International Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

International Management - Essay Example So what challenges do international firms face in a global marketplace? What is the nature, and role of INRP that impact international businesses? This essay explores the diverse elements of INRP in terms of the political, economic, cultural, ethical, and social environment prevalent in different countries; and analyses their impact on businesses with examples drawn from different countries, and trade. This paper concludes with a concise summary of the emerging global challenges to international trade, and business imperatives to overcome them. Globalization has wide encompassing connotations. Whilst the economic integration of businesses has rapidly grown, the political, social, and cultural interfaces across the borders continue to pose challenges to international trade. With maturing economy, institutional transformations become inevitable. In the nascent or emerging phases, economies are often unpredictable and volatile (Meyer, 2001, pp. 357-367). Managing investment and capital in such a market without an understanding of the economic regulations, and trade practices, could turn nightmarish. Scott (2002) categorized the governing institutions as â€Å"regulatory, normative, and cultural-cognitive.† Formal institutions are often characterized by rules, policies, and enforcement laws. Informal institutions on the other hand, are woven around norms, values, and mental models peculiar to a particular geographic region, or country (North, 1994). Such classifications are often useful in international business management for purposes of market analyses. Five decades ago, Hall (1960, pp. 87-96) enunciated five factors that affect bonding of global businesses, which are relevant even in modern day times. Brief interpretations from Hall’s article in the Harvard Business review are summarised below:- Nuances of time: Time has its own silent interpretations across national boundaries. For instance, a delay

Black Consciousness in the Twentieth Century Essay Example for Free

Black Consciousness in the Twentieth Century Essay Ralph Ellison began his 1952 novel with the sentence; â€Å"I am an invisible man.† (Ellison 3) These five words summed up the way in which the majority of Black Americans felt about their place in society at the time. The Civil Rights Movement was still years away, and the caste of American society had placed the Black American near the bottom. The book is in the first person narrative, narrated by a man who considers himself by society’s view point to be invisible because of his race.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The self-awareness of the Black American was limited to only what the white establishment would allow – and in the majority of the country, that was very little. However, the essence for the change that would occur had already been born. The awakening, in the late 1950s, of the Black American would take place in religion, politics, self-awareness and literature. This would become exemplified by the manner in which women in the black communities were treated. The rise of domestic violence was an issue, even in 1950s America – and in both the homes of blacks and whites.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There would be, though, differences in which this awakening would manifest itself. For some, like those who would march with Martin Luther King, non-violence and pacifism would be the dominate tool to their awakening. For others, the awakening would come in the form of a religious rebirth, and strong assertion of their place in society. There was a responsibility being neglected in the role of the black male to uphold his place of caregiver to his wife and family – as well as to the community as a whole. This was an important issue to realize, as the teachings of Islam would tell. â€Å"The white man wants black men to stay immoral, unclean, an ignorant†. (223). During the course of the novel the protagonists lists ways in which he has become invisible and the reaction he stirs within society because of his ‘blackness’, and as Ellis illustrates in the prologue of the book, â€Å"I live rent-free in a building rented strictly to whites, in a section of the basement that was shut off and forgotten during the nineteenth century.† (Ellis prologue).   The narrator goes on to state that light is a necessity for him since light to him is equivalent to truth (much as it was in Plato’s cave – so here the reader gains a sense of philosophy and of intelligence from the narrator). Throughout the course of the events that aid in defining the narrator the major first event occurs on his college’s campus.   The epiphany that the invisible man has during this time is that a black man whom he had once aspired to be like (i.e. to leave a legacy for his college) is not at all worthy of his aspiration but instead is merely a black man who has disguised himself enough to be able to ‘survive’ in the white dominated society.   Thus, the invisible man has his first exposure to mis-identities and the almost innate need that black men feel they have to become someone else in order to be a part of white society. In another act of deception in the book, the narrator (after a boiler room ‘accident’) is hospitalized; during a state of consciousness he discovers that he has been experimented upon with shock treatment without his knowledge.   This is a severe breach of his constitutional rights as well as his humanity.   Thus, the narrator finds out that he is not considered to be human, or even subhuman but rather a thing, an object, a less than real entity whose presence is a constant element of scorn and fear to the white race (at least through each of the experiences the invisible man has had with white people). Thus, not only is he destroyed through the perception of white people but through his own culture and race as Dr. Bledsoe has given the invisible man letters of recommendation whose intent was merely to waylay the invisible man from coming back to college and to not (as the invisible man had thought was their intention) to get him a job.   Therefore the invisible man is hoodwinked by a person whom he thought he could trust and this leads him to further epiphanies of himself and his race and either’s misconception. The novel is truly about self-awareness through objective perception.   Although the narrator finds brief solace with the Brotherhood and brother Jack (a black organization seeking to unite the black community in New York), this soon turns into another form of hate through jealousy.   The narrator’s position is replaced and he travels outside of Harlem only to return and find his friend dead.   Despite efforts to try and unite the Brotherhood again, the narrator is soon forced to recognized his grandfather’s maxim, â€Å"over come em with yeses, undermine em with grins, agree em to death and destruction. . . (Ellis). The novel is about a man whose invisibility is plagues by mis-identity, and whose overall undertones of outside prejudices define his life as well as his identity up to a point.   The ‘yes man’ that his grandfather advised him to do was a type of camouflage technique in which a man can exist wholly without being noticed by being, in essence, no one at all – by becoming invisible in order to survive.   The sacrifice that the invisible man does is to waylay his hopes and dreams in order to be nothing so that he may survive, not be gunned down by either Brother Jack or by the police.   In essence Ellis’ book contributed greatly to the recognition of the black consciousness and the state of the Civil Rights movement in order for blacks to not be invisible in order to exist. WORKS CITED Ellison, Ralph. The Invisible Man. Random House Inc. New York.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   1952. Gates, Henry Louis. The Signifying Monkey: A Theory of African-American Literary Criticism.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   New York: Oxford UP, 1988. Klein, Marcus. After Alienation: American Novels in Mid-Century. New York: World, 1964. McSweeney, Kerry. Invisible Man: Race and Identity. Boston: Twayne, 1988.

Markets and Society Essay -- Essays Papers

Markets and Society In his famous book, The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith descried the free market system as a self-regulating mechanism, which maximizes society’s wealth and well-being. Indeed, since the time of Adam Smith, the free market has been an incredibly successful system for improving society. This can be attributed to an increase in overall wealth, innovation, and efficient resource allocation. Unfortunately, the market system also suffered numerous drawbacks, the most important being the inequality and the inequality of opportunity which the system created. These inequalities are best observed in the credit, education, and labor markets. The question of whether the use of free markets is truly preferable method for improving society will be discussed. To elaborate, Adam Smith stated that man should not try to do good, but let good develop as a byproduct of self-interest. Indeed the principle of self-interest has been and always will be the driving force behind the market’s successes. However, since the majority of people do act in their own self-interest, competition develops in the market both among the buyers’ and among the sellers’. Regardless of whether the product is big and expensive like a car or small and cheap like an apple, the seller will want to sell it for the highest possible price and the seller will want the lowest possible price (with the exception of some luxury/status products). During the process of negotiation, the optimum equilibrium price, which is good for both parties, will be agreed upon. As a result, the consumer and producer surplus is maximized, leading to an overall increase in wealth. The greatest success of markets is probably in its steady increased in wealth. For example, in t... ...hich was created by the market system, the market, just like humans, is not perfect. It is certainly not a Panacea for all of societies problems (even Smith realized this when he warned that division of labor creates boring jobs). While the creation inequality is an unavoidable sideffect of its mechanism, the jury is still out on whether this flaw is fatal. Despite the fact that inequality continues to grow steadily, the poor cling to the chance that they will be the lucky few to make it to the top. The concept of self-interest continues to drive markets. While time will tell if the prost of prosperity outweigh the cons of inequality, one must admit that some problems, such as discrimination, must be solved outside of the market through government intervention. Markets should probably used in areas where the need for efficiency outweighs the need for â€Å"social justice.†

Circumstances Surrounding Osama Bin Laden’s Death

Joe Jumper was a normal everyday person like most adults. He would get up from bed and get ready for the day by showering and eating. Then he would drive off to Walmart where he worked as a cash register. But something was different about Joe everyone noticed that he carried around a bag and when asked what was inside he would never tell. So that being people thought he was weird and he was kind of an outcast. Joe didn’t care what those people thought because in the end he probably ended up saving them.What was in the bag was his suit of all black. His secret indentity was Night Rider. As Night Rider he patrolled the city at night of course or on his offdays. People really didn’t know who he was but were very thankful of him. So one night when he was out his head just started twitching and he could sense danger. So he looked around and for some reason it took him to the Vikings Stadium. He went inside and went to the Away team’s locker room. Well in there he foun d out the reason why he got the twitch. Aaron Rodgers.Night Rider loved the Minnesota Vikings so to help them out he spit fire near Rodgers which made him jump back. Then Night Rider snoke in the shadows and got behind Rodgers. Then he tied him up, taped his mouth shut, and locked him in the janitor’s room. The game was about to start so he went and found a good seat in stands. He watched the game and saw the Vikings blow out the Packers mainly because they couldn’t find Rodgers. So the Packers went home and Joe thought he forgot something somewhere in the stadium. Well I guess it doesn’t matter I better get home before someone notices me.

Planning Strategies Essay

Planning is the most basic managerial function. It helps managers identify opportunities, anticipate problems, and develop appropriate strategies and tactics. If done properly, planning identifies threats and opportunities, facilitates entrepreneurship and innovations, and fosters learning. Objectives help you attain our goal, establishing an overall strategy or achieving those goals, developing a comprehension hierarchy of plans to integrate and coordinate activities. Strategic planning focuses on the development of an organization’s mission and vision, goals, general strategies, and major resource allocations. Tactical planning focuses on the shorter term detailed decisions regarding what to do, who will do it and how to do it. Tactical planning specifies the actions for implementing strategic plans. Organizational diversification strategies on planning The primary organization level diversification strategies vary from single business strategy to dominant business strategy, related business strategy, and un-related business strategy. The complexity of strategic planning increases as an organization becomes more unrelated in terms of the range of differences in goods and services the firm provides and the differences in the markets it serves. Levels of strategy and planning Corporate level strategy focuses on the activities of various businesses (or product lines) within a parent organization. Business level strategy focuses on the operations and performance of a single business firm or strategic business unit. Functional level strategy focuses on the actions for managing each specialized area. It specifies how each function will contribute to the organizations business level strategies and goals. Strategic Business Level Planning Planning Process:- 1. Develop the organizations vision, mission and goals 2. Diagnose opportunities and threats 3. Diagnose strengths and weaknesses 4. Develop strategies 5. Prepare strategic plan 6. Prepare tactical plans 7. Control and diagnose the results of both strategic and tactical plans 8. Continue planning process

Anthro Study Of Weight Lifting essays

Anthro Study Of Weight Lifting essays For my fieldwork study I went to the University Recreation Center weight room. I began by observing and evaluating people inside the weight room. There were about thirty-five people working out. The ages ranged from eighteen-year-old freshmen to fifty year old Hofstra alumni. The males dominated in population by about eighty percent. Many ethnic groups spread throughout the room. The weight room consists of barbells, abdominal, back, shoulders, chest and leg machines. There are also nautilus machines, chin up bars, and a weight scale. People use the weight room mainly for good health but also for nice looks and big egos. There is usually at least one supervisor making sure everyone maintains safety with the weights. The supervisor consistently made sure weights werent in the way so people wouldnt trip over them. All people that were working cooperated with the rules because the weight room was very clean. People seemed very courteous to others. For the most part, people were wearing sweatpants, tee shirts, and sneakers. The music consisted of a rap FM radio station, Hot 97. I guess that is the music that most people appreciate. The music kept alive and pumped. There were roughly two to four people working out in each section. I noticed a group of four Asian people bench pressing; the rest consisted of white and black people. My overall perspective of my night in the weight room was that people all seem to be having fun. People were dancing, singing, and smiling in between their exercises. It seems to me that people really take an interest in improving their health and body tone. I noticed that people really struggle to do their limit and above, just to increase their body size. I also noticed that a lot of people go to the weight room to release stress and tension that they build up during the day. This says that the U.S. culture has become very conscious of health and body discipline. All different ages reac...

A Collection of Famous Quotations About Love

A Collection of Famous Quotations About Love What do Victor Hugo, Carl Jung, John Lennon, Louisa May Alcott, and Socrates have in common? The answer is that they have all commented on the ways of love. Saints, philosophers, psychologists, playwrights, and poets have left their  views of love for us to read. From ancient scrolls to classic plays, modern films, and songs, love is a timeless subject. Explore these  famous love quotes. Carl Jung Where love rules, there is no will to power; and where power predominates, there love is lacking. The one is the shadow of the other. Sigmund Freud Love and work are the cornerstones of our humanness. Victor Hugo The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved. Dante Alighieri He loves but little who can say and count in words, how much he loves. George Bernard Shaw Love is a gross exaggeration of the difference between one person and everybody else. John Barrymore Love is the delightful interval between meeting a beautiful girl and discovering that she looks like a haddock. Sigmund Freud We are never so helplessly unhappy as when we lose love. Lord Alfred Tennyson He that shuts love out, in turn, shall be Shut out from love and on her threshold lie, Howling in outer darkness. Louisa May Alcott Love is a great beautifier. Nat King Cole The greatest thing you ever learn is just to love and be loved in return. William Makepeace Thackeray It is best to love wisely, no doubt; but to love foolishly is better than not to be able to love at all. Socrates The hottest love has the coldest end. Henry Drummond You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have really lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love. John Lennon Love is the flower youve got to let grow. Thomas Moore But theres nothing half so sweet in life As loves young dream. George Moore The hours I spend with you I look upon as sort of a perfumed garden, a dim twilight, and a fountain singing to it. You and you alone make me feel that I am alive. Other men, it is said have seen angels, but I have seen thee and thou art enough. William Shakespeare If love be rough with you, be rough with love. Prick love for pricking you and beat love down. Margaret Atwood The Eskimos had fifty-two names for snow because it was important to them: there ought to be as many for love. Gloria Gaither Line by line, moment by moment, special times are etched into our memories in the permanent ink of everlasting love in our relationships. Nicholas Sparks You are every reason, every  hope, and every dream Ive ever had. Elisabeth Elliot You are loved with an everlasting love. And underneath are the everlasting arms. From the movie Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1 No measure of time with you will be long enough. But lets start with forever. If you enjoy reading popular quotes, see  Drake love quotes and Bob Marley quotes.

Obsessed With Ob- Words

Obsessed With Ob- Words Obsessed With Ob- Words Obsessed With Ob- Words By Sharon The other day, someone used a word that I hadnt heard in a long time: obstreperous. I love the way that rolls off the tongue. It means noisy, unruly, belligerent, cantankerous you get the picture. Obstreperous originates from the Latin prefix ob- (against) and strepere (to make a noise). A drunk being hustled out of a bar, while protesting loudly might be described as obstreperous. Other meanings for the prefix ob include contrary, against, towards or in the way of. It appears in several English words including: obdurate (from the Latin durare to harden) inflexible object (from the Latin iacere to throw) argue against obligate (from the Latin ligare to bind) bind legally obliterate (from the Latin litera letter) erase or destroy obnoxious (from the Latin noxius harmful) offensive obsession (from the Latin sidere to besiege) persistent preoccupation obstacle (from the Latin stare to stand still) a barrier obstinate (from the Latin struere- to stand) stubborn obstruct (from the Latin struere- to pile up) impede Variations of ob- include oc-, of-, op-, and o- in words such as: occasion (from the Latin cadere to fall) opportunity occlude(from the Latin claudere to shut) obstruct occult (from the Latin culere to cover) shut off from view occupy (from the Latin capere/cupare to seize) take possession of occur (from the Latin currere to run) happen offend (from the Latin fendere to hit) violate or cause pain offer (from the Latin ferre to carry) present or make available omit (from the Latin mittere to send) leave out opponent (from the Latin ponere to place) adversary More ob- words on Obnoxious Observations Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Dialogue Dos and Don'ts25 Russian Words Used in English (and 25 More That Should Be)90 Verbs Starting with â€Å"Ex-†

Personal skills development( study skills and book review) Essay

Personal skills development( study skills and book review) - Essay Example Some of the effective study skills that I learnt from different resources and also applied to my learning process include note taking, time management, active listening, revision planning, preparing answers for the exams etc. Almost every day, I encounter such situations where I find the implication of these techniques within my study premises and apply the appropriate technique to handle the situation in more effective manner. For instance, today I have to write to complete the weekly assignment that is to write an essay upon any topic of my own interest. The guidelines provided by Barret et al (2008, p169) help me a lot in completing this task. The researchers explain basic steps of essay writing and I follow these steps. After deciding the main topic, I analyzed its title and main thesis and then proceed towards collecting material for the essay. During the reading, I take noted and plan the structure of my essay. After writing the essay, I proofread and edit it to assure it is perfect structure wise and deliver my intended tone. In this way, I use a study technique and succeed to write a well organize essay following simple and helpful steps of essay writing. The day was very busy and I was feeling too much tired and pressurized because there is little time left to appear in the exams and there are lot of things to do. At this point, I use my time management skills that I learnt from the reading of Marks-Beal (2009, p45). At first, I listed out the tasks that I have to complete before the exams and then arranged these tasks according to first priority. After that I made the plan to start working on these tasks one by one. There were some writing projects and I have also to read certain books and other material to prepare for answering exams questions. I started with the reading and keep on taking notes that later help me during the writing work. There were too many things to do in short time and I started feeling

Mental Health Laws in the movies PRimal Fear and Nuts Essay

Mental Health Laws in the movies PRimal Fear and Nuts - Essay Example In the case of â€Å"Nuts† the defendant is declared to be mentally insane but seeks to establish that she is mentally competent to face trial. While these two films have a different orientation to the subject of legal insanity, both of them deal with the courtroom proceedings surrounding the establishment of this legal defense. In both these films, the defendants admit to their criminal acts, but it is the defense that puts forth the insanity plea in â€Å"Primal Fear†, while it is the prosecution that advances the insanity defense in challenging the defendant’s competence to stand trial. The film â€Å"Nuts† revolves around a call girl, Claudia, who has killed a client and has been declared to be insane by the resident jail psychiatrist. She comes from a respectable, middle class white family and her mother, a timid woman together with her stepfather, are eager to ensure that the psychiatrist’s finding is substantiated, so that their daughter is declared not guilty and the publicity involved with a public trial can be avoided. As the film progresses, Claudia’s hostile attitude which even extends to clipping her attorney on the nose, coupled with the huge chip she carries on her shoulder only appear to corroborate this diagnosis and make it even more difficult for Claudia to prove that she is mentally competent to stand trial for her crime. As the film unfolds, some of the character’s motivation and reasons for her lifestyle and attitude become clearer, one of them being the revelation about her stepfather’s abuse in childhood and h er mother’s tacit knowledge of the situation, while failing to address it. The film ends with Claudia successfully establishing her competence to stand trial, since her hostility and violent attitude is partly explained by her background. The film â€Å"Primal Fear† presents a defendant who is a vulnerable looking altar boy, accused of

Mutimedia System - Discussion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Mutimedia System - Discussion - Essay Example The productivity aspects center on the premise of bringing out more reasons for interactivity with the users so that the end goal would be to derive a benefit on the part of the people who make the best use of the very same. The aspects that are deemed as the good ones make use of the positives that are outlined as the significant ones from the aesthetics and user interaction perspectives. These aspects bring to light the notion of sound interactivity as well as maximum stay on the part of the users, which is also a very important yardstick for measuring the efficiency of the multimedia systems. The multimedia systems require hard work and proper planning by the designers who are usually doing their best to come out with a future looking outlook of the multimedia system. The bad aspects of multimedia systems depend a great deal on the way people perceive the very multimedia systems (Carroll 1996). Hence in order to understand what kind of multimedia systems would be seen as the effective ones, there is a need to comprehend what kind of solutions they are deriving for the sake of the users. If the solutions are tangible and the users feel stuck on to the designs for a long period of time, it is essential that aesthetics are kept a proper place within the mind of the designer when he is actually designing the very multimedia system. In essence it would be important to understand that the good use of the multimedia systems is essential as these offer maximum productivity and sound results, which is always taken in a very positive way. The bad use of the multimedia systems would mean that the product (the design itself) is not appreciated by the users and hence they would avoid such multimedia systems in the first place (Draper 1986). There is a proper need to adjust the time which a user would devote towards the multimedia systems so that the efficiency and effectiveness results could be achieved in a sound manner. Having said that it is also important that the

Imformative Speech Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Imformative Speech - Essay Example It is not recognized as a separate breed by the American Kennel Club. Since APBTs are popular for their agility, people make them competitors for dog fighting games. These prove to be very stubborn and persistent players, and show strict obedience to their masters. However, APBTs need training for play and socialization; otherwise, they can prove to be a little tricky to handle due to their strength, stubbornness, and agility. APBTs prove to be very playful with children. That is why people also allow them in their homes. Appropriate training makes them very polite with the children. They waggle their tails to show joy when guests arrive. They are also very loyal to their masters. They can give their lives to save their masters’. To conclude, APBTs are very obedient, playful, gentle, and persistent in nature. Their agility makes people make them participate in games. Their gentleness is a reason why people allow them with their children. Thus, they are a very popular breed among American

The Progress of Women in Pakistan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Progress of Women in Pakistan - Essay Example Muslim reformers like Sir Syed Ahmed tried their best to educate the Muslim women of the subcontinent (Virdee). There were a lot of hurdles for women, imposed by the society, and attainment of education in the sub-continent was not an easy task for women of that time. Many women participated in public rallies during the Pakistan movement and women leaders took active part in the movement along with the wives of the Muslim leaders. After independence, Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah became a symbol of inspiration for the Pakistani women. She was the sister of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, and was very politically as well as socially active. The provision of reserved seats for women existed all through the constitutional history of Pakistan. They had the right of suffrage from independence (D. S. Ahmed 32-42). But the quota was, at the beginning, almost negligible. The progress of women in Pakistan suffered a great set back in the 1980’s, during the dictatorship of Zia-ul -Haq. He formulated and imposed oppressive laws that ran counter to the true spirit of Islam as he introduced his own radical extremist approach to Islam. On the other hand, this dark period for the women of the country was followed by the election of the first woman to be the prime minister of an Islamic state; Benazir Bhutto which was a big achievement for a woman belonging to a predominantly patriarchal society. Another major hurdle in the way of the progress of Pakistani women has been, and still is to this day, the strong feudal system. Women are still seen as objects of use, or rather misuse in feudally administered areas. Statistics show that violence against women is the greatest in these areas. This first decade of the 21st century saw the condition of women in Pakistan improve significantly, with inductions of ladies being carried out in all three armed forces in operational capacity. The proportion of women in the parliament has seen sizeable increase compared to the yest eryears. Women have access to equal education and are being inducted in all fields on equal pays. But the patriarchal mindset has not subsided, and women face discrimination and gender based prejudice and harassment in the workplaces. EFFECTS OF THE LEGAL SYSTEM The constitution of Pakistan is mostly based on the principles of Islam. In its true essence, Islam is a very moderate religion that gave women the right to suffrage and inheritance when the west was still in the dark ages. The much debated ‘Hadood Ordinance’ is a section of the law that deals largely with the punishments regarding limitations imposed on men and women individually and together. Some of the clauses are a distortion of the true limitations present in the Holy book of the Muslims; the Quran. The requirement of four witnesses to prove a woman’s claim that she had been sexually molested raised a storm of protest and criticism by the more sane minded people of the civil society (Khan 34). The l aw said that a woman could be held guilty of adultery herself if she fails to produce 4 male witnesses. This law was amended under the women protection bill of 2006 under the orders of Pervez Musharraf (Prisoners".). The women protection bill came under a lot of scrutiny from the radical religious factions who charged Musharraf with meddling with

Imformative Speech Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Imformative Speech - Essay Example It is not recognized as a separate breed by the American Kennel Club. Since APBTs are popular for their agility, people make them competitors for dog fighting games. These prove to be very stubborn and persistent players, and show strict obedience to their masters. However, APBTs need training for play and socialization; otherwise, they can prove to be a little tricky to handle due to their strength, stubbornness, and agility. APBTs prove to be very playful with children. That is why people also allow them in their homes. Appropriate training makes them very polite with the children. They waggle their tails to show joy when guests arrive. They are also very loyal to their masters. They can give their lives to save their masters’. To conclude, APBTs are very obedient, playful, gentle, and persistent in nature. Their agility makes people make them participate in games. Their gentleness is a reason why people allow them with their children. Thus, they are a very popular breed among American

History of nursing development Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

History of nursing development - Case Study Example A major revolution in knowledge took place in 1950s when nurses started identifying and shaping necessary requirements for a separate knowledge body thanks to emergence, articulation and investigation of theories in nursing. Modern knowledge in nursing emphasizes research based on clinical questions, definition of concepts as well as variables, control of conditions and accurate instrumentation. According to (Thomas 1997) cited in Winters and Ballou, (2004), science can be defined broadly as â€Å"an intellectual process using all available mental and physical resources to better understand, explain, quantitate and predict normal as well as unusual natural phenomena.† This applied to nursing then it qualifies as a science and this way it is able to meet client requirements in biological, psychological and social terms. As a discipline, nursing utilizes both philosophical and scientific forms of inquiry; it combines social, empirical and applied elements of science and this because it concerns with both general and individual human experiences as well as the relationship between nurses and clients. It is therefore very important for nursing to stand out as an independent body of knowledge in science. Doctoral education in nursing will help prepare nursing scientists with better knowledge and skill to eradicate sources and impacts of scientific error in the field. Nurs es of today are not being cross trained with other fields, goals and research methods in nursing have become clearer. Therefore continuous support for extensive research at the level of PHD alongside peer review evaluation will effectively see the discipline do away with errors. In conclusion therefore the body of knowledge categorized as nursing has evolved over time and continues to improve for better service. It was initially viewed as subordinate with a lot of borrowed knowledge, later grow to formulate own theories and now is concerned with the whole human body hence

Export Trade of Bangladesh with Saarc Countries Essay Example for Free

Export Trade of Bangladesh with Saarc Countries Essay Introduction The policy of trade liberalization and free-market economy in the 1980s has created both challenges and opportunities for Bangladesh economy. The creation of the World Trade Organization has created new ways of enjoying the comparative advantage for Bangladesh. At the same time, the globalize trade scenario has opened up the structural limitations of Bangladesh economy, which needs immediate attention through the formulation of appropriate policy and actions. Bangladesh continues to suffer from a low-growth, high-poverty syndrome. However, Bangladesh has a large labor force willing to work for low wages resulting in a very competitive position for labor-intensive manufacturing exports. It has a large number of entrepreneurial businessmen who are able to develop and run small and medium scale enterprises. It has a sufficient amount of natural gas reserves which can potentially provide low-cost energy for a downstream industrial structure. With amicable and mutually beneficial regional cooperation, Bangladesh can be an ideal location for huge foreign direct investments, which can serve as a huge market for goods and services in the South Asia. The growth potential of Bangladesh is, however, limited by a high population density and limited availability of land, which results in a continuing pressure on food supply. The low-income level makes it difficult for households to save, thus constraining the domestic development efforts. The education and health levels are low, resulting in a labor force lacking the skills needed for a modern economy. In addition, the traditions of central control of the economy and the awkwardness of government policy continue to work as a deterrent against private sector investment. Within this global and regional trade scenario, this paper attempts to provide a synopsis of Bangladesh trade with the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries and of its policies regarding bilateral and global trade. The common structure of the economies and the same intensive price competitiveness could lead to a great deal of formal trade between Bangladesh and the SAARC countries, but this potential is yet to be realized. Bangladesh suffers from a huge trade deficit with India. This paper will lay special emphasis on the trade relations with India and the proposed South Asian Growth Quadrangle consisting of seven north-eastern states of India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. This paper will also examine the impact of GDP and of the exchange rate and its variability on the export and import growth of Bangladesh. This study will also examine the trade policies of Bangladesh with special reference to both nominal and effective tariff levels, and non-tariff barriers that hinder the growth of Bangladesh global trade with its neighboring countries. Intra-SAARC trade is very negligible. This study will estimate a gravity model of international trade to examine whether intra-SAARC trade is lower or higher than what is predicated by the economic model. The results of this model will help us understand the possibilities of trade creation and diversion effects resulting from the South Asian Preferential Trading Arrangements (SAPTA) among SAARC member countries. Gravity models of international trade estimate the trade flow as a function of variables that directly or indirectly affect the determinants of normal trade flow. The typical gravity model specification relates bilateral trade to income, population (or per capita income) and distance between the trading partners. If one finds a positive coefficient on the dummy variable indicating that two countries, both of which participate in the same preferential arrangement, trade more with one another than predicted by their incomes and distance, then the conclusion drawn is that the arrangement is trade-creating for its members. This paper will review the tariff concessions agreed upon by the SAARC member countries. Literature Review As it would appear, a significant part of the literature on the state of bilateral and regional economic and trade cooperation in South Asia deals with factors contributing to weak state of integration in the region. According to Sawhney and Kumar (2008), the underlying reasons originate from a combination of political, economic and institutional factors. A large segment of relevant literature deals with identifying opportunities that could emerge from closer cooperation among countries in the region. Three strands of discourse are commonly discernible in this context: firstly, identification of challenges and opportunities of cooperation through regional and bilateral trade and other agreements with participation of SAARC member countries; secondly, quantitative assessments of economic gains, welfare losses which could potentially originate from such cooperation; and thirdly, evidence†based assessments of trade potentialities at sect oral levels. Along with analysis at the regional level, some part of the literature has explored the relevant issues at the bilateral level. A number of studies have attempted to assess whether a bilateral route is more preferable to a regional one in advancing the level of trade and economic cooperation in the context of South Asia. In recent times, increasing attention is being given to the state of bilateral economic cooperation between Bangladesh and India. One nagging limitation in this connection has been the lack of adequate data on informal trade which has tended to constrain the scope of analysis pertaining to bilateral and regional trade in South Asia.9 Only a few studies have attempted to capture this important aspect of trade in the region (Bakht 1996; World Bank 2006). In a feasibility study on the prospects of bilateral FTA between Bangladesh and India, Bhuyan and Ray (2006) conclude that such agreement between the two countries would bring about substantial benefits to both partners. I n contrast to the multilateral arrangements, bilateral FTAs could be fast†tracked and would offer additional preferential treatment to the partner countries. Based on a review of bilateral FTAs, they conclude that this mode of trading arrangement has shown a better record of success in expanding trade between countries, and stimulates investment compared to regional or sub†regional integration schemes. De and Bhattacharyay (2007) argue that a bilateral FTA with India would enable Bangladesh to strengthen her foothold in the Indian market. In view of the NTBs that severely limit the opportunities of bilateral trade between these countries, the study suggests that an FTA with India would be the best way to address the issue of NTBs. Some of the other studies have put more emphasis on the regional route. Among those, Sawhney and Kumar (2008) hold that implementation of the regional free trade agreement (e.g. SAFTA) would result in positive outcomes for all member countries. The authors also conclude that regional cooperation through FTAs such as SAFTA could lead to higher volume of trade in goods and services through allocative efficiency and enhanced production capacity. Rahman (2001) identifies a number of issues which would need urgent attention if Bangladesh-India bilateral economic relation is to gain momentum including multilateralism versus bilateralism, sectoral versus comprehensive approach, duty†free market access, rules of origin (RoO), removal of NTBs and the need for policy coordination to stimulate investment. A number of studies have argued in favour of taking a holistic approach embracing cooperation in areas of trade, investment, transport and infrastructure in order to realise the potential opportunities of bilateral economic cooperation involving SAARC member countries (CPD 2004). However, in articulating a contrasting view, Baysan et al. (2006) argue that the SAFTA makes sense only in the context of a much broader strategy of creating a larger preferential trade area in the region that would need to encompass China and also members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Assuming that the SAFTA agreement was there to stay, the authors recommend a number of steps towards promotion of intra†regional trade in a manner that minimizes likely trade diversion costs and maximizes potential benefits. In this context, some studies have highlighted the positive impact in terms of growth and poverty reduction through regional cooperation by citing other RTAs such as South East Asian and European regional entries (Sawhney and Kumar 2008). In recent times, a number of studies have tried to quantify the potential benefits arising from cooperation among SAARC countries, both at regional and bilateral levels. A number of studies have tried to estimate the degree of market access under the preferential treatment. Mukherji (2000) estimates that the annual value of all imports that entered the SAARC member countries under SAPTA preferences amounted to approximately USD 480 million at the end of the 1990s. According to his estimates, the share of intra-regional imports covered by the SAPTA preferences was the highest for Pakistan (39.6 per cent), followed by Nepal (35.2 per cent), India (30 per cent), Bhutan (17 per cent) and Sri Lanka (12 per cent). In contrast the import value coverage of Bangladesh and Maldives was relatively low. Based on import data for FY1997-98, highest revenue loss was sustained by India (USD 2.45 million), whereas that of Bangladesh was relatively modest (USD 0.02 million) In a more recent study undertaken to evaluate the performance of SAPTA that also explored the prospects of the then proposed SAFTA, Hirantha (2004) applied the well- known gravity model to estimate potential benefits of an FTA in South Asia.11 The study finds that there will be substantial trade creation in the region under SAPTA with no significant trade diversion impact. The estimated results for 2002 showed that bilateral trade between any two pairs of SAARC member countries would be about 10.5 times higher under the SAPTA compared to two otherwise similar countries in absence of an RTA. Moreover, according to estimated coefficients, not only would intra†regional trade be enhanced, but this would also lead to increased bilateral trade with non†members. This result contradicted earlier study of (Hassan 2001) which indicated that lowering of trade among SAARC countries would not result in substantial benefits and would lead result in reduced trade with non†members.12 Rahman et al. (2006) supported the earlier findings of Hirantha (2004) and argued that there would be significant intra-bloc export creation as a result of SAPTA; though there would be net export diversion.13 However, results of this study showed that Bangladesh, India and Pakistan were expected to gain by joining the RTA, while Nepal, Maldives and Sri Lanka would be negatively affected. Given the fact of Bangladesh’s export opportunities in India, a number of studies have tried to identify potential market opportunities for Bangladeshi sectors/products particularly in the Indian market. Based on analysis of secondary data and stakeholders’ perception, Bhuyan and Ray (2006) identify a set of potential exportable products from Bangladesh that could enjoy export potential in the Indian market. These were fish products (including shrimp), leather goods, cement, light engineering items, jute products, pharmaceutical products, ceramic products and processed agro†products. The authors recommended that an FTA with India would enable Bangladeshi producers and exporters to have access to the much needed raw materials and semi-finished products at competitive price. In yet another study, applying a computable general equilibrium (CGE) framework, Siriwardana and Yang (2007) estimate that a number of Bangladeshi items, including beverages and tobacco, fabricated metal products, textile and leather, petroleum and other minerals, food manufactures, and vegetables and fruits sector, will gain substantially in the Indian market both in the short†run as well as long†run, if import duties are abolished by India. In a recent study, the World Bank (2006), however, finds that the prospect for trade between Bangladesh and India, through a bilateral FTA, to be rather limited. Analysis undertaken for a number of items including cement, light bulbs, bicycle rickshaw tyres and sugar indicate that if a bilateral FTA is signed with India it will be India which would be able to expand her exports to Bangladesh; Bangladesh’s export potential in the Indian market is rather limited. The study points out the reasons being (a) faster productivity growth in India bolstering India’s comparative advantage in competing goods, and/or (b) tariff and NTBs constraining Bangladesh’s major exports (RMG) as well as minor exports which have experienced rapid growth in other markets. The study argues that in a situation where an Indian supplier gets advantage of captive protected market under the bilateral FTA with Bangladesh, there was likelihood of collusion amongst Indian producers or between them and Bangladeshi importers which would reduce some of the welfare gains. According to this study, Bangladesh’s interests would be better served through multilateral liberalization. In similar vein, Bandara and Yu (2003) also conclude that SAFTA would lead to a marginal 0.21 per cent gain in real income for India, 0.03 per cent gain for Sri Lanka, 0.10 per cent loss for Bangladesh, while the rest of South Asia would gain 0.08 per cent in terms of real income. More recently, Raihan (2008) used the WITS/SMART model and carried out simulation exercise in view of various scenarios under the SAFTA accord (removal of intra†regional tariff for all countries). The study makes an attempt to quantify export potentials of Bangladesh in the Indian market. The modeling exercise identifies export items of Bangladesh at disaggregated HS 6 digit level which were likely to expand in the Indian market under the SAFTA. The study finds that under the SAFTA Bangladesh’s exports to Indian market would rise by only about USD 78 million. Top 30 products (at the 6 digit HS code), together, account for 83 per cent of the increase in Bangladesh’s export earnings (USD 64.9 million). A review of literature indicates that the majority of studies have tended to focus on tariff barriers and the impact of removal of duties on regional and bilateral trade. However, the presence of large number of NTBs was also recognised as a major constraint in these and other studies. Rahman (2010) identifies salient features of the NTBs prevailing in South Asian trade, and examined cross†country experiences in addressing the NTBs. The study also documented how the NTBs are being addressed within the SAFTA architecture. Particularly, an in†depth look at NTB†related issues has become even more necessary in view of the recent debates, and the modalities that are being put in place to address those. An important recent study by Razzaque (2010), which combines qualitative analysis with three different types of quantitative analyses (gravity model, CGE model and GTAP) argues that the weaker economies in the SAARC region are expected to lose significantly from the SAFTA agreement, at least in its current form. The study shows that the losses for the weaker economies, particularly for Bangladesh and Nepal, arise from increased imports from regional partners, nominal increase in exports within the region and loss of tariff revenue. Results of estimation carried out in this study based on WITS/SMART simulation, are similar to that of Bandra and Yu (2003), and shows that SAFTA will lead to an increase in Bangladesh imports from the region of about USD 400 million compared to rise in regional exports of only about USD 33 million. Results of the study also show that only India stands to experience regional export gains that would be higher than imports from regional sources. The gravity simulation results suggest that SAFTA would influence regional trade flows mainly by increasing India’s exports, and Bangladesh and Nepal’s imports. For every USD 100 worth of new export trade almost USD 78 would accrue to India, whereas share of Bangladesh, Maldives and Bhutan would be insignificant. The authors recommend that LDC members of the SAFTA should continue with their respective policy reforms, and will need to address supply-side bottlenecks in order to benefit from the increasingly larger regional market. In another study, Raihan and Razzaque (2007) ran two different simulations using the GTAP model and database. In the first scenario, the authors depict a case in which all member countries eliminate their intra-regional tariffs but retain their respective tariffs with the rest of the world intact. In the second scenario, in addition to SAFTA tariff cuts, the authors let Bangladesh slash its tariffs against the rest of the world by 50 per cent. Comparisons of the various scenarios give an opportunity to examine trade diversion effects when determining the overall welfare effects for Bangladesh. The results show that full tariff liberalisation under SAFTA alone would lead to a net welfare loss of USD 184 million for Bangladesh India, Sri Lanka, and the rest of South Asia in this scenario register welfare gains, as trade creation effects dominate trade diversion effects. However, when Bangladesh undertakes MFN (most favoured nation) tariff cuts by 50 per cent along with the full tariff liberalisation for SAFTA members, it stands to gain by USD 84.1 million. In the latter exercise, the positive welfare gains of other countries were maintained. ADB and UNCTAD (2008) finds that the welfare gains, based on CGE analysis, for Bangladesh are likely to be one of the highest. According to the study, export gains for Bangladesh in SAFTA market under the phase†I of liberalisation (2008-09) would be significant (38.08 per cent to South Asia), but not as high as the peak export growth to SAFTA seen by other countries. The study further contends that Bangladesh will be able to increase her global exports by about 4.3 per cent by 2016 on account of SAFTA. A number of authors have highlighted the importance of better regional connectivity to foster and promote intra-regional trade and deepen economic cooperation among the regional countries. Rahmatullah (2010) points out in this connection that due to lack of integration of the transport system in South Asia, logistics costs are very high and ranges between 13†14 per cent of GDP, compared to 8 per cent in the US. Whilst many studies have focused on aggregate level gains and losses originating from regional cooperation among SAARC countries, those focusing on identifying potential opportunities of bilateral trade between Bangladesh and India, at a disaggregated level, as was pointed out above are few. Additionally, in view of the rapid changes in the structure of bilateral trade in recent times, a closer look at the relevant issues has become even more urgent. Since the sensitive lists have emerged as a major area of concern, an in†depth look at the Indian sensitive list, from the Bangladesh perspective, is also called for in order to identify the fall opportunities of market access by Bangladesh in the Indian market. The issue of signing bilateral FTA as a more comprehensive and speedier tool of enhancing trade among SAARC countries has been highlighted by a number of authors. de Mel (2010) points out in this connection that negative lists of India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are substantially larger than those in the respective bilateral trade agreements. Echoing this, Weerakoon (2010) observes that SAFTA has already been overtaken by bilateral process in many instances, and would appear to be in danger of being further upstaged by bilateral and other regional initiatives. A review of literature thus, in general indicates that under the existing scenarios the potential benefits originating from regional trade cooperation among the SAARC countries would not be substantial. Bangladesh’s gains also appear to be inconsequential. The idea of bilateral FTA has been examined by some, but here also the positive impact in terms of additional trade flows is rather limit. However, one common limitation of most of these studies had been that these are based on static analysis. One way of addressing this is to examine and analyse the data with regard to the dynamics of trade, its composition and putting under scrutiny factors contributing to and factors constraining the trade flows.

A Definition of Audit Independence

A Definition of Audit Independence Independence is fundamentally an attitude of mind for exercise of professional judgment and defined as an abstract concept that is easily subject to misinterpretation. Quality of integrity, objectivity, honesty, and impartiality are included in the concept to characterize independence. Independence is also a basic element to the reliability of auditors reports. However, it does not mean that an auditor must be free of all economic, financial, and other relationships to comply with independence. Two aspects are covered: Independence of mind. It is essential state of mind to enable an auditor to give his opinion or conclusion based on professional judgment without being affected by compromising influences. Independence in appearance. It refers to a perception of a third party regarding the auditors independence. Circumstances and relationships which are incompatible with independence would lead third party and users of financial statement to make conclusion that there is unacceptably high risks of auditors independence has been impaired. An auditor should maintains independence of mind but also portrays to others he is independent in an audit engagement. For this to be achieved, he or she should avoid those threats to independence in order to gain perception as truly independent from third party and users of financial statements in order to them confident that the auditors reports are credible. Definition of Auditors Independence: The concept of auditors independence is an issue that has been debated from many perspectives since the birth of the profession. Salehi1 stated that the auditors independence has been defined by International Auditing Practices Committee of the International Federation of Accountants as The auditor should be straight forward, honest and sincere in his approach to his professional work. He must be fair and must not allow prejudice or bias to override his objectivity. He should maintain an impartial attitude and both be and appear to be free of any interest which might be regarded, whatever its actual effect, as being incompatible with integrity and objectivity. How has the issue of audit independence evolved? During 19th century, the initial concept of audit independence arose fundamentally in British that the primary responsibility of professional accountants and auditors was to take charge and safeguard investments in existing and former colonies of the British Empire by those absentee owners and they could provide professional services to different investor groups. Auditors were strictly forbid from making investment and involving in the business that they audited. The audit independence during this era was at weak level as the scope of professional services could be broad and auditors were allowed to perform bookkeeping and financial statements preparation for the entities they audited. There was an economic shift from capital coming primarily from foreign sources to capital deriving primarily from domestic sources that led to a change in concept of audit independence during the late 19th and early 20th century. This shift related to the emergence of large American corporations and also a change in the understanding of nature and purpose of Business Corporation. During this time, accounting and auditing was essential to valuation of the proprietary interest of the corporation. There was a need to initiate periodic balance sheets to effectively distribute the retained profit to proprietary interest. By this, auditors primary responsibility shift from serving absentee ownership interest to collective proprietary interest instead. Normally, large banks or wealthy investors acted as domestic shareholders to compose collective proprietary interest. However, it tends to be more general public involved in stock ownership. The concept of audit independence was facing another alteration during the New Deal era when Securities Exchange Commissions (SEC) being created. Standards for reporting and auditing have been established by SEC to place effects on audit independence. As a result, primary duty of accountants and auditor shifted to professional standards for preparation and audit of financial statements. During this stage, objectivity and neutrality were essential concept for accountants and auditors in reporting on financial position and operation performance, rather than loyalty to a particular party. Until 1970s, the concept of audit independence has been eroded. Public accounting firms tend to modify objective and neutral focus and advocating clients regarding accounting and auditing matters (non-audit services) at the time FASB established to be the independent accounting authority. With a rapidly growing business environment, large public accounting firm capable to provide wide range of business services to their clients and the revenues derived which outpaced the traditional auditing services fees. Increasing competitive marketplace for auditing services accompanied by complexity of international business practices led some auditors shifted from objective and neutral focus to preferable in becoming trusted advisor of client even though independence issue had been stressed by ASB of AICPA during that period. In the mid- 1980s, internal audit activities were regarded as an opportunity area to be expanded by CPA firms for new and existing clients. However, most firms encountered obstacles in rendering outsourcing services to its clients which were resistance from internal audit departments and concern over independence of audit committee. External auditor rendering consulting services may enhance audit quality because he or she would be provided with considerable knowledge, operations and industry of the audit client. Anandarajan et al.2 stated that The greater the external auditors insight into the client, the better their ability to understand business transactions and identify key audit risks. External auditor has a chance to identify and evaluate the clients business issues since they involved in the day-to-day basis operations of client while they were performing consulting services. This would take advantage for subsequent quality of the audit. C. Richard3 mentioned several ways to enhance auditor independence prior to Sarbanes- Oxley Proposals Legal prohibition of financial interests in client companies. It has been the essential universal auditor independence principle that followed by both the SEC and public accounting profession. Elaboration of the rules and reporting structures have been formulated for professional employees of accounting firms including their direct family members to disclose any type of financial interests. Rotation of audit appointments Sarbanes-Oxley required that individual auditors rotate off a client on periodic basis to reduce the threats to independence to happen. However, it has been objected by auditors by claiming on loss of high start-up cost associated with the initial years of audit if rotation of auditors was being enforced. Peer Review This means reviewing the work of an audit firm by another auditor. It was gradually become common in many countries. An independent auditor-appointing and fee-setting body. This would help to enhance auditors independence judgment and action by reduce the ability of client management in determining the scope of audit and remuneration of auditors. In year 2002, the business failures of several large firms in United States such as Enron, WorldCom and the like led to significant accounting scandals that shock the market. Subsequently, several officials disclosed to the public that they had intentionally misled investors and this had trigger to question the role and integrity and doubt on independence of these companies auditors. The far-reaching legislation resulted from these accounting scandals was the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) and this SOX also created Public Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), a professional body for the purpose of establish standards (auditing, ethical and independence standards) to police the auditors behavior. Strengthened independence rules and placing audit committee to oversee the auditors engagement are covered in the further consequences. The enforcement of SOX had transformed corporate governance in United States and had a profound influence abroad. Auditors independence was also an important concern in SOX. Section 201 list out those prohibit services to be provided by registered auditor to its clients. The list comprised of non-audit services including bookkeeping, financial information systems design and implementation, and valuation services. It is argued that auditor independence was being negatively affected by non-audit fees, supported by Enron and other scandal-ridden companies case. However, it is not guaranteed that prohibition of certain non-audit services will effectively increase auditors independence. Another important event was the independence standards previously establish by the AICPA and SEC through the Independence Standards Board has been recognized by PCAOB. It is under suspicious that whether these rules under SOX enforced were sufficient to meet publics perception on auditors independence. After the enforcement of SOX rules, it is necessary to have a proper reconsideration of the concept of auditor independence. A new concept of auditors independence might arose which in favor of reasserting former objective and neutral concept to accounting profession rather than provide non-audit services to clients. Emergence of ongoing accounting and auditing scandals could be viewed as a strong evidence to prove that independent auditors are not appropriate in providing non-audit services to its clients. But, this issue was not addressed in SOX or PCAOB independent standards. Another issue regarding audit independence was that client management may still hold the ability to influence scope of audit engagement and audit fees. Even though Section 301 of SOX has clearly specified that audit committee directly responsible for the appointment, compensation, and oversight of independent auditors, but there was no specific enforcement mechanism guaranteed that client management will not involved whether directly or indirectly in selection of auditors, determination of scope of audit and audit fees. In order for this new concept of auditors independence to be effective, two propositions are needed to be incorporated: Independent auditors should not subject to provide non-audit services to client. Management should be strongly forbidden by legislation in determining the scope of audit and audit fees to avoid unclear influences that management might exert to auditors. C. Richard3 stated without a transition to this concept, auditor independence standards will most likely be primarily cosmetic and will not provide sufficient assurance that auditors are in fact independent from client management. If this happened, may lead auditors independence appears to be unnecessary and auditing will no longer be trusted by third party and other users of financial statements since it unable to meet public perception on assurance. To create a demand for audit services, auditors must convince the market of their independence and also their competence. It has long been recognized that a reputation for independence is an auditors greatest professional asset and that any negligence on an auditors part will leave them open to severe penalties in the form of, inter alia, a loss of reputation (Owens 1941, Ashley 1942, Johnstone et al. 2001). Reputation serves as a collateral bond for independence, in that the reputation of an auditor found to be less independent than expected will be damaged and the present value of his or her audit services will be reduced (Watts and Zimmerman 1986). Reputation and independence of auditor is much important nowadays if compared to previous year due to many corporation scandals that happens before. There is hard to clarify and determine the auditor independence. There are 2 types of auditor independence which is independence in fact and independence in appearance. Independence in fact exists when the auditor is actually able to maintain an unbiased attitude throughout the audit, whereas independence in appearance is the result of others interpretations of this independence. The issues that happens currently in Asia country about audit independence issues are public feels that the definition of independence is unclear, expectation gap leads to problem of audit independence, offering non audit service will reduce audit independent, the more longer audit tenure, the more audit can resist management pressure, Definition independence is unclear The current issue happen in Asia country about auditor independence is public feel that the meaning, the definition of independence is ambiguity. Public do not know how to identify the independence of especially the new client. This auditor independence has been subject to vigorous debate in recent years due to major corporate collapses and perceived audit failures, such as Cendant, Enron, Global Crossing, WorldCom and Xerox in the United States. Which audit firm should public trusted since Big Five previously Arthur Anderson also having the problem of audit independence? Expectations Gap Other than that, there is a research the auditor independence concept in Taiwan be influence by audit expectations gap literature. The expectations gap indicates differences in views on the nature and role of auditing between client and auditors. There is a different interpretation makes independence concept issues has arise. Financial users expect too much for auditors work, pubic will think that auditors independence has impair due to expectation gap. To solve this problem, to rebuild the trust of public on the issues of audit independence, a number of local and international independence pronouncements and regulations have been revised and reissued. Non Audit Services (NAS) There is a research shows that there is a significant negative relation between non audit services and the extent of client agreement with the auditor over financial reporting issues. Produce non-audit services to client will reduce audit independence. The ability of the auditors to resist client management pressure in auditor-client negotiation over financial reporting issues is important to investigate because it concerns over the issues audit quality and the effectiveness of auditors and will reduce management discretion if auditor do not have ability to resist client management pressure. The ability of the auditor to resist client management pressure in negotiations over financial reporting issues is likely to be weaker when the extent of NAS provided to a client increases. But the ability of the auditor to resist client management pressures in negotiations over financial reporting issues is likely to be increasing as auditor tenure increases. When requiring auditing in NAS, clients are less likely to agree with a Big 5 auditor, but are more likely to agree with auditors perceived by industry specialists. Because of specialist has more greater knowledge of the clients industry, specialists should have greater ability to resist client management pressure about financial reporting issues Auditor independence may be impaired when auditors pursue economic self-gain, instead of serving the public interest during auditor-client negotiation. Audit fees The current study uses the extent of non-audit services (NAS) measured as a percentage of non-audit fees over total fees received from the client, because non-audit fees are increasing and are often significantly higher than audit fees and this has become the major source of revenue for most large audit firms. This argument implies that the auditors independence may be impaired when the auditor and client negotiate issues over financial statement reporting, and thus reduce the relative power of the auditor to resist client management pressure because of the auditors dependence on NAS services fees received from the client. The business community countered that annual audit fees would be increased substantially as a result of the minimum audit fee schedule especially for the small companies. They also charged that a minimum fee structure to the client which it would disagree with the principle of pricing based on free competition. Therefore, some large or more efficient firms which would not allowed charging less compared with other small audit firm. Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants and the EFAA (1998) suggest that client size which is measured from size of fees could raise doubts as to independence, but do not state what constitutes an unacceptable proportion of total fees. However, the EFAA clearly states that, the total fee from one client should not exceed a certain percentage of the total turnover of the audit firm. In Malaysia, Noordin (1990) expresses his concern that a code of ethics should provide guidance to limit over-dependence on one client for revenue. The ICAEW has ruled that the size of audit fees of a major client should not exceed 15 per cent of total fees to avoid impairment of auditor independence. This 15 per cent criterion has also been the level generally used in Australia at which auditors have to consider their independent position and there is even a suggestion that the 15 per cent is too low. The Cohen Commission (AICPA, 1978) directed attention to the importance of size of audit fees as one of the crucial independence-related issues. Burton and Fairfield (1982) point out that there may be a close linkage between management assurance service and size of audit fees. As the provision of management assurance service increases, the auditor is likely to be more dependent on the client due to the size of the fees generated. It also seems plausible that smaller audit firms will be more dependent on the client if the size of audit fees generated is a significant proportion of its overall revenue. Size of audit firm and the level of competition in the audit services market Further, in a highly competitive environment, the auditor is also perceived to be less independent due to the increased likelihood of losing a client and the revenue the client generates. Thus, the adverse effects of MAS, the size of the audit firm and competition on a third partys problem of auditor independence actually arise because of the linkage of these variables to audit fees. Basically, a positive relationship means that the larger the audit firm size, the greater the auditors independence. They prove that large firms are more resistant to client pressures, thus maintaining higher audit independence. In fact, it has been argued that large firms, due to their very size, may be more able and motivated to provide better audits. However, as pointed out by Goldman and Barlev (1974), one should not conclude that large CPA firms are immune to pressures from their clients. Competition among the offices of some large firms for clients may be as great as the competition among small, independent CPA firms. More to the point, the few court cases which challenge the assumption that CPA firms acted independently indicate that the use of a large CPA firm is no guarantee of its ability to resist pressures from clients, as happened with Arthur Andersen and Enron. Tenure of an audit firm An audit firms tenure, which is the length of time it has been filling the audit needs of a given client, has been mentioned as having an influence on the risk of losing an auditors independence. Most writers, who discuss the relationship between tenure and audit independence, support this view. A long association between a corporation and an accounting firm may lead to such close identification of the accounting firm with the interests of its clients management that truly independent action by the accounting firm becomes difficult. Some critics invoke the vested interest argument to support the assertion that auditors might compromise their independence to gain continuing audit engagements, the prospect of raising audit fees if the client firm expands, and opportunities of providing non-audit services later. Example, Enron and Arthur Anderson has associate for 15 years and does not change any other audit firm. In my opinion, the definition of auditors independence is very subjective until today. This is no absolute answer to justify the issue. However, we, as a human able to do are to rectify and improve the standard and regulation to solve the current issue. The standard and regulation are created by us and as a human is imperfect at everything. Sometimes we created the thing and did not consider the further weaknesses. We need to keep improve and rectify it while we face the cases and issues. A country used few hundred years to create and revise a better constitution. In addition, the auditing standard only used few decades to create the act and policy. We need more time to revise it to be a better regulation. Besides, the scandal or cases happened like Enron would scandalize the accounting and corporate level, but it also leave an opportunity to the standard board to revise and restrict the standard. Like the common law of the U.K., that is a lot of cases behind the law could guide the person to make a justice or correct judgment. The cases like Enron could be guidance for accounting and auditing standard board like Sarbanes-Oxley Act and Audit Oversight Board. Sarbanes Oxley Act was started to more emphasize the auditors independence and the occurrence of Audit Oversight Board was established to oversee the performance of audit team and audit committee. However, sometimes the constitution and standard board are intentionally to show themselves have perform their responsibility and task instead of truly rectify the problem. The standard is like a pendulum. The best of the standard is the middle of pendulum. Sometimes a case happened and the pendulum is out of the middle, may be moved a bit to the left side. But the pendulum was shaken by the constitution and standard board compel to push it to the right side instead of push it back to the middle. Their action was more to prove themselves have performed their responsibility to get the confident from the audience. I f a case happened again, they would push it to the left side. Besides, the person of the constitution and standard board is being paid the high salary by government or sponsor. They need to perform something to prove their responsibility to continue to hold his or her position inside the organization and get the pay rather than rectifies the issue. As an example, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act had restricted the audit firms need to rotate the clients every certain period. It could increase the cost for auditors to start-up the new clients (Baker, 2005). Furthermore, the ICAEW has ruled that the size of audit fees of a major client should not exceed 15 per cent of total fees to avoid impairment of auditor independence (Noordin, 1990). This enforcement is to reduce the risk of auditors independence issue but it would restrict the revenue of the audit firms. Although audit firms are providing the professional services, it is still a profit-oriented firm. The middle of pendulum is the standard could maintain auditors independence and audit firms profit, but the revision of standard is already pushed the pendulum from left side to the right side or vice versa. Besides, the expectation gap between independence of auditors with financial report users is still occurring until today. This issue is unavoidable because the perception of audit incentive between auditors with financial report users is different. The perception from shareholders is they expect the auditors could give an assurance to the financial statements which is issued by the management. The perception from auditors is they provide the audit service to the client and the management would pay the audit fees. The audit fees are one of the issue could influence the auditors independence. This occur the conflict of interest between the auditors, shareholders and management. Although the auditor is independent, the financial reports users are always believe the unqualified audit report and invest to the company. However, the unqualified audit report is not absolutely eliminated the risk and fraud of the company, especially the inherent risk likes going concern issue. The auditors ar e difficult to justify the going concern issue in the audit report because the auditors are difficult to know the internal information from management. The auditors only can provide the reasonable assurance to the clients financial statements. This is mean the auditors does not guarantee or confirm the financial statements are true and fair view and they only can provide the audit opinion based on the information from management assertion. Although this kind of clarification is stated in audit report, it is still a lot of financial report users believe the auditors could eliminate the fraud. If the company is collapsed, the shareholders would directly think that is the auditors fault and they are not independent. Furthermore, the accounting scandal like Enron already worsened the confidence of financial report users toward the auditor independence and audit report. The expectation gap to auditor independence become larger because the failure of Arthur Anderson. The audit fees are the biggest challenge to the auditors independence. In the degree of professional ethic, the auditors should provide the professional audit service as primarily objective of the firms rather than profit orientation. The professional behaviour included independence, honest, competent and others. However, it is difficult for auditors to follow this behaviour because the nature of business. The audit firms could not survive without the profit. With the fierce competition in auditing, the auditors would intend to fulfil the client request to avoid losing a client and getting a better audit fees. The non-audit service and management audit service are one of the solutions to get a higher audit fees. These kinds of extra services could maintain the client relationship with the audit firms. Unfortunately, the accounting scandals and the restriction for audit independence decrease the profitability of audit firms. The competition becomes fiercer and the independence of audi tors is weakened. Besides, the size and tenure of the audit firms could affect the auditors independence. The larger firms could have the larger tenure and resistance to the management influence to the auditors independence (Goldman and Barlev, 1974). Like Big 4, they always serve the bigger clients than the smaller audit firms, they seem like have more authority to negotiate the audit engagement with the clients. The losses of some clients would not strongly affect the total revenue of the audit firms, but for the smaller audit firms are vice versa. The proportion of total fees to the revenue would strongly influence the audit independence (EFAA, 1998). The smaller audit firms have the greater proportion of total fees to the revenue, but it is still have some exemption cases like Enron and WorldCom. Therefore, according to the restriction for auditors independence from Sarbanes-Oxley Act, PCAOB and ICAEW, the smaller audit firms have the greater possibility to influence by the clie nt in term of audit independence. According to the statements above, it have many issues could affect and weaken the audit independence. However, the audit independence would not influence the demand of the auditing. The auditors independence only strengthens the reputation of the audit firms and has a competitive advantage in the audit market. The financial report users would not invest to a company that is not audited by the auditors. The agency theory could prove that the demand of audit is still necessary to the shareholders. The shareholders invest to a company and hire the employees to manage the operation and prepare the financial statements. The management would hire the auditors to issue an audit report to verify the financial statements. The information asymmetry and conflict of interest could happen between the shareholders and management. The shareholders invest a company is to get the return of their investment, but for the management is to get the higher salary. These kinds of incentives are the main is sue to the conflict of interest and information asymmetry. Therefore, the audit is necessary to reduce the information asymmetry and conflict of interest between them. Furthermore, some of the countries do not state the mandatory regulation that the companies financial statements must be audited and issued an audit report by the auditors. The shareholders mostly would request the management to hire the auditors to audit the financial statement and issue an audit report because they know the importance of auditing for their company. Moreover, the audit independence is strongly depending to the both auditors personality and management behaviour. The professional ethic and monetary incentive are the intersection between auditors and management. One of the weaknesses is the standards like Sarbanes-Oxley Act only emphasize the restriction of auditors independence and it does not emphasize the management interruption and influence to the auditors. Although an auditor has a strong independence but it could influenced by the management in term of monetary benefit to the auditor and his firm. Therefore, the current auditing standards should revise and more specify the both regulation of auditors and management to restrict the audit engagement. It seem like the auditing standards have a lot of the flaw in the current regulation, but it is the normal phenomena because the standard is imperfect same like the human. This is the reason for us to keep improve and revise the standard to become better and better. Besides, the standard is necessary in auditing because it is the guidance to the auditors to perform their competent task and provide the independent audit opinion. Although the standard is impossible to absolutely eliminate the fraud and the failure of audit independence, it could minimize the possibility and the frequency to happen the issues or cases like Enron and WorldCom. Hopefully the further exploration and rectification by standard board could improve the auditing standard and recover the confidence to the audit independence from the public.

Symbolism in “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” Essay -- Literary Analy

In 1798, Samuel Taylor Coleridge published his poem â€Å"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner†. Several editions followed this, the most notable being the 1815 version, which included a gloss. This poem has grown to become well known and debated, especially concerning the message that Coleridge was attempting to impart. The interpretation of the poem as a whole and of various characters, settings, and objects has been the subject of numerous essays, papers, books, and lectures. There are approximately four things that are major symbols in this work, along with the possibility that the structure itself is symbolic. In order to best determine what these things symbolize in â€Å"The Rime†, one must look at what Coleridge considered a symbol to be and then analyze the text accordingly. James McKusick accomplishes this first task deftly, intertwining Coleridge’s own writings into his essay and then elucidating upon them so that the reader may understand Coleridge’s views, which should then influence how the poem is interpreted. In this, own discovers that Coleridge felt that to be a symbol, the object in question must be humble and of everyday life, while â€Å"bear[ing] witness to the presence of the Eternal.† The process of creating a symbol was two-fold in that â€Å"poetic images emerge fully formed from the †¦ imagination, but they do not become symbols, laden with †¦ meaning, until they are appropriated and reconstituted by the awareness of a reader† (McKusick 223). Thus, the purpose of a symbol was to convey the Eternal. One other important f eature of Coleridge is that in creating a symbol, he often uses nature and its elements, as can be seen in â€Å"The Rime† (Bostetter 242, Perkins 433). Depending on the interpretation of the poem as whole w... ... the poem and possibly implicate that it is also the center of the universe as well (Dilworth). Interpretation of a literary work is often difficult to determine, but the author often leaves many hidden clues to help the reader along. Symbols are one of the primary features used by authors in this endeavor and Coleridge was no different in writing â€Å"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner†. Many other symbols besides the four major ones discussed exist, along with other literary characteristics possibly acting as symbols or simply assist in exposing the message the author wanted to divulge. Ultimately, the beauty of literature is the fact that each person may perceive it differently and not be incorrect, and through open-minded discussion people may share, create, and impart new pieces of wisdom, spread appreciation, and share the love of Christ as well. Symbolism in â€Å"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner† Essay -- Literary Analy In 1798, Samuel Taylor Coleridge published his poem â€Å"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner†. Several editions followed this, the most notable being the 1815 version, which included a gloss. This poem has grown to become well known and debated, especially concerning the message that Coleridge was attempting to impart. The interpretation of the poem as a whole and of various characters, settings, and objects has been the subject of numerous essays, papers, books, and lectures. There are approximately four things that are major symbols in this work, along with the possibility that the structure itself is symbolic. In order to best determine what these things symbolize in â€Å"The Rime†, one must look at what Coleridge considered a symbol to be and then analyze the text accordingly. James McKusick accomplishes this first task deftly, intertwining Coleridge’s own writings into his essay and then elucidating upon them so that the reader may understand Coleridge’s views, which should then influence how the poem is interpreted. In this, own discovers that Coleridge felt that to be a symbol, the object in question must be humble and of everyday life, while â€Å"bear[ing] witness to the presence of the Eternal.† The process of creating a symbol was two-fold in that â€Å"poetic images emerge fully formed from the †¦ imagination, but they do not become symbols, laden with †¦ meaning, until they are appropriated and reconstituted by the awareness of a reader† (McKusick 223). Thus, the purpose of a symbol was to convey the Eternal. One other important f eature of Coleridge is that in creating a symbol, he often uses nature and its elements, as can be seen in â€Å"The Rime† (Bostetter 242, Perkins 433). Depending on the interpretation of the poem as whole w... ... the poem and possibly implicate that it is also the center of the universe as well (Dilworth). Interpretation of a literary work is often difficult to determine, but the author often leaves many hidden clues to help the reader along. Symbols are one of the primary features used by authors in this endeavor and Coleridge was no different in writing â€Å"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner†. Many other symbols besides the four major ones discussed exist, along with other literary characteristics possibly acting as symbols or simply assist in exposing the message the author wanted to divulge. Ultimately, the beauty of literature is the fact that each person may perceive it differently and not be incorrect, and through open-minded discussion people may share, create, and impart new pieces of wisdom, spread appreciation, and share the love of Christ as well.

New Garments Business Plan Essay

Though agriculture has always been the one of the most anticipated sectors in budgets, discussions, lectures and books but in true sense garments industry in Bangladesh is the most essential sector in terms of employment of comparatively less educated people. Employing almost 4.2 million people of whom 80% are women and thus contributing to empowerment of rural women. Let alone employment even if we consider foreign currency inflow this has been one of the most potential source. RMG covers around 80% of the total foreign exchange earnings of Bangladesh. According to a survey it contributes around 8 billion dollars which is around 13% of GDP. Starting in 1970s earning from it has increased by 8 times which is around 16.5% per annum. SWOT analysis Weakness: 1. Limited financial investment, 2. Insufficient infrastructural facility, 3. Less educated work-force 4. Negative impression on foreign buyers due to both political and unrest within the industry among the labor 5. Lack of legal enforcement 6. Lack of brand awareness 7. Poverty Threats: 1. High level of inflation 2. China, Pakistan and India. 3. Increasing competition 4. Capital investment availability, 5. Political instability 6. Corruption 7. Workplace unrest Strengths: 1. Labor intensive industry and labor cost is cheaper in Bangladesh compared to most countries 2. Plenty of labor available 3. Quality products 4. Competitive pricing Opportunities 1. Becoming a major hub 2. Tax reduction/govt. incentives 3. Planned Infrastructural development should improve supply chain a lot Company: Elegance Our company will be a garment company. Estimations are done based on square textile ltd and a small company named triangle fashion wear in Dhaka. Vision Provide quality clothing for every class of people and become one of the leading names in garments sector in the country and abroad as well. Mission Capture and satisfy the needs of customers through cost leadership and quality assurance and thus expand gradually. Introduction: Our company in the initial stage will go for sewing shirts only assuming monthly demand of 4000 shirts. As we will only produce ordered volume so the assumed demand is also our total production in units. We will take orders from other garments. As we will do the sewing only we won’t be having any inventory cost other than the raw materials. Reason behind being the designing and the cutting in these scenarios are normally done by the garment giving the order and we will complete the sewing and the collars. Buttons will be done afterwards elsewhere. For the electrical arrangements such as getting the business line for industrial purpose and placing meters the cost is assumed as 40000 and for wearing, stabilizers for machines sockets and other expenditure 40000 more is added with the initial cost. We will have 22 machines for which a 1000-1200 square feet space will be require. For hiring the place advance with 1st months’ rent is assumed as 115000. Loan of 200,000(27.54%of initial investment) will be taken at a rate of 15% which is close to 30% of the total investment amount. (Basic bank) (Small scale enterprise: The enterprise will be termed as small if in today’s market condition the replacement cost of plant, machinery and other components excluding land and building amounts to tk 15 million or less-Policy strategies for small and medium enterprises development in Bangladesh) Inventory: The raw materials should include, needles, pastes used in collars and threads. Ordering volume will be our production so there will be no additional inventory cost Machines: Taking the demand into account we will start with 22 machines of which 18 are single needle plain machines 2 over locks and two three needle machines. Ratios of plain machine to over locks and three needle is 10:2 Single needle is for basic sewing, three needle takes 1/3 time compared to single needle for obvious reasons but are very expensive, and over locks are sewing machines with blades that cuts the additional threads after sewing. Changes in demand and consequences: According to the owner of the triangle fashion wear in the winter time the demand for shirts decrease by 20-25%.duration of this shortage in demand is around 2 months. During this period there are obvious lay-offs so there is decrease in demand, in salaries and ultimately decrease in COGS and sales as well. Sales and COGS: Sales growth for our company is taken as 17%, based on the average of 5 years growth in sales of square textiles which is close to 20% and of triangle fashion wear which is close to 15%. As for COGS, for our company the growth assumed is 10%.for square text. Average growth in cogs is less than 15. NWC is assumed as 15% of sale for our company for each of five years. For square text. It is close to 18%. Salvage value For the over locks and single needle SV is assumed at an average of 5500tk after 5 years for each of the machines and for the 3 needle machine it is 8000 tk each Depreciation and tax: As for depreciation we deducted salvage value from total machine cost and deducted the amount by 10 which is the total lifetime for the machines. We used straight line depreciation for the other years. Corporate tax rate is assumed as 35% of the EBT amount. Calculating WACC: Market return of 10% is taken from the stock Bangladesh web site on 12th April, US risk free rate is taken for the measurement which is close to 3% and beta of 1.26 is taken from the stock Bangladesh website as well for the textile industries. Calculating CAPEX: Capital expenditure is calculated by summing up all the fixed assets for the 1st year which is close to 7% of the total sales for the same year. For the rest of years the growth rate is assumed as same as the sales which is 15%. After that we deducted fixed asset amount of the previous year from the amount of current year. 4P analysis: Product: As we said earlier our only product will be shirts. Pricing: Rate for sewing shirts in the market now is close to 90tk per shirt, we will start with 85tk to capture the market in the first place and then will focus on maintaining the quality. As we will only sew shirts so the calculated cost for each shirt will also be our production cost/unit.it is calculated as 49.5 by dividing COGS by demand. Promotion Promotion: We will do it by ourselves as the owner of the business so we won’t be having any additional cost for advertising and there will be experienced supervisors too, to initiate promotion. Place/Location and delivery: We will choose a place close to the companies we are expecting to get orders from. For the delivery of raw products to us and delivery of the sewed shirts to the companies ordering, companies themselves will be responsible.so again there will be no additional transportation cost for our company.