standards, 2006) and depend upon concepts like those of ownership, entity and funds. The objectives and concepts of accounting resulted in the establishment of widely accepted accounting principles, namely (a) cost principle, (b) revenue principle, (c) matching principle, (d) objectivity principle (e) consistency principle, (f) full disclosure principle, (g) conservatism principle, (h) materiality principle (i) uniformity principle and (j) comparability principle. (Riahi-Belkaoui, 2004) With time, these principles led to the development of techniques, and rules, to facilitate functioning, and ensure uniformity of treatment, on a large scale, by professionals an d companies. In the US, where accounting developed parallely to the UK, accounting standards were also based upon established principles. However, over time, the demands of the business environment in the US led to the creation of voluminous rules that dictated the preparation of accounting statements. The major reasons for this were easier enforceability, better comparability and consistency, usefulness in situations that were complex and needed sophisticated interpretation, control of earnings management and creative accounting, and resolution of inconsistencies in existing standards. While there is some truth in these assertions, (with rules undoubtedly developing because of the demands and challenges faced by the accounting and business fraternity), this enormous body of rules grew into a multi headed hydra that worked against the basic reasons that had necessitated their creation. The increasing complexity and sheer volume of successive rules led to their adherence becoming more important th an the underlying principles. This, in turn, led to a number of undesirable results including the development of a box ticking approach, the usage of the wording of rules, by unscrupulous manipulators, for window dressing and creative accounting, overloads and delays in preparation of accounting statements, delays in framing of new rules in response to changes in the marketplace, and the propensity for professionals to take refuge in rules rather than in representing difficult and uncomfortable realities. A significant body of opinion relates the numerous frauds that emerged in the US in the late nineties, and the early years of this century, notably the Enron and WorldCom episodes, to the rules based accounting system of the United States. Many experts feel that the accounting system of the UK, based upon adherence to accounting principles rather than rules, has helped in protecting the British economy from such disasters. Principle based accounting standards arise out of a conceptual and theoretical framework of transparency and simplicity with a hierarchical and overriding position of principles in the determination of accounting decisions. Principle based accounting requires three elements (a) overarching concepts, (b) principles that reflect these overarching concepts and (c) limited guidance. Guidances are necessarily limited, in principle based accounting, and apart from a small number of interpretations on major issues, are built in, by way of small explanations, in the standards themselves. Usage of this approach naturally requires much greater involvement and responsibility on the part of the directors of companies, as well as from professional accountants and auditors, and enjoins them to ensure the presentat ion of accounts in strict accordance with principles. The adoption of IFRS, since 2005, has led to the usage of new Financial Reporting Standards in the preparation of accounts in the UK. While some changes have been necessary, especially in the treatment of goodwill and other intangibles, the number of commonalities between UK GAAP and IFRS, (primarily because the IFRS also follows a principle-based approach) have helped in making the change smooth and trouble free. IFRS 1 illustrates the commonality shared by UK GAAP and IFRS on principles. The key principle behind IFRS 1 is full retrospective application of all IFRS, in force at the closing balance sheet date, for the first IFRS financial statements. It provides guidance in the use of hindsight and the application of several versions of the same standards. While it works on principles, with companies given significant flexibility in their reporting, it expects companies to maintain transparency and achieve comparability. The principle-based approach is also the base for the code of ethics governing accounting professionals, and the code of corporate governance in the UK. Over the past fifteen years, the UK government has initiated a number of studies into improving corporate governance by eminent and experienced individuals. The Greenbury Report (1995), the Hampel Report (1998), and the Turnbull Report (1999) followed the Cadbury Report of 1992. The Cadbury report stands out, not just because it was the first of various studies that helped in the development of corporate governance in the UK but also because it was clear in adopting a principle based approach that originated a self regulatory approach â€Å"whereby reporting of compliance (became) part of the listing requirements for public companies.† (Jones and Pollit, 2003) The emphasis on the board as a focal decision point could be said to be led by Cadbury, as could be the emphasis on appropriately constituted board sub-committees (remuneration, audit and nomination), independent non-executive directors and the separation of chairperson and chief executive positions. Many of the recommendations of the Cadbury Code have been incorporated into the OECD Principles of Corporate Governance (OECD, 1999) and into other national Corporate Governance Codes (Cadbury, 2000). (Jones and Pollit, 2003) These various studies, as well as a long running Company Law Review, carried out at the instance of the UK government, led first to the formulation of the Combined Code of Corporate Governance, 2003, and then to its replacement, with the Combined Code of Corporate Governance, 2006, applicable for reporting years beginning on or after November1, 2006. The combined code stresses the primacy of principles, and self-regulation, by company boards. The code contains principles, and supporting provisions, with listing requirements making corporate governance disclosure statements, prepared in two parts, mandatory. While the first part requires companies to report on the application of the principles contained in the code, the second part requires them to confirm compliance with the code’s provisions, with appropriate explanations if they do not. The â€Å"comply or explain† approach helps both companies and investors, and allows shareholders to make their own judgements. Some of the main principles embodied in the combined code require (a) every company to be headed by an effective board, collectively responsible for the success of the company (b) clear division of responsibilities at the head of the company, between the running of the board, and the executive responsible for running the company’s business, (with no individual having unfettered powers of decision), (c) a balance between executive and non-executive (in particular (independent non-executive) directors, (d) formal, rigorous and transparent procedures for appointment of new directors, (e) the provision of information to the board, in a timely manner, and of quality appropriate for it to make proper decisions, (f) the need for the board to evaluate its own performance, as well as that of its directors (g) the regular re-election of directors and planed and progressive refreshment of the board,(h) a remuneration policy, (sufficient but not excessive), and structured to link remuneration with performance, for the executive directors, (i) transparency in fixation of remuneration, with directors not to be involved in fixing their own remuneration, (j) the presentation of a balanced and understandable assessment of the company’s position and (k) a sound system of internal control for safeguarding investor wealth and company assets. While the combined code contains a number of other principles, the ones illustrated above emphasise that company boards are enjoined to act responsibly, and with common sense, be transparent in their actions, and adopt a principled and virtuous path in corporate action. The principle-based approach ensures freedom and flexibility in operations while necessitating the highest codes of corporate conduct. (The combined code on corporate governance, 2006) The code of ethics adopted by the ICAEW, effective September 1, 2006, requires adherence to five key principles, namely, integrity, objectivity, professional competence and due care, confidentiality and professional behaviour. The code, which has three parts, establishes the five fundamental principles that govern professional ethics and provides a conceptual framework for applying these principles. â€Å"It provides examples of safeguards that may be appropriate to address threats to compliance with the fundamental principles and also provides examples of situations where safeguards are not available to address the threats and consequently the activity or relationship creating the threats should be avoided.† (Code of Ethics, 2006) The code elaborates that threats could arise from self-interest, self-review, advocacy, familiarity and intimidation. It is exhaustive in the treatment of fundamental ethical principles, the threats that may arise and compromise these principles and the approach best suited by professional accountants in facing and overcoming these threats. The guidance provided is more than adequate for trained and committed accountants to conduct themselves in the best traditions of ethicality even without having to follow voluminous and complex rules. Shaken by the Enron and WorldCom affairs the American establishment pushed through the Sarbanes Oxley Act (Sox) in 2002, aiming to increase transparency, and rid the US corporate world of potential conflict-of-interest issues between a broad spread of parties, including clients and auditors. Sox has some distinctive features, namely rigorous new reporting requirements for all listed companies, sharply enhanced responsibilities for senior management in the presentation of accounts, (including the spectre of long jail terms for offences like fudging figures and misreporting), and restrictions on auditors dealing with clients for long periods. â€Å"Sox is the most important piece of accounting and corporate governance to have come out of the US since the Great Depression.† (Holliday, 2003) Apart from laying down much greater responsibilities for members of top management, it has also opened a great debate in the USA on effecting a changeover from rule based accounting to princip le based accounting. It does this first in section 108(d), which requires the SEC to study the accounting system to ascertain the extent to which it is principles-based, as opposed to rules-based, and to tell us how long it will take for us to achieve a principles-based system; and second, in section 108(a), which requires the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and any other approved standards-setting body to adopt procedures ensuring prompt consideration of new rules reflecting international convergence on high quality accounting standards. (Bratton, Abstract, 2003) While significant change on this front is yet to happen, US GAAP and IFRS practices are converging with each other. The IASB and the FASB are working together, since 2002, to reduce and eliminate differences between IFRS and US GAAP. IFRS 3, for example, provides a good example of how IFRS has moved substantially towards US GAAP. The phasing out of the â€Å"pooling of interests† method, under IFRS made it mandatory, from March 31, 2004, for companies in the EU to identify the acquiring entity, adopt the purchase method of accounting, and replace amortisation of goodwill with the impairment method. While the calculation of impairment of goodwill differs under US GAAP, the principles, in both cases, remain the same. IFRS 5, one of the more important standards deals with non current assets held for sale and presentation of discontinued operations. Non current assets need classification as â€Å"held for sale† subject to certain conditions being met, and income statements need to disclose a single amount on the face of the income statement that includes details of profits, capital gains and cash flows from discontinued operations. While the move to reclassify non-current assets appears to be unquestionable, the stripping out of all commercial effects of discontinued operations is sensible and based upon the business entity principle. It will provide a much clearer vision of current economic performance. (Kirk, 2006) As the countries of Europe, along with New Zealand and some other states, move towards adoption of IFRS, the global movement towards implementation of principle based accounting is becoming stronger. Adoption of common standards becomes feasible only if they work upon principles and not rules. It becomes well nigh impossible to find commonality between two sets of voluminous rules that arise out of location and situation specific circumstances. Principles, on the other hand, represent globally common moral and ethical values, and provide opportunities for common grounds for discussion and decision. This is also the main reason why accountants in the UK have found it comparatively easy to adopt IFRS practices. Bibliography Approach, Scope and Authority, 2006, Code of Ethics, ICAEW, Retrieved April 23, 2007 from www.icaew.com/index.cfm?route=143703 Bullen, H, and Cafini, R, 2006, Accounting Standards Regarding Intellectual Assets, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Retrieved April 16, 2007 from unstats.un.org/unsd/nationalaccount/ia10.pdf Bratton, W, 2003, Enron, Sarbanes-Oxley and Accounting: Rules Versus Principles Versus Rents, Abstract, Villa Nova Law Review, Retrieved April 23, 2007 from papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=473242 FASB: Financial Accounting Standard Board, 2006, Retrieved April 16, 2007 from www.fasb.org Code of ethic, 2006, ICAEW, Retrieved April 23, 2007 from www.icaew.com/index.cfm?route=143703 IFRS and US GAAP, 2005, IAS Plus Deloitte, Retrieved April 16, 2007 from deloitte.net/dtt/cda/doc/content/dtt_audit_iasplusgl_073106.pdf Higson, C and Sproul, M, 2005, Coping with IFRS, London Business School, Retrieved April 16, 2007 from www.london.edu/assets/documents/PDF/Chris_Higson_paper_IFRS.pdf Holliday, I, 2003, Why these folks mean business, Financial World, Retrieved April 23, 2007 from www.tavakolistructuredfinance.com/FWOct03.pdf Intangible assets: brand valuation, 2004, IFRS News Brand Valuation, Retrieved April 16, 2007 from www.pwc.com/gx/eng/about/svcs/corporatereporting/IFRSNewsCatalogue.pdf Jones, I, and Pollit, M, 2003, Understanding how issues in corporate governance develop, University of Cambridge, Retrieved April 23, 2007 from www.cbr.cam.ac.uk/pdf/wp277.pdf Kirk, R, 2006, IFRS 5, Non current assets held for sale and presentation of discontinued operations, Financial reporting, Retrieved April 23, 2007 from http://www.cpaireland.ie/UserFiles/File/AccPlus%20IFRS5.pdf. Lycklama, M.P., 2005, Goodwill and value creation of acquisitions, Retrieved April 16, 2007 from www.bedrijfswetenschappen.leidenuniv.nl/content_docs/PDF/goodwill_and_value_creation_of_acquisitions.pdf Nobes, C. and Parker, R., 2004, Comparative International Accounting (9th edition), Prentice Hall Radebaugh, L.H., Gray, S.J., Black, E.L., 2006, International Accounting and Multinational Enterprises, 6th edition, John Wiley and Sons, inc., USA Roberts, C, Weetman, P, and Gordon, P, 2005, International Financial Reporting: A Comparative Approach, 3rd edition, FT Prentice Hall, USA Similarities and Differences, 2005, A comparison of IFRS, US GAAP and Belgian GAAP, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Retrieved April 16, 2007 from www.pwc.com/extweb/pwcpublications.nsf/docid/74d6c09e0a4ee610802569a1003354c8

Evironmental Law: Enforcement Measures And Effectiveness Essay

Evironmental Law: Enforcement Measures and Effectiveness Pollution, why is it still running rampant in our environment today ? Are there no laws to control or stop it ? In regards to these questions, Canada has a great many laws to stop and regulate pollution. But despite this, why is it still happening. What are Canada's so called enforcement measures and are they effective ? We have the Environmental Bill of Rights and the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, just to name a few. Sure some polluters break these laws and get caught, but all they get is a slap on the wrist; why is that ? Some even have the gual to pollute again. Acid rain and hazardous wastes are just two of the many problems plaguing our environment today, but nothing is really being done about them; why ? Finally what is the polluters point of view in all of this ? To begin with, in some areas there are both federal and provincial legislation to ensure that companies and individuals respect the environment. Federally the central piece of legislation in Canada is the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA). "CEPA is the consolidation of five statutes: The Environmental Contaminants Act, the Air Quality Act, the Canada Water Act, the Ocean Dumping Act, and the Department of the Environment Act." ( Muldon, 1995, p. 23) The CEPA contains important penalties and sanctions; provisions for the collection of information and for evaluation; provisions for the control of importation and exportation of toxic substances; and provisions for the reduction of wastes, the cleanup of coastal zones, the protection of the ozone layer; the reduction of acid rain and urban smog; and provisions for the development of regulations. All provinces and territories have enacted their own legislation, establishing general environmental rights and responsibilities; but the level of environmental protection established is not equal all across Canada. Generally, it can be said that each province and territory regulates the discharge of contaminants into the environment by requiring licenses and permits and by invoking penalties. The regulated matters include environmental impact assessment, waste management, drinkable water standards, and land conservation. (Morrison, 1991, p24) Also, provinces and territories deal with several other matters i... ...5, November 17). Spend more to protect environment residents say. Toronto Star, p. A3. Monchuk, J. (1994, November 4). Pollution control must be voluntary, Alberta says. The Montreal Gazette, p. B8. Morrison, H. (1991) Federal Pollution Legislation. Canada: Minister of Supply and Service. Muldon, P. (1995). The Environmental Bill of Rights: A practical guide. Toronto: Edond Montgomery Publications Limited. Parker, P. (1992, March/April). Crime and Punishment. The Environmental Journal, pp.35-39. Poch, H. (1989). Corporate and Municipal Environmental Law. Toronto: Carswell. Rovet, E. (1988). The Canadian Business Guide to Environmental Law. Vancouver:Intself Counsel Press Ltd. Small, P. (1993, June 18). NDP reports jump in polluter's fines. Toronto Star, p. A10. Sterling, H. (1995, September 22). Backward steps for different reasons, on both sides of the border, the fight against pollution is under attack. The Montreal Gazette, p. B3. (