Organisational Change at HBSC

Organisational Change at HBSC Abstract HSBC recognises the capacity of an organisation to achieve the needs of its owners and other interest groups depending on their ability to maintain a competitive advantage. Human resource comprises one of the important resources at the disposal of the organisation, which while utilised appropriately, help in terms of maintaining and increasing the organisation’s competitive advantage.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Organisational Change at HBSC specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The organisation faced a situation, which prompted the adoption of change to enhance its effectiveness in executing its HR functions. It implemented an organisational change plan that led to moving all HR-related employee queries into online web-based systems. Previously all employees addressed their queries directly to the HR department. The current paper analyses this change situation and its implementation in the context of literature in organisational change management. Introduction Organisations that endeavour to acquire long-term success keep on changing their ways of executing business. The most appropriate changes ensure that organisations become more profitable. Geopolitical, demographic, and technological changes in conjunction with the intense pressure on physical environments pose the need for organisational change. Such changes also need to be combined with various security concerns and governance issues that help generate pressures that drive organisational change (Burke 2014). Development of consciousness for scientific, opinionated, sociological, and financial characteristics of the exterior operational atmosphere of an organisation is crucial in the effort to drive strategic initiatives for its success. Change may involve proactive and reactive approaches. While change in most cases is adopted when a new way of serving clients or a need in the market arises, it may also be adopted when a crisis occurs. Indeed, organisations, which have the capacity to identify the need for change before factors that prompt its necessity interfere negatively with their operations, stand better competitive advantage compared to those that adopt reactive approaches to implement change (Burke 2014).Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Change that is implemented upon the occurrence of crisis translates to high organisational costs and a lower probability recovery from the lost competitive advantage. As revealed in the paper, this situation was avoided in case of HSBC Bank Middle East Limited. Background to the Case of HSBC Bank Middle East Limited HSBC bank Middle East Limited has its headquarters situated in Jersey. It comprises the biggest bank that operates in the Middle East region and in more than 70 others places across the globe. This stretch makes HSBC a global an d regional product that is managed through several networks across the Middle East. In particular, the bank has operations in Lebanon, Algeria, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan (HSBC 2014). The size of an organisation correlates with its ability to employ a large number of people from diverse backgrounds, and hence the higher the number of employees that the HR arm has to handle. In the effort to create a culture that encourages work-life balance for employees, the speed and efficiency in the expedition of strategies for addressing employee human resource-related issues became an important problem that HSBC Bank Middle East Limited needed to address. Corporations across different industries are interested in maintaining their levels of competitiveness for continued delivery of value to their owners or shareholders. In fact, Van de and Poole (2005, p.395) reckon, ‘any organisation in today’s fast moving environment that is looking for the pace o f change to slow is likely to be sorely disappointed’. This claim suggests that organisations must welcome and embrace change that will increase their performance. Zhou and Tse (2006) support this line of argument by claiming that organisations, which reluctantly embrace change risk losing their competitive edge. Therefore, they suffer the capacity to realise the need of their clients. HSBC Bank Middle East Limited understood that while operating in an environment of technological change, increasing its speed of expedition of the employee human resource-related issue was the key to resolving challenges, which may result in with employee conflict.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Organisational Change at HBSC specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Instead of waiting for crisis to occur, the management resolved to implement online web-based system to resolve employee HR-related queries. The next sections analyse this situation from the paradigm of organisational theories of change. Diagnosing and Planning Change HSBC Bank Middle East Limited sought to implement HRIS (Human Resource Information System) to facilitate the execution of its HR activities electronically. The system provided several applications, including payroll management application, recruitment management application, and leave attendance and performance management application among others. Via the system, employees could also have access to any information on their employment status, including changes in rewards system among other information of individual interest. Web 2.0 technologies were utilised to provide employee accessibility to the system through internet at all times. It had a capability of producing customised information. This flexibility solved many of the problems as it made it easy for employees to acquire individualised responses from the HR. The organisation’s move to adopt the change was to boost the abi lity of resolution of employee issues via two-way online-based communication mechanisms. This change was to enable the organisation raise its interactive capability with a large number of employees to minimise the probability of occurrence of organisational conflicts. HSBC Bank Middle East implemented the system before any conflicts were registered. In this extent, the change that was implemented at the organisation was passive in nature. Change management theory suggests that organisations incredibly benefit by implementing a change that leads to the creation of new mechanisms of addressing customer needs (Oxtoby, McGuiness Morgan 2002). By simply asking how and why an organisation is not able to attain certain specified goals and objectives as stipulated in the organisation’s goals and objective statements, an opportunity emerges for the adoption of creative and innovative strategies for inducing success.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More HSBC adopted change in the effort to support its strategic renewal initiatives as a mechanism of increasing its performance in a rapidly changing financial and insurance industry. Strategic renewal implies the alteration of organisational strategies via processes that involve the conception of new information bases, services, potential, or commodities (Van de Poole 2005). For HSBC Bank Middle East, the main concern for strategic renewal was increasing the organisation’s capabilities. This plan mainly entailed the capacity to respond to queries that were raised by employees in an online environment. Change produces various impacts on different stakeholders in an organisation. This claim highlights the need for involving different stakeholders in the change process. Oxtoby, McGuiness, and Morgan (2002) support the importance of this approach in change management by claiming that different parties such as employees are affected by change. In case of HSBC Bank Middle East, imple menting change led to the elimination of hierarchical organisational structures that were followed when presenting and responding to employee queries. This situation amounted to the alteration of hierarchical and bureaucratic organisational culture that persisted in the HRM practices. The change rendered all people who were charged with collection of employee complaints, filling them, and their subsequent analysis ineffective. Owners of HSBC Bank Middle East comprise an important party that was influenced by the change. They benefited from increased returns owing to good employee management practices. Leigh (2013, Para. 3) supports this impact of transformation by claiming, ‘change is important in organisations to allow employees learn new skills, explore new opportunities, and exercise their creativity in ways that ultimately benefit the organisation through new ideas and increased commitment’. Therefore, change is all about enhancing employee performance by putting in place mechanisms of enabling them achieve better outputs. One of such approaches is diversification of the jobs done by employees in organisations. This noble paradigm of organisational change underlines the significance of the HSBC Bank Middle East’s changes in terms of using web-based HRM technology. Organisational Change Theories and Models Theory X and Theory Y Change involves undertaking different tasks, which while completed amount to the realisation of the planned change. People have different motivations towards execution of these chores within an organisation. An important approach to the evaluation of motivation of people entails McGregor’s theory X and Y. Theory X postulates that people are normally lazy, and that they often run away from responsibility (Lorsch Morse 2006). Hence, McGregor recommends that supervisors and managers have to conduct close supervision for their employees to realise the most out of their abilities (Lorsch Morse 2006) Theory X c alls organisations to implement hierarchical managerial structures. This strategy ensures their capacity to exert control while leaving very little room or even no room for delegation of responsibilities while executing change. Directly congruent with this assertion, Lorsch and Morse (2006) assert that achieving organisational goals from the basis of theory X demands that managers deploy coercive and threatening leadership techniques. The aim is to ensure compliance. Application of theory X during the process of implementing change can potentially lead to mistrust between various stakeholders who are affected by the change, especially those who are scheduled to facilitate change implementation such as managers and employees of the HSBC Middle East Limited. To mitigate change implementation challenges, HSBC Middle East Limited sought to balance compliance and the need to prevent probable turnover that could emerge from organisational conflicts during the change implementation process . For example, the new HR management system was implemented slowly, as people tended to maintain status quo. Indeed, the capacity for people to prefer status quo constitutes a major cause of resistance to embrace change. Employees were promised that the old system would only be shutdown when everyone was aware and able to use the new system. Theory Y holds that employees possess self-motivation and/or exercise personal control. It also claims that they are highly ambitious of getting things done (Lorsch Morse, 2006). It prescribes that workers benefit from their labour, particularly if it is bodily and psychologically satisfying. Satisfied employees solve problems more proactively. People who are inclined to this school of thought assert that employees are always ready to accept responsibilities. They utilise self-control and self-direction to ensure their capacity to realise their organisational chores. From the paradigms of theory Y, Lorsch and Morse (2006) add that when provided with opportunities, people possess incredible eagerness to achieve positive results. HSBC Middle East Limited anticipated its employees to demonstrate eagerness in terms of utilising the new system as its had the capacity to fasten the processing of their HR-related queries. Employee contentment and eagerness to do well in specific tasks act as enormous sources of motivation. Upon contemplating the role of theory Y in enhancing motivation of employees, managers have embraced it while theory X has been incredibly challenged since it supports managerial theoretical approaches that pose insignificant impacts on competitive advantage in the modern globalised and sophisticated organisations (Lorsch Morse 2006). HSBC Middle East Limited implemented its change by cutting the traditional HR management approaches in phases. This strategy suggests that theory Y can potentially reveal and provide reliable evaluation of change efforts at an organisation. Apart from theory X and Y, other theor ies, which can help in the analysis of change that was implemented at HSBC Middle East Limited encompass organisational development, systems theory, social world, and complexity theories. Social World Theory Social world theory postulates that change arises through negotiation followed by renegotiation among different organisational stakeholders. It maintains that organisations that implement change should consider parties that are involved in the change in addition to the indicators of change without negating the functions that the indicators endeavour to accomplish (Spector 2007). Tensions and challenges emerge during the evaluation of issues that are necessary to realise change, especially in terms of the efforts to achieve the desired satisfactory quality improvements during the change process. For example, while implementing change at HSBC Middle East Limited, difficulties emerged between the need to balance between the increasing need to have employee queries expedited at a hi gh speed and the need for precision and accuracy of responses to the queries raised by employees in real time. Organisational Development Organisational development theory focuses mainly on the need to plan organisational change. This claim suggests that leadership in any organisation that seeks to implement change must have foreseen the need of a desired change (Spector 2007). The theory highlights the importance of striking an agreement between various individual goals with organisational goals. From the paradigm of organisational development, change requires effective organisational communication, flexibility, and empowerment of the involved change agents. Leaders need to plan change processes by offering the definition of the current organisational state and the intended outcomes upon change implementation. Organisational development theory holds that people resist change due to reasons such as discontent with the change efforts. For instance, it may impair the status quoâ€℠¢s capacity to meet their psychological needs. People may also worry about probabilities of mishandling the change process by organisational management and raise doubts on the possibilities of change success (Carnall 2003). Change may also threaten employee jobs security. Systems Theory Systems theory suggests that various components of an organisation are interrelated. Upon improvement of the first component, a need arises for improving the second. In the determination of the overall implications of the change, systems theory emphasises the need to measure an organisation’s aspects such as infrastructure, resources like human capital and financial capital, technologies, and organisational tasks in an effort to determine their relationships. These variables lead to change upon their alteration, whether singly or in their combination (Jick Peiperl 2010). HSBC Middle East Limited has been endeavouring to implement computerised financial and customer management systems. While a ligning elements that are necessary for creating an organisation that is capable of deploying technology to increase its performance, implementation of online web-based HR management systems was incredibly significant. Complexity Theory Complexity theory focuses on measuring the degree of heterogeneity and/or diverseness of organisational environmental factors, including suppliers, employees, technology, and departments among others. McKenzie and Kims (2004) add that its aim is measuring the manner in which elements in micro-levels of any complex system influence the resulting behaviours of an organisation and its effect on the overall outcomes of macro-level elements. The rising complexities in an organisation give rise to complexities in terms of understanding change together with utilisation of the existing information to plan for organisational functional elements. The rising complexity translates into changes within an entire system. McKenzie and Kims (2004) inform that complex ity theory reveals how the increasing organisational complexity renders the adaptation of an organisation to the rapidly changing environments impossible. It nullifies the ontological theoretical explanation for changes through the rejection of the existence of a direct relationship between causality and effects. An organisation that operates within limits that almost lead to an instability point generates innovative and creative behaviours at every level of the whole system. Complexity theory also confirms that instability between the components of an organisation causes its evolution so that at a given threshold, new relationships emerge between organisation’s internal and external factors. Analysis and Evaluation of HSBC Middle East Limited using Systems Theory Systems theory analyses an organisation from the paradigm of being composed of a number of systems. At HSBC Middle East Limited, employees constitute one of the elements that make the organisation. From the systems model approach, planed alterations in the dynamics of this element also influence other components that relate to it. Mitigation of any resistance to change at HSBC Middle East Limited ensured that employees did not feel threatened. The repercussions included speedy expedition of various employee- related HR issues. This situation had the implications of creating happier, motivated, and more committed employees who were capable of attaining better performance in terms of profitability. Higher profit levels result in the availability of financial resources for HSBC Middle East Limited projects, which are beneficial to the communities and the society within which it is established. Higher profitability also means availing more financial resources for rewarding employees more competitively. Since employees are happier when their queries, particularly those that result in higher turnover or low productivity are addressed, the change ensured their satisfaction, and hence better work-life fit (Carnall 2003). This outcome translates to better relationships with family members. Therefore, the change will foster the existence of linear relationship between it and all system components. In this extent, employees constitute an environment internal factor at HSBC Middle East Limited that influences all other variables. The above propositions are made based on the hypothetical system model for evaluating change in an organisation. However, in practice, the case of HSBC Middle East Limited evidences that while some key players embrace change positively, some may oppose it. For example, HR personnel whose functions in HSBC Middle East Limited are replaced by online web-based HR management system may reluctantly make requisite decisions where inputs of human decision loops are required. The overall effects include reduced effectiveness of the system in expediting HR-related information. In such a situation, system failure may occur. This situation may lead to even higher time s of responding to employee HR-related queries. Luckily, at the organisation, this case never happened. Bureaucratic culture in change implementation process at HSBC Middle East Limited facilitated compliance with change initiatives. Perspectives of Organisational Culture in Change Implementation HSBC Bank Middle East Limited values its entire people and notes that they all count in achieving its success. This case encompasses a major aspect of its organisational culture. In this regard, culture refers to the ‘shared basic assumptions that an organisation learnt while coping with the environment and solving problems of external adaptation amid internal integration’ (Oxtoby, McGuiness Morgan 2002, p.315). Such assumptions teach all workers of an organisation the most ample procedures of seeking solutions to various problems. From a systems approach, the beliefs bind different elements in an organisation into one harmonious major component. Culture defines operational st rategies. At HSBC Bank Middle East Limited, this strategy involves deployment of people as a source of competitive advantage by endeavouring to make all stakeholders happy. The aim encompasses ensuring that all stakeholders of HSBC Bank Middle East Limited remain focused on common goals, aims, and objectives. Van de and Poole (2005) reckon that this aim is attained when all people in an organisation subscribe to a common way of thinking, interaction, values, and norms. Norms, values, and ways of thinking define culture, which needs to be aligned with business strategies for any organisation that seeks to achieve global success through people. Before the adoption of change, employees at HSBC Bank Middle East Limited followed bureaucratic and hierarchical structures to have their complaints and various queries reach the head of HRM. Thus, although the organisation valued the role of employees in driving its success as stated in its social corporate responsibility statements, a culture that encouraged bureaucracy and hierarchy hindered effective deployment of people in terms of achieving competitive advantage. HSBC (2014) states that HSBC Bank Middle East limited recruits the best talents irrespective of ethnicity, gender, disability, and other demographic characteristics. This claim implies that the organisation shares the norms and value for the needs of respecting people’s diversity. It also offers competitive reward and salary packages for its employees whose relationships at the workplace are guided by sound social values. Most importantly, the organisation continues to seek for new strategies for reducing work-life related conflicts, which may impede the morale of its people. This concern underlines the principal reason why HSBC Bank Middle East Limited sought to look for effective ways of addressing employee queries in real time. People generally resist change (Carnall 2003). This claim implies that successful implementation of change require an org anisational culture that compels people to follow guidelines. At HSBC Bank Middle East Limited, bureaucratic culture was instrumental in ensuring that employees followed precisely the set guidelines so that after the change was adopted in terms of mechanisms of forwarding their HR-related complains, all employees adopted online web-based approaches as opposed to traditional routes. Bureaucracy was a major impediment to the change implementation. Much formal authentication was required when designing change solutions. This process involved multi-level organisational assessment of online-based HR management systems. However, amid these challenges, adequate technological resources such as computers and the existence of computer literate employees made the change easily adaptive at the organisation. Model for Change Implementation Upon the identification of the obligatory changes that can produce the necessary success, the next step entails change implementation, which is accomplished w ith the aid of an appropriate theoretical model for change implementation such as Lewins model and sequential model. Bearing in mind the purpose and the parties that are involved in enhancing change at HSBC Middle East Limited, the organisation implemented change through Lewins model. Under Lewin’s model, organisational change occurs through three main stages, namely ‘unfreezing, moving, and refreezing’ (Spector 2007, p.29). In the unfreezing step, organisations create and interrogate the appropriateness of the current practices (status quo). HSBC Middle East Limited found its current practices inappropriate. Therefore, it progressed to stage two of the Lewin’s model. This stage involves redesigning and reorganisation of responsibilities and roles of various stakeholders who have the responsibility of implementing the desired change (Spector 2007). HSBC Middle East Limited successfully achieved constraints of the second stage through determination of the m andates of various stakeholders who are involved in enhancing the implementation of the new HR management system. The system led to a reduction of responsibilities of the human resource management personnel under the traditional approach. To keep them motivated, HSBC Middle East Limited did not consider revising downwards the amount of reward that was offered to them. Therefore, the third stage in Lewin’s model that entails the alignment of the pay and a reward system with the new responsibilities and roles was not evident in the change that HSBC Middle East Limited adopted. According to Lewin’s model, during change implementation, in the first stage, an organisation also needs to consider ‘diagnosis of any internal barriers of improved performance followed by a promotion of the supporters or removal of resistors in the second stage’ (Spector 2007, p.29). In such an effort, organisations create new structures. This observation reveals HSBC Middle East Limi ted’s success in implementation of the change. It was experienced in structural and hierarchical operational systems in the HR management. The Impacts of Organisational Change From the systems approach, an organisation constitutes a system that possesses various functional elements, which operate in harmony with one another. Consequently, it may affect all functional units within an organisation. Jick and Peiperl (2010) confirm that any change affects organisational policies, procedures, guidelines, and rules that are deployed to control the conduct of stakeholders such as employees, society, and organisational managers. These alterations may induce negative or positive impacts on the overall operation of an organisation. Change can increase the performance of some employees. However, in some situations, some may have reduced work morale. The situation leads to low performance. For example, at HSBC Middle East Limited, it was anticipated that employees whose roles would be re placed either partially or totally by the online web-based system for collection and subsequent responding to employee HR-related queries would have fear and perceptions of job insecurity. However, workers whose queries will be addressed in a quicker way will consider the change an important aspect. Change may create parochial self-interest. Different perspectives on change situations may create misconceptions and negative perceptions from various parochial people within an organisation. Such people influence negatively change implementation processes (Burke 2014). It creates intolerance and misunderstanding among people who embrace change with those who oppose it. This situation may lead to the emergence of organisational conflicts. More importantly, people resist change due to the fear of facing the unknown. This implication may lead to augmented strain, nervousness, panic, and exhaustion. Despite the fact that change may have negative implications, it is desired as it increases t he available knowledge bases, range of products and service, and innovative and creativity levels of organisations. These aspects enable an organisation to operate in a changing business environment (Leigh 2013). Where technological changes prompt the necessity of adopting change, an organisation acquires the ability to produce its services and products at reduced costs so that it can exploit the low-cost strategy, which enables it penetrate deeper in the global market. At HSBC Middle East Limited, change was highly desired. Inability to address employee HR-related concerns meant that HSBC Middle East Limited risked losing the motivation and dedication of employees. Conclusion Change in the HR management system at HSBC Middle East Limited comprised an important aspect of organisational change that altered its performance. With the ever-increasing incidences of cyber threats on organisations’ computerised information systems, adopting the new HR management system also comes wi th risks. Thus, the information system department had some added responsibilities in terms of mitigating these risks. Alignment of these added responsibilities with reward systems as suggested by Lewin’s model becomes important. Therefore, in the quest to ensure that HSBC Middle East Limited succeeds with implementation of the changes in the long-term, it is important to consider motivating and aligning the personnel who are tasked with providing information security with the organisational goals that define the necessity for change. This goal can be achieved through a revision of reward and remuneration packages for all personnel whose responsibilities and roles in the organisation have increased following the implementation of the change. References Burke, W 2014, Organisational Change Theory and Practice, Sage Publications, Inc, New York, NY. Carnall, A 2003, Managing Change in Organisations, Prentice Hall, Essex. HSBC 2014, About HSBC: Welcome to HSBC UA, https://www.abo ut.hsbc.ae/. Jick, D Peiperl, A 2010, Managing Change: Cases and Concepts, McGraw-Hill Irwin. New York, NY. Leigh, M 2013, Why is Change Important in an Organisation? https://smallbusiness.chron.com/. Lorsch, N Morse, J 2004, ‘Beyond theory Y’, Harvard Business Review, vol. 3 no. 2, pp. 91-107. McKenzie, C Kims, J 2004, ‘Aesthetic as an aid to understanding complex systems and decision judgment in operating complex systems’, Emergence: Complexity and Organisations, Special Double Issue, vol. 6 no. 2, pp. 32-39. Oxtoby, B, McGuiness, T Morgan, R 2002, ‘Developing Organisational Change Capability’, European Management Journal, vol. 20 no. 3, pp. 310-320. Spector, B 2007, Implementing Organisational Change: Theory and Practice, Prentice Hall, New Jersey, NJ. Van de, V Poole, M 2005 ‘Explaining development and change in organisations’ Academy Management Review, vol. 40 no. 3, pp. 394-404.

The Scope and Health of the African Rainforest

The Scope and Health of the African Rainforest The vast African rainforest stretches across much of the central African continent, encompassing the following countries in its woods: Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Comoros, Congo, Cote dIvoire (Ivory Coast),  Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia,  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹Ã¢â‚¬â€¹Mauritania,  Mauritius, Mozambique, Niger,  Nigeria,  Rwanda, Senegal, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles, Sierra Leone,  Somalia, Sudan,  Tanzania, Togo,  Uganda, Zambia,  and  Zimbabwe. Degradation Except for the Congo Basin, the tropical rainforests of Africa have been largely depleted by commercial exploitation: logging and conversion for agriculture. In West Africa, nearly 90% of the original rainforest is gone. The remainder is heavily fragmented and in a degraded state, being poorly used. Especially problematic in Africa is desertification and conversion of rainforests to erodible agriculture and grazing lands. To counteract this trend, the World Wildlife Fund and the United Nations have put a number of global initiatives in place. Details About the Rainforests Status By far, the largest number of countries with rainforests are located in one geographical section of the world- the Afrotropical region. The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) indicates that these countries,  mainly in West and Central Africa, are mostly poor with populations that live at the subsistence level. Most of the tropical rainforests  of Africa exist in the Congo (Zaire) River Basin, though remnants also are present throughout Western Africa in a sorry state due to the plight of poverty, which encourages subsistence agriculture and firewood harvesting. This realm is dry and seasonal when compared to the other areas, and the outlying portions of this rainforest are steadily becoming a desert. Over 90%  of West Africas original forest has been lost over the last century and only a small part of what remains qualifies as closed forest. Africa lost the highest percentage of rainforests during the 1980s of any other tropical region. During 1990–95 the annual rate of total deforestation in Africa was nearly 1%. In the whole of Africa, for every 28 trees cut down, only one tree is replanted. Challenges and Solutions According to rainforest expert Rhett Butler, who wrote the book A Place Out of Time: Tropical Rainforests and the Perils They Face: The outlook for  the regions rainforests  is not promising. Many countries have agreed in principle to conventions of biodiversity and forest preservation, but in  practice, these concepts of sustainable forestry are not enforced. Most governments lack the funds and technical know-how to make these projects a reality.Funding for most conservation projects comes from foreign sectors and 70-75% of forestry in the region is funded by external resources....Additionally, a population growth rate exceeding 3% annually, combined with the poverty of rural peoples, makes it difficult for the government to control local subsistence clearing and hunting. An economic downturn in important parts of the world has many African nations re-examining their forest product harvesting policies. African and international organizations alike have initiated local programs addressing the sustainable management of rainforests. These programs are showing some potential but have had minimal effect to date. The United Nations is putting some pressure on African governments to abandon tax incentives for practices that encourage deforestation. Ecotourism and bioprospecting  are  believed to have potential as they add much or more value to local economies when compared with wood products.

Information Tectnology Audit Requirements Comparative Analysis of the Term Paper

Information Tectnology Audit Requirements Comparative Analysis of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and the Sarbanes- Oxley Act (SOX) - Term Paper Example n response to the increased cases of bribery and other economic scandals of a national proportion, the Congress passed into law two critical Acts, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (FCPA) and Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX). The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act 1977 was enacted to enforce precise companies’ record keeping systems, increase accuracy in financial recording, and to reduce bribery and corruption loopholes in the business system. The Sarbanes Oxley Act, 2002 was passed twenty years after the Foreign Corrupt Practice Act with the core objective of reducing bribery and corruption in the America cooperate sector1. Sarbanes-Oxley Act 2002 was projected to ensure that all chief finance officers and public companies’ chief executive officers provide an accurate financial report while Foreign Corrupt Practice Act, 1977 was designed to ensure that, all business financial information was recorded in accordance to the existing financial provisions. In the first twenty years after the enactment of the Foreign Corrupt Practice Act 1977, the American Security and Exchange Commission and the America Department of Justice did very little investigations to necessitate a helpful enforcement of the Act, reducing its impacts in countering corporate bribery and other business malpractices. However, after the WorldCom scandal and Enron scandal in 2002, the United States of American government was forced by the prevailing state of affairs to enact Sarbanes-Oxley Act 2002 to offset the ever-increasing cases of cooperate malpractices as well as to advance global awareness on the harmful impacts of business bribery and other malpractices. The enactment of Sarbanes-Oxley Act 2002 was at that time intended to make bribery penalties extremely severe and to increase public awareness on the need for an accurate financial accounting and record keeping in business operations. Taking into account the level and nature of the outcomes of bribery in global economy, especially

Managerial Accounting Practise in Saudi Organizations Essay

Managerial Accounting Practise in Saudi Organizations - Essay Example The State and Extent of Using Modern Management Accounting Techniques In Particular in Making the Right Decisions Decision making is considered to be an all inclusive and widespread process that consists of various activities such as identification of the problem or the concerns, allocation of certain weights or ranks to the identified problem, evaluation and implementation of the alternative plans. Management accounting on the other hand is related to the appropriate use of relevant information in order to facilitate and direct managers to undertake informed business decisions effectively and efficiently. The most advantageous fact of management accounting practices is that is does not require conforming or following the national accounting standards which further gives a liberty or room for the business people to adopt customized management accounting techniques that are most effective in terms of their business operations. For realizing the affectivity in the decision making proce ss, organizations combine or merge the advanced quantitative and qualitative techniques. According to Johnson, The use of modern management practices has helped in focusing on the problem which inclines more towards how accounting information can be made more useful for decision making rather than how we could improve things we do . The recent developments in the modern management accounting techniques have enabled the managers to make sound decisions so that excessive costs incurred by firms could be pruned down and at the same time, the value of the products and services rendered could be enhanced. The extent to which the management accounting practices have been put into action is tremendous and quite rigorous, especially in the past two decades. Lot many research work and in-depth study in various countries across the world have undertaken to find out the relevance and significance of the modern practices to various sectors in the economy. For instance, in a research conducted b y Philip and Kerckhoffs Christian (2005), the significance of Activity Based Costing (ABC) and throughput accounting (TA) was brought forward and was revealed that MAP’s are more used as accounting tools to â€Å"make-up† the technical insights from an accounting viewpoint. The research indicated the use of working-floor insights and production process data in the formulation of a company’s income statements that are utmost essential for managerial decision making. When most of the countries have already adopted the MAPs, there are countries like Bangladesh which still need to incorporate the changes in the accounting practices. Bidhan has conducted one such study whereby it was found t modern techniques like Activity-Based Costing, Cost-Volume-Profit, Target Costing, and Just-in-Time (JIT) etc were not applied in the public and private sector manufacturing enterprises but used by just a few Multinational Corporations (MNC). (8) Most of the companies in Saudi we re still found to use the conventional and traditional accounting practices. Traditional management accounting techniques are generally perceived by the Saudi manufacturing and service sector firms to be highly important and frequently used by the responding firms. As per Ei-Ebaishi, the managers rely less in comparison to

Maritime Transport Essay Example for Free

Maritime Transport Essay Hereby it is analysed that there are three different kinds of categories which have not given any offer on MTS. The first one are nations which are willing to make offers but would rather wait until the major maritime players like the US have shown their effort to make an offer. The second group are members which fail to meet to have the professional knowledge and the technical know how to deal with the possibilities of offers. The last one is composed of players in the maritime industry which are not willing to open their maritime industry at all or on a multilateral basis as they fear that this action might end up in increased international competition and therefore they rather stick to their internal policies than taking the risk to loose their power in the market place. One significant example for the last category are the US which are unwilling to include MTS in their schedule. Another issue is the one of the different interest of country groups which were already an obstacle to the former Uruguay round. On the one hand there are the developing countries, among them mainly the EU members which â€Å"are keen to go further into the inland part of the transport chain beyond the sea leg by proposing the inclusion of feeder services and multimodal transport (mainly by Japan)†. [7] On the other hand developing countries and one of the major maritime nations the US can not accept such liberalization due to a number of economic reasons whereas the most significant argument against it is the loss of jobs of domestic workers which are engaged in the shipping industry. Although there are again lots of issues to be solved in order to reach an agreement and implementation under GATS there are yet some positive signs for a positive outcome. First of all as per data available most of the offers on MTS were from developing countries which involves members of different economic positions including more developed nations like Hong Kong and Singapore but at the same time also less developed nations e. g. Albania. According to Zhang’s thesis this can have at least two positive effects.

Time Machine :: essays research papers

The Time Machine Herbert George Wells was born in 1866 in Bromley, Kent, a few miles from London, the son of a house-maid and gardener. Wells died in 1946, a wealthy and famous author, having seen science fiction become a recognized literary form and having seen the world realize some of science fiction's fondest dreams and worst fears. Wells mother attempted to find him a safe occupation as a draper or chemist. Wells had a quick mind and a good memory that enabled him to pass subjects by examination and win a scholarship to the Normal School of Science, where he stayed for three years and, most importantly, was exposed to biology under the famous Thomas H. Huxley. Wells went into teaching and writing text books and articles for the magazines that were of that time. In 1894 he began to write science-fiction stories. -James Gunn Wells vision of the future, with its troglodytic Morlocks descended from the working class of his day and the pretty but helpless Eloi devolved from the leisure class, may seem antiquated political theory. It emerged out of the concern for social justice that drew Wells to the Fabian Society and inspired much of his later writing, but time has not dimmed the fascination of the situation and the horror of the imagery. The Time Machine brought these concerns into his fiction. It, too, involved the future, but a future imagined with greater realism and in greater detail than earlier stories of the future. It also introduced, for the first time in fiction, the notion of a machine for traveling in time. In this novel the Time Machine by H. G. Wells, starts with the time traveler trying to persuade his guest's the theory of the fourth dimension and even the invention. He tries to explain the fourth dimension before he shows them the time machine so they don't think of him as a magician. H. G. Wells uses details about the fourth dimension to teach the reader the theory about it to capture your attention. Also Wells character the time traveler says "Scientific people", "Know very well that time is only a kind of space". In this quote he is clearly using persuasion tactics. He tries to attack there consious by saying that, scientific people know that this is only a kind of space. He says this in hopes that they will believe what he says just because other

Dalit literature Essay

Chaucer and the Elizabethan Age The Neo Classical Age The Romantic and the Victorian Ages Twentieth Century Theory and practice of Translation 4 4 4 Max. Marks Uni. CIA Exam. 25 75 25 75 25 75 6 6 30 4 3 19 25 25 125 75 75 375 100 100 500 Ins. Hrs/ Week 6 6 6 Credit Total 100 100 100 I Year II Semester MAIN Paper-5 MAIN Paper-6 MAIN Paper-7 MAIN Paper-8 COMPULSORY PAPER ELECTIVE Paper-2 English Language and Linguistics Indian Literature in English Shakespeare American Literature Human Rights New Literatures English 6 5 6 5 2 6 30 5 5 5 5 2 3 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 150 75 75 75 75 75 75 450 100 100 100 100 100. 100 600 II year III Semester MAIN MAIN MAIN MAIN Paper-9 Paper-10 Paper-11 Paper-12 6 6 6 6 5 5 5 5 25 25 25 25 75 75 75 75 100 100 100 100 ELECTIVE Paper-3 Commonwealth Literature Literary Theory and Criticism I English Language Teaching Literature, Analysis, Approaches and Applications Film Reviews and Presentation 6 30 3 23 25 125 75 375 100 500 MAIN MAIN MAIN MAIN ELECTIVE Paper-13 Paper-14 Paper-15 Paper-16 Paper-4 (or) Project 6 6 6 6 6 5 5 5 5 3 25 25 25 25 25 75 75 75 75 75 100 100 100 100 100 30 23 125 375 500 II Year IV Semester Literary Theory and Criticism II Soft Skills, Literature and Movies. World Classics in Translation Women’s Writing in English Anatomy of Literature Total 1 M. A. English : Syllabus (CBCS) Papers Credit Total Credits Marks Total marks MAIN 16 4-5 76 100 1600 ELECTIVE 4 3 12 100 400 COMPULSORY PAPER 1 2 2 100 100 21 – 90 – 2100 Subject Total 2 M. A. English : Syllabus (CBCS) THIRUVALLUVAR UNIVERSITY M. A. ENGLISH SYLLABUS UNDER CBCS (with effect from 2012-2013) SEMESTER I PAPER – 1 CHAUCER AND THE ELIZABETHAN AGE Objectives Students are : 1. exposed to early English literature with special reference to transition from middle English to the Elizabethan ethos. 2. introduced to the earliest English writers through representative texts 3. to gain a deeper knowledge of the writers and their works UNIT-I : POETRY 1. Chaucer : Prologue to the Canterbury Tales : The Knight, The Prioress, The Wife of Bath and the Doctor of Physic. 2. John Donne : 1) The Canonization 2) Valediction Forbidding Mourning 3) Go and Catch a Falling Star UNIT-II : POETRY 1. Edmund Spenser : Prothalamion 2. Wyatt and Surrey : As Sonneteers 3. Ballads 3 M. A. English : Syllabus (CBCS) UNIT-III : PROSE 1. Bacon : Of Truth, Of Adversity, Of Parents and Children, Of Ambition 2. The Gospel according to St. Mark (MacMillan Annotated Classics) 3. Thomas More : The Utopia UNIT-IV : DRAMA Webster :The Duchess of Malfi UNIT-V : DRAMA Ben Jonson : The Alchemist 4 M. A. English : Syllabus (CBCS) PAPER 2 THE NEO CLASSICAL AGE Objectives Students are : 1. exposed to the shift to the Classical tradition in literary and political terms 2. to appreciate the tremendous changes in literary forms 3. trained to analyze the trends in literary expression of the period UNIT-I : POETRY Milton (1608 – 1674) : Paradise Lost Book IX UNIT-II : POETRY 1. Andrew Marvell (1621 – 1678) : To His Coy Mistress 2. John Dryden (1631 – 1695) : Absalom and Achitophel 3. Pope (1688 – 1744) : The Essay On Man : Epistle II (II. 1 – 92) (â€Å"Know then thyself†¦. Our greatest evil or great good†) UNIT-III : PROSE 1. Addison and Steele : The Coverley Papers : Sir Roger at Church Sir Roger at the Assizes 2. Milton : Areopagitica 3. Swift : The Battle of the Books 5 M. A. English : Syllabus (CBCS) UNIT-IV : DRAMA 1. John Dryden : All for Love 2. Richard Sheridan : The Rivals UNIT-V : FICTION 1. Daniel Defoe (1660 – 1731) : Robinson Crusoe 2. Swift (1667 – 1745) : Gulliver’s Travels 6 M. A. English : Syllabus (CBCS) PAPER 3 THE ROMANTIC AND THE VICTORIAN AGES Objectives Students are : 1. to appreciate the influence of ever changing trends brought about by social and scientific developments 2. to analyze diverse literary devices of these periods 3. to comprehend and analyze the dialectic between Neo Classicism and Romanticism 4. to gain indepth understanding of major writers of the 19th century UNIT-I: POETRY 1. Wordsworth : Tintern Abbey 2. Coleridge : The Rime of the Ancient Mariner 3. Shelley : Ode to a Skylark 4. Keats : Ode on a Grecian Urn 5. Tennyson : Ulysses UNIT-II: POETRY 1. Browning : My Last Duchess 2. Blake : Night 3. D. G. Rossetti Infant Sorrow : Blessed Damozel 4. Arnold : The Scholar Gypsy Ref: Victorian poets, ed. V. S. Seturaman, Macmillan Annotated Classics 7 M. A. English : Syllabus (CBCS) UNIT-III: PROSE 1. Charles Lamb : From Essays of Elia: Dissertation on a Roast Pig : Poor Relations 2. Arnold : From Culture and Anarchy: Sweetness and Light 3. Thomas Carlyle : On Shakespeare (from Victorian Prose ed. V. S. Sethuraman) UNIT-IV: DRAMA Oscar Wilde : Lady Windermere’s Fan UNIT-V: FICTION 1. Jane Austen : Emma 2. Dickens : Pickwick Papers 3. Charlotte Bronte : Jane Eyre 4. Walter Scott: Ivanhoe 8 M. A. English : Syllabus (CBCS) PAPER 4 TWENTIETH CENTURY Objectives Students are : 1. trained to acquire a working understanding of the war years and their literary consequences 2. exposed to dominant literary traditions and authors of the 20th Century 3. to analytically appreciate various emerging literary trends and forms 4. introduced to futuristic thinking through a classic science fiction novel UNIT-I : POETRY 1. W. B . Yeats 2. T. S Eliot 3. Wilfred Owen : Easter 1916 : Sailing to Byzantium : The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock : Strange Meeting UNIT-II : POETRY 1. 2. 3. 4. Hopkins. Seamus Heaney Thom Gunn Stephen Spender : Wreck of the Deutschland : The Tollund Man : On the Move : I think continually of those who are truly great. UNIT-III: PROSE 1. Orwell 2. D. H. Lawrence 3. C. P. Snow : Politics and the English Language : Why the Novel Matters : Two Cultures UNIT-IV: DRAMA 1. Beckett 2. T. S. Eliot : Waiting For Godot : The Family Reunion 9 M. A. English : Syllabus (CBCS) UNIT-V: FICTION 1. Virginia Woolf : Mrs. Dalloway 2. D. H. Lawrence : Sons and Lovers 3. Arthur C. Clarke : Childhood’s End 10 M. A. English : Syllabus (CBCS) ELECTIVE PAPER 1 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TRANSLATION Objectives Students are trained : 1. to gain a working knowledge of the origin and development of translation 2. in the various theories and techniques of translation 3. to be able to translate literary and non-literary texts from English into an Indian language and vice-versa UNIT-I : History of Translation Origin and development of translation in the West Origin and development of translation in the Indian context UNIT-II : Theories of Translation Catford – Nida – Newmark UNIT-III : Translation of Literary – Aesthetic Texts Problems and Techniques Translation of Religious Texts in India. Translation of Poetry Translation of Fiction Translation of Plays UNIT-IV : Translation of Scientific – Technical Texts Problems and Techniques Translation of Scientific Texts Translation of Social Sciences Texts Translation of Official Circulars, Agenda, Minutes Translation of Commercial, Financial documents and Legal texts 11 M. A. English : Syllabus (CBCS) UNIT-V : New trends Assessment of Translation Computer – aided Translation Reference Susan Bassnett – McGuire, Translation Studies J. C. Catford, A Linguistic Theory of Translation E. A. Nida, Towards a Science of Translation (1964) E. A. Nida and C. Taber, The Theory and Practice of Translation (1974) Peter Newmark, Approaches to Translation (1981) A. Duff, The Third Language (1961) Ayyappa Panicker, ed. Indian Literature (1995) 12 M. A. English : Syllabus (CBCS) II SEMESTER PAPER 5 ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LINGUISTICS Objectives Students are exposed to : 1. the evolution of the English language at a deeper level, updating what has been learnt at the UG level 2. the intricacies of articulating English sounds, enabling them to speak better 3. levels of linguistic analyses, preparing them to become effective teachers UNIT-I : THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE. Descent of English language; Old English Period; Middle English; Renaissance & After; Growth of Vocabulary; Change of Meaning; Evolution of Standard English. Recommended Reading: F. T Wood An Outline History of English Language UNIT-II : PHONOLOGY Cardinal Vowels, English Vowels, Diphthongs and Consonants, Transcription, Syllable UNIT-III : PHONOLOGY Received Pronunciation and the need for a model, Accent, Rhythm and Intonation, Assimilation, Elision, Liaison and Juncture. Recommended Reading T. Balasubramanian A Textbook of English Phonetics for Indian Students (Chapter 3-17) 13 M. A. English : Syllabus (CBCS) UNIT-IV : LEVELS OF LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS Morphology, Sentences and their parts, words, phrases and clauses, phrases, Semantics, Pragmatics & Discourse Analysis Recommended Reading Geroge Yule The Study of Language (Chapters 8-13) (Second Edition Cambridge University Press, 1996) Quirk & Greenbaum. A University Grammar of English UNIT-V : SOCIOLINGUISTICS Language varieties; language, society and culture. Recommended Reading George Yule The Study of Language (Chapter 20 &21) Second Ed. CUP, 1996) Verma and Krishnaswamy Modern Linguistics (Units 42 – 45). 14 M. A. English : Syllabus (CBCS) PAPER 6 INDIAN LITERATURE IN ENGLISH Objectives Students are : 1. introduced to a wider range of works in Indian Literature in English 2. exposed to a balanced textual study of established and contemporary writers 3. enabled to acquire a holistic perception of Indian Literature in English in preparation for a teaching or research career UNIT-I : POETRY 1. Aurobindo : Thought the Paraclete 2. Nissim Ezekiel : Poet, Lover, Bird Watcher 3. A. K. Ramanujan : Anxiety (from selected poems OUP, 1995,p. 29, pp. 124-25) 4. Arun Kolatkar : From Jeiury 1. The Bus 2. A Scratch 5. Rabindranath Tagore : Gitanjali UNIT-II : POETRY 1. Daruwalla : Hawk (from The Anthgology of Twelve. Modern Indian Poets ed. A. K. Mehotra, OUP (1992) 2. Sujatha Bhat : The Star (from Monkey Shadows, Penguin India, 1993 – pp 13-15) 3. Mamta Kalia : Tribute to Papa (from Nine Indian Women 15 M. A. English : Syllabus (CBCS) Poets ed. Eunice D’Souza, OUP, 1997, pp. 2021) UNIT-III : PROSE 1. Nehru : Discovery of India (Ch. 2 and 3) 2. B. R. Ambedkar : Extracts 4,5 and 6 (from Annihilation of Caste Ed. Mulk Raj Anand. Delhi: Arnold Publishers, 1990, pp. 47-54) UNIT-IV : DRAMA 1. Karnad : Nagamandala 2. Mahashweta Devi : Rudali (Calcutta: Seagull, 1999) UNIT-V : FICTION 1. R. K. Narayan : The English Teacher 2. Chetan Bhaghat : One Night @ the Call Centre 16 M. A. English : Syllabus (CBCS) PAPER 7 SHAKESPEARE Objectives Students are : 1. enabled to establish Shakespeare’s contribution to development of English literature and language. 2. to gain knowledge and understanding necessary to explain his dramatic skills 3. to identify and explain meaning-making and communicative strategies in the prescribed plays 4. oriented to a concrete understanding of his ‘universality’ which in this context means his ability to communicate to a far wider spectrum of people 5. prompted to recognise and appreciate his skills as a wordsmith 6. trained to identify passages (from the prescribed plays) that can be used as case studies to understand and practice soft and communicative skills. UNIT-I : As You Like It UNIT-II : Othello UNIT-III : Richard III UNIT-IV : The Winter’s Tale UNIT-V 1. The Elizabethan Theatre and Audience 2. Trends in Shakespeare Studies 17 M. A. English : Syllabus (CBCS) PAPER 8 AMERICAN LITERATURE Objectives Students are : 1. to explore the uniqueness of American literature at an advanced level 2. trained to analyze the American mind in its important facets 3. enabled to appreciate mutually beneficial relationship between India and the U.S. , through the literary medium 4. introduced to American Science Fiction through one of the most representative texts UNIT-I : POETRY 1. 2. 3. 4. Walt Whitman Emily Dickinson Robert Frost Wallace Stevens : Crossing Brooklyn Ferry : Success is counted sweetest : Home Burial : Anecdote of the Jar UNIT-II : POETRY 1. e. e. cummings 2. Amiri Baraka 3. Gwendolyn Brooks : Any one lived in a pretty how town : An Agony as Now : Kitchenette Building UNIT-III : PROSE 1. R. W. Emerson 2. H. D. Thoreau 3. Allan Bloom : Self – Reliance : Walden (Selected Chapters 1,2 and 17) : Nietzscheanization of the Left or Vice-Versa (from the Closing of the American Mind 1987) 18 M. A. English : Syllabus (CBCS) UNIT-IV : DRAMA 1. Eugene O’Neill 2. Arthur Miller : Hairy Ape : The Crucible UNIT-V : FICTION 1. Mark Twain 2. W. Faulkner 3. Isaac Asimov : Adventures of Huckleberry Finn : The Sound and the Fury : The Caves of Steel 19 M. A. English : Syllabus (CBCS) HUMAN RIGHTS COMPULSORY PAPER UNIT-I Definition of Human Rights – Nature, Content, Legitimacy and Priority Theories on Human Rights – Historical Development of Human Rights. UNIT-II International Human Rights – Prescription and Enforcement upto World War II Human Rights and the U . N . O. – Universal Declaration of Human Rights International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights – International Convenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and Optional Protocol. UNIT-III Human Rights Declarations – U. N. Human Rights Declarations – U. N. Human Commissioner. UNIT-IV Amnesty International – Human Rights and Helsinki Process – Regional Developments – European Human Rights System – African Human Rights System – International Human Rights in Domestic courts. UNIT-V Contemporary Issues on Human Rights: Children’s Rights – Women’s Rights Dalit’s Rights – Bonded Labour and Wages – Refugees – Capital Punishment. Fundamental Rights in the Indian Constitution – Directive Principles of State Policy – Fundamental Duties – National Human Rights Commission. 20 M. A. English : Syllabus (CBCS) Books for Reference: 1. International Bill of Human Rights, Amnesty International Publication, 1988. 2. Human Rights, Questions and Answers, UNESCO, 1982 3. Mausice Cranston – What is Human Rights 4. Desai, A. R. – Violation of Democratic Rights in India 5. Pandey – Constitutional Law. 6. Timm. R. W. – Working for Justice and Human Rights. 7. Human Rights, A Selected Bibliography, USIS. 8. J. C. Johari. – Human Rights and New World Order. 9. G. S. Bajwa – Human Rights in India. 10. Amnesty International, Human Rights in India. 11. P. C. Sinha & – International Encyclopedia of Peace, Security K. Cheous (Ed) Social Justice and Human Rights (Vols 1-7). 12. Devasia, V. V. – Human Rights and Victimology. Magazines: 1. 2. 3. 4. The Lawyer, Bombay Human Rights Today, Columbia University International Instruments of Human Rights, UN Publication Human Rights Quarterly, John Hopkins University, U. S. A. 21 M. A. English : Syllabus (CBCS) ELECTIVE PAPER 3 NEW LITERATURES IN ENGLISH Objectives Students are introduced to contemporary and complex writers and their works spanning all the commonwealth countries. If selected for study, this paper will enable the student to acquire a highly comprehensive knowledge of commonwealth literature, enhancing their reception of the paper on commonwealth literature in the III semester, and also providing them with sufficient knowledge base for pursuing research or teaching. UNIT-I : POETRY 1. Australia – Judith Wright : At Cooloola 2. New Zealand – James Baxter : The Ikons 3. Allen Curnow : House and Land UNIT-II : POETRY 1. Canada – Al Purdy : Lament for the Dorsets (EskimosExtinct in the 14th Century AD) (from Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry) 2. Africa – Kofi Awoonor : Song of War : The Weaver Bird (from Penguin Anthology of Modern Poetry- Africa. Eds. Gerald Moore and Ulli Beier. ) 3. ace Nichols West Indies – Grace Nichols – Of course, when they ask for poems (from Six Women Poets. Ed. Judith Kinsman, OUP, 1992, pp. 41 -43) 22 M. A. English : Syllabus (CBCS) UNIT-III : PROSE 1. Africa – Achebe : Colonialist Criticism (from Post Colonial Studies Reader eds. Helen Tiffin, Chris Tiffin & Bill Ashcroft) 2. West Indies – V. S. Naipaul-India : A Wounded Civilization UNIT-IV : DRAMA. Australia – Louis Nowra : Radiance J. P. Clarke : Song of a goat UNIT-V : FICTION Africa-Koetzee : Disgrace Canada-Maragaret Laurence : The Stone Angel Australia-Peter Carey : Oscar and Lucinda 23 M. A. English : Syllabus (CBCS) III SEMESTER PAPER 9 COMMONWEALTH LITERATURE Objectives Students are : 1. exposed to the literatures of the Commonwealth 2. introduced to the postcolonial perceptions of a wide range of people whose second language is English 3. trained to develop comparative perspectives 4. Trained to discuss the question of identity and dominance of landscape in Commonwealth literature UNIT-I : POETRY. Australia – A. D. Hope : Australia New Zealand – Jessie Mackay : The Noosing of the sun-god Africa – Abioseh Nicol : The Continent that lies within us UNIT-II : POETRY Africa – David Rubadiri : A Negro labourer in Liverpool Dereck Walcott : Ruins of a Great House Canada – F. R. Scott : The Canadian Author’s Meet (from Anthology of Commonwealth Verse ed. Margaret O’Donnell & An Anthology of Commonwealth Poetry ed. C. D. Narasimhaiah) UNIT-III : PROSE Sri Lanka – Ananda : The Dance of Shiva Coomaraswami 24 M. A. English : Syllabus (CBCS) UNIT-IV : DRAMA Nigeria – Wole Soyinka : The Lion and the Jewel UNIT-V : FICTION. Canada – Margaret Atwood : Surfacing Australia – Patrick White : Voss 25 M. A. English : Syllabus (CBCS) PAPER 10 LITERARY THEORY AND CRITICISM I Objectives Students are : 1. introduced to one of the most enabling forms of literary study 2. exposed to the complexities of literary theory and criticism, which is most essential aspect of literary appreciation 3. trained to understand and analyze literary writings based on the ever evolving traditions of criticism 4. enabled to form a comparative perspective of the Eastern and Western critical traditions UNIT-I Introduction to Classical Literary Criticism UNIT-II. Ancient Tamil and Sanskrit Criticism UNIT-III Johnson : Preface to Shakespeare Wordsworth : Preface to the Lyrical Ballads UNIT-IV Arnold : Study of Poetry T. S. Eliot : Tradition and Individual Talent UNIT-V N. Frye : Archetypes of Literature 26 M. A. English : Syllabus (CBCS) PAPER 11 ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING Objectives Students are : 1. expected to acquire the essentials of teaching English as a second / foreign language 2. to internalize the various methods of English language teaching, theory as well as practice 3. trained to appreciate the area specific feature of ELT, in the Indian context, to become able teachers. 4. Problems and Principles UNIT-I The role of English in India; English teaching in India today UNIT-II Theories of language learning: cognitive-theory; behaviouristic theory. First language acquisition and second language learning; Attitudes to error; Inter language UNIT-III Approaches and Methods: Grammar Translation; Audio-lingual; Communicative and Current Trends UNIT-IV Classroom Management and Teacher – Student Interaction Materials Production 27 M. A. English : Syllabus (CBCS) UNIT-V Reading, Writing, Testimony, Speaking, Study Skills, Literature, Remediation Recommended Reading Howall A. P. R. A History of English Language Teaching, OUP, 1984. Richards, J and Rodgers, S. Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching, Cambridge University Press, 2001. Ellis, R. Understanding Second Language Acquisition, London, OUP, 1985. Pit Corder, S. Introducing Applied Linguistics, Harmondsworth, Penguin, 1973. Edinburgh Course in Appied Linguistics Vols. 1,2,3,4. Yalden, 1. The Communicative Syllabus: Evolution Design & Implementations. Penguin, 1983. Oller J. W. Jr. Language Tests at School, London, Longman, 1979. David Nunan, Language Teaching Methodology, Prentice Hall, 1991. 28 M. A. English : Syllabus (CBCS) PAPER 12 LITERATURE, ANALYSIS, APPROACHES AND APPLICATIONS Objectives Students are : 1. introduced to the methodologies of analysis, an integral part of literary appreciation 2. exposed to the expected levels of performance required in them 3. directed to the ever widening career options opening to a PG in English, especially in the Knowledge Processing Industry for writers, editors, instructional designers and so on UNIT-I Practical Criticism UNIT-II Journalism and Mass Communication UNIT-III Report Writing and Book Review UNIT-IV Proofreading, Editing and Advertising UNIT-V : TECHNICAL WRITING Specs, Manuals, Business correspondence 29 M. A. English : Syllabus (CBCS) ELECTIVE PAPER 3 FILM REVIEWS AND PRESENTATION Objectives Students are : 1. exposed to the newly emerging field of film studies 2. introduced to the technicalities of making and appreciation of cinema 3. trained to become reviewers, opening up another career option UNIT-I History of Cinema in India UNIT-II Major Landmarks in Indian Cinema UNIT-III What is Film Reviewing? UNIT-IV Actual reviewing by showing film clips UNIT-V The script, storyline, acting, costumes, dialogue, visuals, music and dance, graphics and special effects 30 M. A. English : Syllabus (CBCS) IV SEMESTER PAPER 13 LITERARY THEORY AND CRITICISM II Objectives In addition to the objectives for Literary Theory and Criticism I Students are : 1. sensitized to the transition from Humanistic to Modern and Postmodern critical traditions 2. enabled to comprehend the dominance of theory in the Postmodern phase 3. introduced to recent contexts, concepts and ideologies UNIT-I Lionel Trilling: Sense of the Past Cleanth Brooks: The Language of Paradox UNIT-II Georg Lukacs: Ideology of Modernism UNIT-III Jacques Lacan : Of Structure as an Inmixing of an Otherness Prerequisite to any Subject Whatever UNIT-IV. Barthes: Death of the Author UNIT-V Simone de Beauvoir : Introduction to â€Å"The Second Sex† 31 M. A. English : Syllabus (CBCS) PAPER 14 SOFT SKILLS, LITERATURE AND MOVIES Objectives Students are : 1. trained to understand the aspects of soft skills 2. exposed to the actualities of the various skills grouped under the rubric ‘Soft Skills’ 3. motivated, through this paper, to empower themselves with the expected skills for suitable employment 4. oriented to recognize and locate the role of soft skills in real life situations UNIT-I : INTRAPERSONAL Self-management, self-esteem, self-awareness, self-regulation, self-critique,  Jane Eyre UNIT-II : EMPATHY Honesty, cultural diversity, Ability to take other’s point of view, integrating cognitive and affective skills, Nelli in â€Å"Wuthering Heights† UNIT-III : INTERPERSONAL Team work, persuasion, negotiation, conflict resolution, Reading social situations, learning to say no, active listening, Rosalind, Portia and Viola UNIT-IV : COMMUNICATION Body language, facial expression, humour, eye contact, tone of voice, etiquette, 1. Antony and Cleopatra (Movie) 2. To Sir with Love (Movie) 3. Dead Poets Society (Movie) UNIT-V : LEADERSHIP Critical, lateral, strategic thinking; delegation; taking responsibility; giving praise and appreciation; giving and receiving feedback; ability to motivate; problem solving, â€Å"Things Fall Apart† – Achebe. 32 M. A. English : Syllabus (CBCS) References Daniel Coleman. Working with Emotional Intelligence. Dale Carnegie. How to Develop Self Confidence and Influence People by Public Speaking. 1926. rpt. 1956. Pocket Books. 33 M. A. English : Syllabus (CBCS) PAPER 15 WORLD CLASSICS IN TRANSLATION Objectives: Enable the students to appreciate the writings for them literary values, cultural importance, philosophical and socio-political background to  facilitate the development of cross-cultural perspectives. UNIT-I : Poetry Homer : The Sliad Book III Virgil : The Aeveid Book IV (438-563) Thiruvalluvar : Thirukkural Book II UNIT-II : Dante : The Inferno (Canto III) Gibran : The Prophet UNIT-III : PROSE St. Augustine : The Confessions Book – I Confucius : Analects 1, 2 Harace : As Poetria UNIT-IV : DRAMA Anton Chekov : The Cherry Orchid Kalidasa : Sahuntala Aristophanes : The Clouds UNIT-V : FICTION Leo Tolstoy : Anna Karenina Books (1 & 2) Thomas Mann : Magic Mountain 34 M. A. English : Syllabus (CBCS) PAPER 16 WOMEN’S WRITING IN ENGLISH UNIT-I: POETRY Elizabeth Barret Browming. Ways. : How Do I Love Thee? Let me count the Sylvia Plath : Lady Lazarus Maya Angelou : Phenomenal Woman Kamala Das : Introduction Toru Dutt : Sita UNIT-II: PROSE Virginia Woolf : A Room of One’s Own Arundhathi Roy : The Algebra of Infinite Justice. UNIT-III: DRAMA Mahashweta Devi : Mother of 1084 Caryll Churchill : Top Girls UNIT-IV: FICTION Jhumpa Lahiri : The Namesake Margaret Atwood : The Handmaid’s Tale UNIT-V: GENERAL Mary Woolstone craft : The Vindication of the Rights of Women Elaine Showalter : Toward a Feminist Poetics 35 M. A. English : Syllabus (CBCS) ELECTIVE PAPER 4 ANATOMY OF LITERATURE Objectives. Students are : 1. enabled to acquaint themselves with the major generic divisions in English literature 2. trained in the universally – acknowledged conventions of literary research and documentation UNIT-I : THE ANATOMY OF PROSE The form of prose – vocabulary – grammar and idiom written and spoken prose – the paragraph – prose rhythm – individual and common style – common style and cheap style – simplicity and ornamentation – objective and subjective abstract and concrete – realism, romance and unreality – special inventions prose for its own sake – the historical approach – the science of rhetoric writing prose. UNIT-II : THE ANATOMY OF POETRY The importance of form – the physical form of poetry – metre – variation – rhyme – onomatopoeia – internal pattern – form in intonation – repetition – the main types of poetry – logical sequence – the use of associations – patterns of imagery – traditional verse forms – free verse – the choice of words – illustrations – cautions – twentieth – century techniques. UNIT-III : THE ANATOMY OF NOVEL The concept of fiction – verisimilitude – the point of view – plot – character character revealed – conversation – scene and background – dominant themes the experimental novel 36. M. A. English : Syllabus (CBCS) UNIT-IV : THE ANATOMY OF DRAMA Live literature – action – plots – conventional divisions – direct experience of characters – dialogue and conversation – verse and prose – types of drama drama and history – use of notes – interpretation UNIT-V : LITERARY RESEARCH Research and writing – the mechanics of writing – the format of the research paper – documentation: preparing the list of works cited – documentation: citing sources in the text – abbreviations Reference Marjorie Boulton, The Anatomy of Prose (1954). Marjorie Boulton, The Anatomy of Poetry (1953) Marjorie Boulton, The Anatomy of Novel Marjorie Boulton, The Anatomy of Drama (1960) Joseph Gibaldi, MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 6th Ed. 37 M. A. English : Syllabus (CBCS) PROJECT DISSERTATION Objective Project Work is a preparatory exercise for research writing. Students are introduced to the basics of research and trained to write academically following the framework given below: 1. Introduction 2. Statement of the problem 3. Review of Literature 4. Analysis 5. Summary, findings and suggestions.

Ellis Island Immigration Essay

Family came, Haiti origin, along with 15 year old daughter for crises counseling and to file a petition. The daughter lived in United States since she was 5 years old. She also had siblings who are way older then she is, who were brought up back in Haiti. Parents complain that she is disobedient and they wanted to put her in jail. What they called disobedient is her refusing to take earrings off, because in their culture females are not allowed to use anything that might make them look attractive (at least that’s what they say). Parents are culture orientated and very traditional people. I talked to girl alone for long time, she felt misunderstood on so many levels. Nothing was wrong with her psychologically, and there was no need for psychiatric evaluation at all. She seemed very smart young female, who is also a typical teenager and her parents had hard time dealing with that. She want it make up, go to movies, and her parents didn’t like it. She skipped school from time to time, but nothing serious so there was no need to file petition for truancy. Both me, and psychologist I worked with had counseling with her parents. They kept telling us â€Å"other children were never like this,† so I tried to explain them that other children were raised in a different environment and off course they are going to act differently. I also told them I cannot file a petition because 15 year old has earrings on. It was a tough one, and we knew it would take time to change perspective of her parents. This is why Ellis Island immigration is so significant to me. Being labeled â€Å"insane† for something that is totally acceptable in own culture is pure injustice. Ellis Island is the place where everything started, and this occurs when people begun to be seen as the same but in fact, different. We all may have been equal, but have different values and beliefs and this has to be seen by everybody, especially professionals in such field. References Cohen, R. , & Swerdlik, M. (2005). Psychological Testing and Assessment: An Introduction to Tests and Measurement (6th ed. ). , : The McGraw-Hill Companies. Ellis Island http://sydaby. eget. net/swe/ellis_island. htm Ellis Island www. history. com

The Role of Horoscopes in Daily Life Essay

The Role of Horoscopes in Daily Life Essay The Role of Horoscopes in Formulation of Daily Life Essay The Role of Horoscopes in Formulation of Daily Life Essay Popular culture is a phenomenon of the contemporary world, which contains the diversity of elements penetrating life of every individual. There are elements, which evoke a positive attitude, while others encourage people to be skeptical and perceive the whole set of information without seriousness. In the prospect of routine elements, which formulate the essence of popular culture, it is possible to consider different things. However, horoscopes play a significant part in formulation of daily life of the majority of individuals. It is impossible to deny this part of life, which started its existence long ago. Horoscopes formulate an essential part, which has a significant influence on human lives regardless of their priorities. There are different opinions regarding horoscopes. Some people tend to believe in predictions generated by astrologists, while others accept it as a joke or fiction. Nevertheless, it is obvious that everybody knows about horoscopes and has a specific opinion regarding truth about each prediction based on stars. In addition, regardless of the opinion, horoscopes still formulate a part of the popular culture. It is impossible to imagine life without predictions generated by astrologists. In addition, horoscopes have a long history and had some influence on the legendary figures who tended to believe in every prediction. Moreover, the contemporary world has made this element a fashionable element for many celebrities who have their personal astrologists and continue to adjust their lives to the daily dose of horoscopes generated by another person. Horoscopes have become an essential part of the surrounding world, which are supposed to predict the nearest future and help individuals prepare for life challenges. The current paper criticizes horoscopes from different points of view and evaluates its place in the system of human relations. In addition, the paper aims to analyze the place of horoscopes in the popular culture, which shapes development of every individual in diverse ways. Topic of Interest The selected topic is a representation of human nature, which supports the point of believing in supernatural. Horoscopes constitute a supernatural aspect of life, which is most likely not to have any effect on human development or any other event taking place in life. However, the majority of people tend to believe that horoscopes reflect a short representation of the nearest future, which can help to prepare for life challenges. In addition, these people tend to depend on information given in a horoscope, thinking that it is a key to success and happiness. Horoscopes make many people dependent on the information they receive from newspapers, magazines, and the Internet. It is impossible to deny that those who tend to adjust to daily doses of predictions are more emotional and infantile than others. Infantilism means that it is a reflection of human nature willing to believe in fairytales. In fact, fairytales are reflected through horoscopes, which can be found in thousands of sourc es with different meanings on the same day. The selected topic has many points of interest as long as everybody has at least once touched up with horoscopes and thought about believing or not in facts mentioned in a short prediction. In the prospect of predictions generated by astrology, it is possible to claim that this point has always played a role of a regulator in lives of many people. Many historical figures tended to adjust their activity to horoscopes, which were generated by their personal astrologists. In fact, it means that astrologists have played a role of an adviser and personal regulator, which can change the course of the future. Adolf Hitler was one of the most famous historical leaders who believed in the power of horoscopes and tried to act according to predictions created by his personal astrologist Louis de Wohl. De Wohl was considered to be a Hungarian â€Å"Nostradamus† and was popular among the British elite and other social layers willing to turn to his services in desire to know about the nearest future. In fact, de Wohl was one of those who believed in the power of stars able to predict further events taking place in life of every human according to his peculiarities. Hitler cons ulted de Wohl in order not only to predict his personal future, but also the future of the Third Reich (Winter, 2006). It was his personal astrologist’s obligation to read information written in the stars and get involved into the political sphere in order to see the most beneficial positions of Germany. De Wohl involved himself into a psychologically-based job, which appealed to many people with desire to see the essence of future. However, it is possible to claim that horoscopes have a psychological effect on people willing to believe in the supernatural aspect of life. In addition, people have always wanted to predict the future in order to avoid mistakes and take a chance of being happy without facing difficulties. Beliefs tend to formulate an essential part of life, which create a significant part of human nature striving to secure them. These are the reasons the selected topic is appropriate for the consideration from the perspective of the pop-culture course. Contemporary Interest in Horoscopes Today, horoscopes continue to penetrate lives of millions of people. It is obvious that political figures, celebrities, elite layers of the society, and public persons continue to believe in predictions, which can help to look into the future and change the course of events if problems are likely to occur. In the discussion of the topic, it is necessary to mention that the contemporary pop-culture has many elements, which are interesting to the young generation. It is possible to see the tendency of the youth, which includes many individuals turning to the skeptical side in terms of perception of horoscopes. The selected topic cannot leave anyone indifferent as long as it generates opposite points of view and encourages thinking on the truth of facts reflected in horoscopes. However, it is possible to support the point that the contemporary world does not depend on horoscopes as much as it used to in the past. The number of such individuals is not that big, but there is a rising tendency supporting the point that horoscopes are not that important in prediction of life. It is an entertaining element, which might be helpful in thinking about the future. In addition, it does not give any guarantee that horoscopes reflect true facts, which will occur no matter what happens. The contemporary society with a significant number of the youth tends to believe a supernatural side of predictions. People start to perceive it as tips for further activity. In the light of the pop-culture course, horoscopes and their essence need to be paid special attention as long as they are reflecting the human nature of the contemporary stage of human development. It is an element, which is generated according to peculiarities of the nation. However, it is supposed to be equal for every individual born in the same period. Numerous magazines and newspapers contain different facts reflected in horoscopes, which are supposed to be the same and push people to the right decision. It is obvious that this topic requires special consideration as long as it starts to turn to the ridiculous and does not contain any concrete information about the nearest future. There are many people joking that they could easily write a hundred of different horoscopes for the same period. People choose what to believe in and what steps to take towards actions in the nearest future. Horoscopes, in turn, have started to reflect peculiarities of nations where astrologists are supposed to give predictions according to the stars. In addition, it has already become a ridiculous side of life as long as people start to consider astrologists as a profession, which needs special skills in order to read information based on the location of planets. In fact, thinking of horoscopes from the skeptical perspective puts many life essentials at doubt, which does not have any logical explanation. For example, horoscopes do not have any specific information, while people tend to believe that the chain of predictions has a direct connection to them. These are the reasons explaining importance of taking the selected topic into account and discussing it with peers during the popular culture class. Theories of Popular Culture In the prospect of popular culture, it is possible to consider three different theories, which have a significant meaning in astrology and horoscopes in general. The theory of mass society, the theory of culture industry, and the theory of progressive evolution formulate the essence of understanding the relation between popular culture and horoscopes. Firstly, the theory of mass society focuses on decision-making having a significant effect on centralization of all ideas. Horoscopes tend to be a reflection of generalizing all aspects of the nearest future, thus having a mass effect on the society and decisions it makes as soon as it receives information from outside sources. Secondly, the theory of culture industry has a relation to the consumer capitalism, through the lens of which it is possible to see the essence of horoscopes. Consumer capitalism requires taking into account manipulation of consumer demand, which generates further representation of the future in horoscopes. For example, it is possible to see the essence of consumerism in the decision-making process based on predictions. In addition, continuous adherence to information presented in horoscopes creates additional demand promoting further generation of astrological predictions. Finally, the theory of progressive evolution points out continuous changes and inclusion of every individual in the process of the generations’ development. Horoscopes, in this aspect, obtain the role of tips helping to change and implement these changes in life. American Values Americans are considered to be the most informal nation, which tends to adhere to casualty in everything, starting from peer communication and ending with workplace relations with a boss. There are many values penetrating lives of Americans, which outline the most important aspects of human nature. Horoscopes cross the line between different values and the current discussion helps to understand the role of horoscopes in the light of American core values penetrating lives of millions of people. First, it is important to mention that Americans are practical enough to consider only those aspects of life, which are truly significant. It means that Americans tend to value those things, which can help to achieve goals in the future. In this aspect, there is another core value reflecting the desire to build plans and aspire to success. Planning and practical aspects of routine life help to see the role and place of horoscopes helping to build any plan based on predictions (Mulligan, 2008). For example, almost every American considers horoscopes before deciding about a life-changing event (signing a contract, getting married, moving to another city, etc.). However, this phenomenon has an importance in the light of worries these individuals experience before taking a serious step, which will have an effect on the further course of their life. In this respect, there is another core value reflecting a desire of every American to be action-oriented. In fact, before taking any action, every American is willing to know what mistakes should be avoided in order to make plans come true. Probably, the strongest American core value, which has a relation to horoscopes, is a strong desire to change. Change takes into account changes both on personal and national levels. Horoscopes become mirrors for those who want to make a change and see what the future holds in order to prepare for life challenges and change the future in order to reach success. However, it does not put Americans into action in the present. This is a ridiculous point, which supports the desire to change the future without taking action in the present. Somehow, horoscopes have bec ome a point of interest like a mirror reflecting the future. Social Policy Debate: Three Groups of the Society Astrology along with horoscopes has become one the most significant parts of social thinking, which creates different opinions and thoughts regarding this phenomenon. It is possible to distinguish three groups of the society, which have different points of view regarding the discussed topic. On the one hand, the society has learned how to live with predictions without paying much attention to them (Wei, 2009). People continue to live reading horoscopes without taking them as a serious prediction with a life-changing nature. On the other hand, another group of people tends to believe in every fact reflected in horoscopes, which is the most important part of life helping in the decision-making process. These people cannot live without a daily dose of horoscopes and their reflection of facts based on the planet’s position. In addition, these people tend to take advice in the horoscope seriously. Paying attention to predictions helps these people to achieve their plans as long as they believe that life gives many tips through the lens of horoscopes (Webb, 2011). Finally, the third group stays indifferent and does not believe in any fact given in the horoscope. It does not mean that these people do not pay attention to the page in a magazine full of horoscopes. These people open the last page of the magazine in order to entertain themselves at the end of the day and see that there are no coincidences or anything mentioned in the horoscope that has taken place that day. There are always interactions between these three groups leading to debates and controversy. Some people tend to support the idea that horoscopes formulate a reflection of the nearest future without details. However, no specific information encourages others to support the idea that horoscopes are a waste of time, which is helpless in the achievement of any plan or goal. In fact, it is impossible to support one or another group as long as astrology is vague enough to think of the most appropriate answer to the question whether horoscopes reflect true facts or not. In general, the society continues to perceive this belief circulating about horoscopes, which can help to generate plans for the nearest future. In addition, people tend to adhere to the information given in the horoscope, thinking that it can change the course of events. Astrology has always played a significant part in shaping the world’s beliefs and cultural identities. It has always been amazing how people tend to believe in the diversity of things, which their minds create. Astrology is not the only element of human lives, which creates the diversity of peculiarities of human development. However, this is the part, which makes life full of mythical and fantastic ideas. The paper has reflected my opinion, which considers horoscopes along with their meanings as fiction or fairytales formulating a creative part of life. Historical facts, which are supposed to give a positive meaning to horoscopes, only support the point that there will always be individuals believing in horoscopes and their meanings. However, it is impossible neither to support nor oppose existence of horoscopes and truth of facts, which horoscopes offer. In fact, many generations will continue going through the essence of horoscopes during their lives. It means that astrology has given horoscopes as a gift, which can entertain the humanity and give it a chance to look into the nearest future. However, there is a strong point supporting the idea that reading horoscopes can become a programming of further events taking place in life. Many people believe that thoughts become material if an individual continues thinking about the same things for a long time. In general, it is possible to claim that horoscopes are a reflection of uncertainty, which can be created by any individual without looking at the stars. Finally, it is a matter of time proving the truth of facts reflected in horoscopes. In general, it is possible to claim that there are many coincidences, which can be considered as predictions. People should take care of the present instead of taking a look into the future willing to know what waits for them tomorrow.

Why having an anti-role model is actually a good thing

Why having an anti-role model is actually a good thing We’re all aware of the value of having a role model in our lives- someone we can look up to and aspire to be like, a person who embodies the success and happiness, personal characteristics, behaviors, and mannerisms we hope to someday see within ourselves and have others notice within us. Having this sort of idealized model for us to measure ourselves up against can be beneficial in many ways. They can keep us motivated and on track as we work toward the individual goals we set out for ourselves. They can help us resist negative temptations and influences that could threaten to derail us. They can anchor our ambitions and concretely determine what we need to do in order to achieve the level of success, ambition, and happiness we envision for ourselves. The benefits of having a positive role model in our lives sounds like a no-brainer- but have you ever thought about the power of having an anti-role model and what it can do for you? It may sound strange or counterintuitive at f irst, but keep reading- there is a clear case to be made for why having an anti-role model in your life can be a good thing.What is an anti-role model?Let’s start off with a quick definition of an anti-role model. They represent the exact opposite of a positive role model- it’s someone who embodies the opposite behaviors, traits, and trajectory that you want to have in yourself and your life. An anti-role model often comprises everything that you want to work against and avoid as you plan your life and make progress toward your personal goals.Use negativity to motivate you to be your best selfDespite the negative connotations that immediately spring to mind when thinking about anti-role models, the truth is they can be powerful forces for good in our lives. Knowing what we don’t want to be can be just as powerful as watching someone who always does the right thing in any given situation. The eagerness to avoid becoming an unwanted version of ourselves can be a r eal impetus for positive change, and when forging our life paths it’s just as helpful to know what things we’d like to avoid as it is knowing where we’d like to end up.Set up your ideal career path early onFor many of us, this process of figuring out who we want to become stems from a series of trial and error events, and often-painful life lessons. However, having an anti-role model early on can go a long way to helping you avoid having to make some pretty big mistakes. An anti-role model can also equip you with a set of ethical and moral guidelines and boundaries to adhere to as you journey through life and try to be your best self.Knowing who you don’t want to be can help you figure how who you do want to be. The bottom line is this: if you imagine life as a journey along a path that you set for yourself, knowing the direction you don’t want to move in can be just as helpful as being aware of the right direction for you and can keep you from mak ing a wrong move and getting lost.So, have we convinced you of the potential benefit of having an anti-role model in your life? If so, and you know someone who may fit the bill in this capacity, then consider using your association with them as a positive force for motivation, direction, and change in your life. Good luck!

A global economic and financial boom in the 20th and 21st century Essay

A global economic and financial boom in the 20th and 21st century - Essay Example There was a global economic and financial boom in the 20th and 21st century.This resulted in tremendous growth of opportunities for businessmen, investors, governments, financial intermediaries and other financial institutions to invest their money. In other words, they needed to create a portfolio of assets that lead to high returns with assets that do not yield very high returns, but are safe. The major objective behind this investment strategy was to maximize the wealth and at the same time make sure that the investment would not lead to credit risk or risk of default. Before making any investment, investors are required to price the assets clearly. This requires knowledge of financial statement analysis and security analysis. Those investors who lack the financial guile and knowledge suffered in the long-run. Investment analysis is a detailed field of study. It combines theory of financial evaluation with the practical implications. The task is tough, but it is by no means imposs ible. Analysts combine various financial techniques such as NPV, security valuations, IRR and other tools of investment appraisal to evaluate the investment opportunities they have. The investment decision is usually based on the return on investment and safety of investment. However, there is a negative correlation between the two. High yielding assets are usually not very safe. Safe assets usually do not have very high yields. Investors face a dilemma, either to go for riskier assets and earn high rate of return or to go for safe assets at the cost of high rates of return. The final decision is based on the risk appetite of the investors. However, in the modern world, very few investors choose to invest in one kind of asset. Investors usually create portfolios to make sure that their investment is safe and at the same time it earn them sufficient rate of return (Investopedia.com, 2011). The other considerations for making investment decisions include liquidity of the security, obl igations, credit rating, past performance trends and risk mitigation. All of these measures are assessed carefully in order to make rational investment decisions. There are three types of financial statements that are usually used for making the financial decisions. These include balance sheet, profit and loss (income statement) and cash flow statement. These statements give accurate picture of the financial position of the firm along with its financial performance and the liquidity of the firm. Balance sheet consists of three main sections. The firm section gives the picture of the short-term and long-term assets of the firm. These assets enable the firm to earn money in the future. The second part of the balance sheet describes the liabilities of a firm. These represent the long-term and short-term obligations of the company. This money is owed by the firm to its creditors and failure to meet these obligations can result in bankruptcy of the firm. The third part of the balance she et represents the owner’s equity. This part represents the claim on the assets by the owner’s. The second statement used by the financial analysts is the income statement. Income statement usually describes the profitability of the firm. It is calculated by deducting revenues from expenditures. The third statement used by the financial analysts is the cash flow statement. This statement represents the liquidity position of the organization. This statement shows the actual movement of the cash in the organization. Since most of the organizations are using the accrual based accounting system, the profit figure becomes irrelevant without using the cash flow statement. Hence, income statement and cash flow sta