Business for multi national Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Business for multi national - Essay Example There is a concept of separate legal identity which differentiates the assets of the company from its owners. However, in the case of Maxwell, the funds of different organizations were used by him as if they were his own money which is contradicting not only the ethical aspect, but also the accounting aspect of ownership and control. Maxwell should have only used the funds of the company; even those funds should have been used after the approval from board. Maxwell used the funds of pension funds which belonged to employees and used them as collateral. This is an open violation of agency theory. The theory states that the trustees or people who control the movement of funds are the agents acting on the behalf of the true owners of those resources and they should make the best possible decision for the resources that are entrusted to them. When the ownership and control are exercised in the disadvantage of the stakeholders than the relationship between the agents and principal is terminated. Then any loss accruing from the misuse of funds or resources accrues to the agent and not the principal. Maxwell’s share of loss in this case should have been larger and he should have been burdened with all the resources that were due to his actions as an agent acting without the consent of principal. Maxwell disadvantaged the other stakeholders for the benefit of his own company. This is again something that is unacceptable from the ethical point of view and also from the regulatory and business point of view. The stakeholders suffered and in the end, Maxwell and his company suffered badly also. However, the funds that were loss due to his carelessness were not recovered and it can be seen in this case that when agent does something on this own behalf he is probably using the motive of self interest. That is one reason why law makers have developed the concept of â€Å"Board of Directors† that have to be consulted with so that

Listed buildings can improve by new materials Essay

Listed buildings can improve by new materials - Essay Example Windows, for example, are the eyes of a building. Windows replacement in listed buildings, if not done benignly can harm the aesthetic sense of the whole area. Windows should be repaired in stead of totally replacing them. Traditional types of window designs should not be discarded at all. Preference in window replacement should be on retaining the traditional window or a ditto copy of the traditional window and discourage modern window or the use of double-glazed window in listed buildings. As an option, current windows should be draught strip or loaded with secondary glazing. The double-glazed units in UPVC, aluminium or timber frames not only affect the ambience but reduce the value of the property. Traditional buildings can not ‘breathe’ if draughts are removed encouraging condensation in the invisible parts of the building. Secondary glazing should be the right option to insulate the building in stead of double-glazing (Peak District National Park Authority, 2011). Compatibility of materials plays a crucial part in reducing decay of the building’s fabric or fittings. Materials need to be suitable to the situation of the building, as stated in Regulation 7 of the Building Regulations Materials and Workmanship that state: â€Å"Building work shall be carried out†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ with adequate and proper materials which†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. ... Materials that go well in resemblance with the old materials need to be preferred as they add to the aesthetic unity of the building in the long as well as the short period of time. Impact of the new materials in no way should be harmful to the porous structure parts. Visibly and technical similar-looking materials can provide the same level of breathability under similar circumstances. Soft or porous materials such as paint, mortars, plasters and renders, the modern means of construction, react variously to air, moisture and design of the structure. Whenever starting an improvement of the building, its type of construction and its wear and tear over the time needs to be understood besides compatibility of the changes. Using modern alternatives or hard and strong materials into porous old construction should always be discouraged; it is a wrong trend, which can later on create problems such as using cement based mixes for plasters, renders and pointing would not be compatible in flex ural power and permeability; it can cause risks such as salt migration and harm the building (English Heritage, 2010). All arguments against improving a structure with new materials stress on the breathability aspect for gaining long life and optimum performance from all old buildings. Permeability in new materials can fill that gap to help in the breathing of the old buildings where they are installed or fixed. Experiments on materials usage and techniques normally should not be encouraged and used sparingly because their long-term effects have not been substantiated yet. Some new synthetic or natural materials are still advisable if used tactfully for porous insulation for example such

DIVERSITY AND CITIZENSHIP Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

DIVERSITY AND CITIZENSHIP - Essay Example Furthermore, in Isla Vista, peer attitudes determine the level of security and safety, which students obtain in the college campus (Counseling and Student Support Office, â€Å"Bullying at School†). According to my perspective, where aggressive attitudes can generate unsafe environment in school campus, a caring attitude can ensure safety and security for every type of students irrespective of cultural barriers. Besides, I would also prefer to mention that peers can make any bullying intervention program successful. By demonstrating a positive behavior, they can eliminate any violent problem in school campus and therefore support in developing better relationship with every students (Furlong, Felix, Sharkey and Larson 11-15). Hence, from my personal viewpoint, my peers have imposed a strong influence on my sense of safe and security in Isla Vista as well as in the university. A global citizen is one who recognizes himself/herself with being a part of the evolving world. The actions of a global citizen attempt to support to the establishment of global values and practices. Global citizen possess adequate awareness regarding the world and its inhabitants. In order to become a global citizen, one must identify the regional differences and accept various cultures. It is in this context that global citizens understand the interconnectivity of every individual and every place. Furthermore, developing trust and collaborative attitude with different people as representative of various cultures around the world is also regarded as an inherent constituent to help developing a global citizen (Global Kids Connect, â€Å"What is Global Citizenship?†). In preparing myself to become a global citizen, I can take advantage of several activities organized in the university over next several years, such as developing positive relationship with various students representing different cultural groups, resisting against any kind of racism or intolerable behavior, valuing the

Cartel Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Cartel - Essay Example A cartel includes a secretive agreement between competing parties on total industry output levels, price fixing, credit conditions, and division of profits, bid rigging, discounts, customers, and areas to receive the supply, market shares, and/or businesses to win contracts (â€Å"Office of Fair Trading† 1). The main objectives of a cartel agreement are to inflate prices, increase individual profitability, and reduce competition in the industry. Cartels have adverse effects on the industry as they reduce choices, inflate market prices, and inhibit the overall economy (â€Å"Australian Competition and Consumer Commission† 1). As such, cartels are illegal in most countries and take place in secrecy where it is not easy to establish their existence. However, a cartel has less influence on an industry than a monopoly. A cartel can be local, national or international where ion the recent times cartels steal billions of dollars from the vulnerable customers every year ( "Australian Competition and Consumer Commission† 1). We can classify cartels into public and private cartels. The government takes place in a public cartel where it implements the cartel agreement and defends the cartel from any liability as it seeks to benefits all the citizens. On the other hand, a private cartel is illegal under the antitrust laws as it seeks to benefit only the parties in the cartel agreement to the disadvantage of everybody else. As such, the Competition Act, Article 101 TFEU of the EC Treaty, the Enterprise Act (â€Å"Office of Fair Trading† 1), and EU competition law prohibit cartels that allows for price fixing, market sharing, limitation of production or supply or bid rigging (â€Å"European Commission† 1). Nevertheless, we still have cartels in the world, which include the controversial Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which is the world's largest cartel under the protection of U.S. foreign trade laws. As such, base d on my understanding of a cartel, we can experience a cartel in different industries. This is because cartels can actually occur in almost any industry where it involves good or services at the manufacturing, distribution, or marketing levels. However, some industries are more prone to cartels compared to others because of their mode of operations or their organizational structure. Ideally, industries with few competitors, where the products have similar characteristics, where communication channels between competitors are already established, or where the industry is suffering from over supply are prone to cartels (â€Å"Office of Fair Trading† 1). More specifically, cartels usually take place in an oligopolistic industry where there are few sellers, barriers to entry, and homogeneous products. Like in most European nations, cartels are illegal in the United States of America. However, although many consider the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)as a carte l, the U.S. foreign trade laws protects it claiming it is an global organization with a legal, long-term, and significant objective. Nevertheless, cartels like drug cartels and all naked cartels are illegal in U.S. Notably, various agencies and legislations like the Competition and Consumer Act prohibits cartels under civil law and makes it a criminal offence for individuals and

Reflective paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Reflective paper - Essay Example Algebra is one of the most difficult concepts and students easily repel this when they have to deal with problems that involve algebraic expressions. This part of mathematics involves a great deal of solving for the unknown and contains unto itself different aspects and areas of study expressed in variables that require more advance skills than regular problem solving. Algebra used to be an advanced subject that was usually taught in higher grades but this had been revised and more recently students as early as pre-K-2 are already introduced to this area of mathematics which further proves the emphasis duly given to it (Biilstein, Libeskind and Lott, 2010). Keeping in mind that some students may be at different levels in terms of comprehending algebraic equations, it would be indispensable to start the lesson by giving an overview on this concept and expounding from an introduction to the definition of variable and how this is important in algebra. There must be some form of process where the students will be assimilated to a reinforced attitude that allows for algebraic thinking. Teaching algebra may be challenging especially when there will definitely be students who simply rebuff the idea of having to deal with the subject. There are ways to avoid this attitude but it requires patience and an open mind. To this end it may also be helpful to start with algebraic expressions in more tangible terms by incorporating picture examples and other more common things and then slowly building up to an advance level when the students are deemed to be ready and able to solve by themselves more complicated problems. This course had been very helpful in integrating the theoretical element of teaching mathematic and perceiving them in the actual room setting. There had been many fundamental concepts that are often overlooked that we as teachers must be mindful of when teaching the subject and in the profession in general. The book offers a comprehensive take on mathematics with a holistic presentation of concepts and lessons that are presented not only in a conventional manner but aims to be more interactive and encompassing by including historical sidebars, colorful presentations and multilevel approach which is not only useful for the teacher but also translates to effective classroom management. Being a professional mathematics teacher would pose some difficulties in ascertaining the level of the students and enabling them to appreciate mathematics especially when most of them already have preconceived notions that math is a difficult subject. Most students easily shy away when faced with demanding math problems without exerting effort to try and solve on their own. This is the main dilemma for any mathematics teacher and this consumes most of the problems that are encountered inside the classroom. The concepts that I have learned provides for a thorough appreciation of not only mathematics as a subject but the application of available theories and proven perspectives that all point towards a congruent teaching strategy for me as a teacher and an innovative appreciation that may hopefully be imbued by the students. In most of the lessons, there were graphical equations and alternative solutions that are useful when faced with difficult math problems.

Discuss Shakespeare’s presentation of Jaques as the “odd man out” in As You Like It Essay Example for Free

Discuss Shakespeare’s presentation of Jaques as the â€Å"odd man out† in As You Like It Essay It can be argued that Shakespeare continuously presents Jaques as the odd man out throughout the romantic comedy As you like it through a range of methods. Jaques’ melancholy character would have been a solid portrayal of man courtiers at the time both in society and in literature as this misanthropic attitude was perceived as fashionable. As You Like It is based on Thomas Lodge’s â€Å"Rosalynd† – Jaques is not a character in this, he is Shakespeare’s own creation, prominent character who provides balance, through his cynicism, from the pastoral and romantic idyll. As You Like It is not wholly a pastoral piece however, as Shakespeare diverges slightly from the conventional pastoral tradition throughout As You Like It. To be continued†¦ Paragraph One – Act 2, Scene 1: Act 2, Scene 1 is the first time we are introduced to Jaques, despite him not being present, his absence from stage immediately depicts him as an odd man out as he is not with the people he has chosen to be exiled with, he is apart from the group he is supposedly part of. Although Jaques is not in this scene, this scene is vital in beginning to mould our impressions of Jaques, through reportage one of the Lords gives Jaques the epithet â€Å"the melancholy Jaques† this is the first time he is mentioned and it singles him out as rather strange, as a â€Å"melancholy† man he certainly stands out in such a light hearted play. Being introduced as â€Å"melancholy† would have led the Elizabethans to believe that Jaques had an excess black bile leading to his unbalanced behaviour; this imbalance of the four humours would have singled him out as an odd man out. Jaques bemoans how the exiled Duke and his courtiers are usurping the deer of the forest by hunting them: â€Å"You do more usurp than doth your brother that hath banished you.† This reaction is rather expansive and it contrasts with Duke Seniors more moderate view of realising the necessity of hunting. This idea of hunting is where Shakespeare falls slightly away from the conventional pastoral tradition. Shakespeare probably chose to incorporate the more realistic aspect of hunting so he was able to present Jaques as a courtier struggling to adjust  to forest life. This contrasts with the other courtiers who are trying to adjust to life in Arden. The initial visual image of Jaques, again created through reportage: â€Å"as he lay along under an oak whose antic root peeps out upon the brook† this depiction of Jaques under a tree beside a brook presents Jaques here yet again as an odd man out through this pose which was a prominent pose for a philosopher in contemporary Elizabethan art, and the Elizabethan audience would have recognised this. The Lords quotes Jaques, â€Å"Poor deer, thou maks’t a testament as worldlings do, giving thy sum of more to that which had too much.† Shakespeare presents Jaques, through dialogue, as the commentator who connects the rather irrelevant death of the stag to his cynical view of the world, this commentating role that Jaques adapts reaffirms our initial impressions of him as an odd man out. He â€Å"weeps† for the deer and seems greatly affected by such a trivial event. Jaques’ view of hunting in Act 2, Scene 1 juxtaposes the celebratory tone in reference to hunting in Act 4, Scene 2: â€Å"Let’s present him to the Duke like a Roman conqueror.† This precarious attitude towards hunting makes us question whether Jaques’ melancholy is merely an affectation. Jaques cannot, however, be classified, in Act 2, Scene 1, as a complete malcontent as Duke Senior desires his company, â€Å"I love to cope him in these sullen fits† and whilst Jaques is separate from the other exiled courtiers in this scene; he is not alienated by them. In this scene he is presented as an odd man out, but only to a certain extent. Paragraph Two – Act 2, Scene 5: In Act 2, Scene 5, Shakespeare use of the simile â€Å"I can suck melancholy out of a song as a weasel sucks eggs.† to show how Jaques relishes in his melancholy, he is almost boasting the fact that he can find melancholy in anything, this furthers our impression of him as an odd man out in this sportive play. Jaques compares himself to a weasel, a disagreeable, sharp toothed animal, out of place in this pastoral idyll; this comparison strongly presents him as an outsider. Jaques’ satirical verse of song gives an alternative view of the courtiers’ situation, he parodies Amiens’ song and by putting his own idiosyncratic twist on it, he is showing himself to be the odd man out, he is not adjusting to the forest as the others have. He calls the courtiers â€Å"gross fools† for leaving the comfort of court for country life, although it was not their choice. He seems to forget that he  is one of the â€Å"fools† that has left his â€Å"wealth and ease† for exiled life in Arden, in this way it could be argued that he is not in fact an odd man out to the extent that he is a complete outsider, rather he is actually part of the ensemble of Duke Senior and the other exiled Lords. Paragraph Three – Act 2, Scene 7: Act 2, Scene 7 is arguably the most important scene of the play for Jaques, in this scene Jaques is presented as being envious of the license of the fool which Touchstone holds, â€Å"I am ambitious for a motely coat† he says that the metaphorical motely coat is his only â€Å"suit† playing on the word â€Å"pursuit†, to have the license of the fool is the only thing he will pursue. Shakespeare uses the simile â€Å"I must have liberty withal, as large a character as the wind to blow on whom I please† to reinforce this ambition to be a commentator. This audacious satire presents him as an odd man out because he wants to separate himself from society and be able to comment and criticise the world around him freely. The 1590’s were a great time of censorship, satire was under threat and Shakespeare takes this opportunity to address the issue that writers should be allowed to use satire. The idea that Jaques wanted to â€Å"cleanse the foul body of th’infected world† would have resonated with the Elizabethan audiences who lived in a corrupt world, under the rule of Queen Elizabeth’s Dictatorial court. However DS is quick to chastise Jaques through badinage, saying that Jaques has been a â€Å"libertine† he suggests that it would be hypocritical for Jaques to attempt to cleanse the world of its’ vices and follies because he is just the same as the rest of us, for he has been a hedonist, this suggests that Jaques is not an odd man out, he attempts to present himself as being a patrician but he is in fact no better than the rest of us. Jaques’ Seven Ages of Man extended metaphor is the longest speech in the entire play; it gives Jaques’ bleak view of life. His very ideas of life are melancholic; the image of the â€Å"mewling and puking† baby is not what comes to the common persons mind when they would think of a baby, showing Jaques to be a contrarian. The entire speech is about the cyclical pattern of loss throughout life, in the beginning we have nothing and anything we gain in life we end up losing anyway. Jaques presents himself as the commentator, commenting on the different stages of life that people aspire to such as that of the lover, he  presents the lover as â€Å"sighing like furnace with a woeful ballad made to his mistress’ eyebrow† he presents the lover as then he satirises the parts of life which should be honourable; he mocks the soldier with his â€Å"bubble reputation† and the corrupt judiciary. As he continues, what he says grows continuously morose, the sibilance in â€Å"Shrunk shank† suggests the muscle wastage in old age; Jaques suggests that life is ultimately about loss. This bleak outlook on life shows Jaques to be a misanthropic odd man out. The way Jaques compares the world to theatre was quite conventional of literature at the time, but it is quite interesting that Shakespeare chose to compare life to a â€Å"history†, with Jaques’ melancholia it may have been more suitable for him to compare life to a tragedy but perhaps Shakespeare is suggesting that Jaques does see that life is a mixture of comedy and tragedy so maybe his view isn’t so unique, maybe he is only an odd man out to some extent. The juxtaposition of the following scene shows that Jaques melancholic view isn’t quite universal, neither Orlando the romantic hero of the play, nor Adam the old man fit their stereotype, Orland is seen as greater than just the lover, he is honourable and shows compassion to Adam and Adam is referred to as a â€Å"venerable burden† he does not fit the scathing analysis of the elderly by Jaques. Through this juxtaposition Jaques is clearly presented as the odd man, he has his own separate view of life, which does not really reflect reality.

Sony Corporation Research and Development

Sony Corporation Research and Development Sony Corporation is an international company that was established in 1946 by Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita, the companys headquarter is located in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The company was originally called Tokyo Telecommunication Engineering Corp which started with as little as $1500. Ibuka and Morita decided to operate the firm internationally in the 1950s and changed the name to Sony since the name Tokyo Telecommunication Engineering Corp was already taken at the time. The first product Sony released onto the market was a transistor radio in 1955 which was the first one in Japan at the time; some other key products developed by Sony are the Headset stereo walkman in 1979, Compact Disc Discman in 1984 and Mini Disc system which was launched in 1992. Today Sony offers a wide range of electronic equipments such as home and portable audio system, digital cameras, DVD players, televisions, video game console, mobile phones and both home and portable computers. The company has become extreme ly successful today; according to its consolidated financial results, its sales and operating revenue were 78.88 billion US dollars in 2009. So just what makes the company so successful despite operating in such a competitive industry and starting with so little fund? To answer this question we will examine the organisation, management and research and developments of the company as well as any strategic alliances and collaborations with other firms. Before we look at the research and developments carried out by Sony Corporations, I would like to quickly mention the recent trend of RD activities in the UK as well as the global. According to the DIUS review, the 850 largest corporate in the UK spent over â‚ ¤21.6 billion on RD activities in 2007, which was an increase of 7% compared to the previous year, 2006. Globally, 1,400 of the worlds most active companies invested over â‚ ¤274 billion in 2007, which increased by 9.5% from the previous year. These data suggest that Research and development becomes more and more popular to companies all over the world as companies starting to understand the importance of RD activities RD is vital to the survival of a company due to the increasing competition from rivals in all kind of industries in the world. Companies need to constantly improve the design and performance of its products in order to stay ahead of its competition. By having better products with better design, performances and more importantly products that suits consumers taste than rivals, a company can gain a larger portion of the market shares, therefore making more profits. Research and development activities can usually be separated into two main categories, they are internal RD and non-internal RD. Internal research and development is basically any RD activities that are carried out or managed by the company itself. On the other hand, non-internal research and development are RD activities that arent operated by the company itself, strategic alliances and collaboration with other companies is a good example. Sony Corporation employs both internal and non-internal RD activities which we will be discussing shortly The below diagram demonstrates the amount of money spent in RD by Sony Corporation from 1998 to 2007. As we can see from the diagram, RD expenditure has increased gradually from 375314 billion yens to 514483 billion yens from 1998 to 2003. And from 2003 to 2007, the amount on money invested in RD fluctuates between 514483 billion yens to 543937 billion yens. Sony Corporation spent around from 5.8% to 7.8% of their sales and operating revenues on RD during this period of time. So just what did Sony Corporations RD focuses on?   According to the companys fact book that was published in 2006 on its website, it stated that the companys RD will be focusing on four main areas, they are: Platforms for home and mobile electronics Semiconductor technologies Devices technologies and Software technologies To improve the platforms for home and mobile electronics, Sony focuses on developing products that support the high definition content. In semiconductor technologies, Sony focuses on developing electronic applications for Cell, which is a very powerful microprocessor.In devices technologies, Sony is focusing on developing Blu-ray disc technologies which is designed to enhance High Definition vision to the next level. Finally for software technology, Sony focuses on developing software that helps consumers to operate electronic products in a more user friendly way. Other software focuses are codecs and Digital Rights Managemnet (DRM) which is designed to protect products such as music, video and ebooks. Sony Corporation has a total of three developments group and four research centres around the world. There 3 groups and 4 centres are under Sonys direct control, they are: Technology Development Group – this department involves in developing common element technologies and newly launched products in order to expand the business. Display Device development Group – this department involves in developing new display for the next generation of products Core Technology Development Group this department involves in developing new devices for the next generation of products Materials Laboratories – this department involves in finding new advanced materials to produce more superior products which in turn increases the competiveness of the company. Information Technologies Laboratories this department focuses on researching in new information in order to produce products that set apart from rivalrys products 6)A-cubed Research Center – this department involves in research of image signal processing technologies Sony Computer Science Laboratories   The seven departments we have just looked at is operated by Sony Corporative Headquarter directly, which means they are in-house RD, we will next look at the non-internal RD activities carried out by Sony, its strategic alliances and collaborations with other major companys Sony has a large number of different strategy alliances and collaborations with different companies. In this essay, it will be focusing on two of the most well known examples, they are Sony Ericsson and Sandisk. Sony Ericsson was established in October 2001, it was a joint venture of Sony