Friday, April 3, 2020

Nuke The Bastards! A Satire Essays - , Term Papers

Nuke The Bastards! A Satire NUKE THE BASTARDS! A SATIRE The decision to drop the atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was perhaps the greatest American achievement since the defeat of the Native Americans and their containment in reservations. Not only did it swiftly end the war but it showed the Russians who held the upper hand. It also paved the way for the Cold War, which increased Americas war machine to the unparalleled level its at today, as well as numerous memorable events such as the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Cuban Missile Crisis. There was simply no other way to win without dropping the bombs. It was evident at the time that the only way to end the war quickly, as well as establish an advantage over the Russians, was to eliminate only about 300,000 Japanese people in a spectacular demonstration of American military power. Demonstrating the nuclear weapon to the Japanese with a surrender or this will happen to you type of ultimatum would have done nothing but made the Japanese fight harder and longer, causing hundreds of thousands of American deaths. The American military forces were at the end of their tethers, so invasion would have been impossible without significant loss of life. Through the years of island hopping and fighting the fortified Japanese forces, the Americans knew that the Japanese fought to the last man. In the months prior to the atomic bombings, Japanese civilians were being trained with basic weaponry and hustled into the military, ready to ward of invasion to protect their emperor. Without demonstrating with a firm hand what was demanded by unconditional surrender, the Japanese would never have given up. When faced with total destruction, they chose to lay down their arms and allowed a peaceful invasion to take place. Since then, Japan has grown as one of the leading technological countries in the world. As for the civilians killed and the controversies that have gone on through the years as a result of their deaths, it was a demonstration. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the chosen targets mainly because of their military targets and for the geography. Scientists at the time did not know the full range of the atomic blast, and the tall mountains that mostly surrounded the two cities provided a way to contain the nuclear explosion. The number of civilians killed by the atomic blasts is greatly outnumbered by the total number of American and Japanese combined casualties that would have resulted from an American military invasion of Japan. The Russians at the same time were experimenting with nuclear technology. They had not yet figured out how to make the atomic bombs. When they witnessed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, they knew that America had won the atomic arms race. When President Truman learned that the atomic bomb had been successfully tested he dealt with the Russians firmly and aggressively during the negotiating between leaders of both countries. Prime Minister Winston Churchill stated, He told the Russians just where they got off and generally bossed the whole meeting. Essentially this sparked many significant cultural events, most notably the Cold War and the Korean War, in which the United States has come out victorious. One could say that the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have sparked events that have led to America being the most powerful country in the world. Without using nuclear weapons, America would not have made it out of World War II and come out on top. The Japanese were an enemy that would never cease fighting, and the Russians were a threat lingering in the background. It was a definite landmark in the history of the United States military as well as technological branches. In order to save millions of people from potentially years of fighting, the bombs were dropped and history ran its course. Creative Writing

Sunday, March 8, 2020

Optimum Dividend Policy The WritePass Journal

Optimum Dividend Policy INTRODUCTION Optimum Dividend Policy INTRODUCTIONTESCO PLCAPPLE INCORPORATIONDIVIDEND AND DIVIDEND POLICYTHEORIES OF DIVIDEND POLICYDIVIDEND IRRELEVANCE THEORYDIVIDEND RELEVANCE THEORYRESIDUAL THEORYZERO DIVIDEND POLICYCONCLUSIONREFERENCERelated INTRODUCTION It is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the significance of dividend policy, considering the fact that payment of dividend reduces earnings available for investment and increase external financing for investment purpose. Most households, investors and pensioners rely heavily on the dividends from their investments to make ends meet. A lot of theories have emerged regarding the dividend decisions made by companies. While some are of the opinion that the choice of dividend is irrelevant to the value of shareholder wealth, provided all retained earnings are invested in projects that give a positive net present value, others held the view that the capital structure decision is relevant as the cost of loan capital is cheaper than that of equity and as such advocates external source of financing as oppose to the use of dividends. This report will therefore examine some of the theories on dividend policies using five year dividend policy of Tesco Plc and Apple Incorporation. TESCO PLC Tesco is a retail store whose head office is in United Kingdom.   It has an unrivalled FTSE 100 record of increasing dividend for the 26th consecutive year. Its major shareholders as at July 2010 are Blackrock Inc which owns 5.24%, Legal general Investment Management Limited which owns 3.71% of the issued share capital of the company, Berkshire Hathaway Inc, 3.02% (Annual report, 2010, pp. 1-3 45). Tesco Plc final dividend payout extracted from the annual reports between 2006 to 2010 is: YEAR:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  2006  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2007  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2008  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2009  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2010 DIVIDEND (pence):  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   6.10  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   6.83  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   7.70  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   8.39  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   9.16 APPLE INCORPORATION Apple is an American multinational corporation incorporated in 1977 which manufactures computers, computer accessories and mobile phones. In 1980, the company went public, selling 4.6 million shares at a price of $22 per share and closing at $29. (CNET news, 1997). The company does not pay dividends despite its continuous increase in shares arising from the success in new products lunch. Below gives an overview of Apple dividend history. Year  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2009  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2008  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2007   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2006  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚      2005 Dividends  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  $0  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   $0  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   $0     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   $0  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   $0 Price  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   $170.31   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   $110.99   $198.08  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   $84.84  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚   $0 Estimated EPS (year)   $5.84, Estimated EPS (quarter)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   $1.38 Estimated EPS Growth 18.58%, Payout Ratio  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   0.00%. DIVIDEND AND DIVIDEND POLICY Dividend is a cash payment made to shareholders on a quarterly or twice in a year basis based on the amount of shares held and dependent upon the dividend policy adopted by the company.   It is normally paid to every shareholder at the record date and can be either in cash or reinvested into the business to generate capital gains (Atrill and McLaney, 2008, pp. 138-139). They are paid out of profit after deducting interest and tax liabilities and the Company Act 1985 makes it mandatory for companies to pay dividend out of accumulated net realised profit, taking into consideration any accumulated loss according to Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies (Watson and Head, 2007, p.84). Dividend can be also in the form of bonus shares whereby instead of shareholders receiving cash as dividend, they receive additional share known as script dividend (Atrill, 2009, p. 365). Some companies like Google and Apple have a zero-dividend stock while others like Tesco Inc pays dividend. THEORIES OF DIVIDEND POLICY There is increasing pressure for companies to cut dividend in order to finance projects that gives a positive net present value using retained earnings which is a major source of finance for companies in the United Kingdom (Watson and Head, 2007, p. 285). Retained earnings are being used because there are no issue costs involve and are quick to raise (ACCA F9, 2010, p. 556). However, the decision of a company to use retained earnings to finance its investments will be dependent on the attitude of shareholders and capital market to a reduction in dividend, availability and cost of external sources of finance and amount of fund require relative to the available distributable profits (ACCA F9, 2010, p. 285). The following are some of the dividend policy theories that will be discussed in this report. DIVIDEND IRRELEVANCE THEORY This theory was pioneered by Modigliani and Miller in 1961. It argued that in a perfect capital market where there is the absence of transaction costs, taxation and market imperfections, shareholders are concerned with increase in wealth and will be indifference to whether the increase is a result of capital gain or dividend (ACCA F9, 2010, p. 556). To an investor, whether a firm pays dividend or not should make no difference to the value of the firm and it does not counts whether it is paid out as dividend or reinvested to yield a capital gain as dividend policy does not have any effect on share price (Chiang et al, 2006, pp.6413). This supports Human Resource Director of Aspire Plc   of one dividend policy being as good as another as it has no effect on share price. Thus a company can choose to pay any amount of dividend and use retained earnings to finance projects that have positive net present value and maintain that shareholders who invest in a financial geared business will want a return that is the same with the return they will get from investing in a similar business that is ungeared and that returns the shareholders require from borrowing will remain unchanged with increase in levels of borrowing (Atrill, 2009, p. 344). Their argument is founded on the assumption that having a good security for the loans will prevent lenders from seeking additional returns. Modigliani and Miller fail to realised that human nature being naturally selfish and the business environment being chaotic, complex and unpredictable will make lenders seek higher returns so as to safe guard against such risk as global recession. Investors suffered dividend cuts with investments worth billions reduced to nothing in the wake of the financial crisis which were not matched by a reciprocal austerity on the part of investment bankers (Jones, 2011). Shareholders will require higher return due to the risk, inflation and interest.   Moreover, their argument is founded on three assump tions of an ‘ideal business world’ devoid of share issue costs, market imperfections, transaction costs and taxation whereas in reality, these exist. A perfect market assumption of market prices not being influenced by a single seller or buyer (Hussainey et al, 2011, p.59) is unlikely to hold. The financial markets operate in a chaotic and unpredicted world and in reality, costs like agency, bankruptcy, and transaction costs are incurred when investors buy or sell their shares and tax will be charged as well as inflation (Abor and Bokpin, 2010, p. 180). Moreover, monopoly exists where a single seller can influence price. The ongoing war in Libya for instance has led to a large increase in fuel price all around the world (Barbajosa, 2011). However, the third assumption of no taxation will hold to a great extent giving that the United Kingdom no taxation rule on capital gains below  £9200 applies, whereas all dividends are tax charged (Atrill, 2009, p. 372). The tax pos ition of an investor to a great extent will determine whether they prefer a capital gain to dividend and vice versa and shareholders will invest in companies whose dividend policies are in line with their investment needs DIVIDEND RELEVANCE THEORY This theory propounded by Lintner (1956) and Gordon (1959) is founded on the assumption that a shareholder will prefer to receive a dividend payment which is certain as oppose to investing the same amount in an investment whose value is not certain corroborating the point made by Aspire Plc Director of Operations that a known dividend now is preferred by shareholders to an uncertain capital gain in the future. This is similar to the bird in the hand dividend theory which says that a bird (dividend) in hand is worth more than two (capital gains) in the bush. Giving that future cash flows are uncertain, an investor will prefer dividends to retained earnings (Hussainey, 2011, p. 59). It therefore maintained that dividends are preferred to capital gains as a result of shareholders being risk averse. Some of their arguments is founded on the assumptions that dividends are a signal to shareholders and investors about the prospects of a company. This arises as a result of the asymmetry of i nformation between shareholders and managers (Alnold, 2007, p. 429). Thus shareholders see dividend as a means of passing across information to them as to the well being of their investments. A rise in dividend to the shareholder is a sign that the company has good prospects and share price tends to rise while a cut in dividend signals a poor performance (Tse, 2005, p. 14). Share prices thus go up when there is increase in dividend and go down when there is a cut in dividend and market makes use of announcement of changes in dividend payments in assessing the value of a security (Tse, 2005, p.14 in Pettit (1972). A pitfall of this notion is that an increase in dividend may implies that the company is short of positive net present value projects to invest in or has weak investments opportunities and as a result dispense cash out as dividend to shareholders (Baker and Wurgler, 2004, p. 1128). Apple does not pay dividend partly because of a similar reason that dividend payments give a negative perception that the company has run out of investments opportunities and as such will not grow much more (Elmer-Dewitt, 2010). Alternatively, companies with zero dividend shares like Berkshire Hathaway face a dilemma as to how to convey information about current performance and future prospects of the company if dividends are a means of passing on such information to the shareholders. Although investors invest in companies for various reasons, while some rely on dividend as a source of regular income like the pensioner and institutional investors who rely on dividend payments to meet various obligations and needs to meet, others prefer capital gains. However, like the argument put forward by the Sales Director of Aspire Plc that dividend policy should be structured to suit the type of shareholders a company has and dividend paid according to their needs,   company dividend policy should be drafted base on the company’s clientele (shareholders) base and their needs or income requirements. Aspire Plc shareholders are majorly individuals, pension funds and insurance companies having total shares holdings of 66.7%, giving the obvious that the company’s majority clientele base is mainly shareholders who have liabilities to meet and would therefore prefer that dividend be paid as against having them invested for capital gains which a unit and investment fund company will have a preference for. Regardless of the fact that shareholders want dividends paid to meet obligations and income needs, they are also interested in the growth of the company. In dispensing cash as dividends to shareholders or reinvesting to yield a capital gain, a company should also consider shareholders tax preference. While some shareholders want dividends, they do not want the tax liability that comes with it. The United Kingdom tax law exempt capital gains below  £9200 whereas dividends are taxable. As a result, shareholders will want to delay dividend being paid to them to take advantage of this exemption. Similarly, if there is share appreciation, the tax benefits of deferring capital gains into the future may outweigh the cost of paying a higher tax rate on a relatively small dividend (Whitworth and Zhang, 2010, p.681). In an attempt to send a positive signal about future prospects of a company, company pays dividend despites its tax disadvantages. The cost of this signalling is that cash dividends are taxed higher than capital gains. While some investors would rather have capital gains to cut down on tax impact, others may prefer dividends beca use they prefer immediate cash in hand (Hussainey, 2011, p.60). RESIDUAL THEORY The theory which share a similar view with Modigliani and Miller’s except that it recognises issue costs but there is no taxation and market imperfections and argued that though dividend are important, the pattern is not. It further reiterates that a firm should pay dividend from cash remaining after investing in net positive value projects. The problem is how an investor knows that a company is investing in projects that will enhance the value of a company due to the asymmetry of information between management and investors or shareholders?. Payments of dividend is a means by which managers signal the true value of the firm and communicate insider information about the company to the shareholders (Tse, 2005, p.13). It brings about the issue of agency as an investor cannot tell that his or her dividend accrued to him or her has been reinvested in positive or negative net present value projects or used by the directors to pursue their own interest of empire building to the detr iment of investors. A typical example is Enron Corporation that has its managers claimed to have been reinvesting shareholders money and creating value through acquisition of over forty one companies, investments worth billions of dollars   and increase in share price from $57.10 to $90.56 within 1998 by cooking fraudulent accounting information which the shareholders relied on. Its pre-initial public offering shares went from $10 million to $372 million within a day. It was soon discovered that the managers indulged in creative accounting to hide losses worth about $35 billion and had overstated income by $586 million. The share price went from $90.56 to $8.40 and subsequently to 61 cents (Gini et al, 2009, pp.110-114). Shareholders of firms can thus avoid incurring agency costs by reducing the cash available to the shareholders through the demand for dividend to reduce excess free cash flow. (ACCA F9, 2010, pp. 375-376) and (Hussainey, 2011, p. 60). ZERO DIVIDEND POLICY Some companies adopted a zero dividend policy whereby they do not pay dividends to their shareholders rather plough the cash back into the business to generate future capital gains. Companies such as Berkshire Hathaway, Google, Apple, and Microsoft until recently do not pay dividends.   Apple do not pay dividend despite its holdings in cash and marketable securities which have grown from $24.5 billion to $46 billion. Its Chief executive Officer had said that the company has no plans of paying dividend in the near future. The company believes that cash hoard is a fast and easy means of financing investments projects such as acquisition, Research and Development in new products and put the company in less fewer risks by using retained earnings as opposed to external sources of finance to avoid exposing the entire company to risk (Ghosh, 2011). This may be due to the fact that the company’s major shareholders are co-founder Steve Jobs, who owns more than 5.5 million shares, App le engineer and vice president Sina Tamaddon with 290,000 shares, and retail chief Ron Johnson with 232,000 shares. Other shareholders are institutional and Mutual Fund Holders. However, as of April 2009, more than 71 percent of Apples stock was owned by institutions and mutual funds with the largest institutional stock holder being FMR LLC, with 39.2 million shares, followed by Barclays Global Investors with 37 million. The top mutual fund holder is The Growth Fund of America with 24.1 million shares. In July 2009, the companys stock was trading at $142.40 per share (Desjardins, 2011). This goes to show that 71% of its shareholders are mutual fund trusts who do not have immediate pressing needs to meet and would therefore prefer a capital gain to dividend, hence the use of retained earnings by Apple to finance its business. Also, giving the nature of Apple’s business, the company needs to invest in research and development which most times takes years for a breakthrough to m anifest. Apple would have also chosen not to pay dividend due to failure of who had almost $60-billion of cash on the balance sheet, from which they used about $32-billion to make a special one-time dividend in 2004. Microsoft’s share chart showns that its share price has gone nowhere in ten years. Not even a number of stock buybacks have helped push up the stock price. Also, Cisco Systems announcement to start paying a dividend had its shares plunged from almost $70 in 2000 to just above $20 no, while Apple shares have skyrocketed from $7 per share in 2003 to more than $333 currently (Ghosh, 2011). CONCLUSION REFERENCE ABOR, J AND BOKPIN, G,A. 2010. Investment opportunities, corporate finance, and dividend payout policy: Evidence from emerging markets. Studies in economics and Finance, 27 (3), pp.180-195). ATRILL, P AND MCLANEY, E. 2008. Accounting   and Finance for Non-Specialists. 6th edn. England: Pearson Education. ATRILL, P. 2009. Financial Management for Decision Makers. 5th edn. England:   Pearson Education. Apple, Inc. (AAPN) Dividend Summary [WWW] (dividendinformation.com/AAPL_dividends (May 2011). ALNOLD, G. 2007. Corporate Financial Management. England: Pearson Education Limited. ACCA, F9. 2010. Financial Management: Complete text-December 2010. Berkshire: Kaplan Publishing UK. Barbajosa, A. 2011. Analysis: U.S. leverage to crimp Iranian oil exports fades. [WWW] reuters.com/article/2011/05/04/businesspro-us-iran-oil-leveage- (May 2 2011). BAKER, M   AND WURGLER, J. 2004. A catering theory of dividend. The Journal of Finance, LIX (3), pp. 1125-1166. CHIANG,K, FRANKFURTER,G.M, KOSEDAG, A, AND WOOD JR,B,G. 2006. The perception of dividends by professional investors. Manageria Finance [Online Journal], 32 (1), pp. 60-81. Available from Emerald at emeraldinsight.com/search.htm?st1=The+perception+of+dividends+by++professional+investorsct=allec=1bf=1go=Go (April 22 2011). COLLINS, D. 2006. Enron: the good, the bad and the really ugly. In: GINI, A and MARCOUK, A.M. Case studies in business ethics. 6th.Edn. London: Pearson prentice Hall, pp. 104-115. (CNET news, 1997). http://news.cnet.com/2009-1001-201295.html DESJARDINS, D. 2011. Who Owns the Apple Computer Company? [WWW] ehow.com/about_5143792_owns-apple-computer-company.html (April 25 2011). ELMER-DEWITT, P. 2010. Why Steve Jobs doesnt Pay Dividends. [WWW] http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2010/08/13/why-steve-jobs-doesnt-pay-dividends/ (April 12 2011). GHOSH, P. 2011. Why doesn’t Apple pay a dividend? [WWW] ibtimes.com/articles/98718/20110107/why-doesn-t-apple-pay-a-dividend.htm (April 12 2011). HUSSAINEY, K, MGBAME,C. O AND MGBAME, A.M. 2011. Dividend policy and share price volatility: UK evidence. The Journal of Risk Finance [Online Journal], 12 (1), pp. 57-68. Available from Emerald at emeraldinsight.com/search.htm?st1=Dividend+policy+and+share+price+volatility%3A+UK+evidencect=allec=1bf=1go=Go (April 15 2011). JONES, A. 2011.   Barclays must   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Clear Mists for Investors [WWW] ft.com/cms/s/0/8bdc54f6-70f4-11e0-962a-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1Lnlyn0w7 (May 8 2011) TSE, C. 2005. Use dividends to signal or not: an examination of the UK payout patterns. Managerial Finance. 31 (4), pp. 12-33. Tesco Major shareholders tescoplc.com/plc/ir/financials/shareholders/ 9/5/11 TESCO. 2010. Annual Report. WATSON, D AND HEAD, A.   2007. Corporate Finance. 4th edn. England: Pearson Education Limited. WHITWORTH, J AND ZHANG,Y.2010. Accrued capital gains and ex-dividend day pricing. Managerial Finance Vol. 36 No. 8, 2010 pp. 680-702

Friday, February 21, 2020

Gender in legal theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Gender in legal theory - Essay Example At a practical level, some jurists hope to improve society by studying what the law is, what it ought to be, and how it actually operates. They seek a deeper understanding behind laws seemingly unpredictable and uncertain nature. Feminist jurisprudence then is that part of jurisprudence pertaining to women. To understand the term more, Weiss and Young (2006) discussed about The Rise of Feminist Jurisprudence. They said: â€Å"The liberal feminism inherited by the womens liberation movement of the 1960s was based on emancipatory theory and sought to dismantle the positive legal barriers that had denied women equal opportunity with men. The theory behind those goals was that the rights of individuals as traditionally understood in a liberal society should transcend gender differences (McElroy, 1991). This brand of legal feminism was in many ways exemplified by Ruth Bader Ginsburg, now associate justice of the Supreme Court, who said in a 1988 speech, "Generalizations about the way women or men are . . . cannot guide me reliably in making decisions about particular individuals." (Rosen, 1993). As general counsel of the American Civil Liberties Unions Womens Rights Project in the 1970s, Ginsburg challenged laws that gave health benefits to wives of servicemen but not to husbands of servicewomen and prohibited women from engaging in certain types of business (such as running a bar) without a male co-owner. Feminists were also involved in efforts to overturn legal restrictions on contraception and abortion.† The authors also said: â€Å"The illiberal feminist legal theory (also known as "radical feminism"), which emerged during the 1980s, urges women to renounce traditional notions of rights and justice, now viewed as perpetuating male dominance. Some of the new feminists charge that the reforms achieved by "equality feminists" have dismantled protections beneficial to women

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

3 works of art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

3 works of art - Essay Example The gown looks like the nun uniform and she is lazily enveloped into the reverie or dream about the angel. This is an epitome of the spiritualism that an image can depict. Moreover, the environment that hooks up the angel and St.Teresa looks dreamy, implying the supernatural feeling that the paint is showing. In this paint, Caravaggio is showing a pretty realistic image of St.peter being crucified. He is keen on the posture of the people and the wood used to make the crucifix. It is a paint that shows the crucifixion of St.Peter as he asked people to do. He is crucified upside down as a symbol of not imitating his Lord Jesus Christ. The painting is so real that it shows the cloth that is wrapped around him to conceal his loins, the people lifting the cross and the obscurity of their faces in the shadows. The picture arouses feelings of sadness by looking at the way St.Peter has left his mouth open with his long beard and dully eyes, showing so much pain. The people lifting the crucifix are also showing fatigue since it is clear that they are straining to life the crucifix to its intended right position. This paint is a fascinating image that describes the evolution of the Catholic Church by Peter Paul Rubens. He is so artistic in the painting of women and men in their full physical features laying on each other in various postures. There is also the presence of leopards in shady trying to roar at the infants on the ground. This is a description of the spread of Catholic Churches across the world and the numerous challenges it has faced, behind the leopards, the adults and the infants is a dark blue sky that is not fully clear. It shows the beautiful sky, symbolizing the hope and feasibility of the Catholic Church

Monday, January 27, 2020

What Is Career Planning And Development Commerce Essay

What Is Career Planning And Development Commerce Essay Individuals can no longer expect job security and a career path that takes them through a steady progression of jobs of increasing status and responsibility. The employee has the lead responsibility for his or her career development. Supervisors, managers, and the organization can provide meaningful assistance in this process. There are numerous ways for an employer to contribute to an individual employees career development and at the same time meet the organizational needs. The outcomes desired by organizations include achieving the best match between people and jobs. Individuals desired outcomes range from status to job flexibility to monetary rewards, depending upon the situation.( Cheryl, H 2005) According to Tricia Jackson, 2004, Career Development is a process of assessing, aligning and balancing organizational and individual needs, capabilities and opportunities and challenges through multiple approaches and methods. It emphasizes the person as an individual who performs configures and adapts various work roles. Career development is not a mere management responsibility. It is a composite organizational process which involves people, addresses their ambitions, assigns them roles responsibilities commensurate with their potential, evaluates their performance, and creates Job positions to accommodate growth ambitions of employees. Career planning is the process of establishing short or long term career goals and objectives and defining the specific steps required to achieve them. These steps may include the type of jobs, training, development and other activities (Jackson, T 2004). Importance of career planning and development There is increasing rate of change of our organizations and in the knowledge and skills we need to perform our jobs. Both external and internal factors influence the need for career development. Among these factors, Slavenski and Buckner (1988) list the following: o The need to identify and forecast personnel needs o Social and demographic trends o The changing nature of work o Changing types of jobs o Equity and a multicultural work force o Worker productivity o Technological change and decreasing advancement opportunities o Organizational philosophies Employers are motivated to establish career development programs because such programs are seen as an effective response to various personnel problems, because top managers prefer to promote existing employees and to ensure a good fit between the work and the worker, and because employees have expressed interest in career development as a benefit (Gutteridge 1986). Above all, most organizations adopt career development programs in response to pragmatic human resource concerns and because they believe it will help ensure a continued supply of qualified, talented personnel (Gutteridge 1986, p. 58). It is a known fact that most professionals leave an organisation due to lack of career growth. Active career development initiatives by a company is a key retention tool to keep the best talent within its fold. (Sudipta Dev) Advantages of career planning and development Every organisation needs to retain people with the right skills and talent. This can be enabled by investing in their future growth and showing them the path to fulfil their dreams. In this process the effort put by employees gives a fillip to their performance and transforms into greater organisational productivity. The whole process should be well organised to receive full support from employees who will clearly see the advantages. It is mutually beneficial to the employee as well as the employer. No organisation can develop without taking its employees on the growth path and an individuals development is meaningless if it does not align with the organisational goals and strategies. When an individuals aspirations is directed elsewhere from that of his organisations it can lead to absolute chaos. Sudipta Dev) For the employees Career development programmes enable a deeper focus on an employees aims and aspirations-from identification of the handicaps being faced by an employee in accomplishing his goals to the solutions in terms of re-skilling or reassignment. This focus acts as the significant motivator for an employee to excel and exceed the targets From the employees point of view career development initiatives gives them a clear focus about their career track, the blind spots that they have to overcome and the final goal to be reached. This focussed approach works to their advantage from their everyday work to long-term aspirations. (Sudipta Dev) For the organization These career development efforts bring into focus high potential candidates who can be groomed for greater responsibilities in the future. (Sudipta Dev) n organisation focussed on developing the career path of its employees boosts the morale and ultimately the productivity of its staff. (Sudipta Dev) Purpose In undertaking its wide-sweeping Compensation Reform initiative, the Commonwealth of Virginia overhauled its classification and compensation system in favor of a modernized, flexible compensation and performance management system that offers employees the opportunity to more easily take advantage of career opportunities. The current initiative of Compensation Reform is Career Development. This Career Development Guide provides state employees and their management with a reference document that: Offers a general road map for continuing career and professional development. Provides an understanding of the behavioral and technical competencies that are required to effectively perform tasks in their occupations, and to use for career planning. Presents a reference document on learning and other developmental opportunities which may be used in preparation of Employee Development Plans a component of the Employee Work Profile The purpose of career development is to: Enhance each employees current performance Enable individuals to take advantage of future job opportunities Fulfill their employers goals for a dynamic and effective workforce. We live in uncertain times. Factors outside of the employee and employers control may affect the outcome of career actions. But one thing is true the best career development move is to perform well in ones current position. Consistent, high quality performance along with thoughtful career planning will help ensure continued success on the job. People at your company who want to advance their careers are always looking for ways to sharpen and improve their skill sets. Your challenge becomes making sure youre investing in learning programs that will best help your employees address their skill gaps, prepare for future roles, and achieve individual goals-thereby contributing to the success of your company. With carrer planning and Development employers can establish a clear path for employees to achieving their goals. Steps to career planning Steps to Career Planning Step Action 1 Conduct self-assessment. 2 Explore careers that interest you. 3 Make decisions and set goals. 4 Create an action planner. 5 Manage your career. It is important to know your overall goal. Think about where you would like to be at the end of your career and set your plan to get there. The best way to ensure compatibility and balance in your life and career is to consider all aspects of your life from the beginning of your plan. Once you have a sense of what you are trying to accomplish overall, it is important for you to establish your current status. A personal inventory can reveal your: abilities interests and attitudes The inventory will define your: strengths and weaknesses Looking for a match between your strengths and the work you are doing or considering is the most important step before making any decisions. Assessing your personality and attitudes will help you determine the best way for you to move toward your goal: What are your current skills and achievements? What about knowledge and values? How will your learning style impact your pursuit? What are your interests? When you are clear on these things, you will be able to make better choices about the direction you want your career to take and do a better job of convincing prospective employers that you are the best choice!

Sunday, January 19, 2020

Positive Effects of Television Upon Children Essay -- Positive Effects

Positive Effects of Television Upon Children   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Without a doubt, television is the central and principal form of communication in many people’s lives. This form is most often exposed to a child who instantly becomes accustomed to its presence. Children are televisions largest audience, as Morris shows, â€Å"Children aged two to five look at the TV tube on an average of 28.4 hours a week; those between the ages of six and eleven average 23.6 hours a week†. Television has played an important role in many children’s lives and its viewing has been a favorite activity for many of them. The effects of television on children have been disputed. Some people have said that viewing time has a negative impact on children. Other people, however, feel that the early educational television productions for children help tehm learn.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  These important questions on the topic of children’s television viewing in its early beginnings continue to be debated in society. The creation of children’s television shows in the 1940s and 1950s offered children pure entertainment and very little smart education. According to Palmer, â€Å"there were a few shows that did teach children values and morals, but the true educational television shows for children did not appear until the late 1960s(28). Not only educational shows, but public television shows, dialogue, help in increasing a child’s vocabulary and in improving he/she speaking skills. Therefore, parents should encourage their children to watch more public television today because public television helps children to read.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Television supports reading, which in turn to improves language ability. Good programming improves reading and can increase thinking. The Himmelweit confirms, â€Å"Television in the long run encourages children to read books; a conclusion that can be reinforced by evidence from libraries, book clubs, and publishing companies† (Postman 33). Dr. Hemmelweit stresses this point; â€Å"Book reading comes into its own, not despite television but because of it†(33). Television has as both an entertainer and an educator for children. Neil Postman supports television for its valuable contribution to language development in children, saying, â€Å"Long before they have learned to read, or for that matter, even begun to master their language, children may accumulate, through television, a fund of knowledge that was simply inaccessib... ...ducational television programs finally came about. These shows succeeded in intellectually educating children while also entertaining them. They have positive affects on children of all races and social status. Those who viewed it gained more knowledge over those who did not. They offered educational and beneficial programming that helps in improving a child’s vocabulary and by encouraging their reading. These programs also taught children moral values. Because public television teaches children the basic knowledge and the valuable facts of life, parents should encourage their children to watch more public television. Works Cited Lesser, Gerald S. Children and Television. New York: Random House, 1974. Lystad, Mary. â€Å"20 Years on Sesame Street.† Children Today. 1989: 20-22 Moody, Kate. Growing up on Television. New York: Times Books, 1980. Morris, Norman S. Televisions Child. Boston: Little Brown, 1971. Palmer, Edward L. Children in the Cradle of Television. United States of America: D.C. Health, 1987. Postman, Neil. Television and the Teaching of English. New York: Appleton-Centery-Crofts, 1961. Schneider, Cy. Children’s Television. Chicago: NTC Business Books, 1987.

Saturday, January 11, 2020

Managing a diverse workforce

Managing a Diverse Workforce Our society is becoming more diverse. We can see people from different nation or different racial in our daily life, this situation is more obvious in school and workplace, especially in multinational. A diverse workforce combines employees from different nations, ethnic and gender that together create a more creative, innovative, and productive workforce. Many companies see workplace diversity as an investment toward building a better business.However, although workplace diversity can help many make more profits, it also brings some challenges to employees and managers. Below are several common challenges often happened in workplace diversity. First challenge is poor communication (Holt, n. D. ). Workplace diversity often has employees from various backgrounds and experiences. Sometimes, those employees do not have common language. Therefore, it caused difficulties for employees to communicate with each other, and lead to misunderstandings and a decrease in productivity.Second challenge is resistance (Holt, n. D. ). Although oracle diversity can help company make more profits, some employees or business owners may not want to make any change, because those people only want to stay in their comfort zone. Therefore, making diversity in workplace without any plan may cause negative impacts, such as decrease productivity, damage morale and lead to bad workplace environment. Third challenge is discrimination. Employees may discriminate against others because those employees think they are better than others.There are several types of discrimination may happened in workplace. For example, local employees may discriminate against foreign employees because local employees think they have geographical advantages, male may discriminate against female because male think they are better than female, white may discriminate against black or yellow because white think they are superior than them. There are too many possible discrimination may hap pen in workplace. For managing a diverse workplace, some companies use affirmative action to maintain the diverse in workplace.