Symbolism and Themes in The Lesson by Toni Cade Bambara Essay -- Paper

Symbolism and Themes in The Lesson by Toni Cade Bambara Toni Cade Bambara wrote the short story, The Lesson, in 1972. The Lesson is considered by the Literary Canon to be a wonderful work of fiction because of its use of language, humanistic theme, symbolism, and non-genre plot. Two essential elements that add to the depth and enhance a reader?s comprehension of The Lesson are Bambara?s use of symbolism and theme. The Lesson takes place in New York?s inner city. The fictional story begins with a group of poor, uneducated, lower class city kids standing in front of a mailbox, preparing themselves for another day of being taught by Mrs. Moore. Mrs. Moore felt that it was her duty to help underprivileged children learn because she was one of the only women in the neighborhood to earn a degree. The main character is Sylvia, who tells the story in a first person narrative. Sylvia is a young African American girl, probably around fourteen years old, who is very judgmental about the world around her. By Bambara?s choice of words, the reader can tell that she is extremely opinionated, presents a very tough, hostile exterior and not at all happy about having to be taught anything by Mrs. Moore. For instance, she states ?we kinda hated her too, hated the way we did the winos who cluttered up our parks and pissed on our hand ball walls? (Bambara 121). On this hot summer day, Mrs. Moore felt that there was a lesson to learn at FAO Schwartz, a very expensive, upper class toy store in downtown Manhattan. After stepping out of the cab and peering into the window, Sylvia knows that this is not just any toy store and they are not just there for any reason. The reason Mrs. Moore brought the children to FAO Schwartz is captured... ...e born on the social ladder is not a choice and might not be considered to be fair. Although it is easy to take from those beneath you, to move up, one must take a much longer, more difficult approach. Bambara incorporates the theme of The Lesson into the story with very precise wisdom. The Lesson is a brilliant piece of fiction. The theme and symbolic elements will hopefully help this short story, stand the test of time. Bambara was able to express and show different views on life by bringing a few poor city kids into a ritzy toy store. This is a short story that should be read by all in hopes to educate today?s children. Works Cited Bambara, Toni. ?The Lesson?. Literature: Reading and Writing the Human Experience. Shorter 7th ed. Ed. Richard Abacian and Marvin Koltz. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2000. 121-126.

Frontier Printers Case

Problem Statement Frontier Printers is lacking strategic human resource objectives that are necessary to address the organizational growth and incorporate changing technological trends. As a result they are at risk of not being able to attract/retain valuable employees and could face potential legal litigation. Critical Facts Frontier Printers is a small-family business and has seen a 50% growth in the number of employees in the last three years. The departure of the press operator and the driver was attributed to a lack of opportunities for growth within the company.The firm plans on focusing on computer skills and cross-training. In the next two years the firm plans on integrating vertically by introducing new equipment that’ll allow the production of color separation which will reduce cycle time tremendously. This should help the company to increase its outputs more efficiently. The industry has experienced the introduction of various new technological advancements, one whi ch will allow â€Å"direct-to-film† to occur that will eliminate the need for two of the employees in the Pre-Press department but will require two new jobs requiring technical skills in another department.The firm does not have any contingency plans for departure of current employees. Currently, a very limited amount of employees have the knowledge to operate the current software which could potentially have serious implications. There is also no formal job analysis evident or list of job descriptions to properly implement performance evaluations. There are no formal qualifications or training for new recruits as it is done on an ad hoc basis by the management team. Analysis: Starting as a small-family business, Frontier Printers has been operating in the industry for longer than 60 years.Within the last three years, they’ve seen an enormous growth which has resulted in the realization that they need to develop strategic human resource objectives. This will be further analyzed in three main sub-issues; lack of job analysis, the need for human resource expertise, and adapting to technological improvements. Job Analysis Job analysis is the formal process of identifying the particular aspects of the job duties and requirements. Conducting a job analysis allows a firm to know the necessary skills and abilities that are expected from an employee to fulfill the job responsibilities.When there is a vacancy in Frontier Printers the job requirements and abilities are discussed by the business owners, Bonnie and her father, who later determine which employee fills the vacancy. Nevertheless, the firm does not have any explicit list of job requirements. This has caused other issues within the organization especially in terms of recruitment, selection, training and development of employees as well as their job evaluations. Recruitment becomes an issue when previous job analysis has not been conducted because the firm cannot give a realistic list of job descr iptions and requirements to attract the proper applicants.If one does not know the details of a job than it is impossible for them to recruit accordingly. Upon a vacancy, Frontier Printers would initially search the current employee base, and then look at the pool of job applicants that are already on file. If they cannot find someone, only then will the organization advertise the vacancy to the public. If a proper job analysis was conducted it would become very critical for the firm to use it as a guideline to recruit rather than using a trial-and-error method to find employees.Since the organization does not have clear strategic objectives that it needs to pursue, recruitment takes place without a clear direction. Selection is a process of choosing the best fit applicant for the job from the pool of applicants. Selection is also an issue the firm faces because there are no set guidelines to follow when comparing people’s skills and abilities to the job duties and responsibi lities. The firm has to initially determine the most important set of skills and capabilities (through a job analysis) before judging applicants fit or unfit for the vacancy.Training is an important component of highly technical jobs, and these jobs will be increasing in Frontier Printing. However, because the company has no formal qualifications for any jobs the training is informal and conducted on an ad hoc basis. This has resulted in departure of valuable employees because although the employees may have seen themselves succeeding in other positions, they were unable to get any exposure to it. If job analysis on all the jobs were conducted, job descriptions would be available to everyone and employees wishing to ransfer to another position would have been able to do so. Departure of employees also arose due to other factors such as lack of strategic alternatives for retention of employees. For example, cross-training could have been utilized as a method of retention. However, on ce again, because there was no formal job analysis conducted, it would have been difficult to implement such a project without any guidelines. Thus, strategic human resource objectives are necessary to resolve the issue of proper training and improve plans for retention of employees.Currently, Frontier Printers does not have any development programs to improve the skills of its employees. This has caused retention issues as valuable employees left because they did not see any opportunities for growth within the organization. With the proper strategic human resource objectives in play, these types of problems can be prevented. Performance evaluations are a major issue in the company. There have been terminations based on â€Å"poor performance† where the paperwork detailing the reasons why is inadequate.This is a major issue because terminated employees may sue on the grounds of wrongful dismissal. In order for an accurate evaluation to take place, there needs to be pre-establ ished criteria and organizational objectives which can be compared to the performance and productivity of an employee. These are currently lacking in Frontier Printers and needs to be addressed. It is evident that when Frontier Printers was a smaller company a proper job analysis was not critical to the operations of the business.However, with a growing company this lack of job analysis can cause negative results regarding HR issues as it does today. The growing employee base is making it a necessity for Frontier Printers to implement human resource objectives in order to best resolve problematic issues from occurring. Need for Human Resource Expertise Frontier Printers has no strategic management objectives and needs to bring in some HR expertise to help them to create and implement these. Bonnie’s father Randall has been owner of Frontier Printers for over 60 years.In the last three years they have experienced 50% growth in employees and revenues are growing at projected ra tes. Bonnie has known for the last year that changes were needed but knows the company can’t afford to hire a full-time human resource professional. In order for Frontier Printers to address the organizational growth and to adapt changing technological trends they need to invest in HR expertise and develop strategic management goals and objectives. Frontier Printers has already created a mission and vision statement but have not defined its values and goals.The stakeholders will have to lead, support, implement and measure its strategic objectives while being competitive and consistent. With efficient HR expertise, they should be able to access, forecast, predict, design and implement its strategies in direct sync with the organizational goals. Along with strategic management Frontier Printers also faces challenges adapting to technological changes. Adjusting to Technological Improvements Frontier Printers is going to be facing some challenges trying to incorporate new techno logies into their everyday activities.The introduction of new technologies will require the development of technical skills. This has the potential to provide good career and skill-building opportunities for the employees. It will also allow the company to gain a competitive advantage by improving its efficiency. However, Frontier Printers already has some troublesome situations present when dealing with technology and could potentially face more problems in the future if the integration of technology into their workplace isn't properly managed.The current problematic situation that's present within Frontier Printers and their technology is the fact that a very limited amount of employees know how to use their software. Randal and Ida Harris are the only two employees that know how to use the software for billing, payroll and/or financial reports. Also, Randall and Thomas are the only ones who know how to use the software for estimate pricing. This is a problem because if one of the se three employees left the company replacing them would be costly and difficult.Also, if all three of them decided to quit then nobody would know how to use the software! The introduction of new technologies into the organization is inevitable and necessary to keep up with the competition and demand of the market. Challenges involved with this will include training the employees on how to use the new technologies, and what to do when some jobs will be depleted while other ones are created. If Frontier Printers can successfully handle these adaptations of new technologies it will help them to achieve continued success.

Pre-Revolution French Government - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 6 Words: 1902 Downloads: 8 Date added: 2019/06/26 Category History Essay Level High school Topics: French Revolution Essay Did you like this example? At the end of the 18th century, France was in ruins. The treasury was empty. The commoners were starving. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Pre-Revolution French Government" essay for you Create order The King, Louis XVI, the Queen, Marie Antoinette, and many high-ranking nobles lived a lavish lifestyle in a palace called Versailles. Versailles was set apart from the rest of France and because of this, the King and his nobles were out of touch with the common people. The result of this was a growing resentment in the common people for the French Monarchy and what it represented. Everything was pointing towards Revolution and the creation of a new government. The French Revolution was induced by the political and economic difficulties that plagued the French government. These problems would result in the revolution of the common people against the French monarchy which would have repercussions that are seen in modern times. From 1774 until 1793, King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette ruled France. King Louis XVI was born in August 1754 to the French royal family (Louis XVI (1754-1793)). While Marie Antoinette was born in November of 1755 to the Austrian royal family (Marie-Antoinette). In 1770, an arranged marriage was set to happen between Marie Antoinette and King Louis. The marriage was arranged so that a lasting alliance between Austria and France could be created. In May 1774, King Louis, at the age of nineteen, ascended to the French throne (Louis XVI). King Louis was fairly smart and recognized his responsibilities, however, he proved a mediocre king, relying excessively on his advisors and showing insufficient interest in the business of state. Louis preferred his regular leisure pursuits to reading dispatches, consulting ministers or considering policy (Louis XVI). In the French government, there were three social classes, the first, second and third estates. The first estate was comprised o f all ordained catholic Church members. The First estate was responsible for, social policy and welfare and also carried out some functions of the state. Its clergy conducted and registered marriages, baptisms, and funerals; they delivered education to children and distributed charity to the poor (The First Estate). Because the Church was very powerful, they were able to gain a large amount of wealth quickly. In addition, during the 18th century, many French citizens had a growing dissent for the church. Many citizens believed that bishops acted on their own interests rather than the interests of God or the church (The First Estate). Next, the second estate was comprised of all French nobility. Members of the second estate mainly worked as financiers, administrators, magistrates, or court officials. The nobility were depicted as, an extravagantly wealthy and lazy group, disconnected from the realities of French society (The Second Estate). In addition, all members of the second esta te were exempt from taxes. Lastly, the third estate was comprised of everyone else. As time went by under King Louis XVIs rule, commoners became more enraged over the government and the churchs actions. During this time, the third estate made up of ninety-eight percent of the French population (French Revolution). The third estate was the only estate that was taxed by the government. In addition, they were often poorly represented. It was their grievances that were the main causes of the French revolution. During this time, an event was going on called the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment was a period between 1685 and 1815 where study areas such as politics, philosophy, science, and communications were greatly improved (Enlightenment). Another topic that came up during the Enlightenment was the questioning of the absolute rule of kings. Enlightenment thinkers such as Charles Montesquieu and Jean-Jacques Rousseau were very vocal in their belief that the certain parts of the government should not be more powerful than others. First, Charles Montesquieu was born in Fra nce in 1689 in France under the rule of King Louis XIV (Development in Democracy). He opposed the French monarchy and concluded that, the best form of government was one in which the legislative, executive, and judicial powers were separate and kept each other in check to prevent any branch from becoming too powerful (Developments in Democracy). This would set the precedent for the American government that would be formed after the American Revolution. Lastly, Jean-Jacques Rousseau was born in 1712 in Switzerland, a democracy; however, he moved to Italy and France to get a better education (Developments in Democracy). First, he believed that, the powerful rich stole the land belonging to everyone and fooled the common people into accepting them as rulers (Developments in Democracy). He also believed that the problem: was to find a way to protect everyones life, liberty, and property while each person remained free. Rousseaus solution was for people to enter into a social contract. They would give up all their rights, not to a king, but to the whole community, all the people (Developments in Democracy). His beliefs resulted in a form of a direct democracy in which everyone voted for laws or other ideas to show what the people wanted. These two men and many others inspired many people in France to revolt. Another way people, in France, were inspired to revolt was because they were starving from a lack of money in the treasury. Before King Louis XVIs rule, many French kings participated in many wars which drained the money in the treasury. Even though King Louis knew this, he decided to help the Americans in the American Revolution. This put France in a bigger debt than it had ever been before. All goods in France rose because of inflation, and many people started to starve. However, the rich still lived in luxury. Overall, the French people were done with the Monarchy, and they had only one choice; revolt. The king, knowing of the commoners growing restlessness, sent troops to Paris to make sure nothing bad happened. However, at night, on July 14, 1789, the commoners, being fed up, decided to storm the Bastille. The Bastille was a place where the French government held ammunition. However, to the commoners, it was a symbol of the tyrannic French government (Bastille Day). First, the commoners surrounded the Bastille and sent delegates inside to tell the government their grievances. They took a long time talking making the commoners believe that their delegates had been imprisoned, so they were able to lower the drawbridge and enter the courtyard. They killed all of the soldiers in the Bastille including the governor (Bastille Day). This event was widely known as the beginning of the French Revolution. The next main event in the French Revolution was a few months later on October 5, 1789, and is known as the Womens March on Versailles. This event was when thousands of Parisians, many of them women, marched 12 miles from Paris to Versailles in a hope to bring their grievances peacefully straight to the Kings palace (October March on Versailles). As they arrived at Versailles, they rushed into the hall where the national assembly met, mainly to escape the harsh rain. A few hours later, six women were sent to bring the peoples grievances to the palace. At the same time, another group of women broke into the palace with the intent to kill the queen (October March on Versailles). Marie Antoinette had to run through the maze of bedrooms in the palace in order to escape the women. Eventually, the band of women were stopped by French soldiers. The pinnacle of the day was when King Louis and his wife Marie Antoinette, fearing for their lives, came out onto a balcony at Versailles and said, I shall go with you to Paris, with my wife and children. It is to my good and faithful subjects that I confide all that is most precious to me (October March on Versailles). Finally, on the afternoon October 6, the king, his family, his royal retinue and several deputies to the Assembly departed Versailles for Paris. Their carriages were accompanied by the crowd, the procession numbering between 30,000 and 40,000 people (October March of Versailles). When King Louis and his family arrived at Paris they were taken to Tuileries, an old royal residence. The King and his family thus became prisoners of the revolution (October March of Versailles). The last step in completing the revolution was creating a new Constitution. The constitution was written by the French government on August 4, 1789. It was titled The Declaration of the Rights of Man and was, a statement of democratic principles grounded in the philosophical and political ideas of Enlightenment thinkers like Jean-Jacques Rousseau (French Revolution). The document gave the new government the power to replace the old monarchy with a new democracy. After many months of debating, the government finally adopted Th e Declaration of the Rights of Man on September 3, 1791 (French Revolution). The constitution established a constitutional monarchy where the king could veto laws and appoint ministers. However, many influential radicals such as Maximilien de Robespierre disagreed with the new constitution and began to gather support for a more republican form of government (French Revolution). This constitution had many flaws in it and would eventually be replaced by a different constitution a couple years later. At the end of the French revolution, a period began called the Reign of Terror (French Revolution). The Reign of Terror lasted from April 1972 until July 1974. It was a period in which suspected enemies of the revolution, by the thousands, were executed. At the time of the Reign of Terror, a group of revolutionists called the Jacobins had taken control of the government and were led by Maximilien de Robespierre. The Reign of Terror ended when Maximilien de Robespierre was executed. On August 22, 1795, Frances first real ruler after the revolution was instated. His name was Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon showed Europe how France could still be a powerful country even after the ravages of the revolution. Even after Napoleons rule, the effects of the revolution affected Europe greatly. In the original French government, before the revolution, the church and the state were very intertwined. However, after the revolution, in 1905, the French government decided to separate the church and the state (Astier). Before the Revolution, many people were starting to have dissatisfaction for the amount of power the church had in France (The First Estate). Another influence that the French Revolution caused on the world is it inspired other revolutions across the world. These revolutions included the Haitian Revolution in 1791, the Irish Rebellion in 1798, the Russian Revolution in 1905 and the revolutionary wars in Latin America (Motadel). Many of these uprisings were founded on the same ideas as the French Revolution, the concepts of the Enlightenment. In conclusion, Pre-Revolution French government was plagued by many problems and those problems were thus forced on the common people. The common people reacted by revolting against the French monarchy and that revolt would have many impacts that are seen today. First, Pre-Revolution French government, nobility and church were very corrupt. In addition, the government was close to bankruptcy after their ruler, King Louis XVI helped the Americans in the American Revolution, even though France was already poor. Second, The political and economic issues that plagued the French government supported the start of the revolution greatly. Third, in 1789 the commoners had enough. They finally revolted and overthrew the monarchy in order to instate their own government based on Enlightenment ideas. Lastly, The French Revolution left lasting effects on the world as a whole. Overall, the French government influenced the people into revolution which ruined the lives of many people and might have even led to a worse government.

School Bullying An Analysis and Recommendations - 1765 Words

School Bullying As we become more educated as a society, we become more aware and willing to admit that the incidents of bullying are indeed damaging; the explanation that kids will be kids and that torment between children is just another aspect of growing up simply does not suffice any more as an acceptable answer for bad behavior. Furthermore, there is much evidence to suggest that bullying is on the rise. Peer abuse has always existed at school, but the kinds of kids who are harassing others have changed. The stereotype of yesteryear a physically intimidating, low-achieving, socially maladjusted loner no longer applies. Instead, bullies these days are, often as not, popular kids and academic achievers ¦ Girls are slightly more likely than boys to act out against others not physically, but by using tactics like alienation, ostracism and deliberate rumors calculated to inflict maximum psychological damage (Tyre, 2010). The numbers of reported bullying incidents have gone up signi ficantly and more and more experts on children, schools and education are speaking out on how bullying completely destroys a supportive school environment (Green, 2011). Children who are on the receiving end of bullying start to internalize truly detrimental thoughts and feelings about themselves which can prevent them from adequately adjusting to school and from developing in a safe and healthy manner (Green, 2011). For instance, in Baltimores school system, the city received 231 reportsShow MoreRelatedThe Psychological Impact Of Bullying1366 Words   |  6 PagesIn order to solve a problem in a school or elsewhere you need a plan, additionally, you need to find out the cause or causes of the problem before constructing your plan and this is where research comes in. Research conducted to solve issues or problems in schools or educational systems are termed Action Research. After sitting and discussing issues and problems in our education system we decided to tackle the issue of th e psychological impact of bullying. The purpose of our action research was toRead MoreSba Sample on Bullying1333 Words   |  6 PagesStatement Of Problem Topic: Bullying Focus Question: What effect does Bullying have on its victims and how are their emotional selves impacted? Guiding Questions: What are the signs of a person being bullied? At what age does the effect of bullying impact an individual the most? What causes someone to be bullied? Reason For Selecting Area of Research I chose the topic of bullying because I believe that it is a problem thatRead MoreSba Sample on Bullying1341 Words   |  6 PagesStatement Of Problem Topic: Bullying Focus Question: What effect does Bullying have on its victims and how are their emotional selves impacted? Guiding Questions: What are the signs of a person being bullied? 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Essay on Al Capone - 697 Words

Al Capone is one of Americas most feared, greatest-known gangsters and the utmost symbol of the fail of law and order in the United States during the 1920’s Prohibition era. Alphonse Capone was born on January 17, 1899, in Naples, Italy. He and his family later immigrated to the United States. They settled in Brooklyn, New York (â€Å"Capone, Alphonse†). Al Capone was a ruthless, violent, horrifying gangster. He was very organized and set on his high income. In 1920’s and 1930’s, Capone was the most important leader of organized crime (Mayo). After settling in Brooklyn, New York in fourth grade he became a part of the Five Point Gang. Johnny Torrio was also a member of this gang. In the late 1920’s, Torrio moved to Chicago while Capone†¦show more content†¦This is when Capone got four of his men to set up in a garage at 2122 N. Clark Street, which was the main liquor position for George Moran’s North Side gang. Capone had two of his men to dress as police, as though it was a police raid. The gang members then dropped their guns, turned around, and put their hands on the wall. Capone’s men used two shotguns and two machine guns and fired more than 150 bullets into the victims. Six of the seven victims were members of Moran’s gang. This confrontation was known as the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre (â€Å"Gangsters†). In 1931, Capone was charged with income tax evasion from the years 1925-1929. He also failed to file his taxes the years of 1928 and 1929, which resulted in a misdemeanor charge. Capone owed $215,080.48 to the government for his gambling income. He was also charged with conspiracy to violate Prohibition laws from 1922-1931. Capone pleads guilty to all three charges. Judge James H. Wilkerson was not giving Capone any deals. He was found guilty on eighteen of the twenty-three charges. Capone was sentenced to ten years in federal prison and one year in a county jail. While in the Atlanta federal prisons, Capone took over. He had obtained special privileges such as, furnishing his cell with typewriter, mirror, rugs, and encyclopedias. He was later sent to Alcatraz, which meant no more controlling people or getting special privileges (â€Å"Gangsters†). While in prison, Capone showed symptoms of syphiliticShow MoreRelatedProhibition and Al Capone858 Words   |  3 Pagesthe collapse of law and order in the 1920’s, perhaps the most recognized figure to emerge from the time is Al Capone. â€Å"The New York Times said of Al Capone that he was the symbol of a shameful era, the monstrous symptom of a disease which was eating into the conscience of America. Looking back on it now, this period of Prohibition in full, ugly flower seems fantastically incredible. Capone himself was incredible, the creation of an ugly dream.† (www.umich.edu) He impacted society through his ruthlessRead More Al Capone Essay1654 Words   |  7 Pages Al Capone, probably the most notorious and well known gangster in history, was born in 1887 in Naples, Italy. His father, Gabriel Caponi, immigrated to Brooklyn from the slums of Naples in 1910. After he came here he changed his last name too Capone too blend in more. Al Capone’s gang activit ies started out when he was young. He was in the Five Points Gang, who were known for their violence. The gang’s tradition was to scar their victims with a knife cut from the outside corners of their eyes toRead MoreEssay On Al Capone1271 Words   |  6 PagesAl Capone was a highly known gangster in the 1920s Alphonse Capone born in Brooklyn, New York to a poor US immigrant couple, Gabriele and Teresina Capone, seeking a better opportunity for their then big family of eight children. 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However, men who were willing to break the law were the ones that were able to build a lucrative life for themselves; one such man was Alphonse Capone. However, honest men such as Elliot Ness fought adamantly to defend their morals, beliefs, and the law of the land. Nevertheless, Capone wasRead More Al Capone Essay2647 Words   |  11 PagesAl Capone Prohibition led to the bootlegging of liquor and the gang wars of the 1920’s. The most notorious gangster of all time, known as Al Capone, was the most powerful mob leader of his era. He dominated organized crime in the Chicago area from 1925 until 1931. Capone grew up during the roaring 20s in Chicago. He joined the James Street gang, lead by Johnny Torrio. In 1920, Torrio asked Capone to move to Chicago and work with his uncle who controlled the city’s largest prostitution and gamblingRead MoreAl Capone Essay1485 Words   |  6 PagesSCARFACE Capone Born in New York City, in 1899, by parents Gabriel and Teresa Capone, Alphonse Capone was blessed with a historical blend of ruthless gangster in his blood. Al Capones parents immigrated to the United States in 1893, from Naples, Italy. Al Capone came from a huge family. He was the fourth oldest of nine children. At birth, Capones parents never would have believed that their son, Alphonse Capone, would grow up to be a murderous thug without remorse. As a child, Al Capone wasRead More Al Capone Essay688 Words   |  3 PagesAl Capone Throughout Americas history there have been many famous criminals, John Dillinger, John Gotti, Lucky Luciano, just to name a few. However, due to his extreme wealth and Godfather like status, the most notorious and famous one might have been Al Capone. 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Corporate Governance And Regulation Ethic - Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss about the Corporate Governance And Regulation Ethic. Answer: Introduction: Corporate governance is the structure of policies and method of business which a company follows. It demonstrates the process of power and responsibility that moves between board of directors, managers, CEO and all the shareholders of a company (Tricker Tricker, 2015). The basic structure of the system comprises of shareholders vote and authorizes a team of board of directors, who are given financial responsibilities for the interest of the shareholders. The team then employs a CEO, who employs management team and further progress takes place. A chain is created according to the distribution of power and responsibilities. The internal rules are created about the whole process, and they are needed to be maintained to run a company efficiently. It is a set of ethics that needs to be maintained. The ethics are maintained for financial growth of the company and for maintaining healthy relationship among all the staffs within company. Violating these ethics has resulted in collapsing and financial losses for many companies. Sometimes, proper ethics are not maintained within a company. This report highlights on the basic rules or ethics of corporate governance and how the system works. There will be analysis on why these ethics need to be followed and how the methods are implemented in a company. There will be discussions on benefits and ethical issues of corporate governance. There will be evaluation about two companies violating ethics and about how they collapsed due to this. Lastly, there will be discussion on how the ethics can be improved and the future aspects of the ethics which can benefit the companies further. Discussions: Corporate governance and ethics both run with each other for maintaining a standard for running a company. The difference between them is that the ethics are more logical and properly appropriate standards that a corporation maintains for functioning wisely, where corporate governance methods are the ways by which a corporation makes the efforts to be as ethical as possible while maintaining a financial growth. The corporate governance and ethics varies according to different types of business. There are difference in governance and ethics of private companies and public companies. Ethics for corporate governance: In 2004, the ethics for the government pension fund was formed. They comprise of three documents they are as follows: The UN Global compact: It as introduced in 2000 and comprises of ten basic theories for human rights, anti corruption, the labors and working environment (Voegtlin Pless, 2014). The theories or principles are as follows: The human rights should be respected and they should not be violated. Child labors, forced labor and injustice to employers should be eased totally. Corruption, fraud in work place and bribery should be eliminated. The environmental challenges should be faced properly and environmental responsibilities should be promoted with great effort. The OECD Principles of Corporate Governance: It was formed in 2004 and consists of document that covers efficient framework for corporate governance, the interests of all the shareholders and owners, impartial methods for all the shareholders, acknowledgement and transparency within the staffs and obligations of the board of directors (Siems Alvarez-Macotela, 2014). The OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises: It was formed in 2000. This document consists of proposals in operations like transparency, relation within employers and employees, and the working environment, fighting against bribery and corruptions, interests of the consumers, departments of science and technology and competition in the markets (Tergeist, 2016). Principles for Corporate Governance and the Protection of Financial Assets: It was formed in 2004 and consists of promoting rights of the owners and built excellent corporate governance, making proper strategies and communications within the company, preparing structure of the company boards and long term continuity of functioning of the company (Gitman, Juchau Flanagan, 2015). The ethics for the management of funds: For better management of companys financial department, ethical guidelines for some issues have been addressed. They are as follows: For promoting financial returns for a long terms basis, the corporate governance that comprises of the UN global compact, the OECD guidelines for multinational companies and the OECD principles for corporate governance are implemented. Production of weapons by the companies from their funds either by themselves or through other individuals results in breaching of main human principles. Prohibition of companies from investment areas where risk of violating human rights and individual rights in rivalry situations are found along with corruption, environmental deteriorations. The finance ministry is responsible to take care of the funds to be managed in genuine ethical manner. The theories of corporate governance: There are several theories related to corporate governance which describes the operating methods of the boards and the process by which decisions are made by the directors of a company. There are six theories of corporate governance stated by Stiles and Taylor, out of which three theories have standard characters. The theories are as follows: Agency theory: Agency theory was found from the work of Adolf Berle and Gardiner Means. It was found to trace on the problems of individual greed. Call agency cost is all about assigning managers to maintain financial departments which are not in their planning. In case of business where the owner is the manager, this cost does not arrive (Bosse Philips, 2016). That is the reason the governance problem in private and public companies are different from each other. These problems cannot be totally avoided but if some active measures are taken they can be limited. To control these issues, the public companies have introduced incentives in salaries for the managers. Growing implementation of stock options and impartiality based payment methods help in controlling the agency costs. These opportunities to earn more money help the managers to focus on their individual incomes through the benefits provided by the company. In case of, large sector public organizations, the shareholders recr uit the directors to look after the working of the managers which increases the agency costs. Stakeholder theory: This theory is mainly practiced in Japan and continental European countries like Germany. In this theory, about half membership seats for the board of directors are allotted for the representatives of the employees (Pige, 2017). This theory mentions that bankers of the company and other shareholders should have seats in board of directors. This theory objects to the expectation that only directors and managers have duty towards the owner of the company. Stewardship theory: This theory proposes that in board practice, instructions are inspired more than personal finance. According to the psychology of a company, the suggestion is that self belief and fulfillment emerge in the decision making. In this theory, the directors should look on the interests of the employees bigger than their self interest (Cho, Huang Padmanabhan, 2014). But in most of the outcome, the theory is mute and the director finds other ways for guiding principles. When a seat is secured by a shareholder among the board of directors, the director needs to follow the aims of the shareholder as set on the company law. Ethical frameworks for governance: The theories discussed corporate governance are encircled in ethics as significant and idealized. The right action can be decided on assessing the benefits derived from the theories and by following more accurate rules what may be result of the actions taken. But there is meaningful thinking that which have important roles in maintaining corporate governance which is known as ethical egoism (Dahlbeck, 2016). In this system, an individual carries on the work which is suitable for him without thinking the outcomes for others (Too Weaver, 2014). The CEO attempts to find maximum personal profits. The role that corporate governance maintains is curbing the actions of the CEOs without spoiling their working interests. In the agency theory, the board negotiates with the CEO and policies are paid to the other members of the management team to create a way for common results. Benefits of corporate governance and ethics: The benefits of corporate governance and ethics are as follows: Improved reputation of a company: Implementing corporate governance helps in boosting the reputation of a company. Adding corporate governance results in joining of more stakeholders who will be interested to work with that company. Strong controls in the company among board of directors, managers and employees can attract many stakeholders to invest in the company (Saeidi et al., 2015). Through sharing of internal information with the stakeholder increases transparency within the company, which in turn makes the people or customers more confident about the company. Less fine and penalties: The benefit of corporate governance includes following policies which requires the company to implement strategies to stay flexible with all the local and national rules and laws to run a company. In corporate governance, the board of directors or managers needs to handle the companys rule in employing or recruitment policies before hiring any staffs (Arlen Kahan, 2016). It might require the companys accounting department to go through an audit by an independent auditor once or twice in a year. Decrease in conflicts and fraud within a company: Implementation of corporate governance helps in restricting the possibility for bad behavior or by employees by applying some rules to decrease frauds and bribes (DeZoort Harrison, 2016). In corporate governance, a company might set a rule which the company management needs to sign to avoid any conflicts in which the members have their own personal interests. For example, the company might not allow loans for the family members of the management team or recruiting any family member of the team. Some external audits are made and signed by the management team members to prevent any frauds within the company. Reducing or preventing cyber attacks: Having a proper plan of cyber security within a company can prevent any threats of cyber attacks. Corporate governance for maintaining cyber security of a company needs to be followed for preventing any types of threats. Example of two companies violating corporate governance and ethics: Violating corporate governance and ethics can lead to collapsing and financial losses for many companies. WorldCom and Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities are two companies that faced terrible consequence for violating the ethics. These two incidents shook the whole nation and resulted in huge financial losses. In 2005, WorldCom a telecommunication company failed terribly and felt into bankruptcy and became one of the biggest financial frauds in the history. Bernard Ebbers, the former CEO of the company was accused for the financial fraud and was put into prison for 25 years (Leighton, 2015). In the 15 years of operations, the company made a high financial growth. The company had business over 65 countries (Bhasin, 2016). The United States Securities and Exchange Commission took information about financial procedures and loan provided to the officers of the WorldCom (Gottschalk, 2018). The company then cut down 3700 jobs of their employees. This affected the credit ratings of WorldCom (Trautman, 2016). An investigation team was set up by US government to find out the truth about the scandal. Bernard Ebbers stepped down from the role of CEO. It was later revealed that the company has provided him $ 339.7 million to clear the debt of the loan that he took for buying his shares. The company la ter announced that a huge loss occurred for wrong accounting of about $ 3.8 billion (Chorafas, 2015). Then, they cut down more 17,000 jobs which was greater than 20 % of total workforce. The share price of the company dropped down more than 80 %. Several suits were filed against the company which further made the company collapse. The chief financial officer, Scott Sullivan and the controller David Myers were also arrested and were put into 65 years of imprisonment (Wisner Brown, 2015). These consequences could have been avoided if the company maintained ethical corporate governance. Breaching corporate governance by CEO Bernard resulted in the financial loss. At the early stage of operations, Bernards decisions were widely appreciated as it resulted in substantial financial growth of the company. But at later stages, he produced fake images of himself to the companys board of directors, employees and also to the market. He made unrealistic promises and focused on building his pers onal financial growth without paying attention on the possible consequences that the company could face. When his personal finance started suffering he made efforts to increase the stock price of WorldCom. Still, he could not avoid financial losses of the company. It was later found out that the chief financial officer was the main culprit behind this fraud. It was clear that Bernard was aware of the full fraud and the way it was implemented. A proper corporate governance and ethics should have been followed to prevent any losses. Another big financial fraud was conducted in Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, which shook the entire world (Stolowy et al., 2014). The company implemented different techniques for duping people with their money which is known as Ponzi schemes (Baucus Mitteness, 2016). The CEO of the company Bernard L. Madoff monitored the whole scheme for more than 15 years. He was arrested for the fraud and begged guilty for duping billions of US dollars. The company was founded as an investment firm in 1960 (Lewis, 2016). After implementing some latest computer technologies, it became on the largest companies in the US. In this company, the investors could keep their money in a savings fund in return they used to receive an amount of above ten percent interest. This made the company run one of the biggest Ponzi scheme in the world. For running a Ponzi scheme, the companies mainly return the money of the old investors by receiving money from new investors. This process was also applied by B ernard L. Madoff investment securities. A variety of techniques were applied to ensure that the scam could not be disclosed by any means. Madoff used to sell all the financial instruments of the company at each months end which ensured that the fund only report the cash of the investors. The investors could not access their online transaction of money rather a mail was sent to them every month about their information of the account and balances. Despite of so much prevention, the scam was finally revealed in 2008 which completely destroyed the existence of the company. Andrew Bernard and Mark Bernard, the two sons of Bernard Maddoff finally revealed the scam and Madoff was arrested on December 2008. In 2009 he was charged with all the charges and sent to 150 years of imprisonment (Azim Azam, 2016). Being a moral agent of the company, he needed to ensure the correct way for the growth of the company rather he took the wrong way and breached the ethics to run a company efficiently. T he progress of a company depends on the behavior of the moral agents and how they find the honest way for maintaining company ethics. Ethical issues in corporate governance and the future prospects: To maintain proper corporate governance in a company, some ethics needs to be maintained. Violating these ethics can result in big losses and frauds as stated by two examples discussed above. The conflict of interest within a company needs to be avoided to prevent staffs taking personal advantages which can result in the disadvantages of the company. The board members can be answerable to conflicts of interest in different ways. Another ethical issue for a company is to maintain transparency among all the staffs and shareholders. Maintaining transparency helps the stakeholders to have full and accurate information of the company, its way of conducting business and all the negative and positive aspects of the company. Transparency is extremely important to recognize all the shareholders so that proper communications occurs between them and full rights are provided to each shareholder (Levit Malenko, 2016). Breaching this ethics can result in conflict among the board members and share holder and can result in downfall of the company. Another ethics which is extremely important is accountability (Christensen et al., 2015). This is the way the board members answers to the stakeholders about the financial performance of the company and the different processes by which they are achieved. Accountability includes a process which is of two ways. Many organizations such as trade unions demands on better accountability. The main focus in this ethics is for better relationship between the board of a company and its shareholders. All these ethics need to be maintained for better corporate governance of a company. The future of all the organizations could be better if these ethics are improved further according to the market demands. The government of all the countries should keep an eye on all the private and public companies so that the corporate governance and ethics are not violated and big frauds like that of WorldCom and Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities are not repeated. With the advancement of technologies and increasing cyber crimes, it is necessary to implement laws that are as strong as the technologies. Conclusions: Corporate governance and ethics are the most important rules that all the organizations need to follow for improving their business and preventing any shorts of financial and non financial frauds. These ethics need to be followed to maintain better relationships between shareholders, board of directors and employees of a company. The benefits associated with these ethics are extremely useful for improving financial and non-financial aspects of a company. Violation of company ethics has resulted in fallout and financial losses of many companies around the world. Proper transparency and accountability needs to be maintained for avoiding any short of conflicts among the members of a company. Conflicts of interest need to be avoided to have smooth operations within a company. Applying more advanced, planned and secured corporate governance and ethics will lead to better business process of a company and prevent any further frauds. This report focused on the use of corporate governance an d ethics for better functioning of a company. There are discussions on the benefits of implementation of the ethics. The ethics and the theories related to corporate governance have been evaluated further. The ethics for management of funds has been discussed. The ethical frameworks have been evaluated further. Examples of two companies which violated corporate governance and how these resulted in collapsing of these companies have been discussed. Lastly, the ethical issues of corporate governance and the future aspects have been discussed. 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Parmalat: The Hedge Fund with Dairy Products on the Side. InBusiness Efficiency and Ethics(pp. 203-224). Palgrave Macmillan US. Christensen, J., Kent, P., Routledge, J., Stewart, J. (2015). Do corporate governance recommendations improve the performance and accountability of small listed companies?.Accounting Finance,55(1), 133-164. Dahlbeck, J. (2016). Character education and ethical egoism: Spinoza on self-preservation as the foundation of virtue. DeZoort, F. T., Harrison, P. D. (2016). Understanding auditors sense of responsibility for detecting fraud within organizations.Journal of Business Ethics, 1-18. Gitman, L. J., Juchau, R., Flanagan, J. (2015).Principles of managerial finance. Pearson Higher Education AU. Gottschalk, P. (2018). Sample of US Investigation Reports. InInvestigating White-Collar Crime(pp. 95-119). Springer, Cham. Leighton, P. (2015). Ebbers25 year sentence for WorldCom fraud upheld. good.Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison: A Reader, 96. Levit, D., Malenko, N. (2016). The labor market for directors and externalities in corporate governance.The Journal of Finance,71(2), 775-808. Lewis, L. S. (2016).Bernard Madoff and His Accomplices: Anatomy of a Con: Anatomy of a Con. ABC-CLIO. Pig, B. (2017). Stakeholder theory and corporate governance: the nature of the board information.Management: journal of contemporary management issues,7(1), 1-17. Saeidi, S. P., Sofian, S., Saeidi, P., Saeidi, S. P., Saaeidi, S. A. (2015). How does corporate social responsibility contribute to firm financial performance? The mediating role of competitive advantage, reputation, and customer satisfaction.Journal of Business Research,68(2), 341-350. Siems, M. M., Alvarez-Macotela, O. (2014). The OECD Principles of Corporate Governance in Emerging Markets: a successful example of networked governance?. InNetworked Governance, Transnational Business and the Law(pp. 257-284). Springer Berlin Heidelberg. Stolowy, H., Messner, M., Jeanjean, T., Richard Baker, C. (2014). The construction of a trustworthy investment opportunity: Insights from the Madoff fraud.Contemporary Accounting Research,31(2), 354-397. Tergeist, P. (2016).The OECD Guidelines for multinational enterprises. Kluwer Law International. Too, E. G., Weaver, P. (2014). The management of project management: A conceptual framework for project governance.International Journal of Project Management,32(8), 1382-1394. Trautman, L. J. (2016). Who Sits on Texas Corporate Boards: Texas Corporate Directors: Who They Are What They Do.Hous. Bus. Tax LJ,16, 44. Tricker, R. B., Tricker, R. I. (2015).Corporate governance: Principles, policies, and practices. Oxford University Press, USA. Voegtlin, C., Pless, N. M. (2014). Global governance: CSR and the role of the UN Global Compact.Journal of Business Ethics,122(2), 179-191. Wisner, D. L., Brown, B. A. (2015). Corporate Toxicity: The WorldCom/MCI Scandal.

Plato Vs Shelley Essays - Ancient Greek Philosophers, Platonism

Plato Vs Shelley Many works of literature provide responses to much debated topics. Opinions are brought forth by means of rhetorical devices and supported by some type of accepted truth. In two such pieces, The Republic by Plato and A Defense of Poetry by Shelley, Plato expresses a belief about poetry that Shelley disagrees with and responds to. Through rhetorical devices such as metaphors and symbolism and the use of deductive logic and Socratic writing, Plato provides a strong, very supported argument while Shelleys long sentence structure, analogies and metaphors are weak in comparison. The way in which Plato uses deductive logic to express his opinion allows him to fully develop his ideas without making assertions that are incredible. Plato begins with the idea of the ultimate maker of the bed, which he refers to as G-d which is easily accepted by the majority of an audience. Plato believed that there is only one who makes the essence of the bed, (44) the single idea and therefore that is the truth. From there he goes to the carpenter. There is another (bed) which is the work of the carpenter. (44) And finally Plato defines his thesis through metaphor. He uses a metaphor that compares the work of a poet to a mirror. Turning a mirror round and round you would soon enough make the sun and the heavens, and the earth and yourself, and other animals and plants, and all other things of which we were just speaking, in the mirrorbut they would be appearances only. (44) The way in which the writing is interactive with two people creates contradictions, which challenge Plat os beliefs, yet they are still proven throughout. Why not? For the duller eye may often see a thing sooner than the keener. Very true, but in your presence, even if I had any further notion, I could not muster courage to utter it. (43) While this Socratic writing helps Plato to make his argument even more concrete, Shelley uses essay form to portray his ideas somewhat in response to beliefs like those of Plato. Shelleys writing differs in form from Platos in that Shelleys is more straight forward and seems almost as if it were meant to be preached. Reason is to the imagination as the instrument to the agent, as the body to the spirit, as the shadow to the substance. (429) The analogy that Shelley uses portrays that reason is the basis of the imagination, implying that poetry holds truth, yet it is an idealized truth, which is determined by Plato in The Republic to be essentially false. Shelley uses a similar metaphor of a mirror, as did Plato. Poetry is a mirror which makes beautiful that which is distorted. (431) While Shelley is trying to defend poetry, he is still representing is as an image, just as Plato had. Plato uses this mirror symbol more successfully in that he makes the assertion that that in which is imitated, as is a mirror image, is far from the truth. Shelley only states that the image (poetry) is more beautiful than the truth, which is distorted. Plato and Shelley both portray their ideas of poetry through rhetorical devices but Platos argument is much more solid. Because of his Socratic writing form and effective use of metaphors, Platos devices persuasively outweigh Shelleys form, analogies and metaphors. Philosophy