Conflict Resolution Analysis The Case of Linda Sims and...

Linda Sims in accounting and Jose Martinez in credit are having a conflict regarding the utilization of the administrative assistant in the credit department, Ruth Rankin. They both work for a production company that has experienced significant growth in the past 6 months. In order to address the conflict, it must first be determined what the actual source of the conflict is. Due to Rankin’s close proximity to accounting, she sometimes assisted with journal entries assigned by Linda. With the current growth of the company, the credit department is expected to process applications more quickly. This situation has led to Rankin being unable to assist, as often, an accounting department that is expected to process at an increased rate as†¦show more content†¦Analyzing this problem in particular shows, neither department will profit from a compromising 50/50 work arraignment. Neither department will benefit from Martinez forcing the resolution by keeping Rankin in credit because she is his subordinate. Avoiding the conflict or trying to accommodate will not solve this problem in a way that will benefit the company as a whole either. In this situation, a win-win scenario will be the most beneficial to both departments and the company as a whole. (Geraldine E. Hynes, 2011, p 230-231) The third step is to brainstorm alternatives. At this stage both Martinez and Sims should offer potential solutions. While the conversation started out adversarial in nature, both parties should now be working towards a common goal of solving the problem versus trying to out-maneuver the other. Ensuring that all ideas are voiced, criticism during this stage is not allowed and can lead to the stifling of ideas that can be built upon or spun off to new ones. Martinez and Sims should discuss the merits of hiring a new employee; evaluate the work process currently used in both departments for inefficiency and look at the option of assigning employees additional responsibilities. The fourth step is to develop criteria for a good solution. Martinez and Sims have now presented 3 possibleShow MoreRelatedStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 PagesUnderstanding Work Teams 307 Communication 335 Leadership 367 Power and Politics 411 Conflict and Negotiation 445 Foundations of Organization Structure 479 v vi BRIEF CONTENTS 4 The Organization System 16 Organizational Culture 511 17 Human Resource Policies and Practices 543 18 Organizational Change and Stress Management 577 Appendix A Research in Organizational Behavior Comprehensive Cases Indexes Glindex 637 663 616 623 Contents Preface xxii 1 1 Introduction

Gm520 Final Exam Random - 984 Words

|1 |What is a multilateral treaty? | | | | | |a. | | |a treaty related only to military action | | | | | |b.†¦show more content†¦| | |a mistrial is granted. | | | | | |b. | | |a summary judgment is granted. | | | | | |c. | | |the defendant has

Ozone Depletion and Global Warming Free Essays

How the video was a good example of a persuasive speech? The video was a good example of a persuasive essay because of its overall structure from attention-getter and visual aid to the conclusion and performance. The speaker began to start his persuasive speech talking about global warming and what we the listener can do to prevent and lower down the devastating effects of Global Warming. The speaker allowed us to know what type of speech is he exactly giving information about and told us a personal story into his life to keep the listeners engage. We will write a custom essay sample on Ozone Depletion and Global Warming or any similar topic only for you Order Now The speaker gave much information of his speech and the effects on Global Warming to today. He pursues the listeners to stand up and do something about it by including the lives of mankind into the equation of global warming saying that things would only get worst if we do not act now. The speaker had great use of visual aid, which supported his entire speech and kept the listeners engaged by showing examples and slides that helped pictured out everything for the audience instead of the listener running off with their imagery of which the speaker was talking about. He also used video clips in helping getting his points across. The speaker showed examples of the speech and Global Warming meaning and Activity such as the ultra-violet rays and the ozone layer be these such example showed in speech. He used graph to show us exactly how long Global Warming has been affecting us and it’s rate in growth. The visual aid was very useful to his persuasive speech and his performance of pursuing the audience to act. In the movie small clips had come up as the speech had progress turning out to be his attention-getter and the reason why he had chose to talk about this speech. For his attention-getter he mentioned that his son was playing on the playground and a car spiral out of control resulting in an accident. His son was on life support in the hospital. With that tragic attention-getter he managed to get his audience engaged in his speech. When he started progressing through his speech the small clips would pop up again being stated as his source and research into his own dedication of the speech. In the movie the speaker brings up three main-points in his speech, these main-points are: what is global warming, global warming affects, who’s doing what about global warming. The main points are placed well in his speech as oppose to the information being scattered. He used a great deal of information and he even involved his self into getting the information he needed by traveling where needed to back up is thesis. For example, he traveled to where the affects of global warming had taken place. He had said from his speech Japan had worst tsunamis now than they did in the past decade, in fact tsunamis constantly appeared in Japan. The structure and source the speaker used to back up his speech was overall amazing and very useful in creating a persuasive speech of my own. The speaker uses of his own knowledge of glo bal warming was very helpful and believe this is the best persuasive speech I have heard. How to cite Ozone Depletion and Global Warming, Essay examples

Origin of surnames Essay Summary Example For Students

Origin of surnames Essay Summary Origins of SurnamesIn todays society we all want to know who we are and where our names originated from. Our names are what give each of us our own style and individuality, the importance of style and individuality can be related back to our original surnames. Our surnames have come from all areas of the world, each with specific meanings to our family. Surnames or last names have an important meaning to all of us, they give us identity through our familys history. Looking back into history our names have changed drastically, keeping some people from knowing how their surnames really originated. Surnames originated early in history and did so for many reasons. The first knowledge of surnames was in the biblical times, they used names that went by geography, for example Corey of Carlisle. The actual use of surnames originated in Europe, and in some Scandinavian areas, in the eleventh and fifteenth century by small villages. The reason that no surnames were used before this time was the fact that most people were illiterate, living in small villages in a country atmosphere. Living out in the country these people had no reason to learn to read or write, because their lives were lived off the land. They did not need surnames to signify who they were or what they did. In these small villages they went by their first names, people all had different first names, so they did not need surnames to tell people apart. But when the population of the villages grew, it became important to have surnames to identify two people with the same name. The use of surnames showed social class, culture, tradition and, the jobs they worked. The forming of surnames first came from other names by which someone was called. The name Johnson originated from the son of John, and the same goes with my last name Richardson. In some countries they would use their mothers first name for a surname, such as Paige. Jimmy Paige, from the band Led Zeppelin, could say his surname originated this way. Other origins of surnames came from places and geographical names. The surname England or Penn show this quality. Obviously England is a country and Penn is shortened from Pennsylvania. Surnames like Smith ( as in blacksmith ) and Carpenter ( one who works with wood ) come from the jobs that these people held. Surnames are also known to originate from description of a particular family. The surname Stern would mean that they family was strong. People with descriptive surnames wanted others to know what family standards they had. Nature and social status also played a major role in surnames. Surnames like Byrd, Foxx, Winters and, Spring are names commonly found i n nature. And surnames like Bachelor, Knight or, Squire are based on a persons social standing. The changing of these original surnames, cause many problems for people in todays society. Our current society is often unaware of their true original surnames. In the search for freedom our ancestors decided to come to America. By coming to America our ancestors surnames changed, the clerks at Ellis Island either misspelled or shortened their names. Almost all names changed for these people entering America. Bauch became Baugh, Siminowicz became Simmons. In some cases our ancestors themselves changed the family name, so they could have the full feeling of being Americanized. In this case their names generally became shorter or totally different names. Some of the names that changed were; Mlynar became Miller, and Shwarz became Black. Mlynar changed but also kept a similar background, but Shwarz changed to Black making it easier for pronunciation. The origin of surnames have kept our minds wondering who we are or where our ancestors came from. .ua29937292f8095b428c5023a481df9b5 , .ua29937292f8095b428c5023a481df9b5 .postImageUrl , .ua29937292f8095b428c5023a481df9b5 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ua29937292f8095b428c5023a481df9b5 , .ua29937292f8095b428c5023a481df9b5:hover , .ua29937292f8095b428c5023a481df9b5:visited , .ua29937292f8095b428c5023a481df9b5:active { border:0!important; } .ua29937292f8095b428c5023a481df9b5 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ua29937292f8095b428c5023a481df9b5 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ua29937292f8095b428c5023a481df9b5:active , .ua29937292f8095b428c5023a481df9b5:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ua29937292f8095b428c5023a481df9b5 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ua29937292f8095b428c5023a481df9b5 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ua29937292f8095b428c5023a481df9b5 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ua29937292f8095b428c5023a481df9b5 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ua29937292f8095b428c5023a481df9b5:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ua29937292f8095b428c5023a481df9b5 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ua29937292f8095b428c5023a481df9b5 .ua29937292f8095b428c5023a481df9b5-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ua29937292f8095b428c5023a481df9b5:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Family values EssayCurious about where my surname, Richardson, originated, I began to research it. I started out on the Internet and then I headed to the library. I found many things that did not pertain to my current search, but I kept on plugging away to find what I wanted. I found that my surname was from an old Cheshire family traced from a Norman origin before the year 1100 AD. The surname had belonged to nobles, castles, estates and manors. The Richardson surname spread throughout Europe, by the way of offspring, in the eleventh and twelfth century. The first settlers to the states by this name settled in New England in 1637 and then the name branched off towards Vir ginia in 1640. The research of my surname helped me to identify my past and what significance my surname has. It is important for us to know what our surnames are so we can identify our past. Our past is something, just like surnames, which explains what we represent and what significancewe have. Many of us will find that particular surnames have cultural importance. Presidents or people with high social standing and their surnames are remembered because these people changed our society. Remembering what our surnames are is not as easy. The spellings of oursurname, and the pronunciation of them has changed over centuries. In many cases the change occurred so long ago that people in todays society are not aware of what it used to be. For our own specific reasons, the origin of our surnames and the importance of it means a great deal. Surnames give each of us our own style and individuality, and this is all important to us in todays society.

Stan Lee, Comic Books and a World in Crisis Essay Example For Students

Stan Lee, Comic Books and a World in Crisis Essay For the last century, humanity has endured some of its greatest tragedies; the Great Depression, World Wars I and II, the Cold War, and the Vietnam War to name a few. Throughout these darkest hours, mankind suffered so greatly that morale was lowering with ever passing day. As such, the need for a method of captioning the low morale, and turning it into something positive for mankind’s sake was dire. At the ready to fill this need were the superhero comic books that since the early 20th century have helped change our perspective of American culture, as well as the role America played in the aforementioned historical events. We will write a custom essay on Stan Lee, Comic Books and a World in Crisis specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Though comic books were already being published in the 1920s and 1930s for humor purposes, it was not until 1938, when the first Superman comic book became available to the public that mankind would finally fill that need. After that first run of Superman comic books, superheroes took the world, especially North America, by storm. In North American culture of the 20th century, superheroes represented the common man’s contempt for the Axis powers, his thirst for more power during the Cold War, as well as the literal â€Å"superpower,† pun intended, that America had become following the victory of the Allied powers of World War II. While many of the superheroes we know and love today come from the DC universe, no person related to comic books, real or fictional, has been as important in the superhero world as Stanley Martin Lieber. Stanley Martin Lieber, more commonly known by his pseudonym Stan Lee, is an American comic book writer and editor, and the former Chairman Emeritus of Marvel Comics. As a writer for Marvel Comics, Stan Lee, having worked with such artists as Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, helped co-create such popular superheroes as Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, Daredevil, Doctor Strange, along with many other characters. Following his 3-year stint in the military from 1942 to 1945, Stan Lee began his extensive career of co-creating Marvel’s most popular superheroes, and writing the dialogue. While he originally considered switching career paths, Stan Lee, upon the advice of his family of having nothing to lose, began with his creation of the Fantastic Four. Unlike DC Comics’ superheroes, who were idealistically perfect people with no serious, enduring problems, Marvel’s/Stan Lee’s superheroes had flawed lives/personalities. These heroes had bad tempers, melancholy fits, vanity, greed, etc. Not only did Marvel’s superheroes capture the imagination of teens and young adults who were part of the population spike, known as the post-World War II â€Å"baby boom,† but they were, and still are to this day, as a result of these aforementioned shortcomings, more relatable to the common man, inside and outside of the comics, as well. Of all the historical events mentioned above, the worst one by far has to be the Second World War from 1939 to 1945. From this one war, more than 50 million people lost their lives on both sides, the Allied powers and the Axis powers alike. With all of the American men having been sent overseas to fight, the war had a huge impact on women, both positively and negatively, though the latter to a much greater extent than the former. With all of the men overseas, job positions needed to be filled, and women were the best alternative. Women began to enter the workforce at an, obviously, unprecedented rate. It was at this point that the role of women in society began to take long strides away from the simple roles of the then idealistic trophy wife. On the other hand, while there was the extant glass ceiling shattering at the time, there was also widespread sadness among women, as their fathers, uncles, husbands, boyfriends, and, in some cases, sons were being gunned down by the hundreds, if not the thousands, every single day that they fought in the war. .u0fff818fdc76218177341828fe7d0273 , .u0fff818fdc76218177341828fe7d0273 .postImageUrl , .u0fff818fdc76218177341828fe7d0273 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u0fff818fdc76218177341828fe7d0273 , .u0fff818fdc76218177341828fe7d0273:hover , .u0fff818fdc76218177341828fe7d0273:visited , .u0fff818fdc76218177341828fe7d0273:active { border:0!important; } .u0fff818fdc76218177341828fe7d0273 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u0fff818fdc76218177341828fe7d0273 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u0fff818fdc76218177341828fe7d0273:active , .u0fff818fdc76218177341828fe7d0273:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u0fff818fdc76218177341828fe7d0273 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u0fff818fdc76218177341828fe7d0273 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u0fff818fdc76218177341828fe7d0273 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u0fff818fdc76218177341828fe7d0273 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u0fff818fdc76218177341828fe7d0273:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u0fff818fdc76218177341828fe7d0273 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u0fff818fdc76218177341828fe7d0273 .u0fff818fdc76218177341828fe7d0273-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u0fff818fdc76218177341828fe7d0273:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: The Cuban Missile Crisis EssayFor the people in the comic book world, this seemed like a good opportunity to create a militaristic, patriotic superhero, known today as Captain America, who would fight on the front lines of the battlefield his shield slinging talents against the Nazis (Maslon Kantor, 249). While Stan Lee is not credited with the creation of Captain America in any way, he did do the writing of the dialogue and the editing for the comic book series when it debuted in 1941, and continued to do so upon completion of his military stint the following three years (1942-1945). Captain America quickly became a cultural icon among comic book fanatics. For people in the comic book world, many of whom were Jewish, Captain America served as a means of dishing out vengeance on the Nazis, and by extension, Hitler himself, as the American Jews still had many relatives who lived in Nazi occupied countries such as Poland, Germany, and Hungary, to name a few (Maslon Kantor, 250). Having actually been in the military definitely helped Stan Lee to paint a better picture, figuratively speaking, of the war-ridden atmosphere of Europe. Following the defeat of the Axis powers of World War II in 1945, everything seemed to be getting slightly better for the northern hemisphere. That is until in 1950, when the US and the Soviet Union entered the Cold War. What is meant by â€Å"Cold War† is the fact that neither side attacked each other, out of fear, as well as acceptance of the notion of mutually assured destruction via nuclear weapons of mass destruction. Thus began the age of nuclear experimentation, in which both the Americans and the Soviets were in constant competition with each other to see who could produce the most, and best quality nuclear weapons. The general American populace lived every day in fear that the Soviets would attack and destroy as much of the country as they could. Stan Lee fed off this fear to create, along with artist Jack Kirby, a new anger-driven anti-hero, known today as the Incredible Hulk in 1962 (Maslon Kantor, 303). In the comic books, the Incredible Hulk was a result of Dr. Bruce Banner absorbing a huge amount of gamma radiation when his government-funded research into weaponizing gamma radiation into a bomb went terribly awry. The context in which the Incredible Hulk was created reflects the arms race between the US and the Soviet Union. Much like Robert Louis Stevenson’s all-time classic Dr. Jekyll Mr. Hyde story, Dr. Bruce Banner and the Incredible Hulk are two natures constantly at war with each other within the same body trying to dominate each other for complete control. This can also relate to the context of the Cold War between the Americans and the Soviets, who constantly tried to best each other with new weapons, all to see who would be the number one superpower of the world. During the postwar period, and especially during the Cold War, a new American identity was unearthing itself, so as to stimulate nation-wide unity. It must be noted, however, that this unity applied strictly to whites. This identity comprised the typical Protestant white American men/women, who needed to come together to rise above their fear of the Soviets. With this identity came much discrimination of not just the blacks, but also the Catholics, the Jews, among several other religious/ethnic groups that did not fit the bill of this new American identity. If one was not a devout white Protestant, he/she was discriminated against and alienated in society, which led to widespread racism, anti-Semitism, and xenophobia. From this context, Stan Lee, along with Jack Kirby, both Jews, co-created the superhero team known as the X-Men in 1963 (Maslon Kantor, 505). The X-Men are a team of mutants, or Homo Superior, with extraordinary powers that are, in the comics, believed to be the next step in the Darwinian evolutionary chain (Maslon Kantor, 510). As a result of these powers, the general populace shuns the mutants, much like the blacks and the Jews were for much of the Cold War period. These mutants come in many shapes, sizes, and represent a wide array of ethnicities. .ud7bd9da65d4c42238012a952e963330a , .ud7bd9da65d4c42238012a952e963330a .postImageUrl , .ud7bd9da65d4c42238012a952e963330a .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ud7bd9da65d4c42238012a952e963330a , .ud7bd9da65d4c42238012a952e963330a:hover , .ud7bd9da65d4c42238012a952e963330a:visited , .ud7bd9da65d4c42238012a952e963330a:active { border:0!important; } .ud7bd9da65d4c42238012a952e963330a .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ud7bd9da65d4c42238012a952e963330a { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ud7bd9da65d4c42238012a952e963330a:active , .ud7bd9da65d4c42238012a952e963330a:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ud7bd9da65d4c42238012a952e963330a .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ud7bd9da65d4c42238012a952e963330a .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ud7bd9da65d4c42238012a952e963330a .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ud7bd9da65d4c42238012a952e963330a .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ud7bd9da65d4c42238012a952e963330a:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ud7bd9da65d4c42238012a952e963330a .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ud7bd9da65d4c42238012a952e963330a .ud7bd9da65d4c42238012a952e963330a-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ud7bd9da65d4c42238012a952e963330a:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: So often, when books or plays get made into movies, the whole story is butchered, and the final outcome is uninteresting EssayFor instance, there are American mutants such as Jean Grey, a telepath, and Cyclops, who can shoot laser beams out of his eyes; there are British mutants such as Charles Xavier, or Professor x, the telepathic namesake and leader of the X-Men; there are African mutants such as Ororo Munroe, or Storm, who can manipulate weather as she chooses; there are Canadian mutants such as Wolverine, who has healing powers, as well as a near-invincible adamantium-infused skeleton; and there is even a Russian mutant, Piotr Rasputin, otherwise known as Colossus, wh o can turn his entire body into organic steel, giving him superhuman strength, stamina, and durability. By working together as a team, the X-Men join together to stop the evil Brotherhood of Mutants, who seek revenge on the common man for shunning them (Maslon Kantor, 510). The X-Men stimulated the desire of the mutants not only to resist a variety of repressive social norms – such as racial segregation, sexism, anti-Semitism, and xenophobia – but also to contribute to the foundation from which new kinds of preferences pertaining to political affiliation and self-identification could be practiced/adhered to (Fawaz, 361). In my final analysis, much of the tragic historical events of the 20th century, such as World War II, the postwar period, and the Cold War, which stimulated widespread depression, fear, and pent up anger, led to the creation of superheroes in comic books. These superheroes, many of which were created by Stanley Martin Lieber, more commonly known as Stan Lee, captioned the emotions felt by the general populace during the period in which they were created. For instance, Captain America represented the patriotism of the Americans, as well as their utter hatred for the Nazis. The Incredible Hulk represented the Americans’ anger toward the Soviets, and their desire to develop nuclear weapons to remain the strongest nation in the world. Lastly, the mutated band of superheroes known as the X-Men represented the prevalent racism, anti-Semitism, and xenophobia of the white American Protestants against other races, ethnicities, and religions to whom they were neighbors. All this to say that whenever people say that in a perfect world, there would be no racism, war, poverty, and so on, they dont realize that comic books can act as a form of release from the existential terrors of existence. In other words, comic book series, such as the X-Men, not only depict the racism and segregation of the 1960s and 1970s, but they also show how the victim group, in this case the mutant superheroes, not only work together to fight the bad guys, but also to prove their segregators that they (mutants) wont lower themselves to their level, and how they choose to be the better people. All in all, superheroes are paragons of humanity and morality that each and every person should aspire to be like. Bibliography: Fawaz, Ramzi. Where No X-Man Has Gone Before! Mutant Superheroes and the Cultural Politics of Popular Fantasy in Postwar America. American Literature 83.2 (2011): 355-88. Academic Search Premier. Web. 23 Apr. 2014. Maslon, Laurence, and Michael Kantor. Superheroes!: Capes, Cowls, and the Creation of the Comic Book Culture. New York: Random House, 2013. Print. *Page numbers according to e-book. Stan The Man Lee Stanley Martin Lieber. Comic Book Database. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2014.

A SUMMARY OF GENE THERAPY essays

A SUMMARY OF GENE THERAPY essays A SUMMARY OF GENE THERAPY Many diseases seen today are the result of a defective gene in the DNA of the patient and can not be cured using the traditional methods such as antibiotics and antiviral medication. The victims are now looking to gene therapy as a potential cure for their problems. Bob Williamson introduces us the concept, procedures, and problems associated with gene therapy in his article, Gene Therapy. Along with the appearance of the recombinant DNA technology, it becomes possible for human beings to isolate, study, and change gene in the laboratory. Gene Therapy is the process of replacing a defective gene inside a patients DNA with a working gene that will produce the correct gene products. The genetic diseases in which a single known gene does not function properly, such as sickle cell anaemia, thalassaemia and Lesch-Nyhan syndrome, are most suitable to be treated with the gene therapy. There are two types of gene therapy in curing these diseases, patient therapy and embryo therapy. In the process of the patient therapy, the first step is identifying the defective gene and isolating a normal counterpart. To obtain correct gene action, it may be necessary to put it into the correct site on the host cell chromosome, or even to delete the defective gene, and the DNA can then be replicated each time the host cell divided. But if the new cell is injected directly into the patients body, it will be subject to the bodys immune system that will recognize it as foreign and target it to be destroyed along with the healthy DNA that it is carrying. So the cells extracted from the patient are to be treated and adding the new gene in a test tube in the laboratory to make sure that the DNA is inserted in an appropriate place in the genome, and the cells can then be returned to the patients body. Now it is possible to offer the parents an antenat...

International hospitality environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

International hospitality environment - Essay Example The IBE encompasses differences as well as similarities of cultures, impact of globalization, entry of foreign markets, emergence of new markets, competition between local and foreign companies, competition within domestic markets, foreign direct investments, exchange rates, corporate finances, global marketing, trade agreements, regional focus and differences, global and emerging forces, among other interrelated factors. According to the Economist (2007), in view of the four-day World Economic Forum in Davos, the international business environment is in its bullish mood as profits are at record levels, remarkable and robust financial system, abundance of liquidity, structural imbalances caused by outsourcing, minding the green or environmentalism, among others. Wikipedia and words such as "supercapacitor" are "in" as the next big thing, with predictions of structural recession and stable international political relationships. Biggies such as the Citigroup, Google, and Andre Kudelski of a security badge company were declared main players as protectionism (basically US politicians playing on their middle-class voters) was emphasized. If anything, competition is at stake as World Social Forum take on the WEF. The report basically gives a picturesque view of the global business environment. In your own words discuss the 3 levels of th... Macro - the international business environment encompasses global trends from e-commerce, profit for being green, merging and separation of cultures in trade, foreign direct investment, marketing across countries and the ever- present sustainable development. This has emerged due to globalization, information and communication technology (ICT), and outsourcing which has threatened the United States' workforce, slowly levelling-up economic play fields, and transferring forces like tsunami. Micro - in this level, the business environment factors are customers who are diverse, cosmopolitan or culture-based, broad, demanding or passive; there are also employees scattered all over the world with multinational corporations (MNCs) having their manufacturing offices somewhere in China, research and development in India or Germany, distribution all over third-world countries in Asia, Africa and South America, and luxury in Europe or the North Americas. Suppliers in this sense, considered B2B are also all over the world: from Asia, Africa, and South Americas, towards China, Taiwan and other manufacturing favourites. In this micro environment, the stake holders, basically investors are mostly from the capitalist countries of North America and Europe, although emerging bullish actors are now largely coming from Asia, and South America. It is also of importance to mention communication facilitators which are the media, largely funded by US moguls, which not only includes tradition al print and broadcast but streaming media brought about by ICT. The last for consideration is competition which are basically bullish new comers shaking old established MNCs and their ageing techniques

Case 1 Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

1 - Case Study Example is accident, Bertha as an employee of The Happy hour sports bar is liable and needs to compensate the young man for injury caused (Duplessis, Enman & O’Bryne, 2010). However, Bertha as the defendant in this litigation can defend her actions on the basis of duty of care and the young being incapacitated to making an informed decision at the time. As an employee at the bar, Bertha owed duty of care to her employees and this is evidenced in her refusal to sell the young man a beer since he was already drunk. The man having come back again after being thrown out the first time; was reason enough to believe that his reasoning was compromised. The young man even attempted to assault Bertha but she handled him and gave him a â€Å"heavy† push that led to his head injury. The heavy push needs to be described and will serve as a basis in which a decision will be made. It has to be ascertained if Bertha pushed the young man with an intention of hurting him or it was a mere accident. The decision of the court would be based on the motive of the â€Å"heavy push† which with enough evidence would lead to the bar owner compensating the young man for injuries. However, if the â€Å"heavy† push is disapproved by the court, Bertha will have no case to answer since the young man’s mental capacity was compromised and as an employee, Bertha owed the young man duty of care hence did not sell him a beer. His injury was merely an unforeseen circumstance (Duplessis, Enman & O’Bryne,

Titler Article Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Titler Article - Essay Example The data was pulled from multiple sources as a means of providing a general cross jurisdictional approach to the research question. Furthermore, due to the fact that individual statistics have been tracked by both patient records stored at a local and private level as well as those which were stored and analyzed by governmental structure assisted the researchers in putting together a well balanced approach to answering the research question. Due to the fact that the researchers have gone to such painstaking efforts to gather the data from such a wide array of sources and institutions, it is the belief to his analyst that the information obtained will more than meet the individual needs specified by the research question. Although this author is aware of additional databases that could be used, for purposes of this research question, it is this author’s belief that the best and most reliable datasets and databases were employed. One of the weaknesses that this author noted was the reliance on the 843 bed academic medical center in the Mid-West which was used to draw inference on the overall incidence of nursing outcomes with reference to hip related injuries. Although this is a useful dataset, the fact that it is regionally specific calls into question whether the information that it might provide would somehow be determinate of the region and not indicative of the overall/wider population model that the authors are trying to draw inference upon (Shever et al 2007). One of the biggest facilitators is the fact that the study is being performed in tandem with the National Institute of Nursing Research. In this way, the combined resources and expertise of the larger entity will necessarily help the researcher to meet the metrics and milestones as a function of the fact that this work is beholden to a larger whole. Likewise, the largest single barrier is perhaps the fact that too much data is being analyzed in order to attempt to gain a perspective on the

Analysis of Board of Directors and Risk Propensity

Analysis of Board of Directors and Risk Propensity Banks are all similarly confronted with particular regulations and inspections of banking supervisions. Within this topic, the board of directors plays an important role. There are different factors considering how the composition of a board might influence its performance and the decision-making process. Therefore, factors like independence, age structure, percentage of minorities and women and the size of the board will be analyzed. After determining the composition, the influence of it on the percentage of equity financing and therefore the risk propensity will be analyzed. Furthermore, the composition will also be linked to performance indicators as Return on Assets (ROA), Return on Equity (ROE), and the development of stock quotations. 3.1. Corporate Governance The term corporate governance describes processes through which an organization is controlled and directed. Those structures specify which rights and duties certain participants in a company have and how the decision-making process works. This mostly affects the board of directors, the top management team (TMT) as well as shareholders and other stakeholders (OECD, 2005). Corporate governance is concerned with the possible abuse of power of the managers and the need for certain qualities like openness, integrity and accountability during the whole decision-making process. As shown in Figure 3.1, it also examines how certain mechanisms, including incentives, can help to minimize transactions costs that arise in an organization between principals and agents as described in the agency theory below (Mathiesen, 2002). 3.2 Structure of the Board of Directors The members of the board are generally elected by the shareholders and their responsibilities vary with the nature and the complexity of the organization. However, there are two different systems regarding the boards of directors. On the one hand there is the Anglo-Saxon system in countries like the United States and Japan (12Manage: The Executive Fast track, 2008). This consists of a one-tier board structure, where executive and non-executive directors work together in the board of directors (Weimer and Pape, 1999). This single board is usually entirely appointed by the shareholders and the CEO often also holds the board chair (12Manage: The Executive Fast track, 2008). On the other hand, in countries like Germany and the Netherlands, companies have adopted a two-tier board structure. There, the board is divided into the managing board and the supervisory board to formally separate powers (12Manage: The Executive Fast track, 2008). The managing board is monitored and advised in major policies by the supervisory board (Weimer and Pape, 1999). The CEO holds the chair of the managing board, but cannot hold the chair of the supervisory board at the same time (12Manage: The Executive Fast track, 2008). Even though, the board of directors is usually elected by the shareholders, in some cases also employees elect their own representative(s) from the workforce to support their interests on the board. In state-owned banks directors are delegated to the bank by the State Council and in where the board of directors is spitted up into managing board and supervisory board, the managing directors are appointed by the supervisory board members as shown in Figure 3.2. 3.3 Tasks of the Board of Directors In general, directors represent the shareholders interests, because they provide the elementary assets for running a company. Therefore, the main role of the board of directors is to govern an organization while acting for the shareholders in order to protect their assets and to ensure a decent return on their investments (Oss, 2003; Kennon, 2008). The board of directors is the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“highest governing authority within the management structure at any publicly traded companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? (Kennon, 2008, n.p.). For this reason, the board is in charge of defining the corporate mission, setting the companys objectives and approving the firms strategy concerning the well judged allocation of the financial resources (Oss, 2003). Even though the board holds the total authority for a companys decision making they cannot manage the companys day-to-day operations, because this is the role of the CEO and the TMT (Oss, 2003). The resulting conflict potential is discussed in the Agency Theory below. According to Oss (2003) it is the boards task to govern and the CEOs to manage. Therefore, a clarified classification of who is in charge will eliminate these conflicts. Furthermore, another stakeholder group exists, as mentioned in the Stak eholder Theory (see Figure 3.3) with additional interests and requirements for the board of directors. Regarding all players and interest groups in an organization, the responsibilities of the board are possible to be divided into a Governance Role, a Service Role and a Control Role. Beside the strategic decisions, an important task of the board members is to appoint special committees like the Audit and Risk Committee, and to select qualified managers, as well as to help and to support them with their skills and expertise. Finally, the board controls if the management meets the companys objectives concerning ethical tenets or laws (Oss, 2003). 3.5 Related Research regarding Board Composition From the theories and former research, it becomes clear that boards have different tasks. Therefore, an optimal structure or composition of the board is essential for fulfilling the tasks. The main tenor in the literature is that in order to work efficiently boards have to be independent with diversity in backgrounds, gender, race and age. However, a certain composition of the board might also affect how much risk the directors are willing to take. The composition of the board receives more and more attention in terms of structure and stability. If a better structured and more stable board of directors is related to a better firm performance, companies with a well-composed board should perform better than other companies. For the purpose of this paper, a well-composed board is defined as a stable and diverse board composed of a majority of independent members along with a number of women and ethnic minority directors. To build the connection to the topic terms à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" board composition on the one side and firm performance and risk propensity on the other side à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" it is important to focus on different behavioral patterns which are the result of variations in board compositions. By investigating the influence of the board composition on firm performance and risk propensity it is possible to get insights into how differently composed boards behave regarding specific board tasks. Differently composed boards behave differently in various situations; for example, when they decide whether to replace a poorly performing CEO or when they choose at what price the company should be sold. The boards decision is also important when the acquisition of another firm has to be approved or whe n takeover defenses have to be adopted and employed. Finally, the board plays a big role when it comes to establishing the CEO and executives compensation packages (Bhagat and Black, 1999). 3.5.4 Board Size Board size is seen as one of the most important factors when it comes to the influence on the performance of a company (Kyereboah-Coleman and Biekpe, 2005). The main view regarding board size is that large boards have a negative impact on the performance of the company. That is, because tasks like coordination, decision-making and the communication between the members are more difficult and expensive, the more directors have to be included (Belkhir, 2008). Therefore, the costs would outweigh the gains of having more expertise on the board. Belkhir (2008) cited Jensens (1993) statement that boards with more than seven or eight people are less effective and easier to control for the CEO. Earlier research of the board size supports the proposition that smaller boards are better. Yermack (1996) discovered a negative relationship between board size and firm performance measured by Tobins Q and several other accounting figures. In their sample of small Finnish firms, Eisenberg et al. (1998) also find a negative relationship between the number of directors and financial success of the company. Furthermore, Kyereboah-Coleman and Biekpe (2005) determined that large board sizes are bad for the sales and growth ratio of companies in Ghana. However, Belkhir (2008) found a non-negative relationship between the size of the board of directors and the firm performance measured by Tobins Q, as well as, by return on assets (ROA) for financial institutions. Especially savings-and-loan holding companies (SLHC) might increase the value of the company with a rising number of directors. Therefore, the next hypothesis is that: H4a: An increasing board size has no negative influence on the company performance. When it comes to taking risks, there is not as much empirical evidence. However, if one looks at the decision-making process of a board, especially when its number of directors is very high, the obvious assumption is that for risky decsions it is more difficult to get a consensus the more people have to vote for it. Furthermore, Pfeffer and Salancick (1978) and Lipton and Lorsch (1992) determined a relationship between the capital structure of a company and its board size. Additionally, a study of Abor and Biepke (2005) discovered that an increasing board size and the debt level of Ghanaian SME are negatively related. Thus, the authors assume that: H4b: The board size is negatively related to the risk propensity of the company. 3.5.5 Board Independence You can distinguish between inside directors (current officers of the company) affiliated outsiders (former company officers, and persons who have business relationships with the company) and independent directors (Bhagat and Black, 1999, p. 4). Independent board members (outside directors) are à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“not associated with or employed by the companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? (Kennon, 2008, n.p.). According to Kennon, in the United States at least fifty percent of the directors must meet the requirements of independence. A board with fifty percent of independent directors is called a majority-independent board (Bhagat and Black, 1999, p. 4). The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 places a strong emphasis on the independence of directors. Brown et al. (2004) confirmed this requirement with positive results in their study on the effects of the independence of the board members on financial firm performance data. They found that independent boards have higher return on equity (ROE) and profit margins. Furthermore, it is determined that outside directors can monitor the management more effectively than insiders (Bonn, Yoshikawa, and Phan, 2004). Therefore, the conclusion of several empirical studies is that, besides a more diverse board, a more independent board has a positive effect on the financial performance (see also Adams and Mehran, 2008). But, boards with majority-independent directors have both positive and negative effects. On the one hand, inside directors are more involved in the companys operations and might know the business better than outsiders. On the other hand, outside directors might keep cool and act in a more objective way than insiders. Besides that, several studies did not find significant evidence that a higher number of independent directors within the board is related to the quality of financial reporting, or to the likelihood of firm failure. Additionally, there is no evidence of more firm-level diversification or a connection to research and development spending (Bhagat and Black, 1999). Therefore, Bhagat and Black (1999) recommend that it might be valuable for companies to compose their boards with at least a moderate number of inside directors. This is supported by their results that there is a negative relationship between the degree of board independence and firm performance. However, different firms need different types of boards and an optimal board contains a combination of inside, affiliated and independent directors who bring different skills and knowledge to the board (Bhagat and Black, 1999, pp. 32-33). Along with the companys objectives and shareholder interests, boards of banks additionally bear micro- and macro-economic responsibilities, which can be positively influenced by the optimal composition of the board. For board members of financial institutions, a cooperative board-CEO relationship is elementary. Only when the board gets the complete information about the operating business processes from the CEO, can they make the right decisions for the company. For this reason, it is important to know if inside or outside directors can deal better with the CEO or TMT and generate a higher performance. The writers therefore hypothesize for the banking sector, that: H5a: A higher number of outside directors does not influence firm performance. Pfeffer and Salancik (1978) developed the Resource Dependency Theory and determined that a number of outside directors upgrade a companys ability to protect itself against outside influences and reduce the uncertainty level. Furthermore, they stated that outsiders might help the company retain a certain status and raise funds. Thus, a higher number of outside directors on the board should increase the debt level of the company. On top of that, independent directors might act more in the shareholders interests than inside directors (Bonn, Yoshikawa, and Phan, 2004), and for this reason we hypothesize: H5b: A higher number of outside directors will be positively connected to the risk propensity of the company. 3.6 Summary of the Hypotheses In table 3.1. below, all hypotheses are presented at one glance. These propositions have been derived from past studies and behavioral theories as presented above. Table 3.1 Hypotheses Composition Company Performance Risk Propensity Gender Diversity H1a: A higher percentage of women on the board of direc-tors has a positive influence on firm performance. H1b: A higher percentage of women on the board is nega-tively connected to the risk pro-pensity of the company. Average Age of Directors H2a: The average age of the board of directors is nega-tively connected with firm performance. H2b: The average age of the board is positively connected to risk avoidance of the company. Ethnic Diversity H3a: A higher number of minority directors on the board is positively related to company performance. H3b: Minority directors do not affect the risk propensity of the company. Board Size H4a: Increasing board size has no negative influence on the company performance. H4b: The board size is nega-tively related to the risk pro-pensity of the company. Board indepen-dence H5a: A higher number of outside directors does not in-fluence firm performance. H5b: A higher number of outside directors is positively related to the risk propensity of the company. 4. Empirical Study 4.1 Research Methodology 4.1.1 Sample In this empirical research the top 50 banks in the world according to Bankersalmanac.com4 were investigated. The banks were ranked according to their total assets as of June 30, 2008. For the data collection, there was a time span of three years, from 2005 to 2007. This particular group of banks has been chosen, because of their size and international branches. The reasons for choosing the largest banks from all around the world were to have a comparable size of international business when comparing them. If the banks had only been from one or two countries the differences in size would have been significant and the developments on the financial market would have probably only affected the bigger banks. This might have had an effect on the performance. Thuse, for 2007 the results could have possibly been very inconsistent. Regarding the chosen sample, it can be assured that the international situation has affected them all à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" some banks more than others, depending on how risky their business operations were. That results in a possible interpretation on how each bank, with managers and board directors, has dealt with the problems and obstacles. 4.1.2 Data Collection Method The necessary data for this study were collected from the annual reports of the 50 financial institutions. The data about the board of directors were found in the corporate governance section of the reports. Data about the company performance were gathered from the consolidated income statements and balance sheets of the banks. The data were usually dated the 31st December of the year. However, some bans adopted a fiscal year ending on March 31, or September 30 of the year. Then, we considered the Annual Reports from March 31, 2008 as belonging to 2007 as well as the Annual Reports from September 30, 2007. This way, it could be assured that the figures were all derived during the similar time period. Furthermore, the main capital ratios, necessary for the risk propensity were taken from the section risk management. However, there are no strict regulations on how companies have to structure their annual reports. Therefore, the relevant data of some financial institutions was found in different parts of the annual reports or on the websites of the companies. 4.2 Operationalization The research data were collected in an Excel sheet for further calculations and preparation purposes with regard to the statistical analysis using the statistics program SPSS. During the research process the researchers also used a complementary list to record secondary and supportive information needed to calculate the total numbers for the primary Excel list. 4.2.1 Board Composition Data The five board composition variables were selected by the authors and the corresponding information about those data were collected as presented in the following paragraphs. 4.2.1.1 Board Size The board size was recorded by counting the members and listing their names. This was done for all three years to find out if there were any changes in the board composition from one year to another. The changes were recorded in the complementary lists. The total number of board members for each bank and each of the three years were transferred to the primary Excel sheet. 4.2.1.3 Independent Directors Next, the authors looked at the percentage of independent directors. The financial institutions usually indicated in the annual reports or on their homepage which members of the board were independent. However, sometimes it was not explicitly alluded neither in the annual report nor on the companys website. Then, the researchers decided if a director was independent or not using an own definition described above. The authors examined if s/he has any other connection to the company beyond the board activities; for instance if him/her is or was employed by the bank in the last years or bears executive tasks. If there was no connection (excluding shareholding) at all, s/he was defined as independent director. The share ownership of directors was excluded, because at some banks each director is obliged to hold at least a small number of shares. The sum of all independent directors of each bank was copied to the list and divided by the total number of members. 4.2.2 Company Performance Indicators To investigate the influence of the board composition on the firm performance the authors chose four performance measures divided into two categories: operating performance and shareholder payout. The three most important financial indicators are the performance measures Return on Assets (ROA), Return on Equity (ROE), and the Efficiency Rate (CIR). Besides this, the researchers also looked at the share performances compared to previous years. These are all common indicators, which are important for shareholders. Furthermore, they are well comparable to the results previous studies in other industry branches showed using the same indicators. To control for the possibility that the performance indictors will be connected to the size of the bank, total assets were also recorded and will be included in the correlation tables and regression models. 4.2.2.1 Return on Assets The accounting measure of a companys profitability, Return on Assets (ROA), indicates net income from all of the banks operations relative to the average book value of all assets (Carter, DSouza, Simkins, Simpson, 2007, p. 15). It shows how beneficial assets are used by management to create earnings for the company. This means that it is possible to see how much profit was derived from invested assets (Investopedia, Definitions, 2008). It is calculated as: ROA= Net Income/ Avg. Total Assets 4.3 Credibility of the Research Data 4.3.1 Reliability Reliability is concerned with the question if the data that were collected by the researchers would be consistent with the findings other researchers would have using the same sources (Saunders et al., 2007). The most data were collected by the authors in a quantitative but diligent manner from the published and certified annual reports of the banks. Due to this fact, the research data cannot be interpreted wrong by the researchers and therefore have a high reliability. However, when it comes to the board composition data about women, minorities and independent directors, the authors had to interpret by using pictures or curriculum vitae of the directors. The gender of the board members is usually recognizable when using pictures. Thus, it is clear and should not be inconsistent when other researchers collect these data. A little more difficult is the question about minorities. For that part, the biographies have to be considered, especially, when it comes to questions about backgrou nds and where the people grew up. This fact can lead to different interpretations depending on who collects the data. However, the definitions on ethnic minorities were made clear in the theoretical part and thus, the results should be very consistent. When deciding about the independence of the directors, there are two factors to consider. First, when the banks noted if the directors were independent, this was just copied for the research. These data are very reliable, because there is no space for interpretation. However, if it was not indicted and the biographies of the directors were read and the decisions about the independence were basically made after reading the professional background. Therefore, other researchers could have a different opinion about directors independence. To summarize, most of the data are very reliable, because they are published and just have to be copied. Only for factors, that the authors had to interpret, it could come to inconsistencies, which should be very limited though, because the data collection was done very diligently and clearly set definitions have been used. 4.3.2 Validity Validity of data is concerned with the question if the findings are what they appear to be. The researcher has to find out if the variables really have a causal relationship (Saunders et al., 2007, p.150). In this study, it was made clear through the theoretical background that board composition and company performance, as well as, risk propensity influence each other. This is mainly secured by the fact that the board of directors makes decisions which are intended to influence the financial results. However, to make sure that the relations between the board and firm performance and risk propensity are not accidental, four performance measures and two risk measures that were studied. A problem could arise, if the results are inconsistent. If that was the case, the contradicting results have to be interpreted and explained. 4.3.3 Generalisability The aim of this research study was to be able to generalize the results, which means to be able to apply the results to other settings (Saunders et al., 2007). Other settings could be for example a different group of banks or maybe other companies located in the same countries and also have international operations. For this reason, the quantitative research method was applied. To get reliable and valid results the authors collected almost 150 data sets by investigating 50 banks over three years. The number of banks was not selected by the authors but provided by a public resource which registered the 50 largest banks as measured by their total assets as of June 30, 2008. This amount of research data and the fact, that the sample includes banks situated on three continents in many different countries, allows the authors to generalize the findings. 5. Analysis 5.1 General Findings The sample of fifty banks consists of the largest financial institutions from North America, Europe and Asia. The biggest group are the European banks. One bank from the sample had to be excluded because its structure differed too much from the other banks and did not fit to the research questions. It was a state-owned bank which was controlled by politicians to a large percentage. Furthermore, for the year 2005, one more bank had to be left out, because it was just created in 2006 by a merger of two smaller banks. To be able to compare the banks, all performance indicators that were stated in different currencies have been converted into Euros with the currency rate of December 31 of each year.6 In table 5.1 general statistical values of the variables are listed. A value that was controlled for in the research was total assets. This was important for detecting if the board size or any of the other independent variables changed with the size of the bank. However, there is no significant relationship between the total assets and the size of the board (see table 5.2). Therefore, it is possible to say, that banks do not decide about the number of directors based on their size measured by total assets. It is rather noticeable that banks with a two-tier board system have larger boards than the other banks. The maximum number of directors came up to 48, when adding up the number of directors in the supervisory and the managing board compared to a minimum of seven board members in a one-tier system bo ard of directors. Table 5.1 Descriptive Statistics years 2005-2007 Samples Minimum Maximum Mean Median Std. Deviation Total Assets (Mio. à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬) 146 168,119 2,579,194 732,994 557,269 415,293 Board Size 146 7 48 18.36 17.00 6.92 Board Age (years) 142 49.1 64.70 57.32 57.74 3.44 Women (%) 146 0.00 42.90 10.02 6.8 9.32 Minorities (%) 146 0.00 41.20 3.73 0.00 7.79 Independent Directors (%) 146 0.00 94.10 49.15 50.00 28.80 Share Development cp. to Previous Year (%) 100 -44.75 106.67 14.61 16.90 27.52 ROE (%) 146 -37.90 37.50 14.56 15.35 8.60 ROA (%) 146 -0.30 1.75 0.65 0.59 0.40 Cost/Income Ratio (%) 125 34.70 114.00 58.89 56.00 13.07 Debt-Ratio (%) 146 87.73 98.54 95.31 95.95 2.19 B.I.S Capital (%) 135 8.5 19.70 11.79 11.60 1.72 5.2 Interdependency between the Independent Variables Before checking for the influence of the board composition on performance and risk propensity, the interdependency of the independent variables was evaluated in table 5.2. It is noticeable that many of the factors correlate with each other within the one percent significance level. The strongest correlation exists between the variables board age and percentage of independent directors. It shows that the higher the average age of the directors is the more independent directors are on the board. This leads to the conclusion that outside board members are usually older than executive directors. Another strong significant relationship is shown between the variables board age and board size. This correlation is negative and implies that the average age of the directors decreases when the number of board members increases. The reason for this link could be that the younger board members are introduced into the tasks before the older directors retire. One more noticeable factor is that the percentage of women on the board is positively correlated with the percentage of minorities on the board. This supports the results of Carter et al. in 2002. Furthermore, independent directors correlate significantly positively with women and minorities, which supports the conclusion that female and minority directors usually seem to be outsiders to the bank. An interesting fact is also that minority directors usually seem to be of more importance in smaller boards. The correlation between the board size and the percentage of minorities is slightly negative, which indicates that smaller boards have a higher percentage of ethnic minority directors. Furthermore, it is interesting that the boards of directors of banks do not significantly correlate with their total assets, as mentioned before. However, the board age has a very significant positive correlation with the assets. This implies that larger banks usually have an older board of directors. Besides, those banks also seem to have a slightly higher percentage of independent outside directors as shown by the positive correlation between these two factors. With the high interdependencies between the independent variables, it could come to multicollinearity problems in the regression analyses for the dependent performance and risk indicators. Fortunately, this is not the case as shown by the VIF-values, which are lower than 2.5, in the regression models below. Table 5.2 Correlations between Independent Variables 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 Total Assets a 1 2 Board Size a -.113 1 3 Board Age a .308*** -.403*** 1 4 Women (%) a -.052 .037 -.026 1 5 Minorities (%) a .098 -.176** .254*** .267*** 1 6 Indep. Directors (%) a .208** -.114 .465*** .369*** .308*** 1 *** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed) ** Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed) a Pearson correlation coefficient 5.3 Influence of Board Composition on Performance Data At the beginning, the correlations of the data from all three years were evaluated together to get a general overview over the connections made between the independent and dependent variables. 5.3.1 Return on Assets When regarding the influence of the board composition on the first performance indicator it is very obvious that ROA is connected to all variables, except for total assets (see table 5.3). The strongest positive correlation exists between the variables return on assets and percentage of independent directors, followed by minorities. A little weaker connection is shown with the percentage of female directors and the board age. The linkages indicate that outsiders or a more divers and experienced board (concerning average

With Close reference to at least two poems, examine how the poets have

With Close reference to at least two poems, examine how the poets have explored the theme of parent-child separation. In your response you should deal with * The contexts of the poems. * The contrasts and similarities in the poet's methods and approaches. * The use of language. * You personal reaction to the poems including your preference. Many poems have been written on the basic theme of parent-child separation. I have chosen to write about two poems. The first of these is "The Slave Mother" written by Frances E.W. Harper, written in the mid 1800's. It explores the idea of a black slave mother having her son stolen from her. The second poem I will study is "Walking Away" by C. Day Lewis. Both show the difficulties of Parent-Child separation. However "The Slave Mother" is much more violent and disturbing as oppose to "Walking Away" where there is no mention of violence at all. Frances E. W Harper wrote "The Slave Mother" at a time when blacks were being severely discriminated against. Society and American Law at the time promoted slavery. She was orphaned as a child and therefore has some background on parent-child separation as, similarly to "Walking Away", it is an experience she has gone through. Harper was totally against this and therefore used a polemical style of writing, as she wanted to point out this controversial issue to the public and to persuade people against it. Harper had a pioneering spirit and was prepared to be the first of a kind. She was an active part in the anti-slavery movement and used various poems including "The Slave Mother" to get her point across. When she was speaking up for what she believed her poetry became part of her efforts to campaign against slav... ...f what ahs happened. Both poems have explored the common theme of parent-child separation very well. They also both had an effect on me, although both in different ways. In "The Slave Mother" I was quite shocked and almost disturbed at what the captors had done to this poor mother whose only possession was her son. I also felt a lot of sorrow for the mother. In "Walking Away" I also felt sorry for the parent who was loosing their son. However the whole poem did not sadden me, but rather comforted me by the fact that some losses are purely natural and that it is something that most of us can relate to. Both poems - especially "The Slave Mother" - help me to form a vivid picture in my mind of the two poems. Although both poems were outstanding my favourite out of the two would be "Walking Away" as I feel it is something I can or will be able to relate to.