Slides for Mba E Business Essay Example

Slides for Mba E Business Essay PIDE Working Papers 2010: 57 Corporate Governance in Pakistan: Corporate Valuation, Ownership and Financing Attiya Y. Javid Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, Islamabad and Robina Iqbal Freelance Researcher PAKISTAN INSTITUTE OF DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS ISLAMABAD All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise—without prior permission of the Publications Division, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, P. O. Box 1091, Islamabad 44000. Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, 2010. Pakistan Institute of Development Economics Islamabad, Pakistan E-mail: [emailprotected] org. pk Website: http://www. pide. org. pk Fax: +92-51-9248065 Designed, composed, and finished at the Publications Division, PIDE. CONTENTS Pages Abstract Chapter 1. Introduction 1. 1 Background 1. 2 Objectives of the Study 1. 3 Organisation of the Study Chapter 2. Overview of Corporate Governance in Pakistan 2. 1 Introduction 2. 2 Institutional Framework 2. 3 Code of the Corporate Governance 2. 4 Assessment of Corporate Governance 2. 5 Corporate Governance under Concentrated Ownership 2. Corporate Governance in South Asia 2. 7 Summary and Conclusion Chapter 3. Determinants of Corporate Governance 3. 1 Introduction 3. 2 Review of Previous Literature 3. 3 Corporate Governance Index 3. 4 Determinants of Corporate Governance 3. 5 Estimation Technique 3. 6 Empirical Findings 3. 7 Summary and Conclusion Chapter 4. Corporate Governance and Corporate Valuation 4. 1 Introduction 4. 2 Review of Previous Empirical Literature 4. 3 Data and Methodological Framework 4. 4 Empirical Findings 4. 5 Summary and Conclusion vii 1 1 3 4 4 4 5 9 10 12 13 16 16 16 17 18 20 21 22 24 25 25 26 29 31 36 Pages Chapter 5. Corporate Governance and Corporate Ownership 5. 1 Introduction 5. 2 Review of Previous Literature 5. 3 Data and Methodological Framework 5. 4 Empirical Findings 5. 5 Summary and Conclusion Chapter 6. Corporate Governance and External Financing 6. 1 Introduction 6. 2 Review of Previous Literature 6. 3 Data and Methodological Framework 6. 4 Empirical Evidence 6. 5 Summary and Conclusion Chapter 7. Conclusion Appendi ces References List of Tables Table 2. 1 Table 2. 2 Table 2. 3 Table 2. 4 Table 2. 5 Table 2. 6 Table 2. 7 Table 2. 8 Table 2. 9 Table 3. 1 Table 3. 2 Table 4. Year Wise Distribution of Companies Provincial Wise Distribution of Companies Capitalisation Break Down for the Year 2007 KSE Performance at Glance Ownership Concentration of 50 Random Companies for Pakistan for 2003-2007 Inventors Composition in Listed Private Companies Ownership Composition of Pakistan’s Top 40 Listed Companies Basic Statistics of Corporate Sector of India Types of Financial Institutions in Bangladesh Summary Statistics of Corporate Governance Index Evidence on Determinants of Corporate Governance Evidence on Corporate Governance and Firm Performance (Tobin Q) 8 8 9 9 12 13 13 15 15 15 22 23 33 60 62 64 64 69 72 37 37 39 45 48 55 55 55 Table 2. 10 Dhaka Stock Exchange Select Statistics Pages Table 4. 2 Table 4. 3 Table 5. 1 Table 5. 2. 1 Table 5. 2. 2 Table 5. 3. 1 Table 5. 3. 2 Table 5. 3. 3 Table 5. 4 Table 6. 1 Table 6. Evidence on Corporate Governance and Firm Performance (ROA) Evidence on Corporate Governance and Firm Performance (D/P) Determinants of Concentration of Ownership by Top Five Shareholders Relation between Tobin Q and Ownership by Top Five Shareholders Relation between ROA and Ownership by Top Five Shareholders Evidence on Performance and Ownership Identity Evidence on Performance and Ownership Identity Evidence on Performance and Ownership Identity Evidence on Performance and Manager-Ownership Determinants of External Financing throu gh Equity Evidence on Firm Performance and Need of External Finance 33 34 49 51 51 53 53 54 55 62 63 69 70 71 Table A1 Corporate Governance Index (CGI) Components Table A2 Description of Variables Table A3 List of Companies ABSTRACT In this study the relationship between corporate governance and corporate valuation, ownership structure and need of external financing for the Karachi Stock Market is examined for the period 2003 to 2008. We will write a custom essay sample on Slides for Mba E Business specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Slides for Mba E Business specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Slides for Mba E Business specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer To measure the firmlevel governance a rating system is used to evaluate the stringency of a set of governance practices and cover various governance categories: such as board composition, ownership and shareholdings and transparency, disclosure and auditing. The sample consists of 60 non-financial firms listed on Karachi Stock Exchange and comprises more than 80 percent of market capitalization at Karachi Stock Market in 2007. The results confirms the theoretical notion that firms with better investment opportunities and larger in size adopt better corporate governance practice. The proposition that ownership concentration is a response to poor legal protection is also validated by the results. The more investment opportunities lead to more concentration of ownership and the ownership concentration is significantly diluted as the firm size expands. The findings are consistent with theoretical argument claiming that family owners, foreign owners and bring better governance and monitoring practices which is consistent with agency theory. The results suggest that firms which need more equity financing practice good governance. The results show that firms with high growth and large in size are in more need of external finance. The relationship between external financing and ownership concentration is negative. The results reveal that the firms which practice good governance, with concentrated ownership, need more external finance which have more profitable investment opportunities and are larger in size are valued higher. The interaction term of any variable with law enforcement term are not significant in any model suggesting that firm performance is not affected by rule of law in countries where legal environment is weak. These results adds an important link to the explanation of the consequences weak legal environment for external financing, corporate valuation and corporate governance. The results show that Corporate Governance Code 2002 potentially improves the governance and decision making process of firms listed at KSE. JEL classification: G3 F3 Keywords: Ownership Concentration, Corporate Governance, Firm Performance, External Financing, Panel Data Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION* 1. 1. Background Good corporate governance contributes to sustainable economic development by enhancing the performance of companies and increasing their access to outside capital. In emerging markets good corporate governance serves a number of public policy objectives. It reduces vulnerability of the financial crises, reinforcement property rights; reduces transaction cost and cost of capital and leads to capital market development. Corporate governance concerns the relationship among the management, board of directors, controlling shareholders, minority shareholders and other stakeholders. In Pakistan, the publication of the SECP Corporate Governance Code 2002 for publicly listed companies has made it an important area of research of corporate sector. A corporate governance system is comprised of a wide range of practices and institutions, from accounting standards and laws concerning financial disclosure, to executive compensation, to size and composition of corporate boards. A corporate governance system defines who owns the firm, and dictates the rules by which economic returns are distributed among shareholders, employees, managers, and other stakeholders. As such, a countys corporate governance regime has deep implications for firm organisation, employment systems, trading relationships, and capital markets. Thus, changes in Pakistani system of corporate governance are likely to have important consequences for the structure and conduct of country business. In its broadest sense, corporate governance refers to a complementary set of legal, economic, and social institutions that protect the interests of a corporation’s owners. In the Anglo-American system of corporate governance these owners are shareholders. The concept of corporate governance presumes a fundamental tension between shareholders and corporate managers [Berle and Means (1932) and Jensen and Meckling (1976)]. While the objective of a corporation’s shareholders is a return on their investment, managers are likely to have other goals, such as the power and prestige of running a large and powerful organisation, or entertainment and other perquisites of their position. In this situation, managers’ superior access to inside information and the relatively Acknowledgements: The authors are Professor of Economics, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, Islamabad and freelance researcher respectively. The authors wish to thank Dr Rashid Amjad, Dr Tariq Javed and Dr Idrees Khawaja for their valuable comments. They are grateful to Hafeez Ahmed and Shahab-u-Din for providing assistance in compiling data and Yasir Iqbal for computer assistance. Any remaining errors and omissions are the authors’ sole responsibility. 2 powerless position of the numerous and dispersed shareholders, mean that managers are likely to have the upper hand. The researchers have offered a number of solutions for this agency problem between shareholders and managers which fall under the categories of incentive alignment, monitoring, and discipline. Incentives of managers and shareholders can be aligned through practices such as stock options or other market-based compensation [Fama and Jensen (1983a)]. Monitoring by an independent and engaged board of directors assures that managers behave in the best interests of the shareholders [Fama and Jensen (1983)]. Chief Executive Officer (CEO)’s who fail to maximise shareholder interests can be removed by concerned boards of directors, and a firm that neglects shareholder value is disciplined by the market through hostile takeover1 [Jensen and Ruback (1983)]. The code of corporate governance introduced by SECP in early 2002 is the major step in corporate governance reforms in Pakistan. The code includes many recommendations in line with international good practice. The major areas of enforcement include reforms of board of directors in order to make it accountable to all shareholders and better disclosure including improved internal and external audits for listed companies. However, the code’s limited provisions on director’s independence remain voluntary and provide no guidance on internal controls, risk management and board compensation policies. The main focus of this study is to examine the relationship between corporate governance and corporate performance, corporate ownership, corporate financing for publicly listed Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) firms. Therefore, we attempt to identify the relationship between corporate governance proxies and firm value in our sample of KSE firms. This emphasises the importance of legal rules and the quality of their enforcement. In Pakistan, with traditionally low dispersion of ownership, the primary methods to solve agency problems are the legal protection of minority investors, the use of boards as monitors of senior management, and an active market for corporate control. In contrast to developed markets in Pakistan corporate governance is characterised by lesser reliance on capital markets and outside investors, but stronger reliance on large inside investors and financial institutions to achieve efficiency in the corporate sector. In this case, outside (smaller) investors face the risk of expropriation in the form of wealth transfers to larger shareholders. According to Shliefer and Vishny (1997) corporate governance mechanisms are economic and legal institutions that can be altered through the political process. As regards governance reform, product market competition would force firms to minimise costs, and as part of this cost minimisation to adopt rules, including corporate governance mechanisms, enabling them to raise external capital at the lowest cost in the long run. On this evolutionary theory of A takeover which goes against the wishes of the target company’s management and board of directors. 1 economic change [Alchian (1950); Stigler (1958)], competition would take care of corporate governance. Corporate governance in agency theory perspective is referred to as separation of ownership and control [Barle and Means (1932)]. There are two most common approaches to corporate governance to protec t investors’ rights. First approach is to give investors power through legal protection from expropriation by managers. Protection of minority rights and legal prohibitions against managerial self-dealing are examples of such mechanisms. The second major approach is ownership by large investors (concentrated ownership): matching significant cash flow rand control rights. Most corporate governance mechanisms used in the world-including large share holdings, relationship banking, and even takeovers- can be viewed as examples of large investors exercising their power. We discuss how large investors reduce agency costs. While large investors still rely on the legal system, they do not need as many rights as the small investors do to protect their interests. For this reason, corporate governance is typically exercised by large investors. Despite its common use, concentrated ownership has its costs as well, which can be best described as potential expropriation by large investors of other small investors and stakeholders in the firm [Shliefer and Vishny (1997)]. 1. 2. Objective of the Study The main focus of the study is to investigate does corporate governance matters in Pakistan equity market? What are its implications for corporate valuation, corporate, ownership and corporate financing? The first dimension of this issue is measuring the corporate governance in Pakistan. Corporate governance is interpreted as mechanism–both institutional and market based, that induces the self-interested managers (controllers of the firm) to make decisions that maximise the value of the firm to its shareholders (owners of the firm) [OECD (1999)]. The aim of these mechanisms is to reduce agency costs that arise from principle agent problem; and they could be internal and/or external in nature [Klapper and Love (2002)]. Internal mechanism deals with the composition of the board of directors, such as proportion of independent outside directors, distinction of CEO and chairperson etc. another important mechanism is ownership structure, or the degree at which the ownership by managers obvious trade-off between alignment and entrenchment effects. External mechanism on the other hand rely on takeover market in addition to regulatory system, where as the take over market act as a treat to existing controllers in that it enable outsiders to seek control of the firm if bad corporate governance results in significant gap between potential and actual value of the firm. So given these mechanisms, it is investigated that the legal system is the only way to ensure good corporate governance. It is also examined that effective presence of these mechanisms positively associated with firm value. 4 The second dimension of this issue is to investigate the determinants of concentrated form of ownership structure in Pakistan and its affect on firm performance. The reason is that when the legal framework does not offer sufficient protection for the outside investors, entrepreneurs and original owners are forced to maintain large position in their companies which results in concentrated form of ownership [La Porta, Shleifer, and Vishny (1999)]. The third dimension of this study is to assess the determinants of firms to raise external finance through equity and to examine that the firms that rely more on external financing sources are performing better. 1. 3. Organisation of the Study Rest of the study is organised as follows. Chapter 2 provides overview of corporate governance in Pakistan and it also discuses the data used in the subsequent chapters. Chapter 3 measures the corporate governance by using 22 factors which constructs aggregate corporate governance index, and this index is divided in to three sub-indices. This chapter also discusses the determinants of corporate governance in Pakistan. In Chapter 5, the determinants of ownership structure are explored. The effect of ownership structure with firm performance is also investigated. The identity of owners is then related to firm value. In the Chapter 6 examines the factors that influence the need of external finance in Pakistan and its effect on firm value. Chapter 7 concludes the study. Chapter 2: OVERVIEW OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE IN PAKISTAN 2. 1. Introduction Corporate governance matters for the financial development by increasing the flow of capital to the capital market. East Asian financial crisis attract serious attention to importance of corporate governance in developing countries. The OECD has established a set of corporate governance principles in 1999 that have become the core template for assessing a country’s corporate governance arrangements. La Porta, et al. (2000) Defined, â€Å"Corporate governance is, to a certain extent, a set of mechanisms through which outside investors protect themselves against expropriation by the insiders. † They define â€Å"the insiders† as both managers and controlling shareholders. â€Å"Corporate governance comprises the private and public institutions (both formal and informal) which together govern the relationship between those who manage corporations and those who invest resources in corporations. These institutions typically include a country’s corporate laws, securities regulations, stock-market listing requirements, accepted business practices and prevailing business ethics† [Omran (2004)]. Thus, changes in Pakistani system of corporate 5 governance are likely to have important consequences for the structure and conduct of country business. The issue of Corporate Governance of banks has also fundamental importance for emerging Economies. SBP restructured the regulatory framework governing the commercial banking industry and issued some guidelines for corporate governance. The study of Kalid and Hanif (2005) provides an overview of development in the banking sector and measures of corporate governance in Pakistan. Their study observes that SBP rganised its role as a regulator and supervisor and make the central bank relatively more effectively in recent years. Moreover, the legal and regulatory structure governing the role and functions of commercial banks has b een restructured. However, as the process of corporate governance of banks in Pakistan is very recent, not enough information is available to make an assessment of the impact of these policies such as an evaluation of the improvement in bank efficiency or reduction in bank defaults. Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan issued Code of Corporate Governance in March 2002 in order to strengthen the regulatory mechanism and its enforcement. The code of corporate governance is the major step in corporate governance reforms in Pakistan. The code includes many recommendations in line with international good practice. The major areas of enforcement include reforms of board of directors in order to make it accountable to all shareholders and better disclosure including improved internal and external audits for listed companies. However, the code’s limited provisions on director’s independence remain voluntary and provide no guidance on internal controls, risk management and board compensation policies. The plan of the chapter is as follows. The institutional framework is presented in Section 2. Section 3 briefly reviews the code of corporate governance of Pakistan. The assessment of the code of corporate governance is provided in Section 4. Section 5 explores corporate governance under ownership structure of Pakistan. Section 6 concludes our discussion. 2. 2. Institutional Framework East Asian financial crisis and corporate failure like Enron have brought to light the importance of an effective institutional framework. In order to the improve value of the corporate governance for finance development of a country attention must be given to strengthen the institutional framework. That strong institutional framework would help in effective corporate management and for developing advanced capital markets that increases shareholder value and enhance corporate governance. The establishment of the Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan represents an important milestone in the development of the regulatory framework of the capital market in Pakistan. The S ecurities and Exchange 6 Commission of Pakistan (The Commission) was established in pursuance of the Securities and Exchanges Commission of Pakistan Act, 1997 and became operational on 1st January, 1999. It succeeds the Corporate Law Authority (CLA), which was a Government department attached to the Ministry of finance. It was initially concerned with the regulation of corporate sector and capital market. In accordance with the approved Corporate Plan, the Commission has been organised into the following six Divisions: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Company Law Division. Securities Market Division. Specialised Companies Division. Finance and Admin Division. Human Resource and Training Division. Insurance Division. Each of division is divided into Departments and Wings for effective administration. The Departments are headed by Executive Directors, with oversight by commissioners. 2 The continuing challenges of the Commission include: based on the regulatory principles develop a modern and efficient corporate sector and capital market; based on international legal standards. In order to foster principles of good governance in the corporate sector and protect investors through responsive policy measure and enforcement practice develop an efficient and dynamic regulatory body. The SECP is governed by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan Act, 1997 which encompasses the constitution of the Commission appointment and terms and conditions of the Chairman and Commissioners, functions and powers of the Commission and financial arrangements. The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan is administering many laws. These includes: insurance Ordinance, 2000 (previously as Insurance Act, 1938; The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan Act,1997; The company ordinance, 1984 (amended and implemented in 2002); The Modaraba Companies and Modaraba (Floatation and Control) Ordinance, 1980; The Securities and Exchange Ordinance, 1969. The Policy Board is established by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan Act, 1997 in order to provide guidance to the Commission in all matters relating to the functions of the Commission and formulation of the policies. The Policy Board consists of maximum nine members appointed by the Federal Government. Out of nine members five members would be as ex-officio members and five members would be from private sector. See official website of securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan for detail; www. secp. org. pk. 2 7 A number of significant amendments in corporate laws were made with the objective of updating these laws to keep pace with developments in the corporate sector. These include: amendm ents in Securities and Exchange Ordinance, 1969; Modaraba Companies and Modaraba (floatation and control) Ordinance, 1980; Companies Ordinance, 1984; the securities and exchange commission of Pakistan Act, 1997. Amendments in company ordinance, 1984, suggested by the SECP have been approved by the cabinet in 2002. The amendments mainly relates to incorporation of single member company. Because of this amendment an individual trader or manufacturer would be able to establish a company having its own separate entity and thus enjoying the privilege of limited liability. This new concept will help for expansion of a discipline corporate sector. The companies have been provided the period of four months in order to present audited account before shareholders. The private companies which convert into public companies after one year of their incorporation have been exempted to hold their statutory meetings. The new amendments make it compulsory that copies of minutes of meetings will be provided to every director within 14 days of the date of such meetings. Appointment of a whole time qualified company secretary by a listed company has been made mandatory for efficient corporate compliance. Through these new amendments a company may remove its auditors through special resolution mean by the majority of 75 percent. However, appointment of new auditors in place of removed auditors will be made with the approval of the Commission. Quorum of a general meeting of a public listed company has been increased from three members to ten members present in person representing not less than 25 percent of total voting power. Stock markets are important as a source of investment finance for corporations in developing countries. At present, three stock exchanges are functioning in Pakistan, namely Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE), Lahore Stock Exchange (LSE) and Islamabad Stock Exchange (ISE). Trading on all the three stock exchanges is fully automated (for performance see Table 2. 4). The three stock exchanges are also linked to the Central Depository System (CDS). Since the last decade, the capital markets of Pakistan have witnessed a substantial growth leading to a manifold increase in the trading volume. The custody and safe keeping of physical certificates required maintenance of huge vaults by the individuals and institutions and the physical settlement of certificates was no longer feasible. Moreover, the manual system was also plagued by lengthy delays, risks of damage, forgeries and considerable time and capital investment. Central Depository Company of Pakistan Limited (CDC) was incorporated in 1993 and subsequently became operational in 1997 to manage and operate the Central Depository System (CDS). CDS is an electronic book entry system to record and transfer securities. Electronic book entry means that the securities do not physically change hands and the transfer from one client account to another takes place electronically. CDC provides the backbone for smooth and efficient settlement operations of the Pakistani capital market. Almost all of the total settlement of the stock exchanges is now done through the CDS. 3 To encourage corporate governance the institute of corpora te governance of Pakistan a non-profit organisation is established under Section 42 of company ordinance, 1984. It is public private partnership. Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, State Bank of Pakistan, three stock exchanges and banking and insurance institutions are founding members of this institution. In 2006 PICG in collaboration with IFC and State Bank of Pakistan conducted a conference of banking reforms in Pakistan. The conference aspired to create increased understanding of the need for good governance among Pakistan’s banking sector. Charged Table 2. 1 Year Wise Distribution of Companies Financial Year 1998-99 1999-00 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 Incorporated Companies 968 1074 1169 1183 1553 2207 3078 6186 4703 No. of Equity Issue to Public (Rs bill) 0. 44 0. 00 2. 03 1. 99 5. 97 0. 98 48. 88 24. 34 9. 60 Source: Annual Report of SECP 2006-07. Table 2. 2 Provincial Wise Distribution of Companies 2005 2006 Province / Territory (% Share) (% Share) Punjab Sindh NWFP Baluchistan Islamabad Territory 43 39 11 1 6 39 29 9 4 19 2007 (% Share) 46 34 6 1 13 Source: Annual Report of SECP 2005, 2006, 2007. 3 See official website of CDC www. CDCPakistan. com. 9 Table 2. 3 Capitalisation Break Down for the Year 2007 Listed Com Paid Up Capital (Rs) Up to 10,000 1 100,000 to 500,000 1 500,001to1,000,000 0 1,000,001 to 10,000,000 34 10,000,000 to 100,000,000 226 1000,000,001 to 500,000,000 236 500,000,001 to 1,000,000,000 45 1,000,000,001 and above 69 Source: Annual Report of SECP 2007. Unlisted Private Public Com Com 448 20,607 343 7,037 105 4,566 343 10,804 662 3,168 224 319 32 29 36 18 SMCs 373 100 59 48 28 2 0 0 Total 24,429 7,481 4,730 11,229 4,084 799 106 123 Percentage 42. 87 14. 97 9. 46 22. 47 8. 17 1. 60 0. 21 0. 25 Table 2. KSE Performance at Glance 2004 KSE 100 Index 5,279. 18 Market Capitalisation (Rs bill) 1,421. 58 Turnover (Shares Mill) 389 Source: Annual Report of SECP 2004,2005,2006,2007. 2005 7,450. 12 2,068. 19 343 2006 9,981. 40 2,801. 28 321. 10 2007 13,772. 26 4,019. 46 367. 96 2. 3. Code of the Corporate Governance Many new financial instruments are introduced by the SECP in order to enhance corporate governance. The code of corporate governance was issued in March 2002 by the Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan in order to improve transparency, governance and protect the interest of the investors by improving the disclosure in financial reporting of companies. The Code of Corporate Governance is the results of the joint effort of Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan and Chartered of Pakistan in collaboration with Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Pakistan (ICMAP) and three Stock Exchanges. The code includes many recommendations in line with international good practice. All listed companies publish and circulate a statement along with their annual reports to set out the status of their compliance with the best practices of corporate governance. The Code primarily aims to establish a system whereby a company is directed and controlled by its directors in compliance with the best practice so as to safeguard the interest of diversified stakeholders. It proposes to restructure the composition of the board of directors in order to introduce broad based representation by minority shareholders and by executive and nonexecutive directors. 4 ’5 The Code emphasised openness and transparency in 4 All listed companies shall encourage effective representation of independent non-executive directors, including those representing minority interest, on their Boards of Directors so that the Board as a group include core competencies considered relevant in the context of each listed company (Clause (i) of Code of Corporate governance, 2002). 5 Implementation of the clause of non-executive directors is voluntary not mandatory. 0 corporate affairs and the decision making process and requires directors to discharge their fiduciary responsibilities in the larger interest of all stakeholders in a transparent, informed, diligent, and timely manner. The salient feature of the Code includes setting up of audit committees and internal audit funct ions by all listed companies [Code of Corporate Governance (2002)]. In August 2002 SECP launch a project on corporate governance in collaboration with UNDP and Economic Affairs Division of Government of Pakistan. This project is launched mainly for the implementation of code of corporate governance and strong regulatory frame work for the corporate sector in Pakistan. In 2007 the Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, International Financial Corporation (IFC) and Institute of Corporate G overnance of Pakistan (PINCG) conducted a Survey on â€Å"Code of Corporate Governance of Pakistan†. The survey targeted the local listed and large local non-listed companies and financial sector institutions. Among the key findings in the survey, a major one is the need for creating awareness amongst the directors of companies about the benefits of the Code, so that they could go further than the tick-box approach to implementing the Code, and understand and implement the Code in its true spirit. Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan developed a board development series (BDS) with the help of IFC. PICG conducted many workshops for the purpose of understanding corporate governance and responsibilities of boards of directors. 2. 4. Assessment of Corporate Governance The SECP is enforcing corporate governance regulations SECP is receiving technical assistance from Asian Development Bank to improve corporate governance enforcement programme and also from World Bank is build awareness and training. Other elements of enforcement regime are not so strong ICAP has some self regulatory function and stock exchanges are lacked the resources and expertise to effective monitor implementation of the code. Karachi Stock Exchange has set up a Board Committee on the Code of Corporate Governa

Architecture and Burials in the Maya and Aztec essays

Architecture and Burials in the Maya and Aztec essays Plundering and carnage were the overlying results of the Spanish conquest of MesoAmerica beginning in 1519. The ensuing years brought many new "visitors," mostly laymen or officials in search of wealth, though the Christianity toting priest was ever present. Occasionally a man from any of these classes, though mainly priests would be so in awe of the civilization they were single handedly massacring that they began to observe and document things such as everyday life, religious rituals, economic goings on, and architecture, which was the biggest achievement in the eyes of the Spaniards. That is how the accounts of Friar Diego de Landa, a priest, were created, giving us rare first per-son historical accounts of the conquest and the people it effected. To archaeologists monumental architecture is more important than an inscribed stelae listing names and dates. There is so much more to learn from a building than a slab of stone usually seething with propaganda. In most societies they are what remains after conquest, usually for their beauty or ability to withstand the elements. Landa was amazed by what he found. "There are in Yucatan many edifices of great beauty, this be-ing the most outstanding of all things discovered in the Indies; they are all build of stone finely ornamented..." (Landa, 8). If it were a commoners domestic dwelling we would learn through the study of remaining artifacts and middens what objects were used on a daily basis and also the standard of living, helping us to construct an accurate view of the long neglected commoner. According to Landa steepled roofs covered with thatch or palm leaves protected the habitat from rain. Homes were often divided into two sections, a living section, customarily whit ewashed, and a domestic area where food was prepared and inhabitants slept (Landa, 32). In Aztec societies commoners often lived in calpolli, a residential area segregated by occupation, usually surrounde...

International Finance and Banking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

International Finance and Banking - Essay Example In 1965 the Northern Rock Building Society was formed as a consequence of union between the two North East building societies. The bank was nationalized in 2008. Concise summary of the facts of the case In the year 2007, the country of United Kingdom experienced the bank run for the first time in over 140 years. At that time the bank under consideration was not significantly large as it was ranked 7th taking the total assets in consideration. But the bank played a significant role in retail banking business. The bank also had its mark as a mortgage lender. About a decade ago, the bank transformed itself from a mutual building society to retail deposits as well as mortgages. The depositors queued outside the bank to withdraw the deposits. It was feared that it could shed its impact on the deposits of the bank. After repeated attempted failures to secure a purchaser operating in the private sector, the government took the initiative to nationalize the bank. The bank now operates as a b ank that is fully owned by the state. Since then, the government has acquired substantial stakes of equity in other banks of Britain as a part of the general program of re-capitalization (Llewellyn, n.d. p. 1). After the Bank of England made an announcement on liquidity support on an emergency basis for the bank, the depositors started to queue up outside the branches with the objective to withdraw the deposits they made in the bank. The television news channels broadcasted the news that the bank has sought for the support of bank of England on the previous evening. However the damage was complete well before the run made by the current account holders. A sign of subprime crisis could be felt from the month of July in the markets for short term funds. The crisis began to apply stresses on the balance sheet as well as the off balance sheet items sponsored by the bank. The bank depended heavily on non retail funding. The retail deposits constituted only 23 percent of the liabilities t ill the summer months of the year 2007. The short term borrowing constituted the rest of the funding. (Shin, 2008, p. 3). The above figure shows the beginning of the situation of crisis. The ABCP or Asset backed commercial paper was regarded as the favoured way for the vehicles of off balance sheet to fund the holdings of mortgage that are related to assets. But the real question which came up in that situation was not directed to find the reason behind the running of the retail depositors. Decision makers were more concerned on sudden drying up of the short term deposits which the bank enjoyed before the month of August, 2007. More emphasis was given on to find the reason on why the lenders operating in the market for capital suddenly decided to deny lending to other banks. (Shin, 2008, p. 10). The above figure shows the comparison of liabilities of the bank both before and after the run. The bar on the left hand side shows the main components of the liabilities of the bank at the end of the month of June, 2007 (Rafferty, 2008, p. 4). The bar at the right hand side shows the liabilities after the run and support in terms of liquidity by the Bank of England. The most glaring picture which comes out from the figure is the difference of the liability to the Bank of England at the end of the year 2007. Response of the financial markets A problem for all banks during the middle of the year, 2007 was the turbulence in the

Helping Children through Divorce Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Helping Children through Divorce - Essay Example Parental education about divorce, interventions designed to help children open up, discuss issues and to acquire problem solving skills as well as peer support do help. Schools are important in helping a child to adjust. This essay presents a discussion about ways to help children through a divorce or a reorganization of their family. The Western world, including United States of America and Canada, continues to experience a disturbing trend that shows high divorce rates (Harvey, 2003, pp. 3). In the 1960s, three out of ten marriages were likely to end in a divorce in the United States of America, but the divorce rate increased to five out of ten in 1975. This rate continued to persist until recently, when an increase in the number of couples living together without getting married skewed the marriage and divorce statistics (Jayson, 2005, Paragraph 1). Those who are living together can break up without causing much of a stir and this means that close relationships remain fragile. Thus, the Western world in general and the United States in particular, continue to experience weak family structures with high rates of solo parenting. Research suggests that the impact of a divorce on children is often devastating, because of divided loyalties between parents, the emotional and financial tensions, split families with former spouses living apart and continued conflict between parents (Harvey, 2003, pp. 3 – 6) and (McCormick-Wege, 2001, pp. 14 – 17). More than a million children in the United States of America now become children of divorce every year and these children are more likely to develop psychological problems compared to others, even if their financial and economic support continues. Children of divorce experience adjustment problems that do vary depending on the age, developmental maturity, gender, the time since the divorce and the nature of the support systems

The Relationship Between Hrm Practices and Organisational Culture Within the Hospitality Industry Essay Example for Free

The Relationship Between Hrm Practices and Organisational Culture Within the Hospitality Industry Essay 1. Summary The culture in an organisation has a huge impact in the behaviour and development of the business and its employees. Organisation culture should concentrate on the actions, behaviour and effectiveness of employees. It is through effective Human Resources Management (HRM) practices that culture is really implemented by employees on the daily basics. Culture and HRM bonds are critically examined defining links, challenges and opportunities both could face. 2. What is Culture? Clarke Chen gives the following definition: â€Å"Culture is a set of accepted behaviour patterns, values, assumptions, and shared common experiences. Culture defines social structure, decision-making practices, and communication styles. Culture dictates behaviour, etiquette, and protocol. It impacts everyone, and influences how we act and respond. Culture is communication. It is a way people create, send, process and interpret information†. The purpose is to teach employees the values, beliefs, views, goals, and behaviours of the hotel brand and the corporation hotel belongs to. Culture can be used as a competitive advantage. Cole (2010, p.93) affirms that the ‘right’ culture is gradually essential to ensuring an organisation’s long-term viability. Managers have to find and select people who are more suitable for the job and who can make of theirs the organisation’s culture. That is where human resource management (HRM) comes in. 3.Human Resources Management Human Resources Management (HRM) is important for three reasons: first, it is seen as one element for organisations to be competitive. Secondly, HRM is an essential part of organisational strategies. Finally, the way organisations treat their people has been found to considerably affect organisational performance. According to Robbins Coulter (2012, p.313) the thread for HRM among those practices is an obligation to bond with employees; to improve their knowledge, skills, and abilities; also increasing their motivation and enhancing organisation culture. Managers should focus on integrating all  hotel functions with HRM, in order to emphasise its strategic role of setting and achieving the business goals. It is through staffs that a real hospitality atmosphere can be sensed by customer where customers are the centre of attention by employees. 4.Culture HRM Relationship Through culture, hotel aims to mould its employees so they can represent the brand, the organisation; and also that they can provide a magnificent customer service working as a unite work-team that communicates effectively and interacts remarkably. Achieving competitive success through people means managers must change how they think about their employees and how they view the work relationship. They must work with people and treat them as partners, not just as costs to be minimized or avoided. Culture is a priority when creating a high customer service becomes a management priority, and managers must therefore seek the correct practices and procedures which employees should follow in order to meet the requisite service culture. Human resource practices within the organization act to maintain culture by giving employees a set of similar experiences (Langton Robbins 2006, p.338). 4.1.Challenges Employees can be resilient to completely adopt hotel’s culture; also they cannot be comfortable with the management style. One challenge for HRM is to deal with employees talking and listening to them in order to understand them and to apply corrective strategies. Even though in most of cases culture is taught and explained at induction sessions, managers may face circumstances where employees would lose interest on culture. Therefore culture should be reinforced by the use of different resources like staff events, posters, and staff evaluations. But the real challenge is whether HRM practices would evolve and adapt and become more important in an organisation or would disappear and be replaced by outsourcing and technology (Davidson, McPhail Barry 2011); it is also suggested that the type of organisation and its culture will regulate which of these possibilities occur in each organisation. HRM practices in hotels should remain but instead of being purely an administrative tool to hire personnel, HRM should become a strategic department. 4.2.Opportunities Having employees from different cultures will definitely enriched hotels’ culture. A multicultural organisation will be able to understand better customers’ needs and expectations according to their background. Another opportunity is that culture gives members an organisational identity which can lead to better understanding of their place within the organisation, and from there HRM practices can support and develop members towards a better future for them. Dawson Abbott (2011) argue that having the adequate HRM practices include recruiting and retaining the right people; but finding highly committed employees who show a greater understanding about the customers’ needs and desires is the biggest duty. The possession of such knowledge is imperative for hotels which can lead to have a significant chance of creating a sustainable competitive advantage and a more profitable business. 5.Conclusion In order to be successful, a hospitality organisation must have a strong culture. That culture should be learnt by employees. They must show a real understanding of culture and put it in place on their daily duties. Culture gets reinforced by a multicultural staff. HRM practices should aim to create a hospitality atmosphere within the organisation. It is through effective management of people that a hotel can have remarkable competitive advantage and be profitable. The interrelationship Culture-HRM faces some challenges, and must take the most of the opportunities.

Recruitment And Selection At Tesco

Recruitment And Selection At Tesco As a member of the HR department I need to research and make a report in order to check the quality of new staff being hired. The aim of this report is to explore what are the best means of testing and hiring new employees. It will also look into some benefits and drawbacks of recruitment process in two successful companies which are Tesco and McDonalds. Consequently, I will outline some suggestion which I think is the best for our company. 2.0 Procedures The information is collected from internet and using secondary research to gather data for my report. 3.0 Findings 3.1 Recruitment and selection at Tesco Tesco is the largest private sector employer and operating over 13 countries outside the UK. There is increasing all the time in the number of both store-based and non-store. In addition, in order to achieve business objectives, Tesco needs to make sure that they have the right number of workers in the right jobs at the right time. In order to do this, Tesco has a step by step process of recruitment and selection to appeal applicants for both operational and managerial roles. As the company is growing, it is important for Tesco to have workforce planning which is future needs for people in term of locations, numbers and skills. As regards of recruitment, it can be defined as the process of identifying which the organisation needs for a new employee. Tesco advertises vacancies in different methods. The process of recruiting depends on the job available. Firstly, Tesco looks at internal Talent Plan to fill posts. The lists of current employees who looking for a move or on promotion will be consider. If nobody is suitable in this talent plan, Tesco use internal advertising to post in intranet. However, external recruitment, the vacancies are posted in the Tesco websites or external vacancies board. When making applicant online for managerial position, the chosen applicants must have an interview. Consequently, people who are selected will attendance at an assessment centre for selecting process. Having the CV or register at Jobcentre Plus, candidates who interested in stored based jobs can apply stores in Tesco. The store prepares a waiting list of application which is not selected and calls them if vacancies become available. Furthermore, for the jobs with more specialists such as pharmacist, baker the external recruitment method will be used for example radio, magazine, television. As far as the selection are concerned, it involve in selecting a suitable candidates from applicants by using the job specification and job description. The important part of the selection process is screening candidates. This is ensure that people are selected have matched with the job requirements. Initially, each applicants CV which summarises the candidates education and job experience will be looked cautiously by the Human Resources in Tesco. The firm also provides a job type match on careers web page. Hence they can see where they fit or not. A person who passes screening attend assessment centre will be invited to second interview. If they are successful, they will receive an offer letter and contract. The assessment centre is take place in store and is run by managers. It will give to candidate several tasks which include problem solving, team working. These exercises can help candidate to deal with real problems at work. 3.2 Advantage of recruitment and selection method in Tesco With respect to recruitment process, Tesco will try to find the most cost-effective way of attracting people. Although it is not cheap to advertise on television and magazines, this is essential to get the right type of people for the vacancies. It is easy for applicants to seek about available jobs and also has a simple application process throughout the Tesco website. First of all, by using internal recruitment in Tesco lead to cut the cost of recruiting workers from outside. This is due to less training and orientation required In addition, the HR department know more about the candidates ability. This will increase productivity of current employee and stronger commitment to the company. There are a number of benefits by using external recruitment method. Because of new people, they will bring in Tesco new perspectives and ideas. Furthermore, Tesco have more choice to choose candidates; they have a wider range of experience. 3.3 Disadvantage of recruitment and selection method in Tesco As regards to internal recruitment, the number of applicants can be limited. Owing to already known about strength and weakness of candidate, Tesco could not have new ideas from outside. In addition, another vacancy will be creating which need to be filled. On the other hand, in external recruitment, it has more expensive because of advertising and longer process. The selection process might not be effective enough to find the best applicant. 3.4 Introduction to recruitment and selection methods in McDonalds McDonalds is a one of the largest scale employer. Most workers are paid by the hour and those people called as crew members. Their jobs are to prepare the food and serve customers in order to make the restaurants run more efficiency. With respect to recruiting hourly-paid workers McDonalds have created a two-step application process for potential crew members. Firstly, all candidates must do the psychometric test and then they need to go online and fill the application. Once successful, the candidate will be invited to a restaurant for an on job experience (oje) and interview. The purposes of OJE give a good opportunity to evaluate the candidates customer service skills, how they get on with other member in McDonald and allows candidate to see whether or not suits with working environment. After that, the candidate will work in customer facing areas about 2 day assessment and will be given full instruction on what to do. Consequently, they have a final interview with manager who will give the decision about the applicant. When crew member have been hired, they have to attend a welcome meeting to demonstrate their skills and behaviours. This meeting will show an overview of the company and then candidate must do h ealth safety and food safety test online. 3.5 Advantage and disadvantage of recruitment and selection methods As we can see, the way McDonalds recruitment people it appeal more people to apply because they offer employee with many rewards and bonus. This also increases competition between employees to get prizes. They also provide good working condition which help workers more flexible at work. The other thing here is that people are easily to find out and apply quickly which save a lot of time. On the other hand, there are some drawbacks of these methods. Firstly, owing to more reward, this lead to increasing cost for company. 4.0 Conclusion From my point of view, both companies have good recruitment and selection policy depends on what they are doing. McDonald believes that employees are a vital role in the company to achieve the success of the restaurants. Their aim is to recruit the best people and keep them by offering on-going training related to their position, therefore promoting them when they are ready. The recruitment policies to fulfil its aim. However, Tesco believes that workforce planning is vital for business. They got strong organisational structures. It provides user-friendly ways of applying for jobs and a consistent approach to recruitment and selection. 5.0 Recommendation Having finished research and analyses the recruitment process in both company, I would like to recommend some suggestion for our company which are application online, advertise on TV, using job specification and job description. First of all, application online help people easily to apply and attracting more people is due to developing of technology nowadays. Secondly, advertising is good way to grab attention of people. The reason is that most people like watching TV in leisure times. Although advertising is expensive in the short run, we will have more result in the long run. This is because we have right employee who will contribute to our company for a long time. Finally, when we have many applicants, using job specification and description are the good ways to choose the right person. These documents help us get the overview of candidates; what the qualification they have and their experience.

All i Want For my Birthday

Mars Is a delightful and enlightening book that reveals the unparalleled complexity of the human brain. Sacks, an accomplished neurologist and author, presents seven case studies that highlight different neurological phenomena. In his case studies, Sacks follows a newly colliding painter, a man who can create no new memories, a surgeon with Trustee's syndrome, a blind man who regains his sight, a painter obsessed with images from his childhood, an autistic boy artist, and a high-functioning autistic roofless.Sacks does not treat his case studies as dry medical oddities but rather discusses their neurological experiences within their broader human existence. Unlike other authors who know their patients only distantly, Sacks works intimately with his case studies and develops meaningful relationships that translate into a deeper, more Insightful understanding of his patients and their experiences. While Sacks Is clearly a brilliant neurologist, what makes this book so powerful Is his a bility to weave In medicine, science, history, and philosophy Into a coherent narrative.Every case study illuminates a series of important and thought-provoking questions that challenge the everyday assumptions of perception, reality, intelligence, and what it means to be human. In the end, the reader emerges with a better appreciation of the complexity of the human mind. Sacks does not look at simply the pathological and physiological way that the disease affects the individual but how the individual reacts to the disorder and how, in each of these cases, they retain their own sense of self despite what the disease/doodler does to them.Sacks does not Just throw a barrage of patients with neurological scissors at the reader, but rather goes through the lives of seven patients and observes them In their natural life. He presents not only their disorder, but how It affects their daily life, how their perception of the world is different, and the creative ways that they have come up to deal with their disorder. According to his case studies and brief synopsis there are seven cases he presented in the book.One is â€Å"The Case of the Colliding Painter this case his case talks about the predicament of a painter who after sixty five years had an accident which robbed him entirely of his color vision. A man, who had had a distinguished career as an artist with numerous vividly colored paintings and abstractions In his studio, could no longer even Imagine color. The painter eventually accepted his predicament and started to paint black-and-white representations Instead of dwelling on the loss of his ability to paint In color.As Sacks explains, â€Å"†¦ A revision was occurring, so that as his former color world and even the memory of it became fainter and died inside also involves an artist who loses his color perception ability after an accident. â€Å"Would it be â€Å"normal† from the moment vision was restored? Was not experience necessary to see? Did one have to learn to see? † (Sacks 109). The author details the patient cases and uses it as one of the ways in giving an account of how the modern understanding of vision works.From this, there are lessons learnt from the inability of the artist to also remember the colors. The diseases focused on in the essays affect the ways in which individuals know and understand themselves.. In this case they call this illness is â€Å"Cerebral achromatic is a type of color-blindness caused by damage to the cerebral cortex of the brain, rather than abnormalities in the cells of he eye's retina. It is often confused with congenital achromatic but underlying physiological deficits of the disorders are completely distinct.It is shows the signs and symptoms of Patients with cerebral achromatic deny having any experience of color when asked and fail standard clinical assessments like the Farnsworth- Mussels 100-hue test (a test of color ordering with no naming requirements). Patients may often not notice their loss of color vision and merely describe the world they see as being â€Å"drab†. Most describe seeing the world in â€Å"shades of gray†. This observation totes a key difference between cerebral and congenital achromatic, as those born with achromatic have never had an experience of color or gray.It can diagnosis he most common tests perform to diagnose cerebral achromatic are the Farnsworth-Mussels 100-hue test, the Ashier plate test, and the color-naming test. Testing and diagnosis for cerebral achromatic is often incomplete and misdiagnosed in doctor's offices. 2 Remarkably, almost 50% of tested patients diagnosed with cerebral achromatic are able to perform normally on the color-naming test. However, these results are Mathew in question because of the sources from which many of these reports come.Only 29% of cerebral achromatic patients successfully pass the Ashier plate test, which is a more accepted and more standardized test for color bl indness. In order for one to be in a position to understand their subjects appropriately, the personality method of investigation is vital. Therefore, spending ample time with your subjects is very crucial in this field. I find â€Å"An anthropologist on Mars† fascinating since it gives man opportunity to view peoples' brains conditions as well as study them to the letter. The fascinating neurological stories explore some of the unique experiences and perceptions of oneself.The saddest thing about the study on disorders of the nervous system and the brain is that the condition of most of the patients is beyond repair. This is irrespective of the diverse scope of knowledge in the book. The passion in me to know more about science related cases especially on first hand authors method of finding ways to help patients to be fit again is fantastic. I arrive to this conclusion after reading how he has tackled cases in certain disorders facing the neuron system and the brain. These are Kormas syndrome and Trustees syndrome.Patients in these unusual disorders should be given information on how to cope to the conditions they find themselves in. This should be done without necessarily considering whether the patient's outcome. All the professionals involved in this field should incorporate this idea into their profession to spur them to enviable success. In addition, utilizing different neurological techniques to learn each of the subjects in a respectful and personal manner is also important. 3 Most of those operating in this field tend to go by the results given by the clinic.However, this is not always advisable since you maybe condemning someone to a their death whereas a lot can be done to improve his condition. Having the curiosity to discover the beauty in the minds of the affected people will help you achieve this goal far much easier. All this should be done in environments that make the affected feel comfortable rather than undermined. This is through c reating time for private outings with every patient you are in contact with as well making arrangements to bond with them through their activities. This enables one to learn more and figure out their problems.Being a step ahead and having better ideas on how to treat the individual under medical examination is also important. Each of the chapters in â€Å"An anthropologist on Mars† has a cast of significant characters, setting, and plot. The elements portrayed in the book weave together creating a fascinating story. The individuals undergoing examination are astonishing and how the author manages to counter the sterile account of the relative neurological functioning found in psychiatric Journals is brilliant. I am amazed by how the author describes interactions, setting and personal feelings of the subjects.

Report On the Interview With Mtcp Participant Essay

Last Wednesday, 23 July 20003, I had an interview with one of the MTCP participants from Zimbabwe. We started our conversation at 9.21 pm. The conversation took about 2 hours to finish and it was held at 7th Block where all the participants reside. Firstly, I did some ice-breaking session with him. I introduced myself to him and after telling him the reasons why I need to interview him, he started to introduce himself. His name is Mr. Bernard , and his surname is Sitete. He came from Zimbabwe, South Africa. He work as an English lecturer at Nyadire Teachers College, Zimbabwe. He was married with one wife and two children. His wife work as a teacher at one of the secondary schools there. Zimbabwe has two ethnic group. The majority ethnic is Shona which consist 80% of the population. The other ethnic group is Ndebele which came from South Africa to Zimbabwe. Their official language is Shona , but there are some dialect that were used by people in certain area. Their official religion is Christian, but they prefer to use their own religion called Traditional African Religion. Traditional African Religion is quit the same with Christian. But, there are certain parts that show the major different with Christian. For Christian, they believe in Jesus Christ but for Traditional African Religion, they do not use Jesus Christ asking for something and to get to god . They use their own ancestors to ask for and to get to god. The religion belief in one god. For them to get to god, they must go through their ancestors. In their society, ancestors play big roles. To get through their ancestors, they have to do some ceremony as their way of praying. In the ceremony, they have to do hand-in-hand beer (made from traditional crops) drinking, dancing with certain steps, play drums, and so on. This ceremony was done to ensure their continuous contact with their ancestors. They do have their traditional costumes called Nhembe. They wear head dress, like a hat which made with feather and animal skins. Their body clothing was made with animal skins such as leopard, lion, tiger, cheetah, and so on. They do not wear any shoes. But now, they only use the traditional costumes when doing some traditional dance, festivals and ceremony. Nowadays, they use modern clothing like T-shirt, Jeans and so on. They also have their own taboos. They can’t have sex with their own mother, daughter, sister and anybody who have blood relationship. They also cannot beat their parents at all. If they do so, when their parents died, their soul will haunt them until all of their family died. The same case happened when they killed any human. It is because, they believe that when one person died, their soul will stay alive and will haunt the person who killed him or her. They also must respect the graves. They cannot show finger to the grave cause it will cause the soul of the graves will get angry and they will be cursed. They cannot marry in October cause this is the ‘dead month’. If they get married in this month, their marriage will not last and they will get misfortune. They also cannot have a bath in certain area where they believed that there are mermaids. The mermaids will take the persons. He also told me about the marriage customs. When they turned to 13 years old, they reach their maturity. So, they can get married. The woman has to go to the man’s family to ask them to propose her. After that, the man’s family will propose the woman and do some agreements about the marriage and also the Lobola ; also known as Dowry. The lobola can be some cash money or goats or sheep or anything else that was agreed by both families. The reasons of marriage are to connect two families. So, they do not mind if they cannot pay much for the lobola. The man also can borrow from the woman. But after marriage, the man has to pay the debt. If the debt cannot be paid until his wife die, the corpse cannot be buried. So he has to pay the debt first. In the society, they were allowed to polygamy, but the law banned polygamy. They have to register their marriage at the court but they also can get married traditionally. As in other ethnic culture, they also have their festivals. As a Christian follower, the celebrate Easter and Christmas. Their way of celebration is the same with any other place in the world. They also have their Rain Making Ceremony to ask for rain. They must do a dance to ask for the rain with their ancestors. They also have their own kind of Harvest Celebration. The celebration must be done in the kitchen. It symbolized their grateful to their ancestors for giving good harvest to them. Their traditional food is Sadza. Sadza is a maize meal. It cooked like porridge until it become quite thick. They eat Sadza with some curry and so on. They also eat rice. But they eat it in special occasions such as wedding, birthday and so on. Lastly, he told me that he like Malaysia. Malaysia is a nice country . It is very clean with many interesting buildings such as Petronas Twin Tower, Kuala Lumpur Tower, Telekom Tower and many more. This country also has many places of interest. For him, the weather here is too hot, but he likes it. The conversation ended after two hours. Before I left, we shared our address in order to keep in touch with him.

Obama Term - Barack Obamas Last Day as President

Obama Term - Barack Obamas Last Day as President President Barack Obamas last day as president was January 20, 2017, and he spent it doing what most American presidents did on their last few hours in the White House. He greeted the incoming president, Republican Donald Trump, and Trumps family. He wrote a note to his successor that read, in part:  Ã¢â‚¬Å"We’ve both been blessed, in different ways, with great good fortune.† And then Obama attended Trumps swearing-in ceremony. Obama, like every other president serving his final term, became a lame duck president the day he was sworn into office for a second time following his Election Day rout  of Mitt Romney in 2012. Trump was chosen  in the 2016 election and sworn into office at noon on Jan. 20, 2017. Trumps first term ends on Jan. 20, 2021, when the next president is sworn into office. That day is called Inauguration Day. Obama Keeps a Low Profile After Term Ends Obama spoke very little in the first months after he left the White House. He held a conversation on community organizing and civic engagement in Chicago as he approached his 100th day out of office. Obamas first substantial criticism of his successor came in early September of 2017, nearly eight months after Trump took office; the former president, a Democrat, was critical of Trumps plan to kill the  Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA. The program allows children of immigrants living in the United States illegally to stay in the country without fear of immediate prosecution. Said Obama in response to Trumps plan: â€Å"To target these young people is wrong ― because they have done nothing wrong. It is self-defeating ― because they want to start new businesses, staff our labs, serve in our military, and otherwise contribute to the country we love. And it is cruel. This is about whether we are a people who kick hopeful young strivers out of America, or whether we treat them the way we’d want our own kids to be treated. It’s about who we are as a people ― and who we want to be.† When Obamas Term Ended The date of the presidential swearing-in and conclusion of a presidents term is set by the 20th Amendment to the Constitution. Under the terms of the 20th Amendment, a presidents term  ends at noon on Jan. 20.   The 20th Amendment reads, in part: The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin. Awaiting Obamas Last Day Its become a sort of modern-day political tradition for a presidents staunchest critics to begin counting down his last days in office. Obama endured such treatment from conservative Republicans. There were even commercial endeavors to celebrate Obamas last day in office: bumper stickers, buttons, and T-shirts announcing Jan. 20, 2017, as the End of an error and Americans happiest day. Obamas predecessor, Republican President George W. Bush, was the target of similar campaigns, including an  Out of Office Countdown Wall Calendar that included some of the most well known Bushisms.   The Republican National Committee celebrated Obamas last day as president by posting the date on its website even before he was elected to a second term in 2012. The GOP designed the ad to raise money from conservatives worried about him being re-elected. The party said: The RNC is clearly not giving President Obama a free pass in 2012 - quite the opposite actually, we are aggressively showing voters what our country would look like after another four years of President Obama and his tax and spend policies that have done nothing to create jobs and leave us vulnerable to governments like China. When Obama Was Sworn In to His Final Term Alex Wong / Getty Images Obama was sworn in to a second term on Jan. 20, 2013, after easily defeating Republican Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election. Why Presidents Can Serve Only Two Terms Obama, like all U.S. presidents, cannot serve a third term in the White House because of the Constitutions 22nd Amendment, even though many conspiracy theorists believe Obama would try to remain president beyond his eight years in office.

Developers We Need Your Help

Developers We Need Your Help Free Online Research Papers There are amazing things happening with new advances in graphics and interfaces as technology improves and enthusiastic gamers have recently been introduced to convincing virtual reality with stunning visuals. There are videos of people playing these virtual reality games reacting in laughter, awe, and fear to playing these increasingly realistic games that have become fully immersive. Imagine some of the games today such as Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, and Minecraft some of which not only have marvelous graphics, but now also an added element of realism that is so immersive, so real, and so elaborate that the action may as well be taking place in real life. It has long been debated whether or not video games cause violence, but with such convincing options in virtual reality, there are now endless possibilities when it comes to the effects these games can have. Some people think video games do not affect players in the real world despite the evidence, and some people think de velopers should have an ethically responsible duty for the content of games because evidence has shown positive behavioral effects on users such as an increase in prosocial behavior, as well as negative traits such as a decrease in empathy and an increase in aggression. There is plenty of evidence and accusations on how video games and other violent media affect consumers in negative ways, but recent developments indicate there are also positive behavioral effects on users such as an increase in prosocial behavior. Prosocial behaviors are often defined as helping behaviors that are done mainly for the benefit of the recipient with little regard for selfish gain by the person helping. For example, in a study done by Happ, Melzer, and Steffgen, â€Å"[p]articipants who played the hero character (Superman) showed more helping behavior and less hostile perception bias than those who played the evil Joker† (Happ, Melzer, Steffgen, 2013, p. 776). The prosocial behavior was measured after participants of a study in which players were evaluated on their empathetic responses to a perceived bad guy when exposed to a backstory of bad circumstances that may explain villainous behavior or just a neutral background of both Superman and Joker. Prosocia l behavior was indicated in the response of the test subjects in which a letter was dropped, fully addressed and stamped, that could easily be seen, and was not mentioned to be part of the study outside of the lab area, then counted as prosocial if the letter was either given to the addressee or the experimenter. This may indicate that it is not only negative effects that would result from gameplay, but also indicates empathy in the case of bad behavior if such behaviors could be rationalized through a backstory of wicked circumstances. This seems to show that developers could, in fact, affect behavior in more positive ways, as well as have the ability to inspire empathy and even rationalization of bad behaviors. It appears as though video games could be a great tool for emotional and social development as long as they are created with intent and attention to detail to encourage more positive actions. Greitemeyer and Osswald, â€Å"†¦presented evidence that exposure to pro social video games increased the accessibility of prosocial thoughts, which may instigate prosocial action† (Greitemeyer Osswald, 2011, p. 126), and that reinforces the idea for developers taking responsibility by writing positive storylines to show video games in a more encouraging light. This study demonstrated that prosocial thoughts were found to be more accessible through an experiment where reaction times were measured to either aggressive or prosocial words after playing an aggressive or prosocial game. The findings were dependent on the game played with either quicker reactions to aggressive words if the aggressive game was played or a faster reaction to prosocial words if the prosocial game was played, which indicated a priming effect. Essentially, if you are put into a negative frame of mind you will react quicker to negativity and if put into a positive frame of mind you will react quicker to positivity. It should be clearer that shunning the idea of being ethi cally responsible and continuing to churn out violent games will not have good consequences. A commonly featured negative aspect in studies of video game use is a decrease in empathy of players who play violent games. There was a recent analysis that concluded violent video games and exposure to those games can lead to increases in aggression while decreasing empathy (Fraser, Padilla-Walker, Coyne, Nelson, Stockdale, 2012). The analyses were concluded using many types of studies such as randomized experiments in which children were randomly assigned violent or non-violent games and their resulting behaviors were observed, cross-sectional surveys were utilized in which time was spent playing violent games was recorded and compared to self- reported acts of aggression, and longitudinal survey results were analyzed in which several measures of violent media were assessed for frequency and then compared to measures of aggressiveness. Most gamers who are adolescents are still developing and the most susceptible according to a study by Shin and Ahn who assert that â€Å"[p]la ying video games do not require game players to allocate mental resources to understand other agents, and this can lead to prolonged inactivity of the social brain† (Shin Ahn, 2013, p. 602). Video games do not require players to think about understanding the actions of other players, so, therefore, social interactions are not practiced as if they would be regularly with in-person social exchanges. These findings mean that if care is not taken and the gameplay is extended beyond a reasonable period where they are not utilizing or cultivating these skills that it may affect the emotional brain development of key social abilities in teenagers, such as cognitive empathy. A lack of skills or decline in cognitive empathy makes it harder for those affected to accurately recognize and understand the emotional state of others through visual cues. If reading the emotions of others is difficult it could lead to various misunderstandings, some of which could culminate into episodes o f aggression. Finally, the most important reason developers should be ethically responsible for the messages their games send is an increase in aggression. Hasan, Bà ¨gue, and Bushman found that â€Å"†¦ participants who played a violent video game were significantly more aggressive afterward than were participants who played a nonviolent video game. Violent game players gave their ostensible partners louder and longer noise blasts through headphones than did nonviolent game players† (Hasan, Bà ¨gue, Bushman, 2013, p. 68). This shows how a violent video game can have at the least, short-term displays of aggression, possibly caused by the agitation of a high-stress situation and how they were willing to inflict increasingly uncomfortable stimuli on their perceived partners. There may have been many reasons why their partners perhaps did not act as expected, but as mentioned previously playing video games does not require contemplating motives of other actors and it then becomes ea sy to act aggressively towards those around us. It has been, â€Å"†¦confirmed that violent video games can increase aggressive behavior- but they also indicate that certain safeguards can be employed to reduce such unsavory outcomes† (Gitter, Ewell, Guadagno, Stillman, Baumeister, 2013, p. 353). As the research in this paper shows, there is a great hope that positive behaviors can be inspired, reinforced, and encouraged using video games as long as proper care is taken by those creating these powerful tools. Evidence shows games are able to nurture prosocial attitudes that developers could take advantage of and do a great service to the public. Indeed, while not everyone who plays violent video games will suffer adverse social effects, there should be more ethical awareness by game creators of the messages these games send. It is now known that video games can foster positive behavioral developments such as an increase in prosocial helping behaviors as well as adopting undesirable behaviors such as lack of empathy and aggression. If the video games we see on the screen a few feet away can have this powerful of an influence on our psyche, just imagine how detrimental or uplifting the futures of children could be with virtual reality and an ever-changing landscape of technology gaining more momentum into full immersion. It must be accepted that the future of the youth is not just up to parents. Developers, there are many great stories that can be told with games that will elicit the best qualities out of people and make the future more utopian, all that needs to be done is to take responsibility for the power wielded. References Anderson, C., Berkowitz, L., Donnerstein, E., Huesmann, L. R., Johnson, J., Linz, D. (2003). The Influence of Media Violence on Youth. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 81-110. Fraser, A., Padilla-Walker, L., Coyne, S., Nelson, L., Stockdale, L. (2012). Associations Between Violent Video Gaming, Empathic Concern, and Prosocial Behavior Toward Strangers, Friends, and Family Members. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 636-649. Gitter, S. A., Ewell, P. J., Guadagno, R. E., Stillman, T. F., Baumeister, R. F. (2013). Virtually justifiable homicide: The effects of prosocial contexts on the link between violent video games, aggression, and prosocial and hostile cognition. Aggressive Behavior, 346-354. Greitemeyer, T., Osswald, S. (2011). Playing Prosocial Video Games Increases the Accessibility of Prosocial Thoughts. Journal of Social Psychology, 121-128. Happ, C., Melzer, A., Steffgen, G. (2013). Superman vs. BAD man? The effects of empathy and game character in violent video games. Cyberpsychology, Behavior And Social Networking, 774-78. Hasan, Y., Bà ¨gue, L., Bushman, B. J. (2013). Violent Video Games Stress People Out and Make Them More Aggressive. Aggressive Behavior, 64-70. Shin, D., Ahn, D. (2013). Associations between game use and cognitive empathy: a cross-generational study. Cyberpsychology, Behavior And Social Networking, 599-603. Research Papers on Developer's We Need Your HelpOrganizational Behavior - Analysis of Wal-MartAdvertising EssaySociology EssayBiological, Strain, My Writing ExperiencePlastic Surgery Essay

Marketing 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

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How can managers and leaders use problems they face as source of Essay

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