Recommendations for a Company Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Recommendations for a Company - Case Study Example Your firm is rather new in the market. Still, it should be carefully structured and monitored so that failures are identified early and appropriate solutions are given. Most important, the time spent on recovering from failures should be minimized otherwise there would be no time left for focusing on the firm’s expansion, a problem that you have already faced. As a leader, you have to emphasize on keeping the firm’s productivity at high levels (Schermerhorn 2011). You also have to ensure that the resources available are used appropriately so that organizational performance is high as possible (Schermerhorn 2011). In general, the management of organizations is based on four, key, functions: ‘a) planning, b) organizing, c) leading and d) controlling’ (Daft & Marcic 2012, p.9). This means that the leader who aims to secure the success of his business has to be able to respond to the demands of all the above management functions. Apart from the above functions, of particular importance for modern organizations is ‘the achievement of organizational goals’ (Dyck & Neubert 2008, p.7). ... In this way, the mistakes made will be identified and measures can be proposed for avoiding similar problems in the future. In regard to the mission statement of the organization the following comments could be made: a) although the mission statement responds to a basic need of the local market, i.e. the need for convenient accounting services, it seems to suffer at the following point: it does not refer, either directly or indirectly, to credibility, as a criterion of the services provided by the organization. In the specific sector, credibility is quite important at the level that any failure could lead to high penalties for the customer/ taxpayer. Therefore, the firm’s mission statement could be possible alternated. The phrase: ‘Credible management of your finances’ could be possible preferred instead of the firm’s existing mission statement: ‘Have laptop, will travel’; b) in its current form, the firm’s mission statement is related t o another problem: the mission statement is not supported by appropriate strategies, so that the statement’s enforcement becomes problematic. As noted above, planning is one of the key management functions (Daft & Marcic 2012). This means that each firm’s leader has the responsibility for the identification and the promotion of the firm’s mission statement, as also of the firm’s strategies and ethical rules. This means that you have to take measures for ensuring that the mission statement reflects the organization’s capabilities, as revealed through the firm’s performance. At the same time, you need to ensure that the firm is able to respond to the challenges that the above mission statement sets, i.e. the provision

The Rwandan genocide Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Rwandan genocide - Essay Example The Rwanda civil war was fought between the Hutu regimes. The Francophone nations of Africa and France also supported the regime. The Rwandan Patriotic Front, took the support of Uganda and created a lot of chaos and tension within the country which eventually led to the rise of Hutu Power. Hutu Power believed in an ideology. They claimed that the Tutsi wanted to enslave Hutus and should be restrained from at any cost. Irrespective of the concurrent ethnic turmoil, inclusive of the displacement of Hutus in huge in the north at the hands of the rebels, the pressure on the government of Juvenal Habyarimana continued to mount up. It paved way for a ceasefire in 1993 and a pre-mature implementation of the Arshua Accords. Habyarimana’s assassination took place in April 1994. It was the closest and biggest reason behind the killings of Tutsis and proponents of a peaceful Hutus. The mass genocide took place primarily due to two Hutu militias who were associated with political parties i.e. the Interhamwe and the Impuzamugambi. The genocide was carried out by a Hutu power group popularly known as the Akazu all over. The massive killing sprouted the demise of the peace agreement for the war end. Tutsi RPF on the other hand, relaunched their offensive and eventually defeated the army while seizing complete control of the country. Ethnic tensions in Rwanda are no new phenomenon. Disagreements had always been there between the majorities, the Hutus against the minority Tutsis. However, the bitterness grew even further during the colonial period. On the exterior, the two ethnic groups resemble a lot in their mannerism. The language they speak is the same; they pursue the same traditions and culture and have inhabited the same areas. However their difference lies in their appearance. Tutsis are taller and thinner than the Hutus. Many claim that the origin of the Tutsis, traces all the way back to Ethiopia.

Communication in nursing and a clinical example

Communication in nursing and a clinical example This assignment is a reflective account of my relationship and communication with a certain patient during my first clinical placement in a nursing home. All names in this text have been changed, to respect the confidentiality of the patient and other healthcare professionals (NMC 2002). Introduction Most people have felt anger and helplessness at not being listened to when saying something important. Also the intense frustration of being misunderstood Ellis, RB. (2003). Defining Communication. In: Ellis, RB, Gates, B, Kenworthy, N Interpersonal Communication in Nursing. 2nd ed. London: Churchill Livingstone. p3. I have recently been on 7 week placement in a nursing home for the elderly. It was a residential home but also had a small dementia unit in which patients with mental health problems were taken care of. This experience has taught me that communicating with elderly patients both with and without dementia can be extremely difficult. In certain circumstances I found it hard to understand what some residents wanted due to these communication barriers. In my essay I will be describing to the reader, what dementia is, what communication is and how important verbal and non verbal communication is to sufferers of dementia. What is Dementia? Dementia is a common condition. In England alone, there are currently 570,000 people living with dementia. That number is expected to double over the next 30 years. Dementia. Available://www.nhs.uk/conditions/dementia/Pages/Introduction.aspx. Last accessed 20 Dec 2009. Dementia is a condition that is connected with an ongoing decline of the brain and its abilities. It is generally caused by damage to the structure of the brain and is most common in people over the age of 65. Thinking, language, memory, understanding, and judgement are all affected in someone who has Dementia. Sufferers may also have problems in controlling their emotions and behaviour when in social situations. Due to this their personalities may appear to change. There are 4 kinds of dementia. Alzheimers disease, Vascular dementia, Dementia with Lewy bodies, where and Frontotemporal dementia. These 4 kinds were all present in patients in the dementia unit, where I spent 7 weeks; however I will be concentrating on Alzheimers. ALZHEIMERS IS What is communication? Communication is essential for human interaction; it is the process of passing on information form one person to another. Both verbal and non verbal communication is used by a healthcare worker however for a dementia sufferer non verbal communication is essential. (Argyle, 1978) believes that non verbal communication can have five times as much effect on a persons understanding of a message compared to the verbal communication at the time. Chomsky calls the act of speech (verbal communication) performance and the knowledge of the language competence. People perform the complexity of speech daily but have no real knowledge of why or how they came to be able to. Speech allows us to hold conversations, ask question, give instructions, hide the truth, build routines and most importantly talk about interactions in which we are involved (Argyle, 1978). Why is communication important? Communication is extremely important in the healthcare industry. In order (as a healthcare worker) to understand your patient and vice versa, there must be good, clear communication. This will help the patient receive better care. If a patient cannot be understood properly it would be very hard to give appropriate care. If there is good communication between a patient and healthcare worker, it will ease the patients anxiety Patients are at risk for high Levels of anxiety and frustration if communicative attempts are unsuccessful. (Finkee, Erin HMS 2008). Communication helps the carer and patient get to know each other better, it helps them to bond and learn what makes the patient happy or upset, what foods they like and more importantly when theres a problem the patient is more likely to turn to the carer if there is a good bond there. A good bond can be hard to achieve with a patient with dementia as short term memory is often lacking so previous conv ersations can be forgotten. Approach towards patients with dementia is very important, facial expressions, tone of voice, uniform and how we present ourselves can say a lot about us. When communicating with the elderly residents if I were to raise my voice in an aggressive way they may feel threatened and scared by me, but if I speak to them in a pleasant tone of voice the then the resident is more likely to feel at ease around me. I can then start gaining trust and understanding between myself and the resident. When a patient has dementia they cant speak by the final stage. Closed questions must be used by this stage. There are 2 types of questions, open and closed. Open questions leave the answer open to respond with alot of information or a little. Closed questions are those that a patient has nod or shake their head to or use other body parts such as thumbs up or down. This style of questioning is appropriate to use on someone in the final stage of dementia. Closed questions are such like Are you okay?, Are you hungry?. This allows the patient to communicate with us without actually saying anything. These types of closed questions are a type of non verbal com munication. As I have mentioned earlier there are two types of communication, verbal and non-verbal. Verbal Communication talking to the patient and them responding with speech. It can really be very difficult to use verbal communication with Alzheimers patients because there short term memory is limited to they forget easily whats been said. According to Argyle (1990) in a conversation, words make up only 7% of a message; tone, tempo and syntax make up to 38% and body language makes up to 35%. Non verbal communication can be expressed by our facial movements, gaze and eye contact, gesture and body movement, body posture and body contact, use of space and time and how we dress. (Henley 1977) states that how powerful we feel in an interaction can be expressed non- verbally. Our unspoken communication can be shown through our body language. Touching patients can be an essential tool for a nurse. It can offer support and understanding, comfort and security. It adds extra meaning to the spoken word. Macleod and Clark (1991) suggest that most touch between nurses and elderly patients is related to practical procedures, fulfilling a practical rather than an emotional purpose. Facial expressions and tone of voice can match what youre trying to say. If youre frowning or looking sad, this can cause patients to get angry and upset, but if youre smiling at patients, this can raise their mood. Listening and attending are both also very important aspects of communication. Patients who can speak freely about their ideas and feelings need a little encouragement so that they can explore these ideas a little further, such as saying Mmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  or Ahaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ . In the mental health hospital that I was on placement at, most of the clients had Alzheimers disease, so it was very difficult to communicate with all of them as the majority of them couldnt found it difficult to communicate certain issues at some times. It was hard for me to know their needs as they couldnt tell me what they wanted, the only way I could help them was if I asked them closed questions like Do you want something to eat?â‚ ¬Ã‚ , or do you need to go to the toilet? . This gave the patients the opportunity to give me a yes or no nod or use their eyes to tell me what they wanted. Another way I noticed if patients were agitated was if they were walking around fiddling with everything and trying to get out of the hospital , I knew something was wrong, usually it was because they were constipated or needed the toilet, other times was because they were thirsty and needed a drink. If I was feeding the patients and they wouldnt open their mouth to eat the food or push against the spoon I would know that they werent hungry. Sometimes patients would spit their tea out, this was usually because it was too hot. Barriers to communicating and how to overcome them the biggest barrier to communicating with a patient with Alzheimers disease is the fact that some of them cannot speak. But when we speak to them, there can be barriers so that patients cant hear or understand us, these include: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Background noises, e.g. the radio playing loudly, or the television too loud, people around talking as well as us, this can confuse patients even more. Turning the television down whilst having a conversation with a patient can help. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The way we speak, if we are mumbling they wont be able to understand us, or if we have an unfamiliar accent that they dont recognise or understand they wont be able to respond to us. Speaking clearly and giving simple instructions helps patients understand us better. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ If we are feeding patients and talking to them at the same time, clients will get all confused and frustrated. Or if we are eating or chewing something ourselves whilst talking to a patient, this can affect our speech and make it difficult for the patient to understand what were saying. Taking time to concentrate on one task at a time avoids confusion. Calling clients by their name can draw their attention better rather than just talking to them right away, because otherwise they might ignore us because they dont know that were talking to them. Providing the patients with the words they might want to say can help us meet their needs because perhaps they might begin something but then start mumbling, listening carefully to them will make things much easier for us to respond and help them. Conclusion Before going on placement, I felt very nervous and anxious on what it was going to be like working with patients who I knew couldnt communicate with me. I kept thinking about how hard it was going to be to know how to take care of them and try to reach their needs in the best possible way, the only thing that helped me through the experience was the fact that I had a great deal of empathy and patience which helped me communicate better with the patients so I didnt get frustrated or angry when they couldnt respond to me . Before I went to work on the ward, I had read up and researched Alzheimers disease, to have a greater understanding on what to expect, and to be able to deal with the environment in a more professional manner. I used verbal and non-verbal communication and body language e.g. touching, feeling, smiling and speaking clearly. This helped me communicate much better with the patients as a majority of them couldnt reply to me verbally, so they used eye contact and touch to help me know what they wanted or needed, e.g. if a patient took my hand and lead me to the direction of the toilets, I knew they needed the toilet. Mr. Jones was brought to the nursing home in the Flintshire area by his son. He is 88 and has suffered from dementia for a number of years but in the past year Alzheimers has progressed fairly quickly leaving his son unable to care for him. Mr Joness symptoms include major confusion, withdrawn from society, delusions and extreme mood swings, he often gets extremely angry. He needs carers for certain normal activities essential for daily living such as finding the toilet, helping him on with his clothes and generally watching over his throughout the day. Some of his needs may also be due to his age; he has problems with his mobility so needs a carer for that not just due to the Alzheimers. My mentor asked me to spend some time with Mr Jones, talk to him and build up a rapport with him. The day before my mentor had given me some leaflets on the subject of dementia and Alzheimers to prepare me and give me a better understanding. When I first sat down with Mr Jones he just seemed like a normal elderly gentleman of fine health for his age, however as I began speaking to him I found quickly how advanced his Alzheimers was. It was quite upsetting for me as I had never been in that situation before. Within the first 20 minutes of speaking to Mr. Jones he had asked me the same question and we had the same conversation around 5 times. I found this rather awkward as I was unsure whether to continue with the repetitive conversation, create a new one or whether if I did so it would end in the same way. Mr Jones also mentioned to me that he was the homes Gardener. Confused by this I went to my mentor who assured me that this was a delusion he had thought was real since his son moved him into the home and to just leave him to it. I found that after the first week of me working there Mr Jones recognised my face, he still continued to ask me the same questions such as where do you live?, do you know my son? and tell me about his gardening job but he would remember by name. So knowing my name had clearly gone into his long term memory. The thing that worried me the most however was that Mr Jones would ask me when he was going to get his pay cheque. The other staff told me to tell him next week. I found this shocking and an insufficient answer. I felt that if I did as the other staff told me this would just reinforce the delusion and so I when he asked me the next time I told him the truth. This however made him very distressed and upset. The NMC (2002) outlines that we must not add extra stress or discomfort to a patient by our actions. This has proved to be a hard role to follow as either choice would have added discomfort to him. This experience left me feeling very uncomfortable and inadequate in my role. I tried to understand why he had manifested this delusion and came to the answer that perhaps it was a coping technique at the thought of being put into a home. I felt anger and frustration and helplessness that there was nothing I could think to do to help this delusion fade away. Although this experience was very frustrating for me and probably the patient, it has highlighted the need for me to improve my communication skills. It appeared to me that Mr. Jones delusion was not only a psychological disorder caused by his condition, but a way for him to put his mind at ease. Critical analysis of this experience has pointed to the fact that I have inadequacies in my skills; I had focussed too much on my morals and worry that I was being untruthful with him when perhaps reinforcing his view would have caused him less displeasure. I had not considered his other needs like his wishes or desires and I had not gathered enough personal information about him beforehand to know this maybe he liked gardening. I had been unsure about what to say or do to ease Mr. . apparent anxieties and had adopted what Watson Wilkinson (2001) describe as the blocking technique. By continuing my actions to carry on with the meal, I was cutting short the patients need to communicate a problem. I was influenced in this decision because I felt obliged to be seen to reduce his anxieties, knowing my actions would be judged by an audience of other care workers and patients on the ward. I did not respond efficiently to reduce his distress and this pressure led me to deal with the situation inadequately and for that I felt guilty (Nichols 1993). I should have allowed more time to understand what Mr. Jones was thinking and feeling by maybe asking him calm questions such as do you know where you are, how long have you been here? And perhaps he would have come to a gradual realisation by himself. I could have shown more empathy in the form of my own body language to promote active listening (Egan 2002) instead of just worrying about his mind wandering to an untruth. Gould (1990) cited by Chatham Long (2000) have suggested that  ¿Ã‚ ½many of the non verbal behaviours we use to reassure patients, such as close proximity, prolonged eye contact, clarification, validation, touch, a calm and soothing voice, the effective use of questions, paraphrasing and reflecting thoughts and feelings and summarising are all sub skills with the totality of empathy ¿Ã‚ ½. There is an abundance of information about communication, especially for nurses because it is considered by many as the core component to all nursing actions and interventions. Lack of effective communication is a problem that still exists because the learning process that leads to a skilled level of ability may take years of experience to develop (Watson and Wilkinson 2001). It has been quite difficult for me to admit my inadequacies in communication, but Rowe (1999) explains that a person must identify their weaknesses as an initiative for becoming self-aware. Only with acceptance of ones self, can a person begin to acknowledge another persons uniqueness and build upon this to provide holistic care. I know the knowledge I have gained through reflection of my experience will not always ensure that I will treat patients with unconditional positive regard, simply because of the diversity in the nature of us as individual human beings and the environment surrounding us. I have gained a new perspective on my practice which is to set myself personal goals in facilitating effective communication between the patient and myself, should the situation present itself again. BERLOS MODEL!

A Tale of Apocalypses, Men, Women, & Sports :: Movie Film Sports Essays

A Tale of Apocalypses, Men, Women, & Sports This movie is set in a post-apocalyptic society in the year 2010. After World War III broke out, the world was destroyed in the year 2008. The survivors have no memory of what their planet used to be like, or how they used to live. The earth is covered in layers of debris that archaeologists are sifting through to figure out how people lived before the world was destroyed. Along with the "death" of our modern world, women's rights also died, and men think they are far superior once more. Opening scenes (each is only a few seconds long): Close up of blade chopping vegetables, zoom out to see that blade is actually ice skate. Cut to: restaurant with people eating soup out of semi-deflated basketballs. Cut to: Opening credits with people playing in background: people are running around wearing helmets and throwing a hockey puck at each other's heads. Cut to: people on an archeological dig, sifting through the dirt with tennis rackets. Most of a track has been unearthed, and the archaeologists think it is called a "Coca-Cola" because of the large sign at one end of the field in the center of the track. One of our heroines is named Soleada Lluvia, and she has just unearthed a badminton birdie and is studying it. She is distracted when the archaeologists who have been uncovering the track announce that they have finished. She drops the birdie and joins the others as they stare at the track. They remember seeing people run in circles around such a thing from damaged movies they have uncovered on previous expeditions. The men immediately begin discussing how this must have been used as a sports arena for men. The women point out that they saw women running in the movies, too, but they men just laugh at them and say that women are too weak to do sports. The women become angry and start citing famous female athletes they read about in records they found. They mention Babe Didrickson, FloJo, Wilma Rudolph, and others. The men point out that that was before the world ended, and say that now women are weak again. The women assert that women never were weak, then or now, and challenge the men to a contest. They decide to hold their contest in one month - to give them time to train, and time to research more of the sports of the past.

Samsung Electronic Corporation: Governance of Chaebols

CASE: SAMSUNG ELECTRONIC CORPORATION: GOVERNANCE OF CHAEBOLS Copyright: Prof. Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes Professor Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes and Rakhi Kumar, Yale MBA02 prepared this case as the basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate the effective or ineffective governance of an organization. Prof. Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes INTRODUCTION Case: Samsung Electronics Prior to the Asian currency crises, South Korea was an investment destination for several institutional investors and emerging market funds. Throughout the early nineties the country experienced an economic boom.South Korean conglomerates, locally know as chaebols, had diversified into various industries from cars to microchips. Samsung Electronics Corporation (Samsung Electronics), a rising star in the Samsung Chaebol was considered to be a high growth company. However, in 1997, the Asian currency crises magnified the problem of the Chaebol structure and highlighted the need for governance reforms. By 1999, a shareholder rights activist in South Korea – Prof. Hasung Jang had taken up the cause of minority shareholders of Samsung Electronics.With the help of foreign institutional investors, he planned to fight for governance reforms in South Korea. As a corporate governance specialist, Samuel Smith, had been contracted by a large foreign institutional investor to help reform Samsung Electronics. KOREAN CHAEBOLS: Establishment, growth and structure. In order to accelerate economic growth in the 1970’s, the Korean government formulated industrial policies that encouraged investment in heavy and chemical industry (HCI). Funded largely by government-controlled banks, affluent families took advantage of the liberal policies and set up ompanies in these industries. By the end of the 1970’s approximately 80 percent of fixed investment in the manufacturing sector was in HCI businesses. Between 1962 and 1982, annual growth averaged 8. 4%, although by the end of the 1970â€⠄¢s production efficiency in priority sectors was falling. As a result, there was excessive investment in the HCI industries and little allocation efficiency in the capital markets1. Due to over investment in the HCI industry and small domestic markets, companies began diversifying into unrelated businesses, giving birth to the Korean Chaebols.Government intervention in resource allocation proved to be very costly. Enterprises that had access to preferential policy loans or tax incentives tended to expand their businesses The Institute for International Economics – Financial Services Liberalization in the WTO: Case Study of South Korea 1 1 Prof. Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes Case: Samsung Electronics rapidly without careful appraisal of investment projects. Since the government largely made lending decisions, creditor banks had little incentive for credit evaluations or loan monitoring.As a result, firms were heavily leveraged and borrowed from informal credit markets as they we re usually pressed for working capital. This structural weakness put the economy on the verge of a financial crises in early the 1970s and then again in the 1980s2. However, public purse bailing out of large enterprises became the norm and people were made to believe that chaebols were too big to fail. When the government decided to open up the South Korean economy, many of the protective measures that local companies had enjoyed during the developmental era were removed.Companies that had expanded into unrelated businesses found that they no longer had access to government capital. Initially, banks were also not interested in financing these projects, nor did they have the expertise to evaluate these new high-risk businesses. Hence, business groups started creating their own group wide internal capital markets. Transfer pricing, cross-shareholdings and cross-guarantee of debts were some of the mechanisms employed by chaebols to fund expansion. They pooled any funds available to the subsidiaries to supplement outside funding of new projects.Operations of these internal finance markets were not necessarily based on efficiency in resource allocation but were often driven by the interests and concerns of the controlling families. 3 Many Chaebols invested overseas and ‘globalization’ was the new theme. However, the globalization strategy was not well planned. Chaebols held onto the management strategy that they had been practicing over the last thirty years: growth in size ignoring profitability; financial structure with high debt-to equity ratio and cross debt guarantee among affiliated companies. By 1997 there were over fifty chaebols in South Korea, each with a myriad of affiliated companies all linked to one another through a complex network of cross-holdings. Ownership and affiliation details of twenty chaebols are provided in Exhibit 1. Family-Based Business Groups: Degeneration of Quasi-Internal Organizations and Internal Markets in Korea by Sa ng-Woo Nam, December 2001. 3 Ibid. 4 Corporate Governance and Economic Development: The Korean Experience by Ha Sung Jang. 2 2 Prof. Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes THE SAMSUNG GROUP: It is all in the family.Case: Samsung Electronics Founded in 1938 by Mr. Byung Chul Lee, Samsung Group’s original line of business was exporting dried fish, vegetables and fruits produced around Korea to Manchuria and Beijing in China. Within a few years of incorporation, the company expanded its operations to include manufacturing and sales when it set up a flourmill and bought confectionary machines. In the 1970’s it diversified into the petrochemical, electronics and heavy industries. By early 1990’s, the Samsung Group had grown into the fourteenth largest company in the world.It had diversified into four primary industries, and had over twentyfive affiliated companies. Like most Korean companies, the Samsung Group structure developed into a confusing maze of cross-ownership among af filiated companies. Exhibit 2 provides a list of affiliated companies in the Samsung Chaebol while Exhibit 3a and 3b shows the complex crossownership structure among the affiliated companies. For example, according to Exhibit 3a, affiliated companies owned 15. 83% of Samsung Electronics. Exhibit 3b provides the break up of ownership between affiliates.Therefore, Samsung Company owns 4. 45% of Samsung Electronics, Samsung Life Insurance owns 8. 16% and so on. By 1997, combined annual revenues of all the businesses in the group were close to USD 100 billion, with profits reaching USD 290 million. The Samsung Group constituted approximately 10% of the total market value of all companies listed on the Korean stock market. However, like all other chaebols, its debt-to-equity ratio hovered around 365%. SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CORPORATION: Governance of Cheabols. Samsung Electronics was established in 1969.By the mid 1990’s, it had strategically invested in research and development of D RAM chips and had grown into a billion dollar company. Exhibit 4 shows the contribution made by Samsung Electronics to the overall revenues and profits of the Samsung Cheabol. By the late 1990’s, Samsung Electronics had 24 production subsidiaries, 35 sales subsidiaries and 20 branch offices around the world including North America, Europe, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, China and Latin America. It 3 Prof. Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes Case: Samsung Electronics managed four strategic businesses in the fields of Home, Mobile, Office Network and Core Components.However, in 1997, excess production capacity in the microchip industry lead to a downward spiral in chip prices. Profits at Samsung Electronics plunged to new lows. The Asian Currency crises compounded the problems facing the company. By late 1997, the company’s debt totaled 13 trillion won (approximately USD 9 billion) and more than 70 percent of it was in foreign currency loans5. The financial run on the economy by f oreign institutional investors saw the country’s currency tumble 10. 6 percent. Domestic interest rates on threeyear corporate bonds hit 30. 1 percent.The US rating agencies, in addition to downgrading the sovereign debt to â€Å"junk bond† status, also lowered the credit worthiness rating for several of the largest South Korean companies including Samsung Electronics6. The company’s share prices reflected the macro and micro economic turmoil faced by the company. Exhibit 5 provides daily share prices of the Samsung Electronics stock on the Korean stock exchange for a 15-month period starting September 1996. However, a liner trend line indicates that, by and large, the share price was declining marginally but was above the 50,000 won mark.After a period of negative results, minority shareholders started questioning governance practices of the company. They alleged that Samsung Electronics had neither internal or external corporate governance mechanism which acte d as checks and balances and that all management decisions were made taken by the Chairman. The internal mechanisms such as Board of Directors and Auditors, did not function properly at least when it came to monitoring the Chairman. For example they questioned the board’s decision of acquiring shares of a firm, Ichon Electric, whose financial stability was shaky.This acquisition cost Samsung Electronics 27. 6 billion won when the company went bankrupt a few years later. 7 When things starting going wrong, neither the Chairman nor the Board of Directors took any responsibility for failed investments or even for illegal activities. Instead the chaebol lobby issued a report attacking minority activism. They said, â€Å"Minority shareholders’ rights to demand compensation should be respected only in the event of embezzlement and other illIR on the net: How they did it at Samsung Electronics. http://www. ironthenet. com/feature. sp? current=1&articleID=2289 6 Washington Po st Foreign Service: South Korea Takes Three More Punches by Steven Mufson. 7 Korean IT News: Civic Group Challenges Samsung Chairman’s Alleged Mismanagement by Kim Deok-hyun. 5 4 Prof. Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes Case: Samsung Electronics intentioned behaviors. Managerial misjudgments should not be the subject of criminal liabilities. Activism can also harm the interests of majority shareholder and decision-making by management. † 8 In 1998, the Board of Directors of Samsung Electronics consisted of twenty-three members.This number had been trimmed from the previous year when the board comprised of fortythree directors. Exhibit 6 provides a profile of the directors on the board of Samsung Electronics. Some shareholders believed that accounting manipulation and improprieties had become standard practice and company funds had been used to make political contributions in the Chairman’s name. A minister in the Korean cabinet faced corruption allegation that he earned USD 1. 4 million when he was given an interest-free loan from Samsung Electronics and acquired the Company’s shares at a discount rate while he was an ‘outside’ director on the company board. External mechanism such as markets for corporate control also did not exist and legal protection of shareholder’s rights was limited. 10 Courts in Korea did not have experience of dealing with corporate governance cases and often their rulings seemed to go soft on the guilty. For example, the Suwon District Court ordered Samsung's Chairman Lee to return to the Samsung companies 7. 5 billion won in damages on charges of providing bribes to former president Roh Tae-woo. However, the court did not demand that Lee take legal responsibility for the two mismanagement cases of his group's ubsidiaries, saying he did not participate in the decision-making. 11 Samuel Smith wondered if the allegations of the minority shareholders held any merit. Internal and external economic fo rces had not changed much in the last decade, yet it was only after the Asian currency crisis that these allegations were being made. The Korean Herald: Chaebol face tough attacks from minor shareholders by Yoo Cheong-mo: February 25,1999. 9 AFX News Limited: South Korean education minister resigns amid corruption allegations; August 31, 2000. 10 Corporate Governance and Economic Development: The Korean Experience by Hasung Jang. 1 Korean IT News: Civic Group Challenges Samsung Chairman’s Alleged Mismanagement by Kim Deokhyun. 8 5 Prof. Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes HASUNG JANG: The voice of minority shareholders. Case: Samsung Electronics Dr. Hasung Jang is a well know minority shareholder rights activist in South Korea. He received his MA in economics from the New York State University and a Ph. D. in finance from the Wharton School. On returning to South Korea, he joined the Korean University as a professor of finance and the director of the Center for Finance and Banking Res earch.As the Chair of the Participatory Economy Committee, a minority shareholder protection civil group, under the umbrella of the Peoples Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, Dr. Jang took up the cause of shareholder rights in Korea. He undertook investigations to evaluate the governance of chaebols and financial dealings among affiliated companies. Dr. Jang targeted Samsung Electronics and made allegations of self-dealing transactions. In particular he spoke about a transaction dated 24 March 1997, when Samsung Electronics made a private placement of unsecured convertible bonds worth 60 billion won (US $46. million). He was troubled by the fact that the bonds had been sold to company insiders. The Chairman’s son had purchased 45 billion won worth of bonds and another Samsung affiliate had purchased the remaining bonds worth 15 billion won12. Dr. Jang alleged that this issue was at unfavorable terms for the company and called into question the price of the bonds. On thei r part, company executives explained that Samsung Electronics was badly in need of fund and that international funding, which previously was the main source of capital had dried up after the Asian currency crises.Further, as the company was finding it extremely difficult to raise money from domestic financial institutions they had little choice but to privately place the bonds. Besides the amount raised was less than one percent of existing long term loans. Dr. Jang also alleged that Samsung Electronics had both directly and indirectly funded the Samsung Groups’ doomed venture into the car industry at the expense of minority shareholders. Samsung Electronics had acquired a 21. 1% stake in Samsung Motors at the acquisition cost of 170 billion won (USD 106 million).The indirect investment of Samsung Electronics into Samsung Motors was in the form of a joint investment agreement between 12 Nascent Stages of Corporate Governance in an Emerging Market: regulatory change, sharehold er activism and Samsung Electronics by Hasung Jang and Joongi Kim. Corporate Governance Volume 10 Number 2 April 2002. 6 Prof. Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes Case: Samsung Electronics an Ireland-based paper company called Pan-Pacific Industrial Investments (PP) and Samsung Electronics (and two of its affiliated companies). At first lance the PP agreement looked like a direct investment into Samsung Motors by a foreign entity (PP) in accordance with Korean laws regulating foreign exchange. However, under the terms of the joint venture agreement, Samsung Electronics had guaranteed PP a certain rate of return through put and call options within a specified redemption period, on Samsung Motor shares it (PP) owned. This arrangement was made in addition to bridge loans made by Samsung Group to PP. Dr. Jang alleged that that this transaction was not a clear direct investment and in fact violated legal requirements for other types of transactions.Samsung Electronics rebutted the allegations and explained that the put and call options were just clauses in the agreement put there to provide additional security for PP. The Company was more like a third party in the transaction and the agreement did not have any financial implications for the shareholders. SAMUEL SMITHS TASK 1997 had been a troubled period for Korean companies. The country had experienced a severe economic shock, which had practically destroyed the economic structure that had developed over the past four decades.It was confusing and upsetting times for companies and investors, all of whom has suffered tremendous loss. Sam had to objectively analyze the allegations made by the minority shareholders and check for fundamental problems at the company. Naturally, dealing with an emerging market came with its challenges. For one, economic data was scarce and very little corporate information was publicly available. As Sam sat down to prepare for his meeting with his client he made a list of questions he needed to a nswer. 1. What are the benefits and disadvantages of the Korean chaebol structure?In particular what governance issues can arise due to this structure? 2. Analyze the capital structure of Samsung Electronics. Compare it with the capital structure of a company in the similar line of business (primarily manufacture of chips) from another developed country and comment on the differences. 7 Prof. Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes Case: Samsung Electronics 3. If Samsung Motors makes an after tax profit of USD100 million, what share of that would go to the Lee family (owners)? What percentage of Samsung Motors do they directly own? Note: You do not have to provide the exact number. A good approximation will be adequate. ) 4. The client wants to recommend governance changes with special emphasis on the board of directors. Evaluate the current board of Samsung Electronics. What are the strengths and weaknesses in the current board composition? How many directors can be classified as non-executive? How many can be classified as independent? What are your criteria’s for assessing director independence? Do you think changes need to be made to the current board composition?If no – why not, if yes – what changes would you recommend? 5. Based on the company’s financials as of December 31, 1997 and publicly available information, investigate the allegations made by Dr. Jang. Do you think the convertible bond issue was a self-dealing transaction? How would you prove that claim? What evidence do you have on you claim? (Note: you are not expected to do a DCF. ) 6. Does the agreement with the Pan-Pacific Industrial Investment resemble a simple direct investment or something else? Why was the guarantee clause included in the contract? Does it change the instrument?If you were on the Audit committee of the company what questions would you ask about this transaction? 8 Prof. Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes Exhibit 1: Share Ownership and Affiliates of Chaebols Contro lling Family Ownership Ownership Affiliates No. of (%) (%) Affiliates 5. 00 20. 98 8. 50 36. 05 6. 49 6. 61 13. 88 6. 45 12. 62 27. 73 5. 72 4. 57 18. 56 23. 91 21. 22 16. 31 2. 48 15. 33 14. 36 5. 33 6. 38 11. 29 30. 20 28. 57 30. 11 35. 74 24. 35 29. 60 43. 19 35. 95 22. 94 20. 36 17. 07 37. 92 18. 64 28. 35 37. 70 14. 20 21. 29 25. 64 25. 52 29. 76 30. 09 43. 24 44 28 27 22 18 17 17 15 13 12 12 12 11 11 10 10 8 6 6 5 5 3Case: Samsung Electronics Cheabol LG Hyundae Sam-sung Lotte Dae-woo Han-Wha Doo-San Ssang-Yong SK Han-Jin Dae-Rim Kolon Hyo-Sung Han-il Dong-Kuk steel Kum-Ho Kia Sam-mi Dong-Bu Koryo textile Hai-Tai Kukdong Const No. of listed Affiliates 8 9 12 3 7 6 5 7 3 5 5 4 2 5 4 5 2 2 5 1 2 2 Notes: Data as of 1989 with the exception of LG (1992) Source: Business Groups in China Compared with Korean Chaebols by Keun Lee and Wing T. Woo 9 Prof. Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes Exhibit 2: Affiliated companies within the Samsung Group Industry Electronics Case: Samsung ElectronicsAff liated Companies Samsung Electronics Samsung Electro-Mechanics Samsung SDI Samsung Corning Samsung SDS Samsung Networks Samsung Corning Precisions Glass Samsung Heavy Industries Samsung Techwin Samsung General Chemicals Samsung Petrochemicals Samsung Fine Chemicals Samsung BP Chemicals Samsung Life Insurance Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Samsung Card Samsung Securities Samsung Capital Samsung Investment Trust Management Samsung Venture Investment Samsung Engineering Cheil Industries Samsung Everland Shilla Hotel & Resorts Cheil Communications SI Corporation Samsung Lions Samsung Medical CenterMachinery & Heavy Industries Chemicals Financial Services Miscellaneous Note: This table shows the most important affiliate companies within the Samsung Group for the period of interest. 10 Prof. Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes Case: Samsung Electronics Exhibit 3a: Ownership structure of Companies in the Samsung Chaebol. (all figures in %'s) No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 2 1 22 23 Name of Firms Samsung Electronics Samsung Display Devices Samsung Co.Samsung Motors Samsung Heavy Industries Samsung Electro-mechanics Samsung Life Insurance Samsung Aerospace Industries Cheil Wool Textile Samsung General Chemicals Samsung Precision Chemicals Samsung Corning Hotel Shilla Samsung Securites Samsung Engineering Samsung Winners Card SI Corporation Samsung Everland Samsung Factoring Financing The Joong-Ang Daily News Samsung Petro-Chemicals Samsung Commercial Motors Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Owner Family 5. 41 2. 32 Directors Non-profit & foundation Managers 0. 13 2. 44 0. 49 0. 02 0. 16 0. 19 0. 13 30. 60 0. 08 0. 46 25. 00 0. 05 0. 10 0. 74 0. 1 0. 64 6. 20 0. 06 SelfOwned 3. 52 2. 89 5. 17 Total of Affiliate Firms 15. 83 19. 77 19. 55 38. 36 27. 35 27. 54 2. 25 26. 47 2. 20 89. 39 39. 15 49. 36 12. 67 22. 33 16. 03 90. 27 22. 48 23. 99 100. 00 14. 92 36. 33 100. 00 13. 05 1. 42 0. 03 3. 00 15. 00 5. 00 3. 23 0. 85 0. 30 0. 84 31. 20 1. 35 0. 01 6. 23 67. 30 41. 80 0. 36 4. 50 0. 68 3. 98 Source: Business Group in China Compared with Korean Cheabols by Keun Lee and Wing T. Woo 11 Prof. Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes Case: Samsung Electronics Exhibit 3b: Detailed Break-up of Affiliate Shareholding Provided Above (all figures in %'s)Decomposition of shares by major affiliates No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Name of Firms Samsung Electronics Samsung Display Devices Samsung Co. Samsung Motors Samsung Heavy Industries Samsung Electro-mechanics Samsung Life Insurance Samsung Aerospace Industries Cheil Wool Textile Samsung General Chemicals Samsung Precision Chemicals Samsung Corning Hotel Shilla Samsung Securites Samsung Engineering Samsung Winners Card SI Corporation Samsung Everland Samsung Factoring Financing The Joong-Ang Daily News Samsung Petro-Chemicals Samsung Commercial Motors Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance 2 3 4. 45 5 6 7 8. 16 5. 39 6. 22 8 9 0. 61 0. 09 0. 07 0. 60 14 0. 01 0. 01 13. 24 18 0. 15 0. 28 1. 24 20 0. 45 23 2. 00 3. 19 10. 87 21. 11 18. 92 21. 92 8. 13 3. 82 9. 31 48. 36 5. 72 16. 03 54. 37 10. 40 12. 74 7. 45 0. 28 2. 48 6. 08 2. 56 4. 92 5. 59 7. 75 2. 20 0. 03 0. 12 25. 90 0. 90 3. 51 2. 25 0. 33 0. 30 3. 44 10. 14 37. 79 6. 20 10. 28 0. 29 0. 21 1. 47 14. 40 11. 39 1. 89 25. 00 3. 92 10. 00 21. 50 3. 45 1. 00 6. 95 10. 62 4. 75 5. 49 9. 95 5. 00 0. 25 2. 50 100. 00 11. 49 8. 50 16. 40 0. 13 17. 10 1. 01 4. 75 9. 93 1. 56 Source: Business Group in China Compared with Korean Cheabols by Keun Lee and Wing T. Woo 12 Prof. Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes Case: Samsung Electronics Exhibit 4a: Contribution of Samsung Electronics (parent company only) to Samsung Group. All figures in Billion Won Samsung Electronics (parent company) 1997 1998 20,084 313 20,776 13,806 6,970 1999 26,118 3,170 24,710 11,378 13,332 1997 Samsung Group Samsung Electronic (parent co. ) as a % of Samsung Group 1999 106,730 2,511 133,213 101,023 32,190 1997 11. % 25. 5% 12. 3% 10. 6% 22. 7% 1998 23. 4% 131. 5% 19. 1% 15. 4% 36. 3% 1999 24. 5% 126. 2% 18. 5% 11. 3% 41. 4% 1998 85,788 238 109,022 89,839 19,183 Sales Net Income Assets Liabilities Shareholders Equity Source: Samsung Website 18,465 124 23,066 17,236 5,830 161,448 487 187,824 162,120 25,704 Exhibit 4b: Contribution of Samsung Electronics (consolidated basis) to Samsung Group. All figures in Billion Won Samsung Electronics (consolidated) 1997 Sales Net Income Assets Liabilities Shareholders Equity Source: Samsung WebsiteSamsung Group Samsung Electronic (parent co. ) as a % of Samsung Group 1999 106,730 2,511 133,213 101,023 32,190 1997 14. 0% -125. 3% 17. 1% 16. 9% 18. 1% 1998 30. 0% -152. 1% 22. 1% 21. 2% 26. 5% 1999 30. 1% 126. 4% 21. 9% 15. 8% 40. 9% 1998 1999 32,088 3,175 29,178 16,004 13,174 1997 161,448 487 187,824 162,120 25,704 1998 85,788 238 109,022 89,839 19,183 22,682 25,772 (610) (362) 32,035 27,386 4,649 24,105 19,016 5,089 13 Prof. Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes Case: Samsung ElectronicsExhibit 5: Closing price of Samsung Electronic Shares and the Liner Trend of its Stock Price. Daily Closing Price of Samsung Electronics Shares September 1, 1996 to December 31, 1997 80,000. 0 Share Price in Korean Won 70,000. 0 60,000. 0 50,000. 0 40,000. 0 30,000. 0 20,000. 0 10,000. 0 1/1/97 2/1/97 3/1/97 4/1/97 5/1/97 6/1/97 7/1/97 8/1/97 10/1/96 11/1/96 12/1/96 9/1/97 10/1/97 11/1/97 12/1/97 Day Close Linear (Close) 14 Prof. Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes Case: Samsung Electronics Exhibit 6: Profile of Directors on the Samsung Electronics Board No.Name of Director 1 Kun-Hee Lee 2 Jong-Yong Yun 3 Hak-Soo Lee 4 Yoon-Woo Lee 5 Dae-Je Chin 6 Doh-Seok Choi 7 In-Joo Kim 8 Jing-Wan Kim 9 Sung Rai Choi 10 Soon-Taek Kim 11 Jin-Hoon Je 12 Joong-Koo Lee 13 Yang-Gyu Park 14 Hong-Sik Ko 15 Soo-Woong Park 16 Jae Yong Lee Designation Chairman & CEO, Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman & CEO, Samsung Electronics President & CEO, Group Reformation Headquarters, Samsung Electronics President & CEO, Device Solutions Netw ork, Samsung Electronics President & CEO, Digital Media Network, Samsung Electronics President & CFO, Samsung Electronics Executive VP, Group Reformation Headquarters, Samsung Electronics President & CEO, Samsung Heavy Industries President & CEO, Samsung Petrochemicals Vice President & CEO, Samsung SDI Company Ltd. Vice President & CEO, Samsung Factor Financing President & CEO, Samsung Techwin Company Ltd. President & CEO, Samsung Networks President & CEO, Samsung General Chemicals Company Ltd. Vice President & CEO, Samsung Fine Chemicals Ltd. Family Relation None None None None None None None None None None None None None None None 7 Ra-Hee Hong Lee 18 Soo-Bin Lee 19 Hyeon-Gon Kim 20 Chong-Yeul Pae 21 Kap-Hyun Lee 22 Suk-Soo Kim 23 Tetsuo Iwasaki Owns 25. 1% of the shares of Samsung Everland, which Son of Kun-Hee controls Samsung Life, the holding company of Lee Samsung Group Director General, Samsung Museums. Wife of Kun-Hee Lee Chairman & CEO, Samsung Life Insurance Company None Vice President & CEO, Samsung BP Chemicals Company Ltd. CEO, Samsung Corporation Advisor, Boston Consulting Group President Law Office of Suk-Soo Kim None None None None Chairman/CEO/President Applied Komatsu None Technology Note: The information provided in this exhibit is for illustrative purposes only. It does not reflect the real board structure at the Samsung Electronic Corporation. 15

Banking Industry Meltdown Essay

Determine which moral philosophy (as discussed in chapter 6) is most applicable to an understanding of the banking industry meltdown Moral philosophy in business is hard to classify, especially in today’s economic times where there are government bailouts, loss of paying jobs, home foreclosures and the horrible real estate market. The banking industries near complete collapse can be closely linked to the mortgage crisis that has hit the United States but there are deeper issues that have lead to the banking industry meltdown. The banks acted with an egoism moral philosophy which has sometimes been described like a loan sharking operation, just legal. The banks pay very little interest to its depositing members for interest bearing accounts like 1% or even less than that while at the same time charging 15% to 35% on credit card balances. They do this because there is no limit placed on interest rates that a bank can charge by the federal government. The banks feel this is right or acceptable behavior in terms of their individual financial institutions maximizing their own interest. Due to these financial instruments put in place by the banks and not think about the possible consequences they presented if consumers defaulted on these loans. The downfall was never even examined by the banks or its investors, and it came to catch up with them in 2008-2009 with the economic downturn. No one cared to think ahead, thinking they had a fool proof plan that couldn’t fail because the insurance policy derivatives presented. Banks and investors carried themselves with Ego that displayed they couldn’t fail. However, as the case revealed in 2008-2009 the housing market tumbled due to consumers not being able to make payment on their variable rate mortgages leaving the real estate market overheated. Since banks and investors made decisions that seemed to maximize their own self-interest they acted in an egoism moral philosophy manner. Analyze the case study and discern if the â€Å"white collar† crimes committed differ in any  substantive manner from other more â€Å"blue collar† crimes White-collar crimes are mainly defined as illicit acts perpetuated by a person with a high and respectable social statu s in the course of his or her profession or occupation. This is basically related to the social idea relating the concept of white-collar jobs to professional fields In the modern criminology field, white-collar crimes is defined and identified based under two basis and reference namely by the type of offense and the type of offender. The first reference involves acts related to property issues, economic aspect, law violations and others are considered as white-collar crimes as these cases involve professional degree and culture. The second is based from the type of offender wherein the social class and personal stature of the criminal are considered. Some of the common manifestations of this form of crime are fraud, bribery, computer crime, forgery, insider trading embezzlement, and others. â€Å"Blue collar crimes are looked at in the more traditional manner as acts that are mostly offensive and violent in a physical nature such as theft, harassment, and murder. In this case derivatives were the main culprit that were used to commit the â€Å"white collar† crimes against its victims (stakeholders and customers). The crimes committed by the banks in my opinion were no different. Any crime is basically an illicit act that is illegal and forbidden by the law in which is punishable, â€Å"blue collar† or â€Å"white collar,† the crimes committed I feel are the same in any manner. Though the crimes were not of a physical nature they still caused harm to those who were affected by the crimes that were committed. For this reason I feel that the â€Å"white collar† crimes that were committed were no different in a substantive manner than â€Å"blue collar† crimes that are committed. Determine and discuss the role that corporate culture played in the banking industry scenario Corporate culture and social responsibility is good for business, as social, environmental, and ethical issues have been increasingly climbing up the list of priorities of business agendas and strategy. Culture makes every organization unique and bonds members of an organization together. The culture of the organization verifies what behaviors and ideas are acceptable and appropriate. Corporate culture is defined as a set of values, norms, and artifacts, including ways of solving problems that members (employees) of an organization share. (Ferrell, Fraedrich, & Ferrell 2011). The corporate culture could have  played a huge role in the banking industry scenario as ethics and social responsibility should be important to all businesses and business people. The banking industry had a decision to make and they chose to disregard their ethical responsibilities which helped contribute to the downfall of the banking industry in 2008-2009. If the banks had followed a more ethical corporate culture they would have been less likely to make the unethical decisions that they made. They should have adhered to the tradition and history of their respective financial institutions and considers their investors, stakeholders, and customers before making the decisions that they made. If they would have taken the time to do this they would have taken the time to further investigate and evaluate the possible ramifications of their actions and possibly look for alternatives that may have averted the banking industry meltdown that followed. Postulate how leaders within the banking industry could have used their influence to avert the industry meltdown A lack of business ethics is definitely partly to blame for the United States current financial woes, and it was the absence or complete disregard for them by the leaders in the banking industry that led to the banking industry meltdown. Self-regulation should not be underestimated, as from it you get a strong corporate culture that tells leaders what is right and wrong, leading to the consideration of not just themselves (the banking institution) but the investors, stakeholders, and customers. The egoism philosophy which I feel the banks adopted would have been replaced with more of a utilitarianism philosophy making decisions that would benefit the most persons involved. The leaders in the banking industry were just the opposite of what we are calling them â€Å"leaders,† because if they took the responsibility and truly led they could have used their stature to influence decisions that could have help avoid the banking industry meltdown. Follow the leader; is what I relate this particular situation to, as if banking industry leaders would have stood up and put their voice to doing the right ethical thing setting the standard for not only themselves and their bank but the others they could have adverted the banking meltdown. Follow the leader; is what I relate this particular situation to, as if banking industry leaders would have stood up and put their voice to doing the right ethical thing setting the standard for not only themselves and their bank(s), but the others they could have adverted the banking meltdown. The  leaders could have used the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to back their decision and should have taken a bigger stand. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act is an accounting overseeing measure to ensure efficient corporate governance and maintaining the confidence of investors. It also requires that the businesses to assume responsibility for transparency in financial reporting. If the leaders would have taken this stand they could have set a standard and influenced the banking industry to make better decisions. If the leaders within the banking industry would have used their influence they could have possibly avert the industry meltdown. I will not say that these actions will have averted the meltdown as no one can predict the future as anything could happen, all we can do is to rationally and ethically evaluate all possible scenarios, develop and implement plans to try and prevent meltdowns like the one in 2008-2009. Bibliography http://www.hrmreport.com/article/Business-ethics-is-inextricably-linked-to-the-current-financial-meltdown/ Thomas, Huw November 29, 2012 Principles for enhancing corporate governance, October 2010, ISBN 92-9131-844-2 (print); http://www.bis.org/publ/bcbs176.pdf Ferrell, O. C., Fraedrich, J., & Ferrell, L. (2008). Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making and Cases US: South-Western, Cengage Learning. Haig, M. (2005). http://www.frbsf.org/news/speeches/2009/0416.html, Conference on the State of the U.S. and World Economies—â€Å"Meeting the Challenges of the Financial Crisis† By Janet L. Yellen, President and CEO, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, April 16, 2009

Lightning Protection Essay Essays

Lightning Protection Essay Essays Lightning Protection Essay Essay Lightning Protection Essay Essay Did you know that last twelvemonth. in the United States. belongings loss due to lightning work stoppages exceeded one billion dollars? The mean homeowner’s insurance paid $ 4. 296 per lightning claim and an norm of two 100 50s thousand insurance claims were filed purely due to lightning. In January 2003. the American Meteorologist Society issued a bulletin backing the lightning protection demands embodied in the National Fire Protection Association Standard 780. Stating. â€Å"It is now good established that decently installed and maintained lightning rod based protection systems significantly decrease lightning harm. † The lone true manner to protect a construction from a direct lightning work stoppage is with a lightning protection system. A lightning protection system. with proper installing can salvage lives. protect constructions. and supply peace of head. To understand lightning protection. you foremost necessitate to understand lightning. Lightning. by definition. is the discharge of inactive electricity from cloud-to-ground. Lightning is the energy created by clash from the rise and autumn of hot and cold air multitudes in the clouds. This energy. which is merely seeable as lightning. retains a negative charge. To equalise. this negative charge must reach a positive charge. which is held by land. The positive charge and the negative charge seek the best path to run into and disperse ; intending that lightning is merely looking for a manner to obtain land. Lightning decides on a mark no more than 500 pess prior to striking and does non know apart on what it strikes. Lightning protection systems provide an efficient way for lightning to make the land safely. without destructing constructions. The system does non pull lightning. nor deter. but instead acts as a canopy of protection. Lightning protection systems are interconnected to organize a â€Å"cage† around the margin of the construction. Every component of the lightning protection system has to link to organize common foundation. There are five elements that make up a lightning protection system. The five elements are lightning rods. overseas telegram. land rods. adhering stuffs and rush protection. The lightning rods are positioned at the really top of the lightning protection system. Their map is to take the direct work stoppage of the lightning bolt. Lightning rods are constructed of Cu or aluminium to defy the electrical current as a consequence of a direct work stoppage. Depending on the specifications of the construction. the length of the lightning rods varies. nevertheless ; the breadth of the lightning rods is normally the same diameter of an ordinary pencil. The rods aren’t really large ; nevertheless. they can defy the power of a direct lightning work stoppage. The 2nd component of a lightning protection system is the overseas telegram. which is besides constructed of Cu or aluminium stuffs. The cable’s map is to â€Å"transport† the electrical current from the lightning rods to the land rods. The overseas telegram is routed around the margin of the construction with â€Å"downleads† happening at different points of the construction. depending on the specifications. â€Å"Downleads† are when the overseas telegram is run down the construction to the land rods. Land rods are the really underside of the lightning protection system. They take the electrical current of the lightning into the land to equalise or disperse. This means that the electrical current is now neutralised. Land rods are really similar to lightning rods. nevertheless. the land rods can be 10 pess long and are buried at least six pess below class. In bouldery dirt. installing can be a peculiarly difficult. Bonding of the lightning protection system refers to doing certain that all public-service corporation entrywaies are protected along with the construction. Gas lines. H2O lines. and electrical lines all have to be connected. Rush Protection is the last component of the lightning protection system. As lightning protection provides structural protection. rush protection protects sensitive electronics and other public-service corporation entrywaies. such as telephone. overseas telegram. and electrical mercantile establishments. Rush protection is an of import portion of the lightning protection system mystifier. Lightning protection systems are an indispensable component to protecting every construction. but are different for every construction ensuing in doing a lightning protection contractor a really specialised trade. Residential lightning protection is puting lightning protection on private places. A lightning protection system has two different types of residential systems ; concealed or exposed. Concealed system installings are included during the building of the place. The hidden system is designed to be hidden ; as the name implies. During different phases of building. the lightning protection installing technicians run the overseas telegram within the model of the place. Besides the overseas telegram is run up through the roof in particular constructed â€Å"thru-roof† merchandises. The lightning protection system works without being seen. Some persons wonder how lightning can run along the overseas telegram between the walls of a place without get downing a fire. The lightning is going so fast along the overseas telegram with no clash and doesn’t adequate clip for a fire to get down. Exposed lightning protection systems installings are completed after building. Cable is run on the exterior of the roof and walls. nevertheless ; you can paint the overseas telegram to fit the colour of the outside to do the overseas telegram blend for a more aesthetically delighting affect. The pigment will non impede the cable’s ability to transport the electrical current. Besides overseas telegram can be run down along the rain troughs for even more concealment Commercial lightning protection systems are similar to residential. they both have the same rules. but they are installed on commercial constructions. The lone difference is the tallness. which has different criterions from the normal residential places. There are two types of lightning protection systems. The first is a category I constructions have a tallness of 75 pess or below and merely necessitate a â€Å"standard† lightning protection system. The 2nd is a category II construction. normally known as high rises or sky scrapers. have a tallness of 75 pess or above. These edifices have to be specified with what is called an â€Å"Intermediate Loop. † An Intermediate Loop consists of a â€Å"standard† lightning protection system but has an extra cringle of overseas telegram tally around the center of the tallness of the edifice. The loop consisting of running overseas telegram around the edifice is connected to all the downleads. The cringle guarantees the lightning bolt a uninterrupted way without clash to acquire down to the land rods. Besides. some Class II edifices require a â€Å"Ground Loop. † This cringle is a mirror of the â€Å"Intermediate Loop. † but is buried below the class of the commercial edifice. This cringle is besides connected to all the land rods. but is non seeable because it is belowground. Merely as the intermediate cringle. this land loop provides more options for the lightning to disperse. As stated before. lightning is merely looking for a way to acquire to land and equalise. Lightning protection systems allow this to go on in a non-destructive mode without lay waste toing the edifice stuffs of commercial or residential constructions.