Accounting for Business Combination and Ethics Assessment Essay

Early 2011, Yung Limited acquired 75% interest in Chum Limited. This is the first time of Yung Limited preparing the consolidated statement. A few issues regarding to the first consolidated financial statement have been raised up. This report is used to solve the raised issues and explain general principle of consolidation accounting. Before the acquisition, Yung and Chum was a competitor to each other. Their financial statement only reflects their own financial position. Thus, the balance and transaction would state in the financial statement. The reason is that they are viewed as two entities from different aspect. However, after the acquisition, Yung and Chum became a single combined entity as Yung held 75% interest in Chum. It means Yung can direct business decision of Chum according to its preference. This view would be reflected in the consolidated financial statements. Since the consolidated financial statements view Yung and Chum as a single combined entity, the balance due to each other would be eliminated as a result. As Yung and Chum are the single entity, the amount due to Yung is set off by the amount due from Chum. One entity cannot lead money to itself in order to create a liability or asset. See more:Â  Capital budgeting essay As Yung and Chum are a single entity, transactions with each other are just a transfer of assets or liabilities, or a relocation of assets, this would not recognise as a transaction in the consolidated financial statements. Generally, profit margin is added to those transactions. These profit margins would raise book value of assets in the transactions. The common example is inventory and non-current assets. Those profit margins can only be realised in the sales or disposal to external parties. Thus, the consolidated financial statements would eliminate those unrealised profit also. According to the above statement, Yung gets the power of control in the Chum. It means every transaction can be related to Yung and its decision. The relationship between Yung and Chum would be a parent-subsidiary, and not just similar to other associate as investor-investee. Therefore, it is required to show consolidated financial statement of Yung and Chum. The distinction between consolidation and equity basis of accounting is power of control. Generally, if an entity holds more than 50% interest of another entity, the entity is required to consolidate the controlled entity. However, if an entity holds about 20% to 50% interest of another entity, the entity is required to practising the equity basis of accounting. Comparing with the two methods, consolidation basis of accounting would reflect a smaller net income if there are a large amount of inter-company transactions. Equity basis of accounting only show the share of profit in associate as an extra item in the income statement of investor (parent in consolidation). Thus, it would be a greater net income unless there is a net loss in the associate. In conclusion, different methods change the net income. The financial statements for equity basis of accounting are only included the investment in associates as non-current assets, and recorded as cost plus fair value adjustments in the net shares of equity. The consolidated financial statements are the combination of the parent and subsidiaries, and goodwill, excluding inter-company balance and cost of control. Thus, Yung’s financial statements would be greater value in statement of financial position if all investments were consolidated, but smaller value in income statement as there are large amount inter-company transactions between Yung and Chum. Equity basis of accounting could provide a greater asset value to Yung, but a smaller net income to Yung also. Dear Mr. Li, Memo regarding the revenue cut-off problem of Yung Limited According to the recent conference with John Au, President of Yung Limited, he reported that the sales of Yung Limited in 2010 incorrectly included sales in 2011. However, we did not discover this material error by our audit work. This material error overstated the profit of Yung in 2010 by 10%, but understated the profit of Yung in 2011 by the same rate. John Au also mentioned that he prefers to ignore this error because he can get benefit from this error as the understated profit. Ignoring revenue cut-off problem leads to conflicts in ethical and professional. This conflicts with fundamental ethical principles, such as integrity, objectivity and professional behavior. In the integrity aspect, we should not disclose any untrue financial statements. In the objectivity aspect, our professional judgments should not be influenced by reputation of our audit firm and any potential legal sue. In the professional behavior, we should comply with relevant laws and regulations relating to this revenue cut-off problem. The following are some of my recommendation on this revenue cut-off problem. The first recommendation would be reporting to the board of directors directly. This material error should be report the board of directors of Yung Limited. This report could give directors’ chance to decide the treatment of this material error. They could estimate effect of this material error. The second recommendation would be following John Au’s suggestion, ignoring this material error. This could be a way to accommodate our client. The third recommendation would be requiring John Au to correct this material error. This could reflect the true financial position of Yung Limited. The fourth recommendation would be convening an extra-ordinary general meeting with all shareholders of Yung Limited. This EGM could give shareholders opportunity to aware this material error, and understand the potential. Finally, I would recommend asking John Au to correct this material error. Although this correction would make him loss of a bonus, this is a fair treatment to all stakeholders at all. Also, this solution could reflect the professional position of our company.

Maya Angelou’s Phenomenal Woman: Positive Attributes of a Black Woman

â€Å"Now you understand just why my head’s not bowed, I don’t shout or jump about or have to talk real loud. When you see me passing it ought to make you proud I say it’s the click of my heels, the bend of my hair, the palm of my hand, the need for my care cause I’m a woman phenomenally, phenomenal woman, that’s me† (Angelou 1). Phenomenal Woman, a poem written by Maya Angelou about the positive attributes of a black woman. Maya Angelou is a black actor writer and civil rights activist. Growing up during the time black people were fighting for civility, Maya Angelou has come from a generation of black people who were criticized for their skin color; a generation where becoming an actor was as far-fetched as an black woman going to the moon. Even though now there are more black women in the entertainment world the portrayal of the black woman is still pretty much the same. Today the media’s portrayal of black women is a loud foul mouthed hot headed ghetto du-rag wearing hood-rat on welfare who don’t take care of her kids because she chasing after a man. In the 18 to 1900s black women were known as â€Å"sassy mammies who ran their own homes with iron fists including berating black husbands and children† (Abagond 1). Another name that was used towards black women was a â€Å"sapphire†, which was described as bitchy stubborn and hateful. During the early 1900s every role of a black woman was that of a spiteful angry vindictive black woman who demeans and beats her husband. Continuing through the 70s with the show Good Times, Esther Rolle played Florida Evans a house wife who lives in the projects of Chicago, the media once again portrayed the black woman as just that, angry. During the Jim Crow period, when real blacks were often beaten, jailed, or killed for arguing with whites, fictional Mammies were allowed to pretend-chastise whites, including men. Their sassiness was supposed to indicate that they were accepted as members of the white family, and acceptance of that sassiness implied that slavery and segregation were not overly oppressive. Another example of a Sapphire was the character Pamela (Pam) James played by Tichina Arnold, who appeared on Martin, a situational comedy that aired from 1992 to 1997 on the Fox network. Pam, Martin’s girlfriend Gina’s best friend and neighbor was a badmouthed, wisecracking friend/foe of the lead character, Martin. Tichina Arnold, the actress who played Pam, also plays Rochelle, a dominating, aggressive matriarch in the situational comedy, Everybody Hates Chris, which ran from 2005 to 2009, and is still aired on cable television. Although most of the sitcoms are used for entertainment people tend to believe that this is how every black woman is. Using derogatory jargon such Shaniqua and Aunt Jemima to describe African American women, many whites believe that what the media puts out is not a stereotype but the truth. Arnold has mastered the role of the angry, black woman. â€Å"Although the numerical representation of African-Americans in contemporary television advertising has improved in recent years, the authors' analysis illustrates how the potentially positive effects of including more African-Americans in advertisements are often mitigated by subtle racist elements that suggest African-American inferiority. Even in earlier cartoons when blacks were drawn into character, they were drawn to look similar to monkeys with dark skin big pink lips and ears and not very intelligent. Cartoonists went as far as to even put a monkey in the cartoon and make the monkey smarter than the black people featured in the cartoon. This was done for the amusement of white people. From the first cartoons to the first black president black people not just women have been the center of ridicule, calling them coons and monkeys, even going as far as photo shopping Michelle Obama’s face to that of a monkey’s keeping her hair and clothing the same. Cal Thomas a commentator of Fox network stated that black women are â€Å"usually angry about something; they’ve lost a son in a drive by shooting or angry at Bush. So you don’t have a profile of non angry black women† (â€Å"Transcrpit: Fox†, 2008).Works Cited EDu paper Jatau, Mary. (2009). Western Media’s Commodification and Consumption of African Women: A Review of Three News Channels. UC Los Angeles: UCLA Center for the Study of Women. Retrieved from: http://escholarship.org/uc/item/9gs2q469 1. Bristor, Julia M., Michlle R. Hunt, and Re'nee G. Lee. â€Å"Race and Ideology: African-American Images in Television Advertising.† Journal of Public Policy & Marketing 14.1 (1995): 48-59. Print. 2.Rucker, C. E. and Cash, T. F. (1992), Body images, body-size perceptions, and eating behaviors among African-American and white college women. Int. J. Eat. Disord., 12: 291–299 none 3.Schooler, D., Monique Ward, L., Merriwether, A. and Caruthers, A. (2004), Who's That Girl: Television's Role In The Body Image Development Of Young White And Black Women. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 28: 38–47. None Jatau, Mary. (2009). 4. Western Media’s Commodification and Consumption of African Women: A Review of Three News Channels . UC Los Angeles: UCLA Center for the Study of Women. Retrieved from: http://escholarship.org/uc/item/9gs2q469. 5. Abagond (2008, March 7). The Sapphire Stereotype. Abagond. Retrieved from http://abagond.wordpress.com/2008/03/07/the-sapphire-stereotype/. 6. Bad times on the Good times set. (1975 September). Ebony.

Office Automation and Group Collaboration Software Essay

As the business becomes smaller and smaller due to globalization making the business environment more dynamic and competitive, organizations of today are fast realizing the importance of information as an critical asset to successes. This in turn increases the importance of automated soft wares and group collaborations systems, which make information management and use more efficient and effective. This articles explores how Office Automation and group collaboration Systems like Groove are increasingly applied to manual business functions in a network of computers in an organization, which help in business communications, writing reports, saving information and statistics, and group of people working on a project from different location and same or different time frames, all integrated in automated software which saves both time and money increasing the work productivity of the employees. An office automation system heavily relies on a network of workstations in order to create an uninterrupted and fast approach to sending and receiving information in a timely fashion. This can be a local Area Network or LAN for local destinations, for example a network of computers with in a building etc or it can also spread across countries through a Wide Area Network (WAN), which can also be use send instant messages across . this network also provides a secures work space for individual workstations to share and work on documents using groove as a group collaboration software. The functions of an Office Automation System include electronic publishing soft wares which allow users to create documents, edit them as and when requires, insert tables, charts or any other graphics, electronically store important documents and even print them in the form of memos, periodic or ad hoc reports and letters, all these functions are performed by word processing soft wares where as a desktop publishing software can also be used for professional documents for examples brochure, and by making use of available templates for magazines etc Then we have Electronic communication soft wares, as a part of the Office Automation System used for face to face communication with executives in other cities or countries through desktop video conferencing incase of two employees communicating with each other, or electronic collaboration systems which allow different work groups to communicate face to face with each other and work on projects via a network of computers regardless of the geographical location. Another important branch of Office Automation Systems is Telecommuting which now makes It possible for employees to work from home or distant locations avoiding long distance travelling, traffic by connecting to the organization’s local or wide area network. One of the greater advantages of telecommuting is that it allows organization to use the untapped pool of the handicapped people and single parents who for reasons of their own cannot come to the work place. Other advantages of Office Automation Systems is that it also incorporates image processing and presentation and multimedia soft wares like PowerPoint, SPC Harvard Graphics etc which allow the users to edit and integrate both image and texts, videos etc and share it using work collaboration systems. Another important advantage of group collaboration soft wares in this era of globalization is that it allows work groups to work on and share information and coordinate activities at same place same time or different place, different times ensuring a smooth work flow through out the wide spread organization. Although Office automation and group collaboration software make work life a lot easier for us, yet one has to be cautious about the limitations they offer along with the advantages. The soft wares can be used for personnel use unrelated to work. For example instant messaging can be used to discuss topics other than work which wastes both time and office resources. As far as group ware is concerned they can be expensive, may require extensive training, mat not support the rapid changes in technology and due to the availability of company related information with different people at different places it can also lead to a leak in critical information. Therefore, after realizing the importance of automates software and group collaborative system which without any doubt increase work productivity and make coordination of various work activities very easy for us, one must be aware that it does come with certain limitations for which caution should be exercised. After all, information is a critical asset which needs proper management.

CAN bus technologies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 3

CAN bus technologies - Essay Example This caused many problems in the after sales repairs as each of the models had a different set of wiring, which meant qualified and trained staff to work out the repairs or even the general maintenance. The intermingling of the wires was also causing problems. Hence, a need was felt to have the vehicle control system that will eliminate largely the number of connectors and the resultant wiring problem. This need gave birth to the invention of CAN bus technology. Mr. Robert Bosch introduced the CAN bus system for the first time at a SAE congress in 1986 at Detroit. This resulted in the vehicle wiring getting reduced up to 2Kms. Thus, the overall weight of the vehicle was reduced up to 50 Kgs. In a vehicle like BMW 850 coupe Controller Area Network serial bus system, called as CAN bus technology is designed to support multi master access, while handling short messages up to 8 bytes. While this means that collusions get resolved by priority, the system offers high degree of reliability also, by having 15 bit CRC for every message. Since itd introduction at Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), there have been many further innovations in the CAN technology. While Intel developed CAN chip 82526 and Philips also developed semiconductor 82C200 as a CAN controller, there are about 20 chip manufacturers catering to this technology now. CAN technology being purely a data link layer implementation program, it became quite popular for use in various capital equipment like textile machinery, apart from its original use in passenger cars and other transport vehicles. However, this further gave rise to the need of having standards for these layer implementations and data exchange programs. Apart from the above, standardization like EN50325 have enabled application layers now to be used in different kinds of machine controls with the use of components like DeviceNet and CANopen. Both these are addressing different applications. While CANopen is useful for almost

Banking Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Banking - Assignment Example Consumer banking is reported as an alternative in the banking sector and investment platform that many investors consider as an option. The article reports consumer credit as a viable investment due to the increasing number of borrowers that seek money for different reasons. The report also indicates $880 billion as part of the revolving consumer debt currently accumulated by the population. The most interesting aspect of the development is that many people are willing to obtain debt and pay back at very high interest rates with a n average of 15%. Considering the loss rates registered by these kind of facilities and the level of losses involved are very low as at 2.52% in relation to JP Morgan Chase. Banks consider this a very lucrative opportunity and has taken deep into consumer credit. The advantage that the banks have over the other investors is that they obtain savings from masses that they use for the development of the finances necessary for investing into consumer credit. Consumer credit facilities stem in many forms as credit or debit cards, credit facilities for purchase of goods among others. The banks benefit more due to their level of interest earned compared to the interest paid to the owners of the savings. Kopp, Carol . "Plot Your Escape From the Big Fees of Big Banks." DailyFinance.com., 24 June 2014. Web. 28 Oct. 2014. . Carol Kopp explains more on how to escape the huge fees charged by big banks on the different transactions and accounts opened by customers. Basic banking services in major banks in the American financial sense. Escaping these banks would help on save more of their money. The hiking of the fees in huge banks has is known to have originated from the 2008 financial crisis from which many banks suffered losses. These banks especially the big ones hiked fees and basic charges on the simple banking

Graph theory Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Graph theory - Research Paper Example iss Mathematician developed a solution to an old puzzle related to the possibility of establishing a path across every one of the seven bridges that span a forked river flowing past (Biggs 140). From a conceptual perspective, a graph is formed by vertices and edges linking the vertices. From a formal perspective however, a graph refers to a pair of sets (V, E), where V is a set of vertices and E is a set of edges. Based on these fundamental concepts underpinning graph theory, this paper seeks to explain the importance and application of the theory’s theoretical concepts in various fields (Biggs 124). The concept of graph theory is important because graphs allow for a simplification of complex concepts, eliminating the irrelevant details without forfeiting much information necessary for the task. As asserted by Biggs (148), the assumptions made by the graph theory match the real world conditions and are therefore not comparable to any other model. Among the fundamental uses of the graph theory entail; giving a unified formalism for diverse looking real life problems. This has been the sufficient basis upon which algorithms have been presented in this common formalism. The theoretical concepts underpinning graph theory are widely used in the studying and modeling of various applications, in diverse fields. These include; construction of bonds in chemistry, study of molecules, and the study of atoms. Graph theory is widely used in Sociology for instance to measure the prestige of actors or in exploring the mechanisms of diffusion (Biggs 150). Besides, the conservation efforts made in biological sciences essentially apply the concepts of graph theory where a vertex represent regions where certain species exist and the edges are used to represent paths of migration or movement from one region to another (Biggs 152). Such information is important more so when examining the breeding patterns or tracking the spread of parasites, diseases and in the study of the

Performance Measurement for Public School Teachers Case Study

Performance Measurement for Public School Teachers - Case Study Example According to the paper the purposes may be categorized into three categories as discussed below. The strategic purpose which is concerned with aligning employees performance with the organizational core values, goals and strategies, administrative purpose which clarifies employees roles and expectations, providing basis for human resource decisions and improving communication and developmental purpose which is concerned with developing full employee capabilities and enhancing individual employees development. The case also outlines the strategic purpose of performance management system. The main objective of school’s performance management is to enable schools achieve their core mandate; prepare pupils to become better citizens and employees and rational consumers. From these expectations, it is imperative to have talented and motivated teachers with the required behavior and resources. There is an understanding that there are numerous factors at play that may influence perfor mance management. For this reason, objective performance measurement techniques such as the students’ performance on standardized test in all subject areas, evaluation by supervisors and studying the teachers practical skills have been developed. These techniques are driven by the desired result of the learning process. Administrative purpose of performance management system has been shown in the case by going further to understand into detail the factors that may influence the teachers performance outcome such as; students behavioral problems, learning disabilities, poor preparation. This understanding led to the development of better ways of teaching and measuring performance such as the use of comprehensive testing to enhance administration of teachers duty. Lastly, the developmental purpose of performance management system seeks to understand and facilitate how teachers render their services.

Hilda Polacheck, I Came a Stranger Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Hilda Polacheck, I Came a Stranger - Essay Example The aspect of citizenship manifest strongly in the Hilda Polacheck of â€Å"I Came a Stranger.† The narration by Hilda about her life experiences gives us a view of the historical perspectives of citizenship in America. When arriving in USA with the mother and the siblings, Hilda Polacheck experienced the problem of gaining access to the American social system. Hilda narrates how the immigration officers in America confined her family and immigrants in a camp with deplorable conditions. The reason for the treatment was to prevent entry of people who become a public charge, and burden the government. The American authority of the time only allowed entry to immigrants who could support themselves. This experience by Hilda Polacheck helps us understand the history and significant of the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 2008. A clause in the Act prohibits issue of citizenship to immigrants who can become a burden to the public. 1The immigration officials have the responsibilities to examine skills, financial resources, physical abilities, health status and education of the immigrants before allowing entry into the country. During the historic America, there was a belief that poor immigrants would flood the country with anticipation to enjoy the economic prosperity. 2To become an American citizen through naturalization is never easy or automatic. A person has to undergo various screenings, and must have stayed in America for longer time. The given immigrant applying for naturalization must proved with authentic documentation that they have stayed in America longer enough to warrant issue of citizenship. This aspect of citizenship is evident the narration of Hilda Polacheck. In the book, Hilda mentions that her father died without having gained citizenship despite having applied. The reason given for the reluctance by the US official was that the

The Dangers of Police Work Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Dangers of Police Work - Research Paper Example Most frequently, they respond to ‘unknown disturbances or problems’ whereby a person may be asking for help but the police officer does not actually know what he/she is to expect or he/she is not able to gather more information regarding the situation (Dempsey & Forst, 2007). The duties of police officers involve operating in various kinds of circumstances, with much of their work being outdoors walking the beats assigned to them or riding in patrol cars. Their work is deemed extraordinarily dangerous – while carrying out their duties, some police officers are wounded or even killed. Police work can entail horrid tasks, which expose them to dangerous, sordid or depressing situations. They may be required to deal with all kinds of people in diverse situations. These dangers are usually traumatic for the police officers as well as their family members. Generally, police work holds the potential for the unpredicted and the unknown, and most individuals who take on this job possess a strong commitment and passion for it. Police work may involve being on duty 24 hours a day – even when not on call, the law requires a police officer to respond to criminal activity or to emergencies, during which no consideration is made for time of day or night o r even weather conditions (Ferguson, 2007). Gaines and Miller (2007) explain that the dangers of police work are both physical and mental/psychological. They indicate that according to the United States’ Justice Department policing is one of the most dangerous jobs in the US with 261 of every 1000 officers’ targets of non-fatal violence annually. Between the year 2003 and 2004, over three hundred police officers were murdered in the line of duty. They further assert that police work, in addition to physical dangers, involves considerable mental stress and pressure. The United States’ Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that together with being a surgeon, firefighting, driving a taxi,

The Four Forces of Evolution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Four Forces of Evolution - Essay Example It usually contains upper and lower cases, symbols and numbers. But it is not as strong as Passphrases. Passphrases are short sentences or sequence of words. Pass phrases are stronger and easy to remember. Though Cryptic passwords are strong, it is very difficult to remember it. If we write the password down somewhere there would be chances of losing it. So Passphrases are better than Cryptic passwords. Since passphrases contain 20-30 characters it can easily avoid attackers and it would also reduces the chances of having that in a dictionary. Another important way to keep our personal matters is by having multiple passwords. It is better to use different passwords for different accounts. One of the best methods to keep multiple passwords is to create passwords which have some kind of a relation. And you should make sure that the relation should be something that is not easily predictable. Most of us face difficulty in creating a strong password. We tend to commit certain errors while creating a password. There are some common errors that we make when creating a personal password. Usage of personal information as password, use of the any variant of the word ‘Password’, use of short passwords which are very easy to remember, use of most common passwords, use of nicknames and birthdays as password are some of the common errors made by people while creating a password. Creating a strong password is not very easy. We should make sure that we never commit the above mentioned errors. The more complex is your password the better it would be. Try to include symbols and numbers in your password to make it complicated. Changing password in a periodic interval would also help you to keep your personal information secure. Here is a procedure to create a strong password. First of all you write a sentence which is of more than 8 characters. Then you remove the space between the words. Once you remove the space you can intentionally misspell a word in order to make

Cafe Bijoux Essay Example for Free

Cafe Bijoux Essay Q 1) What is the current positioning strategy? Is it working? Why or why not? Positioning strategy helps a company in creating its identity and its products/service it provides (Anderson, 2011). Cafà © Bijoux offers a relatively low price for a cup of soup and a sandwich, while offering healthy and tasty meals to their targeted market (primarily workers at the City Hall). To keep the cost low, the management did not printed a menu instead it was written on a chalkboard and was updated daily. In addition, the condiments were handed out to the customers as they picked up their orders. Business operations were from 10 am till 3 pm, mainly attracting customers from local surrounding business for lunch, specializing in homemade soup, fresh sandwiches, and salads. The positioning strategy was not successful mainly due to an unclear vision. Even though it attracted a niche market it was a great strategy of offering healthy foods, however it was not implemented effectively. There were complaints on several occasions that the restaurant could not be located, the mangers were aware about the conflict, but were unable to resolve it due to lack of financial abilities. Furthermore, the restaurant was located beside a parking garage, which was used by the city hall employees and other public offices employees. The average arrival time for these employees was between 7:30 – 8:30 am and they leave around 4:30 – 5:30 pm, while Furthermore, management has failed to identify a clear strategy for the business. No clear vision has been implemented due to the business’ dysfunctions in general. The cafà ©, only opens five days a week, caters to lunch specials, however, should be a breakfast and brunch getaway from the offices of many which hasn’t been the case. In addition, due to the scheduling of the hours of operations many potential customers are missed due to the cafà © being closed in the morning and the evening, where many are entering and leaving the parking garage, which is directly in front of the Cafe. These potential customers are usually in need of an early morning bagel and coffee before enduring a long day of work. Nevertheless, the majority of customers are very satisfied with the amount of serving along with the quality of their meal as well as the price paid. The strategy of being a low priced high value added has seen problems due to lack of customers which is affecting the bottom line drastically. This inevitable circumstance has put a hold on operations and started an investigation upon various neighboring competitors and their own strategies. Overall, the strategy is effective but not effectively used, which considers areas of error that include, a visible colorful sign, extended hours of operations, increased advertising, a stable menu, a catering opportunity, and a real cafà © look which can distinguish itself from the rest of its competitors. Q 2) What are the key reasons for the depressing sales and profits? Some of the key reasons for the dismal profits are primarily due to lack of control, and inexperience from both Julie and Mary, the co-owners and managers of Cafà © Bijoux. The reasoning behind this claim is that a business that is not seen profitable is usually not. In addition, a real restaurant sign is not up and visible. A sign is a major gateway to success in a busy congested market which sees more than eleven businesses surrounding a one km radius. However, Julie and Mary have been awaiting the funds to put up a sign, which has seen negative results due to lack of customers. The lack of customers stems from a poor business model that is implemented correctly. The Business model consists of healthy fresh foods with a low price. This definitely targets the right crowd, at the wrong time, literally. Scheduling of hours of operations are tremendously hurting the business, by opening at 10am and closing at 3pm. The major activity is lost from the morning peak of breakfast through to its late afternoon lunch/dinner slot. The mismanagement of hours of operations is costing the business a lot of money, and will continue to due to the environment that it does business in. Advertising and Marketing have also taken the back seat due to lack of funds, this is hurting the business and is definitely taking away from it. The current business model, which entails a fresh and healthy living, does target many individuals in the current area such as, residential and other various offices. Furthermore, no take-out orders or catering initiatives have been implemented to increase awareness or capability. In addition, a fixed menu has not been created that should list the most favored items along with their prices. Losing out on this chance is another businesses’ gain, by not creating and distributing menus or listing the menu on an online website is a no brainer. This can be very cost effective considering mass production, as well as a free website that advertises small business ventures within the area. The break-even point is not even reached, so these negative figures are falling along with the co-owners. Q 3) Is there a way to improve the restaurants performance? If so, how? There are several ways to improve the restaurants performance within this saturated market. Firstly, the restaurant must clearly identify who it should cater to and how, this can be upon observations from past and present customers. However, a colorful vibrant sign must be created and implemented in order to be seen by pedestrian and vehicle traffic. In addition, a grand re-opening event should be created in order to re-introduce the cafà ©. Cafà © music, colorful balloons, and free coffee should make for a great day of reintroducing the business to many customers. In addition, a website should be created with a menu that has items and associated prices in order to satisfy the needs of its many working office customers in the area, a group discount rate can also be implemented in order to develop a customer relationship management model. This can be done inexpensively, and can reach many individuals through mail, email, and/or drop offs. In addition, a strategy that has come back to life has been the couponing industry, which sees large websites such as Groupon, caters to a wide array of businesses in their respective areas. Groupon creates an ad which is delivered to many depending on their neighborhoods and preferences. The deal of the day may contain a sandwich, soup and salad combo with a special introductory price that will appeal to the average person who is healthy conscience. The couponing industry has suddenly reentered the market with a bang due to the boom of social networking. This will definitely increase potential customers, as many individuals have been increasingly adapting to the social websites, which is a new trend. In order to attract as many people as possible by this form of couponing, there must be a special incentive that would catch their attention, in order to literally bring them into the cafà ©, maybe a promotion for a cup of free coffee for a specific day such as Monday. Reentering a current market may be difficult, however, with the right plans, it may be viable.

An audiences responce to Hedda gabler Essay Example for Free

An audiences responce to Hedda gabler Essay Hedda Gabler is a dramatic, exciting, confusing and at times unpleasant character, who is frustrated by a lack a freedom where she cannot be the wild and unstable free spirit that she wishes and this shines through throughout the play. From this frustration comes immense boredom which is in her case very deadly. She embodies some of the typical Aristotelian qualities of a tragic protagonist but Ibsen has put a strange twist on it. For example she is a woman of fortune. It has been made clear in the book that she was born into this high class lifestyle and has this fortune by no endeavour of her own. Therefore, by being placed at the top of the hierarchy, she has further to fall and there is more at risk than the average person. However, she is not really someone that people can identify or can have sympathy for, as neither generous nor courageous. Also, as is common her fatal flaw is her snobbery or pride. However, Aristotles notion of hamarita states that it is a matter of action not the character themselves. I dont believe this applies her and agree with the 20th century interpretation. This is not brought about by the unfortunate circumstances more than the character themselves. This applies very much to Hedda as her conflicted individual moral psychology which brings about the opposite of what the character intends. The Norwegian playwright, Henrik Ibsen was very specific about the time when he set Hedda Gabler. The late 19th century was a time where woman were secluded and deluded into an oppressive and subjugate lifestyle. Ibsen puts Hedda in this male dominated were she challenges the conventional middle class bourgeois housewife by acting in a dictating and manly way witch were to shock the 19th century audience at this truly outrageous and outspoken character. The audience can therefore not identify with Hedda because in more ways than one she brings about her own demise. The local newspapers and media were disgraced; such as the daily telegraph which said What a horrible story! What a hideous play! The play is simply a bad escape of moral sewage-gas Describing Heddas feelings as the foulest passions in humanity. This shows that the most tragic thing to me is that there are people her in this world. The play is started off with the stage layout, witch Ibsen perceptibly and carefully layout, giving a very bourgeois atmosphere each object has a lot of meaning to show the tragic nature of the play and Hedda. For example there are a lot of dark and dull colours hinting to things; such as saying autumn colours. Ibsen is using pathetic fallacy to show Heddas state of mind. Autumn is a time were everything around us is dying, dead leaves on the floor and animals hibernating. A time were there seems to be a deafening silence in the air following the summer which is usually buzzing with life. This could mean that maybe Hedda has passed the summer time in her life. A time when she was herself bloom perhaps and a time when she was also buzzing with colourful life. It is mentioned that Hedda used to go to parties and be a socialite. Then we see her state of mind at the present which is autumn. This already sets the scene of this play as pessimistic and cold. This is unusual for Ibsens targeted audience as they were used to cheerful and uplifting entertainment. Something to bewitch them into thinking their lifestyle was perfect as it was, which Hedda Gabler does not do in the slightest. Another thing that might have stunned the audience is Heddas awkwardness towards Miss Tesman and Mrs Elvsted. At a time were woman only socialized with woman it is interesting to see how she treats her fellow females in such a horrible manner. This is shown towards the beginning of Act1 were she calls Miss Tesmans hat to be servants hat. As Miss Tesman is Mr Tesmans mother figure she should also traditionally be Heddas too, so by disrespecting like that would cause the audience to empathise with Miss Tesman and detest Hedda and her behaviour. Hedda also has a very unusual characteristics she presented by Ibsen in a very masculine way. By doing this she is emasculating George Tesman. To begin with he does this himself with Mrs Tesman, the keyword for the first is claustrophobic for Hedda; witch, with me, causes some sympathy for Hedda. With a combination of the childish nicknames (like Georgie and aunty juju) and the dreaded flowers make it as much cringe worthy to the audience as it was to Hedda, which is shown when they leave when The most prominent way that this is done is through the pistols, General Gablers pistols.

Corporate Restructuring As A Strategic Decision Management Essay

Corporate Restructuring As A Strategic Decision Management Essay The interrelationships between organisation, strategic management and business environmental conditions have been enduring themes of organisation and management theory over the last 4 decades, and restructuring has emerged as a significant mechanism in the successful adaptation of organisations to environmental influences (Clark, 2004). The 1980s were characterised by a wave of important restructuring activities, this wave has become increasingly common during the 1990s (Lin, Lee Peterson, 2006; Park Kim, 2008). The concept of restructuring is still a matter of debate and controversy because of the modernity of the subject. Bowman and Singh (1993) described restructuring as change aims to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of management teams performance through considerable changes in organisational structure. Staniforth (1994) defined restructuring as opportunities for change, improvements in the organisation, and to achieve the benefits of cost, the benefits of strategic d ecision-making, the benefits of communication, and other benefits to the organisation. Restructuring is a fundamental change that significantly affects the organisation, and takes place either at the organisational level or radically reorganising activities and relationships at the business unit level (Alkhafaji, 2001). Hitt, Ireland and Hoskisson (2001) argued that restructuring is a strategy through which the organisation can change its financial or commercial position. Stevenson, Bartunek and Borgatti (2003) described restructuring as attempts to get people within the organisation to work more closely together. Restructuring is a purposeful strategic option for organisation renewal (Brauer, 2006), typically includes a set of activities such as downsizing, sale of a business line, closures or consolidation of facilities, business relocation, or changes in management structure, which often occur as part of organisational strategies intended to improve efficiency, control costs, and adapt to an ever changing business environment (Lin, Lee Peterson, 2006). Thus, modifications of the organisations assets, capital structure, and organisational structure fall into the general concept of corporate restructuring (Singh, 1993; Bowman et al., 1999). Restructuring refers to the transformation of corporate structure (Bowman Singh, 1990), organisational re-configuration (Bowman Singh, 1993), refocusing (Markides, 1995), down scoping (Hitt et al., 1994; Johnson, 1996), and patching (Eisenhardt Brown, 1999; Siggelkow, 2002). The term restructuring is mainly used to denote considerable changes in the assets and structural components of organisations through conscious managerial actions. Bowman and Singh (1990) claimed that restructuring is aimed at achieving individual, financial, strategic, and/or operational goals and objectives. Bowman et al. (1999), differentiate three key forms of restructuring: portfolio restructuring, related to the changes in the portfolios of businesses held by diversified organisations, including acquisitions, mergers, divestitures etc. ; financial restructuring, which includes considerable changes in the capital structure of an organisation, and organisational restructuring, which includes significant changes in the organisational structure of the organisation, including divisional redesign and downsizing. Advocates of corporate restructuring argue that the result of restructuring activities is a leaner and more efficient corporate (Singh, 1993). Critics, however, contend that restructuring damages the organisation and its internal and external stakeholders (Seth Easterwood, 1993). 2.2.4.2 Key Drivers of Restructuring: In the 1960s and 1970s, several organisations diversified their business predominantly via the acquisition of businesses unrelated to their core activities, thus frequently realising conglomerate status (Shleifer Vishny, 1991; Hoskisson Hitt, 1994; Davis, Diekmann, Tinsley, 1994; Servaes, 1996; Johnson, 1996; Bergh, 2001). During the 1980s and 1990s, many diversified organisations were reorganised as a result of organisational refocusing initiatives intended to cut down both the breath of organisation portfolios (i.e., lower levels of diversification) and overall organisation size, thus eventually translating into organisations holding more related diversified activities (Williams, Paez Sanders, 1988; Markides, 1992; Davis, Diekmann, Tinsley, 1994; Kose Ofek, 1995; Comment Jarrell, 1995; Berger Ofek, 1995; Johnson, 1996, Cascio, 2002, Park Kim, 2008). A related diversified business is one in which the company controls businesses that share similarities in markets, products, and/or technologies with the intent of allowing organisation management to take advantage of the interrelationships between the related businesses (Rumelt, 1974; Palepu, 1985; Hoskisson Hitt, 1990; Hoskisson Hitt, 1994). As already mentioned, a multitude of theoretical and empirical investigations into the antecedents of restructuring have shown that different factors precipitate corporate restructuring. Restructuring literature reveals that there are four key drivers of restructuring. 2.2.4.2.1 The Agency justification: The premier justification as to why companies engage in restructuring is in response to less than acceptable performance (Montgomery, Thomas Kamath, 1984; Duhaime Grant, 1984; Hoskisson, Johnson Moesel, 1994; Hoskisson Hitt, 1994; Markides, 1995; Johnson, 1996; Markides Singh, 1997, Filatotchev, Buck, Zhukov, 2000, Love Nohria, 2005; Perry Shivdasani, 2005; DSouza, Megginson, Nash, 2007; Hsieh, 2010). In other words, a company divests organisational assets with the intent of improving organisational performance, whether it is their organisational performance in respect to competitors, the overall industry, or a predetermined objective (Greve, 1998). Research has undoubtedly demonstrated that organisations engaged in restructuring often are performing unsatisfactorily prior to the initiation of corporate restructuring (Duhaime Grant, 1984; Montgomery, Thomas Kamath, 1984; Sicherman Pettway, 1987; Duhaime Baird, 1987; Ravenscraft Scherer, 1987; Montgomery Thomas, 1988; H oskisson Johnson, 1992; Markides, 1992; Hoskisson Hitt, 1994; Hoskisson, Johnson Moesel, 1994; Lang, Poulson Stulz, 1995; Markides, 1995; Johnson, 1996; Markides Singh, 1997; Bowman et al., 1999; Bergh, 2001; Love Nohria, 2005; Perry Shivdasani, 2005; DSouza, Megginson, Nash, 2007; Hsieh, 2010). The majority of large organisations exhibit periodic corporate restructuring involving simultaneous changes in strategy, organisational structure, management systems, and corporate top management members. Such corporate restructuring usually follows declining organisational performance (Grant, 2008). Jain (1985), for example, found that organisation performance began to suffer nearly a year prior to restructuring and caused negative excess stock return of 10.8% within the period of one year prior to the restructuring. Such evaluations of ones own organisational performance are considerable since sound organisational performance is required to ensure the sustenance and survival of the corporate (Child, 1972), as well as offering feedback to the organisations as to the viability of their plans (Cyert March, 1963). Thompson (1967) notes that publicly traded organisations closely monitor changes in the value of their stock since the market exhibits a visible social judgment about the organisations fitness for the organisational future. The agency justification of restructuring, poor organisational performance as an antecedent of restructuring (Ravenscraft Scherer, 1987; Hoskisson Turk, 1990; Hoskisson Hitt, 1994; Markides Singh, 1997; Filatotchev, Buck, Zhukov, 2000) has become the leading justification in the literature to account for the corporate restructuring wave of the 1980s. Mainly, this rationale claims that organisation performance needs to be improved as a direct outcome of past managerial incompetence, which includes excessive levels of diversification, inappropriate diversification, unprofitable investments, and substandard investments in RD. For example, it is argued that decision makers frequently increased organisation size and levels of diversification without comparable increases in organisation value (Jensen, 1986; Hoskisson Turk, 1990; Jensen, 1993; Johnson, 1996). Moreover, it is argued that strategic decision makers have the opportunity to diversify their firms even when doing so does not enhance the market value of the organisation because their personal wealth is associated more with organisation size than to organisation performance (Jensen Meckling, 1976; Amihud Lev, 1981; Bethel Liebeskind, 1993). Grant, Jammine and Thomas (1988) found that increased degrees of diversification gave rise to decreased organisations returns, thus implying that, over time, strategic decision makers sacrificed performance for diversification and growth. Empirical studies (e.g., Rumelt, 1974; Wernerfelt Montgomery, 1988; Lubatkin Chatterjee, 1991; Palich, Cardinal, Miller, 2000; Bergh, 2001; Mayer Whittington, 2003) have substantiated such a conclusion by arguing that organisations pursuing a organisational strategy of unrelated diversification possess lower market returns than organisations pursuing related diversification and growth strategies. Supporter of the agency justification suggest that such managerial inefficiencies occur considerably as a consequence of agency costs (i.e., enlarged managerial consumption of organisational resources resulting from poor, or ineffective governance systems). Essentially, this perspective argues that the board of directors, ownership concentration, and decision makers incentives were inefficient and led to the failure of organisational governance as a mechanism (Hoskisson Turk, 1990; Jensen, 1993; Bethel Liebeskind, 1993; Gibbs, 1993; Hoskisson, Johnson, Moesel, 1994; Johnson, Daily, Ellstrand, 1996; Johnson, 1996; Chatterjee Harrison, 2001). Although never clearly clarified in the literature, poor governance is believed to be identified by diffusion of shareholdings among foreign owners, certain characteristics of strategic decision makers (e.g., insignificant equity ownership by strategic decision makers and board members or an insignificant number of outsiders sitting on the bo ard), and decision makers and board members passivity (Johnson, Hoskisson, Hitt, 1993; Bethel Liebeskind, 1993; Gibbs, 1993; Johnson, 1996; Westphal Fredrickson, 2001; Dalton et al, 2003). Thus, the agency perspective has made restructuring synonymous with poor corporate governance (Hoskisson Turk, 1990; Bethel Liebeskind, 1993; Markides Singh, 1997). 2.2.4.2.2 The Mimicry Justification: It is argued that organisations restructure as a consequence of mimicking the behaviour of other firms that are engaged in the divestiture activities (Markides Singh, 1997). In line with mimetic isomorphism (DiMaggio Powell, 1983; Oliver, 1991), this perspective claims that organisations, either intentionally or unintentionally, engage in mimicry of organisational patterns of other actors in their networks who are realised as more successful or legitimate. Strategic decision makers engaged in such imitation consider that their actions will be perceived as rational (Meyer Rowan, 1977; DiMaggio Powell, 1983). Such claims were adopt by Davis, Diekmann, and Tinsley (1994) in their justification of the decline of the conglomerate organisation in the United States of America during the period of 1980s. 2.2.4.2.3 The Environmental Justification: Scholars (e.g., Meyer, Brooks, Goes, 1990; Grinyer McKiernan, 1990; Hoskisson Hitt, 1990; Shleifer Vishny, 1991; Kose, Lang Netter, 1992; Chatterjee, 1992; Johnson, 1996; Bergh Lawless, 1998; Robinson Shimizu, 2006; Park, 2007; Park Kim, 2008; Nag Pathak, 2009) have suggested that environmental circumstances serve as antecedents to increased corporate restructuring. It is argued that antitrust policy shifts, tax rationales, junk bond financing, intense competition, deregulation, technology developments and changes, and takeover activities through the market for organisational control are reasons for the significant increase in corporate restructuring activity in the 1980s (Johnson, 1996). A synthesis of studies exploring such associations suggests that changes in the environmental conditions, which increase environmental uncertainty or turbulence, result in a greater likelihood of corporate restructuring. Grinyer McKiernan (1990), for example, suggested that corporate restructuring may result from changes in the industrial sector that create an aspiration-induced crisis built on the current organisational performance or market share and where strategic decision makers believe the firm ought to be. Further support of the environmental conditions argument was conducted by Meyer, Brooks and Goes (1990) who explored organisational strategic responses to discontinuous change at the industrial sector level. They explored the hospital industry in San Francisco state, which was facing considerable environmental turbulence, which led to excess capacity, regulatory changes, and resource scarcity. To deal with these environmental changes the hospital industry engaged in spin-of fs of unnecessary areas, underwent divestitures of peripheral activities, and created networks among the hospitals to respond to the need for managed health care in the San Francisco state. Moreover, a third study to justify the environmental conditions perspective was offered by Bergh and Lawless (1998), who explored external uncertainty and its influence on the strategic decisions the organisation makes. Their study suggested that organisations experienced with highly uncertain circumstances engage in divestitures to cut down the expenses of managing a diverse portfolio. Scholars (e.g., Garvin, 1983; Ito, 1995, Campa Kedia, 2002; Rose Ito, 2005) have contended that restructuring can be a reaction to shocks in the external environment. Dodonova and Khoroshilov (2006) found that divestiture activities tend to occur during economic booms, whereas Campa and Kedia (2002) suggested the opposite. Divestiture activities seem more likely to occur in ever-changing business environments and highly competitive markets (Ito, 1995; Eisenhardt Brown, 1999). Because large organisations form significant parts of the task environments of other firms, one organisations restructuring may tend to create environmental instability for other firms, particularly those in the same industrial sector. Such claim is explicit in Brown and Eisenhardts (1998) perspective of strategy as structured chaos. They argue that the best-performing organisations consistently lead change in their industrial sectors. According to Brown and Eisenhardts (1998) theory, such organisations dominate their markets. In fact, these organisations become the environment for others. Not only do they lead environmental change, but these organisations also set the rhythm and pace of that environmental change within their industrial sectors (Brown Eisenhardt , 1998). The role of restructuring in creating environmental turbulence and change is also implicit in the stream of research based on the hyper-competition concept (e.g., DAveni, 1994; Young, Smith, Grimm, 1998; Thomas, 19 98). The primary idea of hyper-competition is that competing firms engage in a continuous series of strategic actions that undercut the key advantages acquired by their competitors (DAveni, 1994; Smith Zeithaml, 1998). Such process is interchangeable, as objectives of competitive initiatives respond to those initiatives with actions of their own, their goals counter-respond, and so on. Therefore, changes in competition are among the most significant environmental factors for strategic decision makers to consider in corporate restructuring (Johnson, 1996). Competition may intensify because of the diversity of strategies by organisations in an industrial sector, a change in the power balance of organisations, and shifts in market demand (Porter, 1980). To cope with the challenges of increasing competition, strategic decision makers of organisations are usually encouraged to take further risk and often respond by corporate restructuring (Cool, Dierickx, Jemison, 1989). According to G rinyer and McKiernan (1990), competitive changes tend to an aspiration-induced crisis. When the competitive environment changes, corporate restructuring helps organisations to realise synergies, allocate resources, and improve organisational performance (Chatterjee, 1986; Hoskisson Hitt, 1988; Bergh, 1995; Bergh 1998). Another significant environmental antecedent of restructuring, the degree of government regulation, is a tool to control high risk-taking at the organisation level: when an economy is greatly regulated, firms are faced with bounded discretion in their strategic decisions (Wiseman Catanach, 1997). The reduction of governmental involvement increases the strategic decision-making discretion of organisations, improves the effectiveness of governance systems, and decreases the barriers to investments (Ramamurti, 2000). On the other hand, reduced governmental intervention increases the degree of uncertainty for organisations due to the increase in the variety of stakeholders, the rise of newly privatised organisation, and a concomitant increase in the probability of bankruptcy (Megginson Netter, 2001). Moreover, regulatory changes are positively associated with changes in organisation risk-taking strategies and behaviour, such as acquisitions (Ginsberg Buchholtz, 1990; Datta, Narayanan, Pinches, 1992). Under deregulation, according to Rajagopalan and Spreitzer (1997), less-focused, defender-like organisations tend to shift to greater focused, prospector-like strategies. 2.2.4.2.4 The Strategic Justification: Scholars suggest that organisation strategy is a driver of restructuring (Montgomery, Thomas, Kamath, 1984; Duhaime Grant, 1984; Baysinger Hoskisson, 1989; Markides, 1992; Markides, 1995; Johnson, 1996). In other words, restructuring may be associated with an organisations corporate or business level strategy. The strategic perspective claims that organisations decide to restructure for either corrective or proactive goals. Corrective divestiture activities are intended to make up for former strategic mistakes (Porter, 1987; Hitt et al, 1996), to reduce exaggerated diversification (Markides, 1992; Hoskisson, Johnson, Moesel, 1994), to refocus on core activities and businesses (Markides, 1992; Seth Easterwood, 1993), to react to an increase in industrial sector competition (Aron, 1991), to realign organisation strategy with the organisations identity (Mitchell, 1994; Zuckerman, 2000), to eliminate negative alliances (Miles Rosenfeld, 1983; Rosenfeld, 1984), or to deal with organ isational problems such as bad organisational governance (Hoskisson, Johnson, Moesel, 1994). On the other hand, the target of proactive divestitures is to restructure the organisational portfolio (Hitt et al., 1996; Bowman et al., 1999) by routinely redesigning, splitting, changing or exiting activities and businesses to cope with changing environment opportunities (Eisenhardt Brown, 1999; Siggelkow, 2002). This restructuring is aimed at creating a more efficient organisational governance system ( Seward Walsh, 1996), improving organisational profitability and performance (Woo, Willard, Daellenbach, 1992; Mitchell, 1994; Fluck Lynch, 1999; Haynes, Thompson, Wright, 2002), obtaining more cash flow (Jensen, 1989; Hitt et al., 1996), decreasing high level of debit (Montgomery, Thomas, Kamath, 1984; Hitt et al, 1996; Allen McConnell, 1998) or tax payments (Schipper Smith, 1986; John, 1993; Vijh, 2002), acquiring better business contracts from regulators (Schipper Smith, 1986; Woo, Willard, Daellenbach, 1992), or enhancing organisational entrepreneurship and innovativeness (Garvin, 1983; Cassiman Ueda, 2006). From a strategic view, most divesting organisations seem to be more diversified than their industrial sector counterparts (Hoskisson, Johnson, Moesel, 1994; Haynes, Thompson, Wright, 2003). Over-diversification pushes an organisation toward de-conglomeration and de-diversification as a correction of its strategic decisions and choices. Nevertheless, in very specific contexts, divestiture processes are also used to improve diversification (such as spin-offs processes in Japan) (Ito, 1995). Over-diversification decreases innovation and entrepreneurial spirit within organisations. Extremely diversified organisations tend to give priority to financial controls, to ignore strategic controls and therefore create less organisational innovation (Hitt et al., 1996), and to enlarge managerial risk aversion (Hoskisson, Johnson, Moesel, 1994). Thus, according to Garvin (1983), an organisation may engage in unbundling processes to enhance its entrepreneurial spirit and its organisational innov ation, or to enter technology-based and immature activities. Spin-offs processes, for example, can be used to encourage entrepreneurial spirit and organisational innovation in the divested business unit, while the parent gains some advantages from the new product, service, or technology developed in the independent organisation (Garvin, 1983). 2.2.5 Linkage Between Environmental Conditions, Decision Makers, and Restructuring as a Strategic Decision: The antecedents of restructuring show that restructuring is a strategic phenomenon. There are several postulates underlie such a perspective. The first postulate is that strategic restructuring decision is typically an organisational response to changing internal and/or external conditions. The second postulate is that internal and external pressures and influences are largely, but not totally, clear and identifiable in initiating such strategic restructuring. The third postulate is that numerous organisations currently experience these clear pressures and influences for a strategic adaptive response, and that large numbers of these firms seek to respond by strategic restructuring. A fourth and final postulate is that corporate restructuring generally improves organisation performance. Taken together, these postulates form the basis for a strategic view on corporate restructuring; in other words, that there are forces, pressures, and influences that provide a stimulus for strategic r estructuring, that these pressures affect several organisations, large numbers of whom respond by corporate restructuring, which improves organisational performance. However, two important questions should be raised: how do you decide which restructuring strategy to apply to which organisation? And what are the key factors affecting the strategic decision-making process and consequently restructuring decision as strategic choice? Although external environment has been identified as a significant variable in explaining numerous organisational phenomena (Jones, Jacobs, Spijker, 1992), scholars (Hitt Tyler, 1991; Eisenhardt Zbaracki, 1992; Dean Sharfman, 1993; Rajagopalan, Rasheed Datta, 1993, Papadakis Barwise, 1997; Brouthers, Brouthers, Werner, 2000; Hough White, 2003) realise that an organisations economic environment and competitive circumstances alone cannot clearly explain the nature of strategic decisions and its performance outcomes. So, to enhance the performance of their patterns, strategists have begun to focus on the behavioural factors of organisational strategic decision-making. This growing recognition to the significance of the behavioural element has naturally a focus on the individuals characteristics responsible for making these organisational strategic decisions. In public sector organisations the top managers are considered to be responsible for achieving the alignment of the organi sation with its environmental conditions (Andrews, 1971; Child, 1972). These decision makers must gather the significant information by which to make strategic decisions, analyse this input, deduce alternative approaches of action for the organisation, and finally choose and implement a particular strategic action for the organisation. The relationships between strategic decision makers, strategic decision-making processes, and organisational outcomes have been the key focus of top management research. Strategic decision makers, according to this research, do make a difference in the matter of organisation outcomes such as innovation strategies (Bantel Jackson, 1989; Camelo-Ordaz, Hernandez-Lara, Valle-Cabrera, 2005); organisational strategic change (Wiersema Bantel, 1992); and organisational performance (Hambrick Mason, 1984; Murray, 1989; Michel Hambrick, 1992; Peterson et al., 2003; Dwyer, Richard, Chadwick, 2003; Carpenter, Geletkanycz, Sanders, 2004). Such research suggested that certain demographic characteristics of the strategic decision makers (e.g., age, educational level, and tenure) were associated with organisational outcomes. Other scholars (Hitt, Ireland, Palia, 1982; Gupta Govindarajan, 1984; Walsh Seward, 1990; Davis Thompson, 1994; Westphal Fredrickson, 2001) have found that decision m akers characteristics such as experience are linked to the organisational strategic orientations. The empirical relations found between demographic characteristics of decision makers and organisational outcomes suggest that functional backgrounds might have significant ramifications for organisational strategic decision-making. Scholars have found that functional experience tends to restrict the areas to which strategic decision makers pay attention and may lead them to neglect certain stimuli (Beyer et al., 1997). Moreover, managerial experience affects the types of changes that decision makers perceive in the effectiveness of their firm, but not its environment (Waller, Huber, Glick, 1995) Managerial experiences shape the cognitive perspective of strategic decision makers (Hambrick Mason, 1984). The upper echelons theory claims that the strategic decision makers observable experiences affect their orientation and that strategic choice (Hambrick Mason, 1984; Finkelstein Hambrick, 1996; Pansiri, 2007). Therefore, according to Gupta (1984), decision makers differ in the sets of abilities, skills, and views that they bring to a company. Managerial skills, abilities, and perspectives are largely a function of previous functional backgrounds, personal backgrounds, and educational level. In other words, cognitive perspectives brought to bear on strategic decisions are a result of the various experiences that strategic decision makers acquire during their organisational careers (Schwenk, 1988). Research on organisational strategic issue diagnosis has drew attention to how decision makers cognitions can affect several aspects of the organisational strategic decision-making process from environmental scanning (Daft, Sormunen, Parks, 1988; Milliken, 1990; Abiodun, 2009), processing and analysis (Gioia, 1986; Dutton Duncan, 1987; Herrmann Datta, 2005), the evaluation of alternative approaches, and implementation of selected strategic decision (Dutton Jackson, 1987; Ganster, 2005; Kauer, Waldeck, Scha ¨ffer, 2007). Strategic decision makers cognitive perspectives or mental maps represent experientially acquired reference frames which involve sets of different criteria, standards of evaluation, and strategic decision rules that can restrict as well as facilitate the organisational ability to change. While strategic decision makers cognitive perspectives or mental frameworks provide a significant reference point for strategic decision-making, they can also extremely constrain the ability of the organisation to adapt to changing environmental demands. Weick (1979) argued that decision makers act on impoverished perspectives of the world. According to Schwenk (1988) cognitive limitations can thus provide biases into managerial schemata which can negatively influence the nature of strategic decision-making. The experientially acquired nature of strategic decision makers cognitive views makes them probably to be more reflective of previous organisational scenarios and strategic decisions than of present ones. By depending on past images of historical environmental conditions and competitive circumstances, strategic decision makers may not be able to realise or adequately define the need for organisational change. Thus strategic decision makers cognitive perspectives can determine the ability of the firm to cope with changing requirements and times and therefore decision makers can act as a stabilizing power on the organisation. Scholars (e.g. Schwenk, 1984; Wiersema Bantel, 1992; Eisenhardt Zbaracki, 1992; Waller, Huber Glick, 1995; Tyler Steensma, 1998) have argued that strategic decision makers characteristics might limit information search, processing, and/or retrieval in spite of decision makers desire to make strategic decisions according to the environmental requirements and conditions. As stated in social motivation perspective, managers may remain committed to specific courses of action based on their need to sustain consistency (Staw, 1981; Brockner, et al., 1986; Taylor Brown, 1988; Brockner, 1992; Keil, Mann, Rai, 2000; Biyalogorsky, Boulding, Staelin, 2006; Keil, Depledge, Rai, 2007). The incentives and needs that drive managers have significant ramification for strategic decisions: First, strategic decision makers who encounter information consistent with their cognitive perspectives or sets of beliefs will support that information. Second, strategic decision makers who are heavily inve sted in or committed to a specific approach of action are more likely to ignore information that does not consistent with their previous strategic decisions. Finally, only strategic decision makers who are committed to performing under scenarios of change will be willing and receptive to incorporate inconsistent information. Accordingly, research on social motivation argues that strategic decision makers are best at being receptive and willing to information that only marginally deviates from their sets of beliefs, while key changes are more unlikely to be easily incorporated. Moreover, strategic decision makers will probably ignore information that considerably deviates from their cognitive perspectives or sets of beliefs. Finally, Strategic decision makers can become embedded within the corporate routines and organisational processes that contribute to sustaining the status quo (Pfeffer Salancik, 1978; Staw Ross, 1980; Daft Weick, 1984; Tushman Romanelli, 1985). With growing organisational tenure and function experience and considerable familiarity with organisational processes and routines, strategic decision makers become susceptible to the organisational inertias factors. Miller (1991) argued that increasing managerial tenure results in corporate insularity. Over time, corporate exposure tends to lead to consistency to organisational norms and values (Kanter, 1977). Strategic decision makers may act as a stable governance system that determines the organisations ability to change. Decision makers experiences and perspectives reinforce prior courses of organisational strategic decision-making (Staw Ross, 1980). Therefore, managerial turnover provides an important mechanism by which firms can re align themselves with external environmental circumstances (Thompson, 1967; Katz Kahn, 1978; Perrow, 1986). By changing the power distribution within the firm, thus influencing the dynamics of strategic decision-making processes (Pfeffer Salancik, 1978), managerial turnover serves as a key force to overcome organisational resistance and inertia (Tushman Romanelli, 1985). Moreover, managerial turnover, according to Wiersema and Bantel (1993), may help the organisation to cope with radical changes in its external environment by introducing new values, beliefs, and knowledge ba

Animal Testing Essay -- Science Argumentative Persuasive Essays

Animal Testing Over one million people have benefited from information gathered in animal testing and research. In the past, animal testing has been a touchy subject for people to talk about. Until recently, scientists did not treat animals with the utmost respect and even used such methods as vivisection, or basically operating on a live animal without any form of anesthetic, as a means of testing on animals. It is obvious why people would be against animal testing in the past, but now technology and new laws have brought us into a new era in which animal testing can be much more humane when it is used. There are currently computer programs that serve as an alternative method to animal testing. I propose that animal testing should be used when an alternative method is not available and as long as the strict regulations, laws, and rules around animal testing are upheld because millions of lives have been saved thanks to animal research. In today?s age in time, animals are treated with respect as opposed to the past, where animals were improperly caged, not given anesthetics for any given operation, and even left for dead after testing on them. Those days are long over and we have stepped into a new age where animals are given a suitable place to live, they are given anesthetics when operated on, and a veterinarian is on call twenty-four hours a day in case of an emergency. One company that uses animal tests, Huntingdon, states, ?It is our job to ensure that these tests are performed to strict scientific criteria, provide reliable results that can be reproduced, and with leading standards of animal care and welfare? (?Animal Welfare?). Huntingdon has a great standard in the way that they carry out their experiment... ... had never preformed an organ transplant on another living creature if he/she was operating on me. That is the same as sending an army out to battle whose only practice was playing a first-person-shooter on a video game system. If not for animal testing, there would have been no safe way to perform millions of the standard operations carried out today. If we use animal testing only when an alternative method is not available and when the laws, regulations, and rules around animal testing are upheld, we can reach new levels of medical technology. Works Cited Huntingdon Life Sciences: Working for a better future: Animal Welfare. 31 March 2003. . Huntingdon Life Sciences: Working for a better future: Myth. 31 March 2003. . Animal Testing Essay -- Science Argumentative Persuasive Essays Animal Testing Over one million people have benefited from information gathered in animal testing and research. In the past, animal testing has been a touchy subject for people to talk about. Until recently, scientists did not treat animals with the utmost respect and even used such methods as vivisection, or basically operating on a live animal without any form of anesthetic, as a means of testing on animals. It is obvious why people would be against animal testing in the past, but now technology and new laws have brought us into a new era in which animal testing can be much more humane when it is used. There are currently computer programs that serve as an alternative method to animal testing. I propose that animal testing should be used when an alternative method is not available and as long as the strict regulations, laws, and rules around animal testing are upheld because millions of lives have been saved thanks to animal research. In today?s age in time, animals are treated with respect as opposed to the past, where animals were improperly caged, not given anesthetics for any given operation, and even left for dead after testing on them. Those days are long over and we have stepped into a new age where animals are given a suitable place to live, they are given anesthetics when operated on, and a veterinarian is on call twenty-four hours a day in case of an emergency. One company that uses animal tests, Huntingdon, states, ?It is our job to ensure that these tests are performed to strict scientific criteria, provide reliable results that can be reproduced, and with leading standards of animal care and welfare? (?Animal Welfare?). Huntingdon has a great standard in the way that they carry out their experiment... ... had never preformed an organ transplant on another living creature if he/she was operating on me. That is the same as sending an army out to battle whose only practice was playing a first-person-shooter on a video game system. If not for animal testing, there would have been no safe way to perform millions of the standard operations carried out today. If we use animal testing only when an alternative method is not available and when the laws, regulations, and rules around animal testing are upheld, we can reach new levels of medical technology. Works Cited Huntingdon Life Sciences: Working for a better future: Animal Welfare. 31 March 2003. . Huntingdon Life Sciences: Working for a better future: Myth. 31 March 2003. .

Opinions of Radical Environmentalism :: Environmental Beavers Wildlife Essays

Opinions of Radical Environmentalism The two articles I am going to look at are Radical Environmentalists vs. the Beavers by Jack Alan Brown Jr. and Environmentalists are Mean Green Joes by F.R. Duplantier. Radical Environmentalism is now a common term in our vocabulary. When you here the term what do you think about? I think about all the things that the environmentalists talk about and all the ideas brought to the table, good and bad. In the two articles I read they are both on the same subject of Environmental issues. The first author Jack Alan Brown Jr. is not against the environmentalism but feels that we have to do something to farther the advance of human kind. The second author F.R. Duplantier topic is â€Å"Do environmentalists really love nature, or do they just hate people†(p.1)? A combination of the author’s opinions would give you my thesis. For the advance of the human culture to take place, nature is going to have to help by giving the humans the resources available in nature. In the first article the author is presenting the idea of what the beavers do to the rivers and how they work together to get things done. The author is relating the beavers, a fuzzy, nice looking animal, in an attempt to get an emotional response. This author is making the other view on dams, look like they are the bad guys because if the beavers do it why cannot the people do it. The author says, â€Å"[Beavers] They alter the wet lands wherever they go†(p.1). The author is comparing the humans building of dams and the beavers building of dams. However the author is using a small scale comparing it to a big scale, but you can easily see his point. Brown’s sentence structure flows very nicely and does use nice sentence structure making it clean for everyone to understand. The points are all very clear and direct. The author does this in order to make sure that there is no confusion between what is being said and what is being understood. From the beginning of the essay you know what the author’s viewpoint on the subject is. The thesis in the beginning is a very clear on that. The author, Duplantier is very straightforward. This author uses many quotes to reinforce the point of his writing. â€Å"The goal of environmentalists is to protect nature, not for man, but from man†(p.

Irony, Arrogance, And Oedipus Essay -- essays research papers

"Listen to me. You mock my blindness, do you?/ But I say that you, with both your eyes, are blind" (I, 195-196). With these memorable words, the sightless prophet Teiresias all but paints the entire tragic story of Sophocles' Oedipus the King, one of the most prominent pieces of Greek literary heritage. Greeks knew and loved the story of Oedipus from childhood, just as children today cherish the story of Cinderella. In his version of the beloved tale, Sophocles concentrates his attention on the events directly leading to Oedipus' destruction, portraying Oedipus as a helpless pawn of fate. The most prominent literary device is dramatic irony, primarily of the spoken word, through which--especially in the Prologue--Sophocles captures audience attention, illuminates Oedipus' arrogant personality, and foreshadows the events of the final scenes. It is not difficult to understand why Sophocles resorts to dramatic irony in the construction of his play. He is working with much the same problem a modern-day playwright would face in fashioning a play around the Cinderella motif: audience familiarity, leading to a lack of suspense. It is difficult to maintain audience interest when the conclusion and the events leading up to it are obvious to everyone. To circumvent this difficulty, Sophocles saturates his play with dramatic irony, riveting the audience with the awareness that they know more than Oedipus, letting them cringe with the delicious knowledge of the misfortunes he will face. Sophocles employs the blindness of Oedipus to such advantage that he creates an atmosphere similar in many respects to that of a modern horror film. The audience knows the destination well and has probably been there before, but the journey is too pleasurable to forego. Understandably, it is the Prologue that is richest in dramatic irony, because in that scene, everyone concerned is still in complete darkness to the truth and their ignorance therefore causes their words to carry far greater weight. Oedipus comes out to the people, moved with compassion at their suffering, and says to their spokesman the Priest: "Tell me, and never doubt that I will help you/In every way I can; I should be heartless/Were I not moved to find you suppliant here" (Prologue 12-14). He will help them ... ... He seeks to make the name of Oedipus a force to be reckoned with, a terror to evildoers. And, frankly, he desires to perpetuate his name by elevating himself to celebrity status. One can almost hear the gods laughing as Oedipus builds his air castles. Oedipus shall indeed perpetuate his name--in one of the most horrible ways imaginable. He will indeed save Thebes--but he will destroy himself in the process. His name will become a byword forever. He will leave an unending legacy not of glory and fame but of infamy and shame. Through Oedipus the King Sophocles presents the paradox of a man whose good side causes harm and whose bad side works good. The character of Oedipus itself is one vicious irony, for his virtues devolve into virulent vices that wreak his complete destruction. Though the story he tells is a heartbreaking and predictable tragedy, Sophocles masterfully employs the tools of his craft to fashion a drama that has captured the fascination of untold generations. Perhaps therein lies the ultimate irony: The name of Oedipus will always be cloaked in a pall of darkest ignominy, but that of Sophocles remains forever radiant in brightest glory.

Social Issues in Colonial Africa

The title of a book may give the reader an idea of the story or it may make more sense after reading the book. The title Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad prepares the reader for something unpleasant.The title Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe also gives the reader a hint of bad things to come. After reading both it is clear to the reader the titles refer to the terrible social issues caused by the appearance of European colonizers in Africa.The â€Å"darkness† is not just the absence of light typical in an African jungle. It is the mental and emotional dark side of the colonizers, and the dark result of their intrusion on African societies. There are many â€Å"things† that â€Å"fall apart† in Africa when the Europeans arrive. There is an immediate breakdown in communication between the two cultures. Then the domination and brutality of the Europeans causes the African society to â€Å"fall apart†.Both books show the terrible result to the Africans at the hands of the Europeans. Both authors are very effective in bringing the reader â€Å"into† the story. However, each author uses different methods and styles to illustrate the social attitudes, issues and impact arising from colonization.Joseph Conrad uses a narrator, Charlie Marlow, to tell the story of Heart of Darkness. Marlow is a sailor who tells his shipmates the story of how he had worked for a European trading company in Africa.He was employed to take a boat up-river from a company headquarters to bring back Mr. Kurtz, their best ivory trader. Marlow soon witnesses the European attitude and treatment of the Africans. He describes the horrible scene of the Europeans’ slave laborers: â€Å"They were dying slowly—it was very clear.They were not enemies, they were not criminals, they were nothing earthly now—nothing but black shadows of disease and starvation, lying confusedly in the greenish gloom† (Conrad 64). One of the men who worked at the station was a clerk who tells Marlow â€Å"When one has got to make correct entries, one comes to hate those savages—hate them to the death† (Conrad 66).Marlow learns that the behavior of the Europeans at their headquarters is just the beginning. Although Kurtz is the company’s best ivory trader, he is described as much more to Marlow: â€Å"He is a prodigy†¦an emissary of pity, of science, and progress, and devil knows what else† (Conrad 75). Marlow can begin to see the dark side of the company as the clerk relates Marlow is â€Å"of the new gang—the gang of virtue.The same people who sent him specially also recommended you† (Conrad 75). Marlow discovers a report Kurtz had written for the company describing his experience in the jungle with the Africans. Marlow states that in light of all that happened, and would happen, the beginning of the document â€Å"strikes me now as ominous.He began with the argument that we whites, from t he point of development we had arrived at†¦ ‘approach them with the might of a deity’† (Conrad 111).  It is obvious that Kurtz realized that with all of the â€Å"modern† European goods and weapons he would appear to the Africans as some sort of superior being. What would be even more ominous was Kurtz’ â€Å"note at the foot of the last page†: ‘Exterminate all the brutes!’† (Conrad 111).

Rhetorical Analysis of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass Essay

Rhetorical Analysis of â€Å"Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass† by Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass wrote many autobiographies, editorials, and speeches. His greatest piece is probably the book Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass. In this book he talks about his life as a slave and he makes numerous arguments against slavery. Upon a closer reading, Douglass, by metaphors and personal anecdotes, appeals to the three rhetorical appeals Ethos, Pathos, and Logos. Later in the first chapter Douglass talks about his aunt Hester. Hester disobeyed their owner and he started to punish her. †Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ He led her to a stool under a large hook in the joist, put in for the purpose†¦ † (Douglass pg4) Made her get on top of the stool tied her to the hook and â€Å"†¦he commenced to lay on the heavy cowskin and soon the warm, red blood came dripping to the floor†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Douglass pg 5) â€Å"I was so terrified and horror-stricken at the sight, that I hid myself in a closet and dared not to venture out till long after the bloody transaction was over. (Douglass pg 5)With this quote he is subtly saying â€Å"If you want to know about slavery I can tell you about slavery because I was there, I lived it. † For the fact that he was there and witnessed this event gives him ethos. Around the middle of the second chapter Douglass talks about an overseer named Mr. Severe. Mr. Severe was the overseer of Colonel Lloyd’s, who was Douglass’ owner, plantation. â€Å"Mr. Severe was ri ghtly named: he was a cruel man. I have seen him whip a woman, causing the blood to run half an hour at a time; and this, too, in the midst of her crying children, pleading for their mother’s release. † (Douglass pg 7) Again this same situation where he is telling the audience that he knows what he is talking about because he witnessed and lived it so therefore he has enough credibility to talk about it. This quote shows that he knows exactly what he is talking about so he has the ethos to tell the audience what a slave’s life was like. In the middle of chapter two Douglass talks about how the slaves were not given beds. He said â€Å"†¦They found less difficulty from the want of beds, than from the want of time to sleep†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Douglass pg 6) â€Å"†¦Very many of their sleeping hours are consumed in preparing the field for the coming day; and when this is done, old and young, male and female, married and single, drop down side by side, on one common bed,-the cold, damp floor,- each covering himself of herself with their miserable blankets†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Douglass pg 6) He says this to evoke emotion into the audience the phrase â€Å"the cold, damp floor,† and the parallel structure â€Å"old and young, male and female, married and single† evokes emotion. This is a strong appeal to pathos in his argument. In the beginning of chapter eight Douglass talks about when he went to live in Baltimore. He talks about His old master’s youngest son dying and then three years later his old master died. So his property was valued and he was sent for to be valued with the other property. â€Å"†¦Here again my feelings rose up in detestation of slavery. I had now a new conception of my degraded condition†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦I left Baltimore with a young heart overborne with sadness, and a soul full of apprehension. (Douglass pg 27) He says this and these lines evoke so much emotion. With the phrase â€Å"a young heart overborne with sadness† and the use of other emotional words and phrases get the audience going. So this is also an example of a strong appeal to pathos. Around the middle of chapter six Douglass talks about going to live with Mr. and Mrs. Auld. Mrs. Auld started to teach him the A, B, Cs. After he learned that he was lear ning to spell words of three or four letters. At that point Mr. Auld found out and told Mrs. Auld not to instruct him further. He said Mr. Auld said â€Å"’†¦ if you teach that nigger how to read, there would be no keeping him. It would forever unfit him to be a slave. He would at once become unmanageable and of no value to his master †¦It would only make him discontented and unhappy. ’ These words sank deep into my heart†¦ I now understood what had been to me a most perplexing difficulty-to wit, the white man’s power to enslave the black man. †(Douglass pg 20) This is his epiphany or his allegory of the cave moment when he realizes what is actually going on. He thought logically for a long time and he finally found what he was looking for. This quote is an appeal to logos. Early on in chapter nine Douglass talks about his Master Thomas Auld. He says he always got enough to eat everywhere else he went but not with Master Thomas. â€Å"I have said Master Thomas was a mean man †¦ Not to give a slave enough to eat, is regarded as the most aggravated development of meanness even among slaveholders. The rule is, no matter how coarse the food, only let there be enough of it†¦ Master Thomas gave us enough of neither coarse nor fine food. (Douglass pg 31) This is a syllogism he is saying Mean slave owners don’t give their slaves enough to eat, Master Thomas doesn’t give his slaves enough to eat therefore Master Thomas is a mean man. A syllogism appeals to logos so this quote appeals to logos. To conclude, Frederick Douglass uses metaphors and personal anecdotes to appeal to the three rhetorical appeals Ethos, Pathos, and Logos. His book Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass is filled with examples of these appeals. Personal anecdotes give him Ethos, Parallel structure appeals to Pathos, and logical thinking appeals to Logos.

The Miranda warning

IntroductionFor even the most casual viewer of police television shows, the cry of â€Å"read me my rights† has been heard from the lips of accused criminals as frequently as anything else.   Beyond this statement, however, lies a real life drama- The Miranda Warning.   Where this warning came from, its true meaning and intent, as well as what the future should hold for The Miranda Warning are all pivotal questions which will be answered in the course of this research in order to better understand not only Miranda, but the overall American criminal justice system and its approach to the rights of those accused of crimes.What is the Miranda Warning?To begin, the origins of The Miranda Warning itself, as well as the actual verbiage of the warning, need to be understood.   Originally, The Miranda Warning came forth from the legal case of Ernesto Miranda, the focus of the 1963 Supreme Court Case Miranda v. Arizona   (Lyman, 2004).   Essentially, the facts of the case are as follows: Ernesto Miranda was arrested, accused of the rape of a mildly mentally handicapped woman.   At the time of his arrest, Miranda was not advised by the arresting officer that he had the Constitutional right to remain silent, to choose not to answer questions without an attorney present, and to not be forced to offer any information that would be used against him in any legal case.Eventually, Miranda’s attorney argued that Miranda’s confession to the crime should be thrown out of court, because it was obtained without Miranda being advised of his rights.   The original judge in the case denied this motion, but eventually, the Supreme Court ruled that the statements that Miranda originally made to the police should be disregarded because he was not read his rights (Robertson, 1997).   As a result of this pivotal ruling, a standardized warning, therein known as The Miranda Warning, was instituted by all police forces in the United States, and recited to a nyone accused of a crime before being questioned.   The full text of the warning is as follows:â€Å"You have the right to remain silent and refuse to answer questions. Do you understand? Anything you do say may be used against you in a court of law. Do you understand? You have the right to consult an attorney before speaking to the police and to have an attorney present during questioning now or in the future. Do you understand?  If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you before any questioning if you wish. Do you understand?If you decide to answer questions now without an attorney present you will still have the right to stop answering at any time until you talk to an attorney. Do you understand? Knowing and understanding your rights as I have explained them to you, are you willing to answer my questions without an attorney present?† (Robertson, 1997, p. 161)  Ultimately, the warning was effectively made much shorter and easier for suspects to und erstand, presented as follows:â€Å"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to speak to an attorney, and to have an attorney present during any questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be provided for you at government expense.† (Robertson, 1997, p. 162).With The Miranda Warning having been refined and put in place, one would make the assumption that the rights of individuals are protected, and the police are safeguarded against having key evidence dismissed on a technicality, but the opposite is actually the case.   Further research has revealed pivotal issues surrounding The Miranda Warning.Pivotal Issues Surrounding the Miranda WarningThe Miranda Warning faces heavy controversy both from the viewpoint of the criminal justice system and the accused criminal.   For police and the courts, Miranda is sometimes argued against, as the claim is made that the Warning prevents the s wift investigation of criminal matters due to the lack of divulgence of important information during questioning that could literally save lives or property; this has especially become true in the modern era of terrorism, when foreign suspects, many argue, need to be compelled to give information immediately so that potential terror plots can be diffused before mass murder occurs.However, for the accused and the attorneys that represent them, Miranda is seen as something that is necessary in order to keep police from either misinterpreting the statements of suspects, coercing confessions out of suspects through psychological means, or by actually resorting to violence to literally beat a confession out of the suspect (Miranda’s Enemies, 2000).   Based on the two sides of the issue, the pivotal issue is clear: how can Miranda be used in a way that protects victims, aids law enforcement and promotes common order, while still giving accused criminals the entitlements of due pr ocess as guaranteed by the Constitution?   There is no clear answer to how this can be achieved, but on both the federal and state levels, the issue has been explored.States’ Views of the Miranda WarningSome states have taken a more generous view of the use of Miranda than others, resulting in cases being brought to appeal in the supreme courts of those states.   The landmark case in this regard, cited over the past several years, is Missouri v. Seibert.   The basic facts of this case were that police in the state of Missouri were reading Miranda to suspects only after they began questioning them, and they would then continue to question after the reading, in an effort to confuse a suspect.With this approach, the suspect, even if their statements made before the reading were dismissed, would still likely have some statements made after the reading that would be incriminating.   Calling this a â€Å"two-step† around the Constitution, this practice was eventually ruled illegal by a Missouri court (Leo, 1996).   This also brings up another important technicality- the need to provide Miranda to everyone being questioned by police, or only those who are officially placed under arrest.   The net effect of all of this is to greatly muddy the legal waters and make the use of Miranda, or the lack of it, a hot legal topic on both sides of the courtroom bench, so to speak.   Therefore, many states have looked to the federal government to issue universal decrees on Miranda.Constitutional View of the Miranda WarningEvery accused criminal has classically been protected by the Constitution, specifically by the First and Fifth Amendments as an example.   Essentially, all of the debates about Miranda have filtered down to a few Constitutional standards, which of course are not set in stone due to the dynamic nature of the American justice system, but are worthy of discussion in this research.   Generally speaking, the Supreme Court of the United States, based on cases like Missouri v. Seibert, has ruled that neither the accused in a criminal case, nor those arrested in a criminal case need to be â€Å"Mirandized† as it has come to be called.However, there is a caution to be noted- if the individual is not made aware of their rights, there is the possibility that statements they make can be dismissed in a legal case against them since the information was technically obtained in an illegal manner by the law enforcement personnel who obtained it in the first place (Nooter, 2005).   Again, there is a legal tightrope to be walked here, between what can be done to protect individual rights of accused and victim alike, while still serving the interests of justice and fulfilling the role of law enforcement in society.   A key question leads to the conclusion of the research- what should be done about Miranda?Conclusion- What Should be Done about the Miranda Warning?In wondering what should be done about Miranda, there i s something that needs to be laid out right off- there is no ideal criminal justice system, and the guilty will sometimes avoid punishment, and unfortunately, the innocent will be punished as well.   However, this being said, there need to be safeguards in place to make sure that the police do not falsely generate evidence against accused criminals, and as well, that the truly guilty do not escape justice.   Therefore, in closing, it is one humble opinion that Miranda should be kept in place, closely monitored as it has been.   While it is flawed in some areas, to discard it wholesale would be much worse than the present situation.ReferencesLeo, R. A. (1996). The Impact of Miranda Revisited. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 86(3), 621-692.Lyman, M.D. (2004).   Criminal Investigation: The Art and Science.   New York: Prentice Hall.Miranda's Enemies. (2000, May 15). The Nation, 270, 4.Nooter, D. S. (2005). Is Missouri V. Seibert Practicable? Supreme Court Dances the â€Å"Two-Step† around Miranda. American Criminal Law Review, 42(3), 1093+.Robertson, D. (1997). A Dictionary of Human Rights. London: Europa Publications.