Performance Measurement and Management Assignment

Performance Measurement and Management - Assignment Example This is also ensures that transparency is achieved because stakeholders are informed on the choices the organization intends to take. In addition, it assists an organization to monitor its progress towards its set objectives and standards of performance (Lichiello and Turnock, 2010). In addition, Myer (2005) highlights that performance management is the coordination of activities, which ensures that organizational goals are effectively achieved. It is also the use of performance measures and standards by an organization to ensure that the desired results are met Lichiello and Turnluck, 2010). In performance management, an organization matches its resources, systems and workforce towards desired objectives. Employees, organizations departments and processes in the organization can be the basis of performance management (Lichiello and Turnock, 2010). Myer (2005) also highlights that the benefits of performance management include; reduced costs by decreasing the time of achieving goals and reducing project overruns, motivation of employees by using incentive plans for goals achieved, improved engagement and transparency, and lastly, improved control of organization activities through proper data relationships. This paper will highlight and describe in detail the va rious performance measures that can be used by Allulite Windows and Joinery in measuring performance, and it will emphasize on the balanced score card approach and why it is favorable for the company than any other methods. In general, the metrics of measuring performance in an organization can be broadly classified into financial and nonfinancial measures. Some of the financial measures include the Return on Investment (ROI), Residual income (RI) and discounted cash flow methods such as the NPV method. On the other hand, the nonfinancial performance measures include

Vision and Rationale Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Vision and Rationale - Assignment Example They do not achieve the core objective of cleaning the teeth, which is performed by the tooth paste and the tooth brush. Therefore, due to the lack of substitute products for this purpose, it is eminent that the market for this product is existent and sustainable. Tooth brushes were first invented in China, where the Chinese used the soft pig hair on the neck to make tooth brush bristles (Segrave, 2010). In Europe, the use of tooth brush started in France in the early eighteenth century. However, tooth brush was first patented in America by H. N. Wadsworth in 1885, after which many American companies embarked on the production of tooth brushes (Jones, 2010). The bare facts is that, tooth brushing in America and many other countries was not a common phenomena, until the soldiers who had gone to fight in world war II came back having adapted this habit. The same happened with tooth paste, which was not used until the 1800s, although the Chinese and the Indians had different substance t hat they used as tooth paste (Segrave, 2010). Rationale for selecting the product Tooth paste and tooth brush have become a necessity for man since a century ago, owing to the health dangers posed by unclean teeth to an individual. Thus, this product comes in the market to serve a basic need that the society has had for decades, only that, it has become increasingly inconvenient for people to pack a box of tooth brush and another one for tooth paste whenever they want to travel. Therefore, the introduction of this new product, which seeks to function both as a tooth brush and a tooth paste dispenser, could not have come at a better time. It will solve the incontinences people have, through allowing them to travel with only one product, which will dispense tooth paste and brush their teeth too. On top of serving as a duo product, this new product will also ensure the maintenance of high health standards, through ensuring that an individual does not use more or less tooth paste while brushing his/teeth. This is because; the product will be designed such that, through a single twist of the base of the brush, the recommended amount of tooth paste will be dispensed. Therefore, there is no way in which individuals will use more or less of the tooth paste, unless they twist the base of the brush more than once, since each single twist dispenses the recommended amount of the tooth paste. Company goals The goals of the company is to solve the problem that the society has, which is that of inconveniencies, associated with the use of tooth brush and tooth paste dispense as different products. Therefore, the company’s goals are: Meet the market need for a teeth cleaning product, which combines the functions of dispensing tooth paste and brushing the teeth. Provide the markets with a convenient product, which is packed singly, yet serving duo functions, for the ease of travel. Saving the people valuable time, through providing the market with an exclusive product th at saves the time used in using the tooth paste and the tooth brush as different products. Strategies to achieve the goals The strategies to achieve the goals will be to design the product such that it has a section that hold tooth paste, at the base of the brush, a lock which prevents the tooth brush from being dispensed accidentally and a dispensing tunnel, through which the tooth paste is dispensed from the base of

To Find Common Identifying Factors in different financial scandals Essay Example for Free

To Find Common Identifying Factors in different financial scandals Essay Financial scandals are known for their adverse effects on businesses. They can cripple a business entity or lead to total collapse. Thus, the value of looking into the issue of scandals constitutes a study area of great value both to the academic discourse and the general knowledge. This paper looks into financial scandals with a view to finding common factors underlying them. Through a case study approach, the Amaranth Advisors, Allfirst Group, and Soceite Generale are examined. Through the use of relevant literature review, it is established that though scandals are different in the nature of their emergence, there are a host of common factors that occasion them. The study finds that poor regulating posed by both internal and external mechanisms are to blame for this phenomenon. It is also established that issues such as rogue trading, office politics, laxity in rule application and sluggish responding constitute the other common factors underlying the scandals. The paper concludes by calling upon the tightening of measures, updating technologies, de-politicizing organizational business, and the adoption of stringent regulation to tame the vice. Introduction Financial scandals involve business and political misdeeds by executives entrusted with large public and private institutions. These schemes entail complex methodical application of schemes with a view to misdirecting and/or misusing funds. Other forms of scandals may pertain to understating expenses, underreporting business liabilities, overstating of revenues, overstating of assets, etc. This is normally done by officials and subordinates of businesses. In public enterprises, this kind of action constitutes fraud. In cases where scandals have been detected or reported, the norm is always to launch investigations with a view to unearthing the issues underlying the engagement of such criminal activity. The oversight agencies like Securities and Exchange Commission in the United States are responsible for investigating the emergence of this kind of crime. Scandals typically present a seriously dangerous scenario as most investigations point that such scams are nothing but a ‘tip of an iceberg’. As this paper finds out scandals are often led by officials within organizations. The officials are given support by either laxity or complacency by relevant organs. Literature review In any research, the use of literature review is of undisputed value. Literature review enables a researcher to find the status of an issue area. This is possible as literature review offers what other researchers have done on the study issue. On this basis, this study is no exception as it heavily relies on the works of other scholars towards raising important findings. The case of Societe Generale The scandal involving Societe Generale went on for a long period of time. It was first reported via an email on November 7th of 2007. A surveillance office stationed at Eurex raised the mater before a compliance officer of the bank. It was revealed that a trader; Jerome Kerviel, had engaged in a number of transactions which were suspicious in nature (Martin, Allen, Allen and Samuel, 1). The bank bid its time and launched its own response in 20th of November. In this response, a risk control expert at the bank purported that there was nothing irregular in the transactions executed between the bank and the client; Jerome Kerviel. In his response, the bank official claimed that the then ongoing volatility in the financial markets especially in the United States of America and Europe stocks, was the reason behind the bank’s requirement of after-hours trading (Martin, Allen, Allen and Samuel, 1). The office at Eurex did not stop there. On November 26, it sent a second email to the bank explaining its displeasure at the way the matter was handled by the bank. This explains what led the bourse to demand further information regarding this issue. The bank, Societe Generale provided further information on 10th of December. On this basis, the two parties; Societe Generale and the Eurex office let the issue disappear (Martin, Allen, Allen and Samuel, 1). When Kerviel raised another alarm, coming five weeks later, it proved too little too late. He made a lot of profit based on the surreptitious trading amounting to around two billion US dollars. However, this gain was soon to evaporate as a loss in the region of seven billion US dollars. The bank basically unwound the financial standing of Kerviel on 21st and 22nd of January (Clark and Jolly, 1). A spokesperson of Societe Generale declined to comment on the warning issued earlier by Eurex claiming an internal inquiry led by a special committee composed of independent directors was underway. It is hypothesized at this stage that ignoring the red flag raised by Eurex was a serious misstep in aiding this scandal. The loss suffered by the bank is almost wholly attributable to the actions of ignorance on the side of the bank (Sage, 1). The bank, despite being in business for over one hundred and forty four years, it failed by allowing a culture of risk taking to flourish within its ranks. Simply put, this seriously exposed the bank as it allowed for major flaws to characterize its operations. It is hypothesized that it is this allowance that paved way for the rogue businessman to rock the bank and make away with a good amount of money while leaving the bank with gaping holes in its financial status. The manner in which Kerviel was let to undertake his mischief undetected by a bank of Societe Generale stature serves to underscore this realization (Gregory and Anne-Sylvaine, 1). Instead of discouraging the making of big bets by clients, the Societe Generale group rewarded traders who made such risky investments. It is further revealed that it was never uncommon for traders to exceed the limits put on trading momentarily before holding back. This was however against controls limiting this (Martin, Allen, Allen and Samuel, 1). During January 2008, Societe Generale lost over 4. 9 billion euros as it closed positions in three days. At this time, the market was experiencing a big drop in equity indices. It is claimed by the bank that these positions were fraudulent creations of one, Jerome Kerviel, a rogue trader. However, more surprises were sprung up as the police claimed they did not have the evidence to charge the culprit with fraud instead preferring abuse of confidence charges against Jerome Kerviel. Jerome Kerviel claimed that his actions were well known to the superiors at the bank and the major reason behind the collapse of the bank was based on panic selling (Sage, 1). It is claimed by bank officials that throughout the year 2007, Jerome Kerviel was trading profitably anticipating a fall in market prices. This was however done beyond authorized levels. The culprit is accused of engaging in trade totaling almost 50 billion, a figure way above the bank’s sum market capitalization. It is further revealed that Jerome Kerviel attempted to hide this engagement by intentionally creating losing trades in a bid to offset the early gains he had made. In addition to the above allegation, Jerome Kerviel is thought to have made over 1. 5 billion US dollars in hidden profits (Martin, Allen, Allen and Samuel, 14). The case of Allfirst John Rusnak, a former currency businessman at Allfirst bank, at the time an affiliate of AIB Company was given a 71/2 years jail term in connection to his role in the disappearance of six hundred and one US million dollars. This sum of money was lost due to the banking system’s encouragement of bad bets. The bad debts were later to snowball leading to a monstrous scam ever witnessed in the banking industry. The culprit, Rusnak John was transferred from prison to his house in June of 2008 to be under house detention until September the same year and later let free in 5th January 2009. This meant that in total, Rusnak served less than six years in incarceration (Robert, 45). If the original sentence could have been adhered to the later, Rusnak could have been held in prison for a period of over 30 years. However, the original sentence was a presentation of a plea bargain hammered in collaboration with the US prosecutors. While being released, it was alleged that Rusnak had earned good behavior and completed a drug treatment module. On his release, Rusnak was expected to begin paying one thousand US dollars a month to cater for his time in probation (Robert, 45). Though Rusnak was held responsible for the loss of six hundred and ninety one million US dollars, the case prosecutors claimed whatever amount to be paid was to depend on what the culprit was able to make after being freed. The fraudulent activities engineered by Rusnak were very harmful to the entire stakeholder ship as over one thousand and one hundred Allfirst employees lost their jobs during the sale of the company (Robert, 45). Early on at the discovery of the fraud, the executives at Alllfirst and AIB believed that there was no any form of conspiracy between Rusnak and any other member or official of the bank (Brian, 54). This finding may absolve the bank of any blame in the eyes of the public. However, this is a devastating finding since it paints a grisly picture on the part of the bank. That is to say if one bank official would carry out a fraud of this magnitude, then things were quite wrong. Simply put, the bank’s monitoring and self regulating mechanism was in tatters to say the least. The Ludwig report confirmed that the bank’s back office did not make attempts towards confirming the bogus options alongside their Asian counterparts. The negligence fronted by the company’s middle and back offices from confirming the foreign exchange rate from an independent source also puts the bank on the spot. It is also alleged that the internal audit done in 1999 did not bring out the real picture. Later in 2000, an audit carried only examined a single transaction to determine whether indeed there was impropriety. These failures of the bank only present actions that appear in support of graft (Brian (a), 34). The back office at the treasury had issued a warning regarding the events at the bank. The fact that the bank chose to let the opportunity points to gross misconduct by leadership. The treasury, backroom office had raised a host of issues regarding Rusnak’s personality concerns and confirming trades conducted by Rusnak. The culprit seemed excellent in playing organizational politics to his advantage. This is reflected by the fact that the back office desisted from reporting the actions of the trader as the management was behind Rusnak’s activities. If the back office had received support from the top management, then the rogue activities could have been curtailed (Brian, 54). Foreign exchange rules require that suspicious activities should be discouraged (Brian (a), 34). The two prime brokerage provision banks failed to uncover what Rusnak was undertaking. This was a notable omission on the part of the two banks. The Historical Rate Rollovers should never have been used to uncover fraud deals as it happened. The trading system at Allfirst was literary flawed as one employee was trying to run a hedge fund. Rusnak had no knowledge, diversification, skills, and other requisite attributes necessary to run the trading system (Brian (a), 35). The case of Amaranth Advisors The year 2006 was one of the most devastating in reference to the history of the Amaranth group. It is during this year that Amaranth Advisors lost in excess of two billion US dollars over a span of few weeks (Robert, 37). Amaranth Advisors engaged in a very risky venture in regards to trading. This left the business entity hugely exposed to the frugalities that characterise the business world. Liquidity is an aspect that should be closely monitored if businesses ae to be safe. But taking risks as this business did implies a readiness in the business to test the waters of uncertainty. Launched as a hedge fund business, Amaranth operated a very risky venture as its portfolio could change up to 80 percenty in reflection of the energy trade. As this soared, the group, Amaranth changed tack and put onside the concept of diversification with a view to mitigating the risks that were emerging. the group traded on Credit Arbitrage, Convertible Bond Arbitrage, Merger Arbitrage, Energy Arbitrage, etc. Initially, the the amount in Convertible Arbitrage reflected sixty percenty of te worth of the company. however, by september 2006, this had shifted to almost two percent. Such is the volatility that characterised the company activities (Robert, 37). One factor emerges at this point; there were no limits concerning the regulation of concentration. Leverage was also unrestricted. when leverage is unrestricted, it means that a company can engage in trading beyond the set limit or outside the confines of its budget. this portends ill for a business as in the case of a loss, the company can easily go under (Robert, 37). Brian Hunter who was hired in 2004 takes blame for the financial fiasco experienced by this group. Brian Hunter had already cut a niche for himself in the corridors of wall street. While trading in energy futures, Hunter had achieved great success and it is perhaps on this basis that Amaranth hired him. The trader was so renowned such that When he threatened to quit in 2004, his perks were adjusted upwards to tie him there. Hunter was also given the oportunity to trade separately from the group boss and awarded adittional compenation. Equally of note rests on the fact that the individual was given the privilege of relocating o his hometown and trade from there (Robert, 38). On the basisof the United States Senate Permanent Subcommitte on Finance, Amaranth lost money in the region of two bilion US dollars beginning the first week of August. This loss was attributed to the trading in natural gas which led to high liquidity in the entire company portfolio. The John Marthinsen estimates put the losses at around 6. 5 billion. The Amaranth group was deeply engaged in various types of contracts that captured futures, options, and swaps. The company position remained hugely independent on the future prices of natural gas (Robert, 38). Historically, natural gas prices rose during the winter times. This was held as natural gas is commonly used as a heating source at tis tme. so it was commonsense that gas prices would rise during te time. Amaranth was banking on this norm to enable the company reap profits. However, this is an instinctive way of runing business which cannot be relied upon though it wored previously. this ponts to a lack of well oiled strategies in running the business (Robert, 38). Allfirst hired John Rusnak as a currency trader with a view to help in the proprietary exchange of foreign currency. This was a costly acquistion as the fellow cost the bank around 691 million dollars. Through the use of various methods, Rusnak overstepped his mandate and traded beyond limits putting the bank’s fortunes at stake in the process (Robert, 38). The wild derivatives were the first error towards the financial meltdown. It appears like Brooksley Born, the then chairperson of Commodity Futures Trading Commission had foreseen the danger posed by deregulation of derivatives. The idea to extend the regulation mandate as proposed by Brooksley was rebuffed by the officials of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Reserve, and the Treasury Department. While it remains debatable whether the regulation could prevent or alter the financial trend, few dispute the idea that such control would have slowed the emergence of the problem. Financial analysts believe if this was introduced 10 years or earlier, the control would have mitigated the rise of the problem (Blinder, 1). Wild derivatives have adverse effects on any business, the deregulation of derivatives at Amaranth, Allfirst, and Societe Generale point to the fact that such a precedent is dangerous as it portends ill for a business. Blinder has observed that the alarm bells signaling the financial credit crunch went long ago and individuals in positions of influence refused to act rather preferring to protect huge business interests. The innermost government sanctums were basically to blame as they chose to protect few businesses at the expense of the common good (Blinder, 1). Brooksley, while serving at CFTC made it clear to congress that controlling the financial markets was necessary. The financial instruments commonly known as derivatives were the focus point. It is little surprise that ultimately the collapse of the derivatives market served as a trigger towards the 2008 financial crisis. Brooksley was overly concerned about the ‘swaps’ unregulated trading (Blinder, 1). This unregulated trading led to the near collapse of the economy. Similarly the unregulated nature of activities of the three companies presented the necessary conditions for the scandals to take place. For an efficient market operation, there are no illusions, regulation by an independent body is necessary. On the basis of Blinder’s observation ‘sky high leverage’ an issue that arose in 2004 leads to serious effects on businesses (1). During this period, the S. E. C allowed securities firms to up their leverage to levels unmatched before. Prior to this instance, leverage stood at 12 to 1. After this event, the leverage sky rocketed to 31 to 1 (Blinder, 1). This is a pointer to madness on the side of the S. E. C and firms’ heads. It is known that at 33 to 1 leverage, a small decline, for example a three percent decline in assets valuation can lead to a wiping out of a business company. If the authorities had ensured that the leverage was kept at 12 to 1, then the firms would have remained stable as they would not have grown that big or exposed to vulnerability. The firms being examined in this study equally let their officials exceed their normal leverage explaining why the effects were lethal. Findings When Eurex issued a warning, the Societe Generale officials did not respond adequately, instead they took to time wasting with a view to getting the issued buried. Warnings are expected to serve an entity to refocus or correct something going wrong. The Societe Generale group did not heed this, nor did Amaranth do. The officials of Societe Generale affirmed that there was nothing wrong with the transactions executed by Kerviel. This is an indication that Kerviel must have been operating under the protection of big officials at the institution or that the institution checking mechanisms were amiss. The internal self regulating and checking mechanism were in a total mess. This explains why Kerviel was able to wage such criminal activities without being noticed. However, this may point to another issue concerning politics of organization. Accomplices must have been used from the highest levels of management. For Kerviel to engage in this act, he must have been damn aware that there was some form of protection that would come his way. Risk ventures hold huge potential both in reference to loss and profit making. Societe Generale encouraged traders to continue engaging in such ventures. Jerome Kerviel claimed that superiors were aware of his actions. The losses incurred by Societe Generale were reflected in a very short time; three days. This does not however imply that prior to this; the business was in a sound position. This is because before such a position is reached, there must have been factors at play. The senior management based in Dublin and Baltimore failed to focus on the happenings at Allfirst. The role of any management team in all organizations is and remains one of overseeing the transactions executed. Simply put, the management should sanction all activities. Activities which carry the importance as the one carried out by Jerome Kerviel should have been closely monitored. However, this was not done. The betting business is a risky business venture which Allfirst bank encouraged. It is a fact that profits can be made in this business. However, it is also possible to make huge losses which may lead to collapse of a business entity. On this basis, there are regulative measures always put in place to guide in the setting the right amount to be gambled. Laxity in rules comes into the fore as Rusnak was given a relatively big sentence at the beginning but this was watered down to a mere 7 years though the culprit ended up serving even less. The amount payable back; 1 000 US dollars presented a slap in the face of justice considering the amount of losses the person had led Allfirst into incurring. The foreign exchange rules requiring the disapproval of suspicious ventures was also discarded as Rusnak continued with his business unhindered. Internal mechanisms at Allfirst and AIB at first claimed there was nothing sinister about Rusnak’s engagements. All other bank officials were cleared of any wrong doing claiming that there was no form of collusion between Rusnak and any member at the bank. The middle and the back office must have slept on the job. They did little to seek valid information from independent sources regarding exchange rates. In addition to this, the audit carried out by the bank examined only a single transaction involving the activities of Rusnak. How fair was this? The back office at the treasury issued a warning of impropriety at the bank concerning Rusnak’s activities, but this was either unheeded or ignored. The senior management monitoring and control system like auditing were overrated as they miserably failed on the very aspect they were there for. Just like Allfirst and the Societe Generale group, Amaranth Advisors engaged in a very risky trading system. Thus the uncertainty in the bank was bound to reflect on its financial and business health. Unregulated leverage was the crucial issue that brought down the bank. Brian Hunter the fellow behind the scam at Amaranth Advisors was given special treatment. Rusnak overstepped his mandate and traded beyond Amaranth Advisors’ limits. While Rusnak was doing this, the Amaranth Advisors just like the other two companies had internal mechanisms of regulating and monitoring activities within the organization. Outside regulators were also in place. The fact that both internal and outside sources of regulation failed to act puts such bodies or departments on the spot. Comparison of findings Poor rules and regulations regarding business operations are found to be reflected by the three business entities. Rules and regulations play a very pivotal role in the running of a business. Such rules and regulations stem from either within or from outside a business. The regulations relating to trading limits were flouted. Internal and external mechanisms equally failed to unearth these events. Where they were unearthed by external offices, the establishments at the three companies poured cold scorn on the advice. It appears like engineering episodes that were bound to happen. In the three cases, there are single individuals masterminding huge scandals. What baffles scholars and the public alike is the manner in which the events proceeded undetected for a long period of time. With the current levels of technology, it also leaves a lot to be desired why institutions like these could not use such technological assistance. Office politics, a regular phenomenon in most public offices also rears its ugly head again. The revelation by the former chief economist, Yves-Marie Laulan that what happened at Soceite Generale was inevitable offers strong support to this position. Yves-Marie Laulan further claimed that some things are hard enough and thus difficult to control, an implication that the economist could have well been aware the scam was in the making. The fact that when red flags were raised in these scandals nothing of note was taken by the companies serves as a pointer that senor and powerful individuals were behind the scams. Only that, they were achieving their goals through proxies. The proxies in the cases include the three individuals mentioned as the perpetrators of the scam. Rules regarding business operations were flouted. If rules and regulations are not obeyed things are bound to go awry at some point. The trading limit rules were ignored by these companies. Risk ventures which were suspect in nature were let tom thrive. As if that wasn’t bad enough, warnings issued were ignored. Where they were heeded, the approach was truly sluggish in nature. The companies; Amaranth, Allfirst, and Societe Generale presented cases of flouting expected levels of leverage. It is crucial that leverage levels be kept at the right level if businesses are to remain afloat. In the cases of the three businesses, this was never observed. The failure to observe set rules and regulations serves to point to impropriety in handling the businesses. Discussion On the basis of findings, it is discernable that there was laxity in rule implementation. Every trade has its regulations which aid operations in day to day transactions. The three entities examined in this survey exhibit an unwillingness or sluggish nature in implementing the regulations of business. In the three cases, the three culprits wee found to have operated way beyond the limits set by their businesses. System weakness and other failures are equally found to have served as impediments in the success of business. The scandals raised or rather examined in this paper are of big magnitude. However, despite calls for investigations and the raising of alarm bells in reference to the scandals at their initial stages, nothing worthy was engineered to curtail the explosion of the scandal. Every system is supposed to regulate itself fully. A system that fails this test is out of sorts and lacks the legitimacy of being in operation. Assuming that there was no abetting of these criminal activities in the respective scandals, then the systems regulation and control mechanisms were a total mess. Such systems should e replaced and completely done away with. Technology plays a critical role in present day business activities. For example, it aids the flow of transactions in a very expedient and efficient manner. Thus each company is encouraged to employ latest and up to date technologies in order to move a business forward in tandem with present trends. However, the scenario at Alfirst points to a different direction. The use of the Crossmar Matching System to monitor trade should have been used, working as a group would have equally helped. Instead of applying this latest technological support, Allfirst was employing the use of telephone and fax. The use of spreadsheets to feed information regarding exchange rates to the business is also another shortcoming attributable to the inability of the business from taking important and necessary steps in addressing business requirements. Simply put, it is a shame that a company of Alllfirst’s stature could be using the methods mentioned above. Whichever explanation is given in support of this position is unacceptable and unwelcome to level headed individuals. One of the greatest mistakes of the companies though not expressly captured in the paper relates to office politics. Office politics is almost commonplace in every business as human beings often tend to align themselves to different cocoons at the work place. However, it is the duty of the top management to focus on this aspect and ensure that office politics does not work to the detriment of an entity. If a business leadership fails on this, then there is no good in the office leadership being in office. A closer look at events in the three scandals implies an absence of good leadership characterized by political intrigues. When warnings were issued at initial stages of the scandal, the top leadership in the organizations seemed to brush aside the allegations. They equally failed to investigate and either authenticate or dispel the rumors in total. This, in my considered view, was an act outlining a possibility of role playing in which case the top leadership was an accomplice in the scandals. In the case of Allfirst, the preferential treatment of one employee illustrated by receiving extra perks and being allowed to work from home also underscores the point. The key to success in any business rests on good management practices (Barrett, 51). This points to the ability of the management to set achievable goals and embarking on a mission towards realizing them. For success to be attained, the management must outline the necessary tasks in setting up and managing the business. The goals set for the business must be measurable in performance terms. Towards that end, major goals should be broken into smaller goals. These sub goals should have timelines which must be observed. This is an area in which the businesses failed leading to the witnessed scandals. After setting goals and the sub goals, the individual owner or manager must move into action and make the necessary steps towards attaining them. The efforts required in achieving the different goals and sub goals are different, then the deviations should be reflected in the actions or the steps taken towards the achievement. The required effort must remain reasonable so as not to discourage the manager. Caution should be taken to avoid chasing too many goals as such pursuit may scuttle the success of a business (Wright, 75). In this regard, priorities must be set. The businesses studied in this research should prioritize vigilance and caution while trading. The planning and setting of goals must be done well in advance. This enables the manager to understand what to expect in most circumstances. As the business grows the set goals should gradually be achieved as such achievement is expected to motivate the manager. Normally, obstacles will be on the way of any business venture, this should be anticipated and provided for in terms of arrangements to counter or mitigate the effects (Wright, 75). The businesses mentioned in this study should have done this to avoid such scandals.

Causes of the 2008 Global Economic Crisis

Causes of the 2008 Global Economic Crisis Essay Topic: Outline the major arguments put forward to explain the emergence of the 2008 crisis. Discuss in detail the two that seem most relevant together with the supporting evidence about their validity The world economy witnessed its most dangerous crisis in 2008 since the Great depression in the 1930’s. The contagion, which began in the United States when the housing prices finally turned assertively downward and spread quickly to the entire financial sector in the U.S and then to other financial markets abroad through financial and trade linkage . The financial crisis prompted in the early 2006 when the subprime mortgage began to show an increasing rate of mortgage defaults which later increased higher than normal rate in the late 2007, and on September 15,2008, one of the biggest investment banks in the world, failed, Lehman Brothers (2008financialcrisis, 2015). This essay would look at the major factors that explains the emergence of the 2008 crisis and also critically discuss in details the two most relevant arguments with supporting information and data that proofs its validity. Various arguments were proposed to explain the emergence of the crisis, which are; capitalist instability, financial deregulation and innovation, debt and crisis and rising inequality. The financial crisis shows inherent instability of capitalism; John Maynard Keynes believed that it was necessary to use monetary and fiscal policy to tame instability because he sensed that the market economy was unstable, this system became the pillar after the Great Depression and was a success this success later was carried to extreme and became overgrown and highly wasteful. Financial capitalist revolted against higher rates of inflation in the 1980s by forcing government to adopt restrictive policies, especially tight monetary policy (this is higher interest rates) and the result was less inflation and a return to higher unemployment, this shows that government policies have affected the combination of unemployment and inflation at specific times. Milton Friedman later came up with the neoclassic al theory that states that the market economy should be kept free from government intervention and regulation to enable more efficiency and stability. This thinking has been carried too far by the Bush Administration of 2001to2008, which has sought to do away with regulations and allows securitization of debts and everything else imaginable, these workings of market was spread globally. It is however fair to say that what led to the financial crisis can be a grand experiment of global scale aimed at the creation of the laissez-faire ideal comprehended by the neoclassical school (Katsuhito, 2008). The financial liberalization is also considered as one of the main causes of an increased frequency and intensity of financial crisis, these deregulations has a potential negative effect on the financial stability. Although the evidence towards these effects is inconclusive for several reasons, it increases bank risk-taking in both developing and developed countries through different channels in both groups of countries. In the developed countries, increased bank competition is the main channel of bank risk but in the developing country increases in bank risk associated with increased bank competition is not found. However, research also indicate a different effectiveness of capital regulation, official supervision, and financial transparency for limiting bank risk-taking across countries, this essay would later focus on the financial deregulation and innovation to explain the emergence of the crisis with theoretical background and hypotheses to discuss the potential effects of finan cial liberalization on bank risk-taking. Household indebtedness has a cause and a long-run macroeconomic implications, this has grown in most considerably developed countries over the past 25years, sustaining consumption growth and contributing to the fall in the household saving rate. The rapid household indebtedness manifested in the USA, housing bubble started to burst in 2006 and fell about 25 percent from the peak so far after prices stopped to increase in 2006 and decreased in 2007. This decline was obvious that homeowners could no longer refinance when their mortgage rates were reset, this caused delinquencies and avoidances of mortgages to increase rapidly, especially among subprime borrowers. The percentage of mortgages in foreclosure tripled in the first quarter of 2006 to the third quarter of 2008 from 1 percent to 3 percent or at least thirty days delinquent more than doubled , from 4.5 percent to 10 percent. The delinquency and foreclosure rates are higher than that of the Great Depression which was 6.85 in 198 4 and 2002, the American dream of owning your own home turned into an American nightmare for millions of families. By 2009, a total of about 6 million mortgages are either in foreclosure or has already been foreclosed which is about 12 percent of all the mortgages in the United States, this means losses for lenders and it was estimated to be $1trillion or more. In addition to losses on mortgages, due to the weakness of the economy, there were also losses on other types of loans which was ranged up to another $1trillion, so total losses for the financial sector as a could be as high as $2trillion. It was also argued that rising inequality in the past three decades has led to political pressure for redistribution that eventually came in the form of subsidised housing finance and has been found in general to impede growth. Political pressure was applied so that low-income households who overall would not have qualified gotten enhanced access to mortgage finance. The subsequent lending boom made an enormous run-up in housing prices and empowered consumption to keep above stagnating incomes. The boom switched in 2007, prompting to the emergence of the 2008 crisis. Along the lines, this essay would further review evidence that suggest that unequal access to political impact produces unequal access to finance and eventually unequal opportunities, which can underpin any initial economic inequality. Inequality has blended much contention amongst economists due to its role in the economy, a critical number of economist have exhibited the implications created by rising economic inequality and its role in the current global financial crisis while different other economist reject this thought and also minimalizing the importance of inequality as a contributor by stating other factors that contributes to the crisis. Most developed countries have experienced a great increase in inequality in the last few decades, especially in the US where there has been a wide aggregation of wealth and capital amongst the top-earning bracket of society whilst the average workers have encountered a relatively small increment in real wages in connection to inflation and rising productivity. This has in turn increased household debts for low income earners in the economy due to the need of maintaining a comfortable living. Krugman (2013) believed and argued that these two phenomena are possibly related â€Å"Inequality is linked to both the economic crisis and the weakness of the recovery the followed†. Figure 1 shows the common trends in the share of total income amongst the high income earners in the US. The share of total income grew gradually from 1943 to 2008, although there has been a slight decline in shares over the period but the overall trend has been a significant increase. Going before the current financial crisis, the to 5 percent accomplished far more prominent increments than the next 5 percent, which income stagnated. Also, there is a sharp increment in the share of total income of the top 1 percent before the Great Depression and the current global financial crisis. In both cases, the share of total income reached roughly 24 percent within a year of the crisis that is 1928 and 2007 correspondingly. Following the financial crisis, both periods had a sharp decline in share. Wisman (2013) discovers that the rate of income increases for the first bottom 20 percentile was just 6.3 percent and 15.8 percent for the second bottom 20 percentile, Which is significantly lower than the top 1 percentile that witnessed a staggering increase of 228.3% and the to 20 percentile increased by 79.9%, wage stagnation is a clear evidence. Based on household debt, as a rate of GDP, there has also been a non-stop increase from third quarter of 2006 to third quarter of 2009 as seen in Figure 2. As the overall debt increases, whilst top 10 percent earners experience increasing earnings, this would inevitably result in an â€Å"ever-growing gap between the rich and the rest† (Krugman, 2013) However economist differs in their assessment of the inequality contribution towards the crisis, it was also argued how inequality affects access to finance. Another empirical study focuses on firms; firms reliably need to bribe officials to dodge regulatory harassment in developing countries (Berger and Udell, 1998). Access to financing can help overcome most barriers, as money is fungible. Recent evidence demonstrates the significance of access to finance for less established producers, Perotti and Volpin (2007) proofed that in a large study of entry rates across countries; better investor protection is indeed allied with larger average entry rates, and in addition with more firm density in sectors which depend all the more on external finance. This then shows that poor financial access is a major source of entry barriers. Their outcome indicates that poor investor protection is more probable in nations with poor political institutions and in countries with more economic inequality . Interestingly, they find that it is no longer significant once they present effective investor protection while the size of domestic capital markets subsidises to explain entry. Consequently individual access to finance is more dangerous for new entry than the general state of financial markets. Also, Firm data demonstrate that, in specifically affecting their growth, access to finance is top three barriers for growth, so it therefore affects smaller firms more compared to the larger counterparts. Estimations of the effects of absence of financing constraints propose that small, medium and large firms have grown slower by 10.7, 8.7 and 6.0 percent correspondingly in the period 1996–1999 (Beck et al., 2005a). This low growth suggests that absence of access to financing raises indirectly inequality. Financial deregulation and Innovation, the 2008 crisis has highlighted the limitations and hazards of financial innovation while dimming the light on its core benefits for an economy. The sole purpose is that complex financial instruments related with innovation were broadly used as vehicles in the credit expansion that prompted to the crisis (Sà ¡nchez, 2010). Mortgage securitizations during the housing bubble years did not diminish the information problem that neither are typical of credit transactions, nor edit it induce appropriate risk assessment. Moreover, innovation has had a critical and positive role in financial innovation, leading to the development of economic wellbeing. Hence provided that we reinforce sensible regulation to discourage excessive risk taking in the future, innovation can continue to benefit our societies (Sà ¡nchez, 2010). The most important conditions are those needed to abate possible causes of excessive leverage and risk taking. Notably, monetary policy should pursue its objectives and avoid any expansionary undue credit or assert price booms. Similarly, fiscal policy should make sustainability of financial institutions a priority without resorting to subsidies loan that may lead to risk taking. Regulation should focus on making financial system resilient to crises; there aim should be to align incentives toward responsible risk taking and moral hazard risks. It should be borne in mind that regulation is not a guarantee for protection. Rather, regulation should make customers and risk managers more demanding, as it does not eradicate the risk inherent in financial products. Regulatory and supervisory efforts should never crowd out the responsibility and due diligence of market participation. An analysis on monetary and fiscal policies in the US prior to the recent global crisis by Taylor (2009) focuses on Taylor Rule which examines the rate of growth and the level of interest rates. This rule explains that an increase in economic growth must be equalled by a subsequent increase in interest rates (Taylor, 1993). He stated that interest rate reduced in the 2001 recession, as it was expected to expected to rice back but then it became very low, which fuelled the housing boom and eventually resulted in a housing foreclosures. Interest rates stayed far too low as the US economy experienced economic growth (2009:166). The demand for houses would decline once the short-term interest rates increased back to its normal levels significantly, followed by a decrease in construction. Housing prices inflation declined. Delinquency and increases in foreclosures followed, which lead in â€Å"the meltdown in the subprime market and on all securities that were derivative from the subprim es† (Taylor, 2007:3). Essentially, government policies, rather than increases in inequality, were the source of the housing crisis and eventually the financial crisis. Cheap credit influx of capital from China into the United States was one reason, China’s capital surplus was the mirror image of the U.S. trade deficit, lots of dollars were sent to China in exchange for cheap good sold to the U.S consumers by the U.S corporations. The shift in which institutions hold mortgages, is a key reason that mortgages were made available so widely and with such little review of recipients. Financial Deregulation and Unchecked Financial â€Å"Innovation†. Initially, banks created mortgages and held them. In the current global crisis, banks and non-bank mortgage lenders created loans, but these loans was then sold to others. Investment banks sealed lots of mortgage loans into â€Å"Collateralized Debt Obligation† (CDOs) and then was sold to Wall Street, with an insurance of a steady stream of revenue from interest payments. These system was pretty much unregulated, no one took account of how sub-standard the loans were or more fundamentally, the certainty that huge numbers would go bad if and when the housing bubble popped, despite the fictional erudition of the investors involved (Weissman, 2011). In conclusion, the arguments presented in this essay explaining the emergence of the 2008 crisis which are capital instability, financial deregulation and innovation, debt and crisis and rising inequality, an also focused more on two arguments which are Financial Deregulation and Inequality in financial market. The financial crisis was avoidable, because this crisis was more or less due to human action and inaction, not by natural factors or computer models miscalculation. It obviously ignored warnings and failed to question the knowledge and manage developing risks within a system crucial to the well-being of the Citizens of the United States. References 2008financialcrisis.umwblogs.org,. Overview. N.p., 2015. Web. 21 Mar. 2015. B. Taylor, J. (2009). THE FINANCIAL CRISIS AND THE POLICY RESPONSES:AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF WHAT WENT WRONG. [online] Available at: http://www.nber.org/papers/w14631.pdf [Accessed 21 Mar. 2015]. Barba, A. and Pivetti, M. (2008). Rising household debt: Its causes and macroeconomic implicationsa long-period analysis. Cambridge Journal of Economics, 33(1), pp.113-137. Crotty, J. (2009). Structural causes of the global financial crisis: a critical assessment of the new financial architecture. Cambridge Journal of Economics, 33(4), pp.563-580. Caprio, G, Demirguc-Kunt, A and Kane E. J (2010) ‘The 2007 meltdown in structured securitisation’ The World Bank Research Observer, 25 (1): pp. 125-155 Moseley, F. (2012). The U.S. economic crisis. [online] Isreview.org. Available at: http://isreview.org/issue/64/us-economic-crisis [Accessed 21 Mar. 2015]. Katsuhito, Iwai. Global Financial Crisis Shows Inherent Instability Of Capitalism — The Tokyo Foundation. Tokyofoundation.org. N.p., 2008. Web. 22 Mar. 2015. Minsky, H. P. (1980) ’Capitalist financial processes and the instability of capitalism’ Journal of Economic Issues, 14 (2): 505-523 Krugman, P. 2013. Why Inequality Matters. [online] Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/16/opinion/krugman-why-inequality-matters.html [Accessed: 14 Mar 2014]. Phillips, M. (2013). Americans Are Now Taking On More Debt Than At Any Time Since 2008. [online] The Atlantic. Available at: http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/11/americans-are-now-taking-on-more-debt-than-at-any-time-since-2008/281537/ [Accessed 24 Mar. 2015]. Wisman, J. D. 2013. Wage stagnation, rising inequality and the financial crisis of 2008. Cambridge Journal of Economics, 37 (4), pp. 921945. Weissman, R. (2011). Deregulation and the Financial Crisis. [online] The Huffington Post. Available at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-weissman/deregulation-and-the-fina_b_82639.html? [Accessed 24 Mar. 2015]. Sà ¡nchez, M. (2010). Financial Innovation and the Global Crisis. IJBM, 5(11). Appendix Figure 1 – Shares of Total Income Accuring to Each Group in The US (Kenworthy and Smeeding, 2013: 36) Figure 2 – Total US Household debt balance (Phillips, 2013)

The Controversy Over Home Schooling Essay -- Essays Papers

The Controversy Over Home Schooling In today’s society, the controversy over home schooling is a pertinent issue. Home schooling is known as the instruction of a pupil in an educational program outside of an established school, usually under the tutoring of the parent or guardian. Several debates exist over this current topic. Some have reasonable arguments in favor of home schooling, while many disagree with its process and the motives behind it. Both arguments have valid points that must be explored. Millions of people across the country believe that teaching children at home deprives them of the average childhood experience. They argue that these children are ostracized because they are left out of many activities that can only be experienced in a traditional school. For example, field trips are common among elementary school students. Home schooled children are not given the opportunity to attend these important educational trips because they are kept at home and taught by their parents. Another instance is extracurricular activities. Many s...

The Execution of Private Slovik Essay -- Literary Analysis, William B

In the narrator’s quest for information about the bombing of Dresden, he wrote to the Air Force, hoping to gain more knowledge about what went into the decision. His only official response at the time was â€Å"that the information was top secret still† (11). How bombing of Dresden could ever be considered classified when it had such a devastating effect on so many people is just one of the many absurdities pointed out by the narrator in his quest to provide a balanced view of the war. One novel, The Execution of Private Slovik by William Bradford Huie, details the only execution of an American soldier for desertion during World War II. The narrator quotes from the opinion of a staff judge advocate who supported Slovik’s sentence, stating: â€Å"If the death penalty is ever to be imposed for desertion, it should be imposed in this case, not as a punitive measure nor as retribution, but to maintain that discipline upon which alone an army can succeed† (45). The view that a soldier should have to die in order for the military to maintain unit cohesion and essentially teach a lesson to other draftees who may want to desert their post is a hard one for those not in the military to sympathize with. Furthermore, it illustrates the paradoxical nature of militaristic actions, where one is forced to fight against enemies who wish to do them harm, or face death at the hands of their fellow servicemen if the choose not to fight. During a Lions Club luncheon meeting Billy attends back in Ilium, a Marine Corp Major who had served in Vietnam addressed the attendees. The Marine spoke of his experience serving in Vietnam, and his view that â€Å"the Americans had no choice but to keep fighting†¦ until the Communists realized that they could not force their wa... ...cation of the bombings of Dresden as tit for tat in an attempt to rationalize civilian killings is abhorrent to those who see life as sacred, regardless of which side of the civilian line one falls. Saundy is much more sympathetic than Eaker to those who lost their lives in the Dresden bombing. Saundy believed â€Å"that the bombing of Dresden was a great tragedy none can deny†, and that it wasn’t necessary to the Allies efforts to win the War (187). However, he does defend those who directed the bombing, stating they â€Å"were neither wicked nor cruel†, but instead forced into making a tough decision in a decisive time in the War (187). Saundy presents a much more humane view of the bombing of Dresden than Eaker. Saundy doesn’t attempt to justify or condemn the bombing; he instead portrays it as one of the many horrors of war that can only be viewed in hindsight as such.

The Portrayal of Father to Child Relationship in Robert Hayden’s “Those Winter Sundays”

Marcella English 10 Period: 5 The portrayal of Father to child Relationship in Robert Hayden’s â€Å"Those Winter Sundays† According to photographer and designer Anne Geddes, â€Å"Any man can be a father but it takes someone special to be a dad. † Being a father is not a simple task. â€Å"Those Winter Sundays† exemplifies how difficult fatherhood could be, and how parent to children affection could be hidden by certain circumstances, such as hard living. Through the poem Robert Hayden shows how the speaker is ashamed in believing that his father did not love him, and how now he understands that love is not only shown by words but also by actions.Robert Hayden uses imagery, symbolism and irony of situation to carry the main message of the poem which is about fatherhood. Imagery is the formation of mental images, figures, or likenesses of things, or of such images collectively (dictionary. com). The reader is given mental pictures about the things that occ ur in the poem. First, the reader can imagine a father figure waking up early morning to get wood to make the house warm. It is also implied that the father woke up in the darkness and that he is a ward worker from the first stanza.Readers can also imagine the child’s position in the house, how the child respects his father (stanza 2). The next imagery is the father polishing the child’s shoes, which implies that he takes care of his child/family, placing himself second. Through these imageries, the author has illustrated the fatherly love to his child even in hard circumstances. Another major literary device used in this poem is symbolism. Symbolism is an image or a word that represents something beyond the literal meaning. There are four significant symbols in Those Winter Sundays. The first symbol is winter, which symbolizes misery.It could be in the form of death, old age, sorrows, or regrets. In general, winter means unpleasant or hard times. In this poem the word winter describes the overall mood of it, which is sad and challenging. The next major symbol is Sunday, which in western culture represents the day of rest. It is commonly known as the day of pleasure. Therefore, winter Sundays could symbolize a paradox, describing the contradictory elements of the poem to give more dramatic and ironic effect, because as it is mentioned in line 1 to 3, and the father keeps on working even though it is Sunday.In the same way as winter, cold also represents pain and discomfort. In contradictory to cold, there is fire, which seems to be the solution to the discomfort. Fire can also symbolize love. In this case, all this four symbols are used to build a story of fatherly love. That unfortunately was not clear enough to be noticed by the son at the time. Irony of situation is the difference between what is likely to happen and what actually does happen. Throughout the poem the speaker mentions the Sunday routine of the father, showing how the father wor ked hard for the family’s well being.However, just as the speaker mentions: â€Å"No one ever thanked him† (Line 5). This illustrates how the father worked for the family and its well being, proving that he indeed cared and loved them, as he never waited to be recognized for his actions. Hence never being thanked after all the work. However in the last stanza it is shown how the speaker regrets treating the father indifferently for not verbally showing his love, â€Å"What did I know, what did I know† (Line 13) proving how the speaker has indeed grown more mature, and has finally understood the meaning of sacrifices, and an alternative way of showing love.In conclusion, the poem Those Winter Sundays is a poem of regret and understanding as the speaker finally has understood his father’s love to him. This poem was intended to be personal, from child to father, as an apology for his attitude as a child. Through this poem, the reader could reflect about the sacrifices done by parent. Sacrifices that are often dismissed but that will soon after have an effect in our life.