American Civil War Essay Example for Free

American Civil War Essay From the start of the Civil War until the end of the Reconstruction period, America faced what can be considered a revolution. During this time, many social and constitutional developments emerged and brought great change to the country. Social developments that contributed to the revolution were the Freedmen’s Bureau, the Ku Klux Klan, and the Black Codes. Constitutional events that sparked dispute were the three civil rights bills, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the reconstruction. Between 1860 and 1877, both constitutional and social developments merged to created drastic changes that threatened the balance of life in the United States, causing revolt throughout many Americans and bringing about reform to the nation. Before 1860, the United States was split into two sides fighting for power: the North and South. Slave states and free states were constantly competing for representation in Congress. In order to reduce conflict, the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850 were passed. Tensions lowered to a degree, but the compromises only delayed the inevitable discord. State’s rights was a critical topic during this time period. The south believed that they had the constitutional right to secede. After Lincoln was inaugurated in 1860, seven states seceded from the Union. Four more states followed after that. South Carolina, in particular, felt their rights had been stripped off of them, and challenged the Constitution of the United States. Document A) South Carolina feared the north would gain enough power that they would abolish slavery in the south, crippling their slave-based economy. This sequence of events induced the bloody Civil War, later leading to the enactment of the Emancipation Proclamation, which meant the freeing of slaves that were still under possession in 1863. Eventually, the 13th amendment, which abolished slavery, was passed. The end of the Civil War meant the end of bloodshed but the start of reconstruction of the nation. Although slaves were finally freed, it was still rough life for the freedmen. Some blacks felt betrayed by their own government. They were baffled at the fact that they fought for their nation but could not vote for their representatives. In the petition to the Union convention of Tennessee, it is stated that blacks were treated unfairly in court, as the courts would not even receive â€Å"negro testimony. † (Document C) Gideon Welles, Lincoln’s Secretary of the Navy wrote in a diary that the Federal Government has no control of whether or not blacks can vote; he felt it was up to the states to decide. Document D) In attempts to unite the nation, several acts were put into effect. The Freedmen’s Bureau, for example, was set up to help blacks read and write in order to counteract their disadvantages in education. It also provided food shelter, welfare, and medical attention to those affected by the war. Unfortunately, some acts were not in favor of the blacks, such as the Black Codes. The Black Codes prohibited blacks from renting land or e ven borrowing money to buy land. It also forced them to sign working contracts, synonymous to slavery. President Johnson felt that the Black Codes were necessary because he did not want America becoming â€Å"Africanized. † In a petition to the commissioner of the Freedmen’s Bureau, some African Americans felt their promised rights were being neglected. (Document E) On the other hand, political actions were taking place in the struggle for equal rights for all Americans. Republicans were taking control of government and were also ignoring the orders of President Johnson. Radical Republicans were struggling for equal rights throughout nation. In 1866, the Civil Rights Act was created. This act stated that African Americans were United States citizens, shielding them from the Black Codes, and essentially overriding the Dred Scott decision. Shortly after came the Civil Rights Act of 1866. The changing of the Constitution to include the 14th amendment was considered revolutionary. (Document F) President Johnson was impeached in 1868 due to 11 crimes and misdemeanors. He was the first president in history to get impeached. After his impeachment, blacks now started to receive more equal treatment. Blacks were finally able to vote in the 1868 election, which ended up giving the Republicans a victory. (Document G) The 15th amendment was also added to the Constitution, prohibiting any state from denying a citizen the right to vote. Although revolution was going positively throughout, the creation of the Ku Klux Klan was a negative addition. Their goal was to terrorize and scare blacks by force. (Document I) In 1870, Congress decided to ban these secret organizations and enforce the 14th and 15th amendments through the Force Acts. Document H) All in all, between 1860 and 1877, both constitutional and social developments caused great reform in America. Revolutionary ideas such as the freedom of slaves, anti-secession, and rebellion played a key factor throughout these years. The once estranged country was back on track as a unified whole. African Americans, as a result of constant struggle, gained their rights and freedom. It is safe to say that the United States faced a period of reconstruction, which amounted to the shaping of the country.

Self Leadership Another Way To Achieve Performance Education Essay

Self Leadership Another Way To Achieve Performance Education Essay Abstract In the quest for employee performance organizations seek novel leadership strategies. Self leadership behavioral-focused, natural-reward and constructive-thought strategies provide a sound solution (Houghton, 2006). Research across diverse settings has shown that the practices of effective self-leadership strategies can lead to many benefits including enhanced motivation, positive self-efficacy perception, and improved employee performance (Bandura, 1991). Rooted in social learning theory cognitive evaluation theory, self-leadership is more comprehensive theory of self influence than self-control and self-management theories. A conceptual self leadership frame work for employee performance is also suggested in this paper for organizational application. Keywords: Self-Leadership, Self-leadership Strategies, Self efficacy/Personal mastery, Motivation, Employee performance. Introduction The most influential part in our life that has the ability to support growth than anyone else is our own self. This paper is not about the leadership of others, rather something more fundamental and more powerful i.e. self-leadership. Simply stated leadership is an art of mobilizing others for shared aspirations (Bass, 1995). Leadership is the behavior of an individual when he is directing the activities of a group towards a shared goal (Coons, 1957). Leadership requires using power to influence the thoughts and actions of other people (Zalenik, 1992). Leadership is about articulating visions, embodying values, and creating the environment within which things can be accomplished (Engle, 1986). Leadership is a social process in which one individual influences the behavior of others without the use of threat and violence (Buchannan, 1997). The simplest definition of leadership perhaps is a process of influence between a leader and follower (Hollander, 1978). There are many definitions or descriptions of leadership based on equally vast and differing viewpoints. So in the light of above, Self-Leadership can be described as a process of self influence to navigate own-self for achieving desired outcome (Manz, 1992). In fact, as the opening lines suggest, our greatest latent source of leadership and influence comes not from an external  leader, but from within ourselves. Self Leadership Self-leadership theory is based on self-influence, self-management and self control theories that has recently gained significant popularity and inspiring potential for application in modern organizations. Simply stated, self-leadership is a process through which people influence themselves to achieve the self-direction and self-motivation required to behave and perform in desirable ways (Manz Neck, 1999). Self-leadership is rooted in Social Learning Theory (Bandura, 1977) and Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura, 1986). Social learning theory explains that how people can influence their own cognition, motivation, and behavior (Yun, 2006). On the other side, social cognitive theory explains that there is a continuous interaction between people and their environment (Davidson, 2000) and behavioral outcomes are means of information and motivation (Bandura, 1986). Therefore, how self-leaders think and behave according to cognitive, motivational, and behavioral strategies (Yun, 2006) is explained by Self-Leadership theory. This is a process of self-influence which is facilitated through the use of both behavioral and cognitive strategies. Self-leadership has three distinctive strategies: behavior-focused strategies, natural reward strategies, and constructive thought pattern strategies (Houghton, 2006). Behavior-focused strategies comprises on self goal setting, self observation, self-reward, self punishment and self cueing. These strategies are intended to strengthen positive, desirable behaviors (e.g. Job performance, Team Performance). Behavior-focused strategies are particularly useful in managing behavior related for achieving performance including its unpleasant aspects. Natural-reward strategies focus on tasks that are intrinsically motivating. These strategies can also include the focusing of attention on more satisfying or rewarding aspects of a given job or task rather than on the unpleasant or difficult aspects. Constructive-thought pattern strategies focus on how thinking functional patterns are created and maintained. These strategies include identification and replacement of false self assumptions and irrational beliefs, creating of mental imagery for future successful performance, and positive self talks. Combining all these strategies yields an impressive package of self-influence kit that has a huge potential for organizational application in todays rapidly changing business environment. Self-leadership is a more comprehensive theory of self-influence than both self-control and self-management (Manz, 1986). Self-leadership combines the behavioral strategies suggested by self-management and self-control with cognitive strategies based on the concepts of intrinsic motivation and constructive thinking patterns. Self-leadership is more of a broader concept than both the theories of self-control and self-management. Self-management highlight extrinsic rewards (e.g. monetary rewards, praise, recognition, and self-reinforcement based on external stimuli). But self-leadership goes beyond this viewpoint and focuses on natural rewards. Natural rewards imply that performance of the task or activity is a reward in itself (Manz Neck, 1999). In summary, conceptualization of natural rewards in self-leadership theory is mainly based on the intrinsic motivation literature. Motivation, according to one definition, is an attribute that moves us to do or not to do something (Garrison, Broussard and Gredler, 2004).Motivation refers to the motives underlying behavior (Guay et al., 2010). Motivation can also be defined as voluntary uses of high-level self-regulated learning strategies, such as paying attention, connection, planning and monitoring (Turner, 1995). However Hornby (2000) states that motivation is an incentive to act or move. Research tells that there are two types of motivation, extrinsic and intrinsic. Extrinsic motivation is the result of externally administered motivators including pay, compensation and benefits, material possessions, monetary gains and positive evaluation by others. Intrinsic motivation is that type of motivation that is activated by personal enjoyment, interest, or pleasure (Deci et al, 1999). Intrinsic motivation is derived from within a person and positively effects behavior and performance (Ryan Deci, 2000). Performance refers to the effectiveness of individual behaviors that contributes to organizational objectives (McCloy, Campbell Cudeck, 1994). However Motowidlo (1997) argues that performance is all about behaviors with an evaluative aspect. Self-leadership theory encompasses both intrinsic motivation literature and cognitive evaluation theory (Deci Ryan, 1985).Cognitive evaluation theory advocates that intrinsic motivation is driven by the need for competence (i.e. to exercise and extend ones capabilities) and the need for self-determination (i.e. the need to feel free from pressures such as contingent rewards). Cognitive evaluation theory argued that individuals will try to seek feelings of competence and self-determination by overcoming challenges (deCharms, 1968). Support for the efficacy of intrinsic motivation has been demonstrated in numerous empirical studies (e.g., Deci, Connell, Ryan, 1989; Harackiewicz, 1979; Zhou, 1998). Feelings of competence and self-control (i.e.self-determination) are central part of natural rewards provided by self-leadership theory (Manz Neck, 1999). Through self leadership strategies, activities and tasks can be chosen, structured, or perceived in ways that lead to increased feelings of competence self-determination that in turns enhance task performance. Self leadership theory is very much complementary with self-determination theory (Deci, 1972). Although natural reward strategies are generally effective, self-reward strategies utilizing external rewards may also be helpful (in those situations where natural or intrinsic rewards are not needed) to increase (individual or team) performance (Manz Neck, 1999). At the heart of social cognitive theory lies the concept of Self-efficacy or personal mastery (Bandura, 1986). Self-efficacy talks about persons beliefs regarding his/her capabilities to achieve a specific task (Bandura, 1991). As per cognitive evaluation theory need for competence and self-determinations (Deci Ryan, 1985) leads to more difficult goals selection and increased perceptions of self-efficacy which in turn, leads to higher future performance (Bandura, 1991). Self-leadership theory incorporates all above components of cognitive evaluation theory and social cognitive theory. In short self-leadership strategies mentioned above enhance self-efficacy perceptions, which lead to higher levels of performance (Manz Neck, 1999). Empirical evidence supports the effectiveness of self-leadership strategies in increasing self-efficacy perceptions and performance. More recently, role of self-efficacy as a mediator of the relationship between self-leadership strategies and performance has also been examined indicating significant relationships (Prussia et al., 1998). Positive Perception of self Efficacy or Personal Mastery SUCCESSFUL PERFORMANCE Based on the literature above it can be summarized here that Self-leadership is a process of self-influence based on self-control, self management and self regulation theories. It is also rooted in motivation theories, Social learning theory and cognitive evaluation theory.  Research across diverse settings, from the educational domain to the airline industry, has shown that the practices of effective self-leadership strategies can lead to many benefits including high motivation, self-efficacy, and enhanced employee performance (Bandura, 1991).  As mentioned Self leadership strategies include behavioral-focused, natural-reward and constructive-thought pattern strategies. Taken together these core self-leadership strategies and aligning them to motivation, self efficacy and performance following conceptual frame work (figure.1) is suggested aiming at to achieve successful performance in an organization. This suggested conceptual frame work is modified from the basic model of Self leadership and personal effectiveness proposed by Manz Neck (2007). Figure.1 In the light of the self leadership literature the figure.1 above is suggesting a conceptual framework which implies that applying self-leadership strategies and their components through effective training programs in organization can help in developing self-led employees who can achieve goals like individual, team based or organizational performance through personal mastery. Successful performance leads to positive perception of self efficacy which creates a positive self sufficient upward spiral effect for new successful performance. As per limitation in this paper identifying individuals team based self leadership and team member work role performance was not studied which creates room for future research. Effective self-leadership strategies do not stress independent employee behaviors by ignoring teams or organization context. Rather, effective self-leadership strategies encourage a coordinated effort by individuals to seek their own personal identity and mode of contribution as part of a group, teams or organization that produces synergistic performance (Konradt; Andreßen; Ellwart, 2009). Furthermore, self-leaders are less likely to be resistant to organizational change (Neck, 1996) which is important for any learning organization as it responds and adapt to changing environment. As organizations continue to redesign and adopt structures that need a greater dependence on individual initiative, the popularity of self-leadership concepts is likely to remain strong. Finally, self-leadership behavior shaping strategies provide considerable assurance for taking the quest for employee performance to the next higher level. Indeed, effectively trained self-led employees, both behaviorally and cognitively, may offer the best blueprint for achieving employee and organizational performance in the 21st century.

Royal Dutch Shell Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

Royal Dutch Shell Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) The Corporate plays a vital role in economic development of the country and these corporate involves in various activities for their sustainability in the business environment. In this globalization era business organizations finds the greatest challenge in managing the stakeholders demands, which results in complex in the competitive market. So, here the corporate takes up social responsibility as a commitment and engage themselves in the society development. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a commitment by the business organizations in improving the society through their business activities and its contribution in community development. CSR is an effective tool which needs to be implemented in the organizations for their sustainable growth and development of societal objectives. This report addresses the socially responsible business of two multinational organizations high income and emerging economies group. Here, Royal Dutch Shell is chosen in high-income and Tata Steel in emerging economies group of multinational organizations. Royal Dutch Petroleum Company in Dutch, which involves in production of oil and Shell Transport and Trading Company in British, which involves in transportation of oil, merged their operations in 1907 and later it is named as Royal Dutch Shell. Shell is a multinational petroleum company and its headquarters locates in The Hague, Netherlands. Their business involves in production and marketing of petroleum and natural gas. They operate in more than one hundred countries with 45,000 service stations worldwide. They produce 2% of worlds oil and 3% of worlds gas. Shell is worlds largest corporation and its ranks one by Fortune 500 in 2009 (Shell, 2009). TATA Group, the largest multinational group founded in 1868 and based in Mumbai, I ndia. Initially the trading company was established by Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata involving in Opium business. Later, the group expanded by JRD Tata by establishment of Tata Steel, Tata chemicals, Tata Motors, Tata Industries etc. According to 2009 annual survey by Reputation Institute, Tata Group is ranked has 11th most reputable group in the global (Tata, 2009). Tata Steel pervious known as Tata Iron and Steel Company Limited (TISCO) founded in 1907. Tata steel one among top ten steel producers in the world. With their recent acquisition of Corus, Millennium steel and NatSteel, Tata steel has established its business network across the global like South East Asia, Europe and Pacific-Rim. Tata Steel has net sales revenue of USD 33 billion with employee strength of 82700 by year 2008 (Tata Steel, 2009). This report firstly briefs on companies commitments on society from stakeholders viewpoint with a stakeholder saliency model to identify them. Secondly on companys approach and initia tives towards social responsibilities and finally those approaches and initiatives by companies are analyzed and compared on different viewpoints. Stakeholder Identification Stakeholders are a person, group, or organization who is directly or indirectly involves in an organizations actions, policies, and behavior. Shareholders, customers, creditors, government, suppliers, employees, directors, owners, and society are the key stakeholders in a business organization. All stakeholders are not equally same; each stakeholder is entitled to different concerns. In order to analyze an organizations social engagement from stakeholders perspective, it is necessary to identity the applicable stakeholder group. Several approaches and attempts are made to identify different stakeholders relevant for a company. Later Mitchell, Agle, and Wood made up with definition in identifying the stakeholder group by developing Stakeholder Salience Model, which propose the vital of stakeholder group based on its salience. They argued that the stakeholder who has high degree of salience will play the vital role in controlling the corporate behavior. They argued stakeholder salience model identifies the stakeholder group by three attributes, namely Power, Legitimacy and Urgency (1997). This concept of three attributes is used to categories seven stakeholders and one non-stakeholder. 1. Dormant 2. Discretionary 3. Demanding 4. Dominant 5. Dangerous 6. Dependent 7. Definitive 8. Non-Stakeholder With this Stakeholder Salience Model the different types of stakeholders are identified and measure their corporate social responsibility activities of two multinational organizations (Royal Dutch Shell and Tata Group). Here, we briefly consider what organizations activities in social responsibility and the changes made to accommodate these CSR initiatives. The following fig1.2 describes on different stakeholder of shell according to stakeholder salience model. Shell associate with general business principle, as business principle shell contributes to sustainable development. Their business principle is to protect the shareholders investment and give them the long-term returns compared with others leading firms in the industry. So, shareholders are identified as definitive stakeholder of shell. Here, dormant stakeholders are the host government, as shell establishment in a country with support of government. For example Shell in Nigeria worked closely with government to help realize the Nigerias energy potential and support for society development. With help of Nigerian government shell expanded their business and energy sector in Nigeria. Non-Government organizations are found to be dangerous stakeholder, who has the power and urgency. Shell had a negative impact in 1995 after its announced to sink the Brent Spar in the Atlantic Ocean, NGOs like Greenpeace and media started campaign against shell with support of local people and government for environmental disputes. These initiatives by Greenpeace made many people in Europe countries to boycott shell products and they were successful in influence. Employees are identified as discretionary stakeholder of the organization by encourages them in social performance. Institutions are dependent stakeholder, shell as a leading corporation in the global involves in decision making policies of institution which impacts on society. Local communities are found to be demanding stakeholder, where they need urgency in the environmental issues. For example shell operates in Schoonebeek has stopped their operation in 1996, where it not made any economic sense in extraction of oil, the plant was closed consulting with local community and framework with new project in 2003 after the approval of local communities. Tata Steels Stakeholder Saliency Model The above Fig1.3 shows the stakeholder salience model of Tata steel, which is used to identify the different stakeholders of Tata Steel. Shareholders are the distinctive stakeholders who actively take part in all important meeting on social investments and business ethics. They have the power in decision making on corporate governance which will benefit both the company and society. Employees are identified as discretionary stakeholders; where the employee are encourage to take part in community initiatives through employee involvement planning and volunteering programme like disaster relief. Government is found has dominant stakeholder, who has power and legitimate. Tata steel had joined hands with government by taking part in collaborative initiatives on public policy development. They work together on environmental impacts. Local community are identified has demanding stakeholders, where Tata steel had taken number measures on social responsibility. They are mainly focused on sust ainable livelihood, health, education, empowering youth and environment. Even feedback on business performance and impacts are taken from local communities. So, the company can come with new initiatives and development for community. Stakeholder differences between Shell and Tata Steel According to Stakeholder Salience Model, the stakeholder groups are classified into three categories namely Latent Stakeholders or Low salient classes (dormant, discretionary demanding), Expectant Stakeholder or Moderately salient classes (dominant, dangerous, dependant) and Highly Salient Stakeholder (definitive) (Friedman, 2006, p94). It is observed from stakeholder salience model of Shell and Tata steel, Shell is forced by expectant stakeholders like Greenpeace in social responsibility. Most of the social responsibilities of Shell are found in places where they bad experience and negative impacts by the society. This show their business motto and against their business principle. Whereas Tata steel are more focused on social responsible of local communities. The company helps the community in their day to day activities and joined collaboration with government in new initiatives and society development. Here, the latent stakeholder (Financial Community) reviews their business performance and ethical behavior on society. Tata steel is more focused on Latent stakeholder compared with other stakeholders. Shell Societal Approach and Initiatives: Shells mission is to achieve its social responsibility to stakeholders and provide them with high quality product and service. Shell stands with General Business Principle, which contributes to their sustainable development. The company finds the major responsibilities has to protect the shareholders investment, provide a quality product and safety environment to customer, provide a safe and good working condition to their employee, valuable relationship with suppliers and partners, and finally secure environment to the society (Shell, 2009). The following are the systematic approach of Shell in social responsibility: Impact assessments Social performance plans and reviews Social performance professionals Local employment Social investment Impact Assessment Impact assessments are done at initial stage of new project; the assessment done on environment, social and health impact and consult with local communities. Where the environmental and social impacts are identified and measures are taken according to reduce the negative impact to the local community. Social Performance Plans and Review The chemical facilities and refineries of shell have major impacts on community, so they have social performance plans and review. These plans have information on impact assessment, surveys of local community and communication of local stakeholders. On working with local stakeholder, the plan will be executed to reduce the disputes on society and improve the benefits. These plans are reviewed every four years by shell and information is shared on key social impacts across their operations. Social Performance Professionals Social performance management unit is support the people in risk, where shell had the concept of buying and hiring locally. The company used local supplier and contractors, and hired local employee to create benefits and trust. This made more employment in the local communities and provides more opportunities to local people and businesses. Even government gets benefited by these responsibilities. Social Investment Society and local communities are benefited by Shells social investment programmes. They support the community by number of social responsible initiatives like education, health, community development, environmental issues and infrastructure development. They also join with NGO like Living Earth Foundation for community development. Shells CSR initiatives are achieved through Social Investment Programmes across the global. They have Shell Livewire, which helps and encourage the young crowd to start their own business. This programme is conducted in 24 countries across the global and in this programme the young entrepreneurs are awarded for the best business approach. Shell centenary scholarship programmes helps the students in providing scholarship to postgraduate studies and those students are send to UK for their studies. Along with government and NGOs, shell helps society in road safety measures by their Global Road Safety Partnership programme. Shell has HIV/AIDS programme to prevent their employee and their dependents from the diseases. They participate with other organization and government to fight against HIV/AIDS. Shell Foundation is a self-governing charitable trust started in 2000 with contribution of $250 million from the company. Shell Foundation is mainly focused on community welfare and environmen t impacts. To save the livelihood of the local community in oil and gas field, shell had Resettlement Action Plan in china. Shell Petroleum Development Company in Nigeria has spent $4.5 million for community development (Shell, 2009). Tata Steel Societal Approach and Initiatives: Tata Steel approach towards sustainability is considering the triple bottom line economic, environmental and social performance in business activities. They believe the sustainable development is depends on improving the quality of life of its employees and communities it serves (Tata Steel, 2009). The following are social responsible activities of Tata Steel Stimulating of Economic growth Environment Healthcare Initiatives Education Culture Empowering of women Stimulating of Economic Growth Society had indirect economic impact on community infrastructure development. The company announced Rs.1 billion for implement social responsibility programmes in tribal communities of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Orissa. The involves in infrastructure development projects like municipal service to one million people in Jamshedpur Township by providing basic necessity like electricity, water, road and transport facilities. They engage in infrastructure development in building schools and colleges, sports facilities like international stadium. By these initiatives by company will increase the economic growth of the society. Environment Tata Steel targeting towards reduction of Co2 emission and provide safety environment to the society. The company committed with healthy and safety working environment by implement Environment Management System. Tata Steel Rural Development Society encourages the local community in planting saplings and safeguards the forest. Nearly 250 hectares of wasteland had been reclaimed by planting saplings in 2008. Several measures are taken to control the water pollution and provide safe drinking water after proper treatment. Number of wells and tube wells are constructed for local community. They have separate environment cell to monitor the environmental and pollution control activities. Healthcare Tata steel implemented number of healthcare initiatives to its employees and the society. The company employees are benefited by free medical facilities even after their retirement. The company operates more than 46 free mobile clinics in Jamshedpur and runs Life Line Express medical clinic to the remote places in Jharkhand and Orissa. They organise free blood donate camp, eye camp and provide free medical equipments and beds to hospitals. They conduct a HIV/AIDS awareness programmes to the employees, suppliers and local community. Education Culture The company runs six schools and one college in Jamshedpur. In Thailand through Grow Smart with Tata Steel programme underprivileged children in remote places are provided with learning facilities. In Singapore the company offers scholarship to poor and disabled children. Tata steel constructed a Tribal Culture Centre to enrich culture heritage among the local community. What is the level of engagement does companies maintained in these initiatives? Whether these approaches and initiatives by companies benefited society? Shell has invested nearly $148 million in society development during the year 2008 (Shell, 2009). Shell in Nigeria has made great difference in people live and work by contributing to social responsibility initiatives like health, safety, and education (Idowu and Filho, 2009, p402). But shell image got damaged in Ogoni, where shell has failed to deliver the benefits and rights, like employment, education and clean environment to the Ogoni (Boele, 2001). Ogonis voice, we would be better off today if Shell had never come and taken one drop of oil (Boele, 2001). Shell pointed that it is the Nigerian government who has failed to deliver the right to Ogoni people (Boele, 2001). Shell has been charged for its human rights abuses in Nigeria and they agreed to pay $15.5 million to settle the lawsuits against the executions of protesters, polluting air and water in Nigeria (BCC News, 2009). Though shell spends million dollars in community development resurrecting their public image is a big challenge. For Tata Steel, CSR is not new they are involved in society activities from the established of the company. Tata Steel Ltd was awarded with Golden Peacock Global Award for CSR, in improving the quality of life of their employees, local communities and the society (Business Standard, 2009). According to survey conducted by The Nielsen, global consultancy firm, Tata steel is identified has most admired company by stakeholders for their society development initiatives (The Economic Times, 2009). They participate in international partnership like UN Global compact, where they encourage other organization to learn their initiatives and to create positive impacts for local communities (Tata Steel, 2008). The company continuously engaged in various CSR activities for society welfare and community development, this shows their significant growth in those initiatives. Classification and Analysis of CSR Activities In this section CSR activities of Shell and Tata Steel are classified and analyzed using Ponte et al typology. Here, CSR activity matrix by location and type are viewed from business perspective. Shell CSR Initiatives CSR Awards Disengaged/Engaged CSR Profile Proximate/Distant CSR Profile The Emirates Businesswomen Award Disengaged Encourage Businesswomen in strategic development of UAE Distant Social Reporting Awards Engaged Corporate communications campaign Distant Health Safety Environment Contractor Award Engaged Encourage supplier and contractor for safety operation Proximate Worldaware Award for Sustainable Development Disengaged Socially, economically and environmentally development in a community. Proximate Lawrie Group Award for Social Progress Disengaged Free Education facilities Proximate Awards from Malaysia Society for Occupational Safety and Health (MSOSH) Engaged Occupational Safety for their employee. Proximate Engaged Practice of Code of Business Conduct for their employee, suppliers and contractors. Proximate Disengaged Philanthropic activities through Shell Foundation. Distant The above table shows shell CSR initiatives in a form of engaged proximate, an indication of strategic initiatives which meets the company benefits. Disengaged distant indicates the philanthropic initiatives by the company. The following shows Tata Steel CSR initiatives, Tata Steel CSR Initiatives CSR Awards Disengaged/Engaged CSR Profile Proximate/Distant CSR Profile National Energy Conservation Award Engaged Reduced Energy Consumption Proximate Global Business Coalition Award Disengaged HIV/AIDS education and awareness programme. Proximate Greentech Safety Award Engaged Safety Management in Metal and Mining Operation Proximate Singapore Health Award Engaged Helping Employee to lead healthy and vibrant lives. Proximate 5th Asia Water Management Excellence Award Disengaged Helping the water management industry Distant Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industrys (FICCI) Award Disengaged Philanthropic activities through Tata Steel Rural Development Society Proximate Golden Peacock Award for CSR and Excellence in Corporate Governance Disengaged For improving quality life of employee and their families Proximate Excellence in Manufacture Award for Tata Steel, Thailand Engaged Environment and safety management in their operation Proximate Engaged Supplier Guiding Principles Distant Dr Jamshed J Irani Award for Excellence in Education Disengaged Providing quality education in schools of Jamshedpur. Proximate Compare to shell, Tata steel engaged more in philanthropic activities for social welfare and development. Impacts on Business Approach Lantos argues that CSR has three components ethical, altruistic and strategic which every organization must practice (Crowther, 2005). When a government fails, the managers have to be prepared to take up the slack to do good for society and business. Shell follows their business commitment in General Business Principle and code of conduct. Though Shell fails in Ogoni, it has taken significant measures to re-orientate their business principle to encourage more accountable and dynamic set of relationships with stakeholder and by doing this, it can recapture the position in Ogoni (Boele, 2001). Shell engaged in several philanthropic activities in Nigeria through Shell Foundation. From Ponte et al typology analysis it shows majority of shell CSR investments are Engaged-Proximate initiatives. Most of the Shell CSR initiatives are found in Nigeria and Ogoni, where they reputation was damaged. This clearly indicates shells business motto. Shell spends only tiny amount from their profit towa rds community development, whereas they earns around $ 400 billion from oil production in Nigeria (BBC News, 2004). Even Tata steel has undergone some social challenge; for example Tata Steel was protested by people in sathankulam, Tamil Nadu. They decided to acquire 1000 acres of land in sathankulam for their ilmenite mining operation, which will may result in relocate thousands of local farmers and cause huge damage to environment. In spite of these many threats, Tata Steel had signed the MOU with Tamil Nadu government in 2007, which is still in dispute (Sanhati, 2007). However, compare to shell, Tata steel engaged more in philanthropic activities for community development. Tata Steel partnership with UN Global Compact has increased their publicity and reputation. Tata Steel encourages other organization to learn their activities in society development. All these CSR initiatives by the company have increased their business and brand image. Conclusion The report has focused on stakeholder identification of Shell and Tata Steel and their CSR approaches and initiatives. From the analysis is found both Shell and Tata steel are contributed more to the society welfare. However, shells role in the environmental and social impacts in Ogoni cannot easily carry away. Shell spoiled its brand image in issues like Brent Spar, environment pollution, oil spilling, discharge of production waste, and gas flare in Africa. All these activities made the world to look at shells business behavior towards society. Though shells CSR approach and initiatives sounds best across the global, but they have failed to fulfill real thirst of Ogoni community. This reveals that shell is more focused on business rather than society. All those CSR initiatives by shell are assumed as their business promotion and profit motive. When we look at Tata Steel, the company has fulfilled all the stakeholders through their corporate governance and sustainability development. They are more focused on community welfare and development. Even though Tata Steel is emerging company compare to shell, shell has learn a lot from them to fulfill all its stakeholders.

Technologys Effect on the Future Essay -- essays research papers

I don't know what the future holds but I know who holds the future. Days go by and how time flies, seasons always changing. When we contemplate the future we envision mind-warping technology and global warming destroying the Earth. Change is inevitable but it's up to our supremacy what we and our planet Earth change into. Will we help or hinder our future survival? One sentence from America's Declaration of Independence has some relevance to this matter. 'But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security'. In other words if something is wrong, those that have the ability to take action, have the responsibility to take action. Technology! Yes, it has its positives, but like all other things is also has its negatives. Would we really need hover cars? They would still congest ?air space?. What would be the benefits of splitting the atom more that once (What was the point of splitting it anyway)? Or will ?Little Boy? the World War Two atomic bomb containing Uranium be resurrected from the Japanese city of Hiroshima and be upgraded to wipe out the brain stems of individuals whose unique brain patterns have been programmed into the device? For years technology has been cultivated. Powerful and ingenious it maybe, but in our hands this technology has been used for demoralizing war! If we carry on using these technological advancements for the use of hostilities on Earth (or maybe in space) then both parties will use their own weapons and both will be crushed, ground into tiny pieces and blasted into oblivion. As the saying goes... ... and video. Molecular teleportation is a long way away. One of the most talked about subjects on the future is climate. At this very moment the Earth is warming up and we are the cause. The warming of the Earth is known more commonly as global warming. Maybe this subject is going to be fought over for centuries while we squander the time we have left away, but even if we did stop doing the things that cause global warming it will not bring it to a standstill. The main cause is pollution, and although scientists say that crude oil will be a thing of the past, alternatives to it will be created. Whether you consider the future to be one hundred years away or just a second the conception of the future is always the same. There are numerous views on the future but each one says the identical thing. I don?t know what the future holds but I know who holds the future.

Karl Marx Essay -- sociology, marx, positivism

Chose one of sociology’s founding â€Å"figures† and critically assess his or her particular contribution. There are many of sociology's founding figures that have extremely well-built ideas, practices and studies that I could explore, but one renowned philosopher stands out amongst the crowd, and that person is named Karl Marx (1818-1883). In this essay I aim to explore and critically assess his ideas, theories, and studies in his contribution to sociology, and if his ideas, theories and studies are useful to this contribution to sociology. Sociology began in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in Western Europe. Around this time, the political and economic systems in Europe were changing. Things like the Monarchy, (which was the rule of Kings and Queens) was disappearing, while capitalism was growing rapidly. Different societies began contacting eachother, and the economic markets began developing. Things were most definitely changing, and there was now room for new ideas to bloom. Something that had an enormous impact on the development of sociology was the Enlightenment. ''The Enlightenment was characterised by faith in the ability of human reason to solve society's problems.'' (Chapter 1, Andersen and Taylor , 2008). During the Enlightenment, ideas began to establish themselves and eventually effected sociological studies. Positivism is based on the idea that it is possible to observe social life and establish intricate knowledge about how it works. It says that sociology should only be observed with senses yet the theories of sociology should be observed in a methogical way. Although it does not effect modern sociology, as it does not take into account the fact that some methods do not allow the ideas to be observed... ...3] Boundless. The Marxist Critique of Capitalism. [Online] Available from: https://www.boundless.com/sociology/understanding-economy/economic-systems--2/the-marxist-critique-of-capitalism/ [Accessed on 17 Dec 2013] Chapter XX. Marx K. 1893. Das Kapital. Volume II Progress Publishers. Marx K. 1848. The Communist Manifesto. International Publishing Co. Marx K. 1848. The Victory of the Counter Revolution of Vienna. [Online] November 12th. Available from: http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/11/06.htm [Accessed on 17 Dec 2013] H. 1879. Interview with Karl Marx. [Online] January 5th.. Available from: http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/bio/media/marx/79_01_05.htm [Accessed on 17 Dec 2013] sociologytwynham. 2013. Marxist views of the Family [Online]. Available from: http://sociologytwynham.com/2013/06/13/marxist/ [Accessed on 17 Dec 2013] Karl Marx Essay -- sociology, marx, positivism Chose one of sociology’s founding â€Å"figures† and critically assess his or her particular contribution. There are many of sociology's founding figures that have extremely well-built ideas, practices and studies that I could explore, but one renowned philosopher stands out amongst the crowd, and that person is named Karl Marx (1818-1883). In this essay I aim to explore and critically assess his ideas, theories, and studies in his contribution to sociology, and if his ideas, theories and studies are useful to this contribution to sociology. Sociology began in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in Western Europe. Around this time, the political and economic systems in Europe were changing. Things like the Monarchy, (which was the rule of Kings and Queens) was disappearing, while capitalism was growing rapidly. Different societies began contacting eachother, and the economic markets began developing. Things were most definitely changing, and there was now room for new ideas to bloom. Something that had an enormous impact on the development of sociology was the Enlightenment. ''The Enlightenment was characterised by faith in the ability of human reason to solve society's problems.'' (Chapter 1, Andersen and Taylor , 2008). During the Enlightenment, ideas began to establish themselves and eventually effected sociological studies. Positivism is based on the idea that it is possible to observe social life and establish intricate knowledge about how it works. It says that sociology should only be observed with senses yet the theories of sociology should be observed in a methogical way. Although it does not effect modern sociology, as it does not take into account the fact that some methods do not allow the ideas to be observed... ...3] Boundless. The Marxist Critique of Capitalism. [Online] Available from: https://www.boundless.com/sociology/understanding-economy/economic-systems--2/the-marxist-critique-of-capitalism/ [Accessed on 17 Dec 2013] Chapter XX. Marx K. 1893. Das Kapital. Volume II Progress Publishers. Marx K. 1848. The Communist Manifesto. International Publishing Co. Marx K. 1848. The Victory of the Counter Revolution of Vienna. [Online] November 12th. Available from: http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/11/06.htm [Accessed on 17 Dec 2013] H. 1879. Interview with Karl Marx. [Online] January 5th.. Available from: http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/bio/media/marx/79_01_05.htm [Accessed on 17 Dec 2013] sociologytwynham. 2013. Marxist views of the Family [Online]. Available from: http://sociologytwynham.com/2013/06/13/marxist/ [Accessed on 17 Dec 2013]

Aig Scandal

[pic] THE INTERNAL CONTROLS AND FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES THAT LED TO THE BAILOUT OF OUR NATION’S LARGEST INSURANCE COMPANY By: Monte Schwartz PREFACE Anyone who watches TV has most likely seen the American International Group (hereinafter AIG) commercial with the little boy who walks into his parent’s room while they are sleeping. When his mother asks if he had a nightmare, he says â€Å"no† and that he’s worried about his parent’s financial future. After a twenty-second spiel about his worries, the father says, â€Å"Buddy, we’re with AIG† and he goes, â€Å"Oh! and walks out of the room and (assuming) back to his bedroom. [1] AIG, established as a Delaware corporation in 1921 by Maurice â€Å"Hank† Greenburg, is primarily engaged in insurance-related and financial activities in the United States and European countries (over 130 combined total); including but not limited to home insurance, car insurance, life insurance and various investments. Imagine that this boys parents’ discover one day with their financial planners that they lost all of their investments and insurances in which they paid dearly.The parents had agreed to make an investment so they and their children could have a secured future protection against market risks. Well, it became a reality for many Americans. This devastating loss left many taxpayers with misappropriated assets along with a burden to pay the â€Å"bill† for the bailout of AIG. PART I: HOUSING MARKET SCANDAL: VIOLATIONS IN BUSINESS OPERATIONS To understand the accounting scandal of AIG, one must first understand its business transactions and operations leading up to the SEC investigations. In 1993, President Bill Clinton signed into law the OmnibusBudget Reconciliation Act, commonly known as the OBRA-93 or the Deficit Reduction Act. Part XIII, is our primary focus, the Revenue Reconciliation Act which allows limitations on executive compensations by limiting the deductible for tax purposes to $1 Million unless the compensation was earned through performance, bonuses or equity: ultimately increasing the average executives paycheck. [2] When an executive’s paycheck percentage is primarily a bonus, those profits can lead to decisions that are not in the best interest, short-term and long-term, of taxpayers or shareholders.You may think what this Act has to do with AIG, but this act is the very essence of why AIG failed as a business. AIG had paid its top executives a whopping $165 million in bonuses after it had received bailout funds. In early 1995, the Clinton Administration issued new and revised regulations to the Community Reinvestment Act, or CRA (in which was created by the Jimmy Carter administration) which de-emphasize a lender to make subjective assessment measures in favor of strictly numerical quotas, or as others may say, racial quotas. 3] In simpler terms, private banks were compelled to provide loans to low income famili es and minority neighborhoods as long as the person was making some sort of income to repay the loan and did not require any initiation of a credit check. In more ways than one, this was a Federal scheme that pressured and extorted banks into loaning money to people at high-risk. The new regulations also instructed lenders to take into account how well they responded to complaints from groups such as Minority Community Activist organizations like ACORN.In December of the same year, Henry Cisneros (herinafter Cisneros), then head of Department of Housing and Urban Development (hereinafter HUD), moved Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac towards a requirement that 42% of the mortgages would now serve predominantly minority neighborhoods and low to moderate income families. In 2000, Andrew Cuomo (hereinafter Cuomo), Cisneros’ successor, established an even more aggressive social-engineering goal by increasing the number of mortgages to 50% by method of dramatically hiking Fanny Mae’ s and Freddie Mac’s mandates to buy mortgages to under-serve neighborhoods for the very low income. 4] Cuomo also encouraged them to strongly enter the sub-prime loan markets, which are credit-default swap markets. And who sold the credit-default swaps? AIG did, because it was an insurance on bonds. Large banks buy bonds and insurance policies so that if a company, say General Electric, should declare bankruptcy, the large bank is out on whatever premium amount it paid and receives money from whoever sold the insurance policy, which in this case was AIG since AIG was the biggest underwriter of credit-default swaps. 5] Take for instance, as an example, General Electric (GE)[6]. There are only two (2) reasons as to why a bank would purchase credit-default swaps. Either they do not want to provide the full credit amount as it may be a risk or they are looking to hide something, like a cash transaction. Suppose that Bank A wants to better its business relationship with GE and so GE asks for $70 million on credit. The bank, in return, speaks to their senior credit manager that the maximum they can provide is $50 million, due to risk exposure.However, in order to satisfy the customer, the bank lends the $70 million anyway and writes off the $20 million difference by purchasing a credit-default swap from Bank B. The only problem is, GE believes the entire $70 million came from Bank A. Now, Bank B was â€Å"AIG Financial Products† (hereinafter AIGFP), a division of AIG. Bank A was Bank of America, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, etc. PART II: THE ACCOUNTING SCANDAL: VIOLATIONS OF INTERNAL CONTROL There are four (4) most common ways of distorting a company’s financial condition.They are revenue recognition, cost or expense recognition, accounting for reserves and accounting related to business combinations. [7] AIG distorted their financials via accounting for reserves. What does that mean though? In accounting, companies use reserves to cover future costs such as taxes, possible litigation and pay-off debts or other liabilities. When a company intentionally falsifies information and misleads auditors of true financial reports, these fake transactions are better known as â€Å"sham transactions†.In 2001, the Securities Exchange Commission (herein after SEC) began investigating and making allegations that AIG was providing investors, shareholders and auditors with false financial statements, showing two sham schemes where the company altered its balance sheets through bogus transactions in efforts to conceal the company’s losses on investments related to the credit default swaps. By September of 2003, the SEC filed a lawsuit against a company known as Brightpoint Inc. (hereinafter Brightpoint), in which is a wholesale distributor of electronics.Their allegations included, but not limited to, improper use of insurance policies in attempting to reduce a loss by 11. 9 Million in efforts to show the public a smaller lo ss. As a result, Brightpoint’s Financial Statements overstated their net income. The SEC found their net income overstated by 61%. [8] It was revealed later in the discovery period that AIG was involved in assisting Brightpoint to spread out their losses over a time period. This technique is known as â€Å"retroactive insurance† which combined two policies into one.The two policies were the Retroactive Coverage and a Prospective Coverage. The â€Å"policy† was supposed to cover the cost of losses over a three-year term. The idea was to â€Å"smooth† the financial statement so that the public did not see such an impact of losses by AIG clients. Brightpoint paid a monthly premium for this policy of $15 Million. This tactic, while completely fraudulent, allowed Brightpoint to show an Insurance Receivable of $11. 9 Million. See, SEC v. Brightpoint (2003). Retroactive Coverage is not insurance.It just moved cash from one place to another, which the SEC called a â€Å"round-trip of cash†. Brightpoint deposited monies with AIG and later on, AIG would return the funds; yet mark it off in their books as if they made an Insurance Claim Payment. There was no risk being transferred. Once Auditors realized that this policy wasn’t quite an Insurance Policy, Brightpoint began making â€Å"restatements† to their financial statements. It is obvious that there is fraud when the books require numerous â€Å"restatements†. After the SEC had filed their lawsuit, AIG quickly made agreements to settle for $10 Million.This was only a civil penalty. No criminal penalties were administered by the Federal Courts for this â€Å"Retro-active Policy†. This payment of $10 Million resulted in AIG’s profit a mere $100,000. See, SEC v. Brightpoint (2003). Brightpoint was not the only company received â€Å"assistance† from AIG around the same time frame. Another company, known as PNC Financial Services Group Inc. (her einafter PNC), was also involved. In short, PNC was a Pennsylvania bank holding company. AIG helped PNC to move $762 million of assets off of the balance sheets. 9] By now, it seems AIG was a â€Å"pro† at distorting balance sheets. They didn’t like low net incomes and they helped others by sharing their tactics of â€Å"distortion†. The SEC calls these â€Å"PAGIC† transactions, since net incomes magically show profit. PNC had transferred their assets to another entity which PNC held major interest. They had created three (3) transactions which were intended to reduce their losses in regards to loans and venture capital investments by â€Å"transferring†, according to the SEC summary findings.PNC had then failed to account for these transfers as an asset or a loan which failed to appear on their balance sheets. This reduced their exposure to â€Å"troubled loans and volatile assets†. (See SEC v. PNC Financial Services, Inc. ) These transact ions were obviously structured to benefit PNC and its interested entities by increasing the value of their net income. Recently, as of January 2010, the SEC has also filed a complaint against a company known as Gen Re (General Reinsurance Corporation) which SEC has evidence of involvement in assisting AIG and other Financial Companies in using this sham scheme.The SEC makes allegations that Gen Re â€Å"knowingly provided substantial assistance to both AIG and Prudential in connection with their own violations of the books and records and internal control provisions of the federal securities laws, Sections 13(b)(2)(A) and 13(b)(2)(B) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1932. †[10] AIG falsely reported on its financial statements increases to both loss reserves and premiums written via sham reinsurance transactions. Gen Re helped AIG’s balance sheet transactions appear as thought AIG had an increase in loss reserves[11] by $500 million, which obviously was far from the ac tuality.The loss reserves should have been $250 million – half of the claimed amount – according to the SEC findings. There is also another accounting scandal involving AIG and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The individual parties involved Hank Greenberg, the CEO and founder of AIG and Timothy Geithner, then President of the NY Fed. Bank. The party investigating was the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee (hereinafter Committee), whose senior chairman is Darrell Issa, also Republican Representative of California.Over twenty-two (22) hearings, discovery proceedings, interrogatories were produced on behalf of the Committee towards Timothy Geithner in why the Federal Reserve ordered AIG to refrain from disclosing in the notes of the financial statements all the facts of the bailout. Geithner, in hearings, attempted to defend the bailout by suggesting that had AIG collapsed, America would face a Great Depression. This answer was something the Committee h ad heard numerous times before. They demanded a new answer.Even if the case is true, that America would have faced a Great Depression, the Committee smelled a bad scene unfolding, especially since two of Geithner’s closest advisors, Mark Patterson (chief of staff) and Henry Paulson Jr. (former ex-chairman of the Federal Reserve), were both ex-employees of Goldman Sachs. In AIG’s bailout, Goldman Sachs had received $13 Billion. In defense to the bailout, Timothy Geithner’s general counsel had claimed that the disclosures were unnecessary since the company’s regulatory filings had offered more detailed information.In opposition to this statement, Issa released a five-page list of derivative transactions, also known as â€Å"Schedule A†[12] which is a comparative list of notional value, total collateral and negative mark to market values, respectively. Notional value is the value of the derivatives underlying assets at spot price (current price). The total collateral posted is the total securities for the guaranteed repayment of a loan and the negative mark to market measures the fair market value of accounts, which can change overtime.Between the three comparisons, it is clear that â€Å"Schedule A† shows little reason for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York insisted that information should be kept private. PART III: THE RESULTS: BAILOUT & BONUSES A â€Å"bailout† is the giving of financial assistance (via the Fed, therefore taxpayers) to a failing business to save it from collapse. A bailout can be through the use of cash or a loan; however it can only happen when a company faces potential bankruptcy.With AIG’s housing market scandal and accounting scandal, it faced bankruptcy because it reported an overstatement of net revenue on its annual financial statements leading investors and shareholders to believe the company was a success. AIG initially received $85 Billion from the government as a loan, and th en sometime in March 2009, they received another $88 Billion. Now that we know what financial assistance was received, term $173 Billion, what did AIG do with all the bailout money? Well, now we can look closer at Figure 1-1 in determine where the money has gone. 44 Million went back into the Banks of the United States. AIG paid itself $600 Million. Golden Sachs received $13 Billion and Merrill Lynch: $7 Billion. The chart also includes bailout money that each of the 50 states received, totaling $12 Billion, even though they were originally supposed to receive $15 Billion. $113 Billion went to guarantees, such as bond guarantees and securities guarantees. If you look closer, you will see that foreign banks and countries received more bailout money than the United States did. France, Germany and the United Kingdom received the bulk of the funds, a whopping $49 Billion.These countries received, rounded, 80% of the AIG foreign funds. See below figure for details of the funds AIG disbur sed to large banks and foreign countries. [pic] And what about that $165 Million â€Å"bonus† contract AIG had? Senior Judicial Analyst, Judge Andrew Napolitano states that (1) the â€Å"existence of a contract is the building block to our commercial society† and that (2) therefore, the contract to pay top executives a $165 million cannot be broken because the â€Å"constitution prohibits the government, federal and state, from interfering with valid contracts and these contracts were valid when they were signed. [13] Much of the debate of where all of the taxpayer bailout funds come into scrutiny but that is another issue of AIG. The majority of the housing market and accounting scandals began during the Jimmy Carter administration when he enacted the CRA. Then, in the Bill Clinton administration, while he may have had good faith intentions to help the minority communities, he literally forced banks to handout loans when the applier had a high credit risk.Then, Cuomo increased the percentage of mortgages that were required to serve minorities via credit-default swaps which AIG were the primary underwriters. This factor, along with the sham balance sheet insurance transactions was the reason AIG nearly went bankrupt. While the bailout certainly helped AIG in avoiding bankruptcy, thousands of American citizens who file and pay annual income tax returns (the 50%), lost their investments and insurances to secure their futures all due to tax-schemers and executives who are high on themselves and want a bigger return. PART IV: AIG:WHAT IT IS NOW Since the discovery of AIG’s fraudulent behaviors in business and financial activities in 2001, the company has had to face many lawsuits from investors and shareholders; some are still pending. The CEO of AIG, Hank Greenburg as well as a few top executives were forced to resign. Some executives received a two (2) year prison term, which isn’t a very long time when considering how much money was misappropriated. Just recently, Oct 2, 2012, the company revealed a new image for their name. They have changed their logo which is the cover image above.They claim the new logo is â€Å"transparent† and â€Å"simplistic†. Does a new logo change the history of a company though? In a company that had so much potential yet failed to secure the futures of the Americans who they insured, the reputation is irreparably damaged and until it repays the billions of dollars back to the government (or, taxpayers). Until then, AIG is owned by the Federal Government. ———————– [1] â€Å"AIG Commercial†  © 2005 < http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=9VvGW98D3XA> [2] Korzenik, Jeffrey D. Forbes. om â€Å"The Tax Code Encourages Big Wall Street Bonuses† Feb 2009. < http://www. forbes. com/2009/02/04/wall-street-bonuses-opinions-contributors_0204_jeffrey_korzenik. html> [3] Money Gather: â€Å"Bill Clinton Helped Cau se the Housing Crisis† September 2008. [4] Morris, Dick. Take Back America. Pg 266, Harper, April 13, 2010. Print. > [5] The Big Picture. â€Å"Credit Default Swaps are Insurance Products. It’s Time we Regulated them as Much. † March 2012. [6] General Electric was in no way shape or form related to the AIG scandal; this is strictly an example. 7] See Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLP, 2009 Securities Litigation Study 30 (2009), available at http://10b5. pwc. com/PDF/NY-10-0559%20SEC%20LIT%20STUDY_V7%20PRINT. PDF. [8] Securities Exchange Commission v. Brightpoint Inc. , (2003) http://www. sec. gov/litigation/complaints/comp18340. htm [9] Securities and Exchange Commission v. PNC Financial Services Inc. http://www. sec. gov/litigation/admin/33-8112. htm [10] Securities and Exchange Commission v General Re Corporation, 10 CV 458, PACER [11] Loss reserves in the Insurance industry are an estimate of the value of a claim or group of claims not yet paid. [12]

Briar rose essay

Briar Rose mainly tells us about what Gamma went through ruing the holocaust and this brings out more characters Like Harvey Goldman and Josef. Gamma's story tells us about her experiences during the holocaust and also reveals how Jews , gypsies and homosexuals were treated. Holey told Gamma's story in a fairy tale because the story is too scary to retell. She also Told It Inform of a fairy tale so that It won't be as scarier, so that Beach, Shania and Sylvia can understand, so It can reach an audience faster.As mentioned before, Gamma's story was told in a fairy tale form, it is about what she went through during the holocaust but Holey chooses to tell it a fairy-tale form. She uses a lot of symbolism, Gamma's story uses symbolism. Gamma mentions Crown of red hair and represents blood shed during the holocaust. She also mentions big black boots with silver eagles on her hat and this represents the Nazi soldiers. The castle was the gas chambers, she mentions a hundred years is foreve r and this represents death which Is discovered by Beach later in the novel. She mentions the thorns as sharp as barbs which represented barbed wire around the camp.In the story Gamma says whoever goes In doesn't come out and this represented the death camps, she meant the death camps. The story mentioned the prince who had knowledge of the past he had knowledge of the pass Gamma was talking about Joseph, a man who knew everything that was going on, he had lived through it. The princess was given breath to breath, mouth to mouth (the kiss of life) by the prince. The curse that she mentions in the story is actually the curse for the Jews from the Nazis, she says l curse you and your father and your mother the queen and all uncles and cousins and aunts.And all the people in your village. † And all the people who bear your name†, this represents all the Jewish people who were killed including Gamma's family and friends. The mist represented the gas chambers that most of the Jews were killed and burnt In. But symbols often have a cluster of connotations. The mist may also stand for the Imperfect knowledge Gamma and her family has of the events of her past, which they only dimly understand. The briars can also represent the difficulties to be overcome consciousness about what was going on.The rose of the title is the symbol of love, which survives through the thorny briars, and is the motivating force of the whole tale, forcing Beach to carry out her promise o find the castle in the sleeping woods. Her research reveals that Gamma's survival and her daughter's existence have both been made possible by the love of Aaron and of Josef. The very existence of Beach and her sisters is owed to the selfless love the briar rose symbolizes. In Gamma's fairy tale story, she says Not everyone will die, a few will Just sleep.You, princess will be one† the princess is Gamma, it is revealed throughout the novel and she even says it to Beach when she was telling t he story. She also mentions this in the fairy tale story â€Å"The peasant smiled, he had only few teeth, hue peasants know how to sort of thin, the peasant represents Joseph Petcock and the other man he was with, he reached into a pit of bodies to get her (probably because she was so pretty and so easy to spot) – as Harvey Goldman mentioned that she was so pretty and every guy wanted her but they all couldn't talk to her.Josef Petcock in dead bodies got Gamma and the guys gave her a life kiss. She woke up when it was Josef turn that's why Josef is the prince. The effect of using symbolism is so that the story can be more effective, important, and less scary and also so that it can attract a wider audience. Holey also focuses on the theme of growing up and telling the truth. She still continues on using symbolism. We see how Beach and her sisters argue over hearing the Gamma's story (Beach wants to hear it but the sisters don't want to hear it), this represents the inability of people to deal with different situations.Josef tells his own story the way it happened, he doesn't glamour it and this represents his braveness. Holey also made him to be a partisan to show us his braveness. He is introduced by Father Stash, who devotes himself to the spiritual needs of the Echelon people. Their guilt makes them hostile to all recognition of the evil times many of them took part in, or at the very least permitted. Stash understands why Josef lives near Echelon Like me, he is drawn back by the souls of the dead† The Briar Rose tale is thus an allegory of Gamma's life.Although she cannot recall the details of her past, an amnesia that had made her survival possible, she needs to pass this story on to her descendants, and uses the fairy tale to do so. Like many allegorical tales, it tells of good triumphing over evil, of a contented life won only after life-threatening difficulties and dangers have been overcome. The effect of using allegory is very effective in conveying her story which she delivers in a superb fashion. The use of allegory also gives it a sense of realism and acts as a metaphor which helps us realism what happened during the holocaust and Gamma's life through Beech's promise and research.Holey has added strands from other traditional tales to enrich the story, Beach is on Beach makes sense of Beech's story and promised Gamma that she was going to find out about the castle â€Å"promise me you will find the castle†. Gamma's whole version of the Briar Rose tale, Beach recognizes to be a metaphor for her life. The effects of this are the placement of segments of the never-completed fairy story at intervals through the narrative adds suspense and mystery to the novel.More importantly, the fairy tale references seem to deepen the story of Gamma's Holocaust sufferings and relate them to the whole cultural tradition of good and evil, of suffering and rescue, and of seeking and eventually finding. The narrative of Beech 's determined quest is to make sense of this story after her grandmother's death. A third stage of Beech's developing relationship with fellow Journalist, Stan is presented more lightly, but suggests that, for Beach, a happy ending is likely.Her own happy ever after tale springs out of her grandmother's life story, and make the bitter sadness of the Holocaust easier for the readers to bear. Gamma's story itself was one of a happy ‘normal' ending with a supportive family. The novel is ironic; the happily ever after† ending of the conventional fairy tale is, an ironic contrast to the horrific suffering of camp victims such as Gamma, and to the deaths of millions. As for Josef Petcock, he is gay, not the expected heterosexual lover Beach was ready to cast as her unknown grandfather.In fact Gamma is saved by twin heroes – Josef, who gives her the kiss of life, and Aaron, who pulls her from the mass grave and soon after marries her. Josef presence is more than Justifie d in the story, as homosexuals were victims of the Holocaust. It is not altogether clear that Holey has intended such irony. The reality of such old folk tales is often brutal and harsh. The original Sleeping Beauty included such ingredients as rape, and attempted murder, inspired by almost insane Jealousy. It is only the versions that are produced for children to avoid dealing with horrifying evil.It is possible to view Gamma's life as indeed a â€Å"happy ending† where the ghosts of a bitter past are being freed by family support and the ability to speak of the mercifully destroyed completely past only in terms of fairy tale. Briar Rose shows the significance of the Holocaust and its continued impact, Holey does this through characters. She does this through most of the characters, for example Gamma and Josef. Josef tells his story like he wasn't a hero, even though he was the hero, Holey does this to represent those who are brave, he tells it the way it is (he doesn't find different ways to tell it).This represents heroism and how some people affected during the holocaust can still talk and tell people about it. Gamma tell her story in fairy tale form, Holey does this to represent those who want to tell the story but they story is too scary to retell. Gamma has forgotten her past and relives it through a fairy tale, and her past was so traumatic that in order to cope Gamma's memory of the past was always presented in a unique way to her family. The quote â€Å"I have no memories in my head but one†¦ A fairy tale† from Gamma tell us this. With their lives.She is a very typical of a certain kind of a person; she is a courageous mother, the miraculous survivor. Holey shows the social importance of family through Beach, she was always there for her grandmother when she was in the nursing home. The importance of family heritage and understanding of the past is emphasizes by Beach, who says that she is going to solve the mystery of Gamma's past in order to understand her own family I am going to find the castle and the prince and reclaim our family heritage† She shows the importance of remembrance-past, presence and future.The quote, â€Å"Time may heal all wounds, but it does not erase the scars. † The effect of this quote is for representing those who could tell the story/history, it means hey could to tell the story but it don't mean that they are not affected with it anymore. It is a story that is supposed to be shared; it is the history that is supposed to be known. Beach suddenly realism the impact of the death of others when she went on to search and find out about the grandmothers past Just like how the holocaust still affect some of today and in the future.It is clearly the suffering of those left behind especially those who were affected by it. â€Å"The future is when people talk about the past, so if the prince knows all their past lives and tells all the people who are still to come, then the pr inces live again into the true†, the effect of this quote is to stress the importance of oral tradition directly though the character of Gamma.Briar Rose indeed represents hidden millions whole stories whose stories were destroyed during the holocaust and it focuses on the impact of the holocaust, Just not the holocaust but also people affected by the holocaust (showing us what they went through). Hole's overall purpose of writing this novel was to make us consider the real history of the holocaust and the people it affected for example Gamma and Josef. Briar Rose is indeed shaped by the intense focus of extraordinary human experiences Briar rose essay Briar Rose mainly tells us about what Gamma went through ruing the holocaust and this brings out more characters Like Harvey Goldman and Josef. Gamma's story tells us about her experiences during the holocaust and also reveals how Jews , gypsies and homosexuals were treated. Holey told Gamma's story in a fairy tale because the story is too scary to retell. She also Told It Inform of a fairy tale so that It won't be as scarier, so that Beach, Shania and Sylvia can understand, so It can reach an audience faster.As mentioned before, Gamma's story was told in a fairy tale form, it is about what she went through during the holocaust but Holey chooses to tell it a fairy-tale form. She uses a lot of symbolism, Gamma's story uses symbolism. Gamma mentions Crown of red hair and represents blood shed during the holocaust. She also mentions big black boots with silver eagles on her hat and this represents the Nazi soldiers. The castle was the gas chambers, she mentions a hundred years is foreve r and this represents death which Is discovered by Beach later in the novel. She mentions the thorns as sharp as barbs which represented barbed wire around the camp.In the story Gamma says whoever goes In doesn't come out and this represented the death camps, she meant the death camps. The story mentioned the prince who had knowledge of the past he had knowledge of the pass Gamma was talking about Joseph, a man who knew everything that was going on, he had lived through it. The princess was given breath to breath, mouth to mouth (the kiss of life) by the prince. The curse that she mentions in the story is actually the curse for the Jews from the Nazis, she says l curse you and your father and your mother the queen and all uncles and cousins and aunts.And all the people in your village. † And all the people who bear your name†, this represents all the Jewish people who were killed including Gamma's family and friends. The mist represented the gas chambers that most of the Jews were killed and burnt In. But symbols often have a cluster of connotations. The mist may also stand for the Imperfect knowledge Gamma and her family has of the events of her past, which they only dimly understand. The briars can also represent the difficulties to be overcome consciousness about what was going on.The rose of the title is the symbol of love, which survives through the thorny briars, and is the motivating force of the whole tale, forcing Beach to carry out her promise o find the castle in the sleeping woods. Her research reveals that Gamma's survival and her daughter's existence have both been made possible by the love of Aaron and of Josef. The very existence of Beach and her sisters is owed to the selfless love the briar rose symbolizes. In Gamma's fairy tale story, she says Not everyone will die, a few will Just sleep.You, princess will be one† the princess is Gamma, it is revealed throughout the novel and she even says it to Beach when she was telling t he story. She also mentions this in the fairy tale story â€Å"The peasant smiled, he had only few teeth, hue peasants know how to sort of thin, the peasant represents Joseph Petcock and the other man he was with, he reached into a pit of bodies to get her (probably because she was so pretty and so easy to spot) – as Harvey Goldman mentioned that she was so pretty and every guy wanted her but they all couldn't talk to her.Josef Petcock in dead bodies got Gamma and the guys gave her a life kiss. She woke up when it was Josef turn that's why Josef is the prince. The effect of using symbolism is so that the story can be more effective, important, and less scary and also so that it can attract a wider audience. Holey also focuses on the theme of growing up and telling the truth. She still continues on using symbolism. We see how Beach and her sisters argue over hearing the Gamma's story (Beach wants to hear it but the sisters don't want to hear it), this represents the inability of people to deal with different situations.Josef tells his own story the way it happened, he doesn't glamour it and this represents his braveness. Holey also made him to be a partisan to show us his braveness. He is introduced by Father Stash, who devotes himself to the spiritual needs of the Echelon people. Their guilt makes them hostile to all recognition of the evil times many of them took part in, or at the very least permitted. Stash understands why Josef lives near Echelon Like me, he is drawn back by the souls of the dead† The Briar Rose tale is thus an allegory of Gamma's life.Although she cannot recall the details of her past, an amnesia that had made her survival possible, she needs to pass this story on to her descendants, and uses the fairy tale to do so. Like many allegorical tales, it tells of good triumphing over evil, of a contented life won only after life-threatening difficulties and dangers have been overcome. The effect of using allegory is very effective in conveying her story which she delivers in a superb fashion. The use of allegory also gives it a sense of realism and acts as a metaphor which helps us realism what happened during the holocaust and Gamma's life through Beech's promise and research.Holey has added strands from other traditional tales to enrich the story, Beach is on Beach makes sense of Beech's story and promised Gamma that she was going to find out about the castle â€Å"promise me you will find the castle†. Gamma's whole version of the Briar Rose tale, Beach recognizes to be a metaphor for her life. The effects of this are the placement of segments of the never-completed fairy story at intervals through the narrative adds suspense and mystery to the novel.More importantly, the fairy tale references seem to deepen the story of Gamma's Holocaust sufferings and relate them to the whole cultural tradition of good and evil, of suffering and rescue, and of seeking and eventually finding. The narrative of Beech 's determined quest is to make sense of this story after her grandmother's death. A third stage of Beech's developing relationship with fellow Journalist, Stan is presented more lightly, but suggests that, for Beach, a happy ending is likely.Her own happy ever after tale springs out of her grandmother's life story, and make the bitter sadness of the Holocaust easier for the readers to bear. Gamma's story itself was one of a happy ‘normal' ending with a supportive family. The novel is ironic; the happily ever after† ending of the conventional fairy tale is, an ironic contrast to the horrific suffering of camp victims such as Gamma, and to the deaths of millions. As for Josef Petcock, he is gay, not the expected heterosexual lover Beach was ready to cast as her unknown grandfather.In fact Gamma is saved by twin heroes – Josef, who gives her the kiss of life, and Aaron, who pulls her from the mass grave and soon after marries her. Josef presence is more than Justifie d in the story, as homosexuals were victims of the Holocaust. It is not altogether clear that Holey has intended such irony. The reality of such old folk tales is often brutal and harsh. The original Sleeping Beauty included such ingredients as rape, and attempted murder, inspired by almost insane Jealousy. It is only the versions that are produced for children to avoid dealing with horrifying evil.It is possible to view Gamma's life as indeed a â€Å"happy ending† where the ghosts of a bitter past are being freed by family support and the ability to speak of the mercifully destroyed completely past only in terms of fairy tale. Briar Rose shows the significance of the Holocaust and its continued impact, Holey does this through characters. She does this through most of the characters, for example Gamma and Josef. Josef tells his story like he wasn't a hero, even though he was the hero, Holey does this to represent those who are brave, he tells it the way it is (he doesn't find different ways to tell it).This represents heroism and how some people affected during the holocaust can still talk and tell people about it. Gamma tell her story in fairy tale form, Holey does this to represent those who want to tell the story but they story is too scary to retell. Gamma has forgotten her past and relives it through a fairy tale, and her past was so traumatic that in order to cope Gamma's memory of the past was always presented in a unique way to her family. The quote â€Å"I have no memories in my head but one†¦ A fairy tale† from Gamma tell us this. With their lives.She is a very typical of a certain kind of a person; she is a courageous mother, the miraculous survivor. Holey shows the social importance of family through Beach, she was always there for her grandmother when she was in the nursing home. The importance of family heritage and understanding of the past is emphasizes by Beach, who says that she is going to solve the mystery of Gamma's past in order to understand her own family I am going to find the castle and the prince and reclaim our family heritage† She shows the importance of remembrance-past, presence and future.The quote, â€Å"Time may heal all wounds, but it does not erase the scars. † The effect of this quote is for representing those who could tell the story/history, it means hey could to tell the story but it don't mean that they are not affected with it anymore. It is a story that is supposed to be shared; it is the history that is supposed to be known. Beach suddenly realism the impact of the death of others when she went on to search and find out about the grandmothers past Just like how the holocaust still affect some of today and in the future.It is clearly the suffering of those left behind especially those who were affected by it. â€Å"The future is when people talk about the past, so if the prince knows all their past lives and tells all the people who are still to come, then the pr inces live again into the true†, the effect of this quote is to stress the importance of oral tradition directly though the character of Gamma.Briar Rose indeed represents hidden millions whole stories whose stories were destroyed during the holocaust and it focuses on the impact of the holocaust, Just not the holocaust but also people affected by the holocaust (showing us what they went through). Hole's overall purpose of writing this novel was to make us consider the real history of the holocaust and the people it affected for example Gamma and Josef. Briar Rose is indeed shaped by the intense focus of extraordinary human experiences