Adrian Colon Colon 1 Essays (398 words) - Fiction, Manga, Anime

Adrian Colon Colon 1 Ms.Otter Creative Writing 8 May, 2017 Short Story Process Essay The main idea of my story is about a young boy who didn't have his parents growing up, but still changes the people he has met among his journey and their perspective on how they see the world. The theme that my short teaches is "no matter the struggle, never give up". Many movies and manga series inspired my story. For example, Naruto the movies and the manga series because my story is basically about the same thing. There are five characters in my story, Nato, Kiskea, Hashi, Azuba, and Ruku. The settings of my story are Helheim and Asgard or Hell and Heaven. The climax of my story is When Hashi traps Azuba in a coffin and is about to kill him with his lightning blade and Ruku jumps in the way and kills him instead of Azuba. The resolution is when Nato sees Ruku has taken the punishment instead of Azuba, Nato asks him what did he mean to you? And makes Azuba shed tears for once and Azuba says "your words cut deeper than a sword". Helheim isn't really considered Hell, but between Heaven and Hell which shows where someone could go after they have the right path after doing bad things. As I was writing the story new ideas didn't come because I had wrote a story on this several months ago, but it was never completed until I actually had to write the short story. So really I borrowed ideas from the previous uncompleted version. What surprised me when I read the story aloud to my group, it soun ded very different from what I pictured. My group taught my story to be really good because we all have watched Naruto and are watching Naruto once more of how good it is. So when I was reading my story everyone had an idea of what I was going to say next. Well in my first group I changed up some of the fighting scenes because they said it was kind of confusing. When I changed that up and presented it to my second group they thought it was very good and we also liked how we could all bond over my story because we all knew what was going on.

Whats wrong with Overland Park essays

Whats wrong with Overland Park essays Whats wrong with the parents of Overland Park, Kansas? Do you think that your kids will be able to survive on their own one day? Your kids arent a statement to your reputation. Why must you spoil your children? Why do you place your children in a world where they count on mommy and daddy for everything? Do you actually believe that when that day comes, they go off to college you really think theyll survive? No, because whenever they are in trouble or need something guess what youre going to be getting a phone call. Of course every parents says that behind every doing is responsibility. How do your children have responsibility when you give them anything and everything they want at their beg and call without earning it in some kind of way? You may believe/think that your children are a statement to your reputation. Well actually they arent. Your reputation is because of you. Just because you produced them doesnt mean they are the key to people liking you. If you believe that then youll just have to wait till the day comes that your children go out and do something bad and it screws you over. What makes you think that your kids have to drive the nicest cars, wear the most expensive clothing and down right be full of themselves? I dont know how many times I have either known someone or heard about them getting used by so called friends for the things they have. For all the parents out there who tell their children that they are spoiled little brats, well guess what you raised your children to be that way. Has anyone ever told you that Overland Park is one of the richest cities in the world? Some of that is because there are 15,16,17 and 18 year olds driving around in BMWs, Lexuss and other nice expensive cars. So whats wrong with Overland Park you ask? Its everything I just told you in the para ...

Bullying in Schools and Colleges Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Bullying in Schools and Colleges - Essay Example It has been found that bullying has increased to tremendous levels and it is almost impossible now to contain the problem. Due to the ever-increasing problem of bullying, it is seen that several states and schools have taken a notice of the grave situation and implemented laws to ensure that it does not prevail. A person that I recently met was quite a calm person in real but was a former bully in his school. He was known for his aggressiveness back then because of which the students feared them. When I questioned him I got to know quite a lot about him and made a general consensus about the bullies. The environment had a huge effect on the former bully but he got to learn things because of which he moved onto the spiritual way of life. His home life and family were the most disturbing things in his life and I believe that these things made him turn into a bully. According to him his family was more of the masculine type and liked being tough. He had four elder brothers who used to f ight with him often. He was simply frightened of them and had lost self-respect in this cause. His father never paid enough heed to him and he had to rely on his loneliness for some time. This loss of self-respect caused the former bully to target people who were of his own kind. In other words, he looked for people who were more like him and bullied them. He used to look for fellow students who were scared and did not have respect for themselves and then bullied them accordingly. The former bully stated that he was greatly influenced by his family and somehow the genetic factors got to him. His brothers were known to be the most famous bullies in the high school and he followed in their footsteps. He also told that he got to learn different techniques of bullying through his brothers. Fighting with them was an experience, he says which made him learn how to tackle off the guys who were powerful than him. Above all bullying was considered to be a very cool act by him and other guys and this made him fall into the act. Genetic factors obviously did play a role as put down by the bully. Masculinity ran in his family and he practiced this masculinity on the other students believing that this would help him regain his pride. However, he states that over time he has learned a lot of new things and has moved to the spiritual way of life. Above all, he was affected by the fact that his family was nothing about honor. As the bully grew up he realized that his family did not have much to respect for others. Women were not treated as they should have been and he observed his brothers and father to find out the fact that they themselves were hiding from reality. None of his family members were able to lead a good life and soon he realized that masculinity was only a reason for him to be a bully. With the spiritual learning, he started to walk back from fights and became proud of it. He realized the wrongs that he had done as he put in the interview. He also went to many of the people he had bullied to apologize and most of these apologies were accepted, fortunately. His personality traits can be related to those of a normal person as he realized about them when he grew up. The former bully started feeling the emotions of others when he grew up and respected the people who stood up against him.

McDonalds Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

McDonalds - Essay Example Subsequent initiatives included a breakfast menu available nationwide, with the introduction of the Egg McMuffin in 1973. Ronald McDonald was first seen in a television appearance in 1963, and has since become the ubiquitous company representative and also ambassador of charity involvement in the form of Ronald McDonald House, which was established in 1974 as a key element of the company's philanthropic community involvement. The Happy Meal was introduced in 1979, which pioneered the promotional concept of marketing to children by giving away toys and games with meal purchases. This concept has since been adopted by all major burger chains, and has evolved into a significant promotional and tie-in tool for partnerships with major entertainment companies and events. Having created the promotional toy tool with the introduction of Happy Meals in 1976, McDonald's is the leader in toy-based promotions in both foodservice and across all industries. (www.datamonitor.com) McDonald's suffered from a series of strategic blunders and a deteriorating public image in the mid-1990s. These slips included the launch of the low-fat McLean Deluxe sandwich, which was very poorly received, and the launch of the adult-targeted Arch Deluxe sandwich, which did not win consumer acceptance, whilst operating margins were negatively impacted by heavy couponing; The Campaign 55 promotion, a US$0.55 sandwich offer subject to a variety of confusing conditions, proved too difficult and was pulled. In an attempt to find growth opportunities outside of the saturated burgers segment, McDonald's took a step towards diversification in 1998, when it purchased Latin American fast food chain Chipotle, and then in 1999 with the acquisition of Ohio-based pizza chain Donato's Pizza. In the same year, the company announced its intention to purchase the bankrupt Boston Market chain of restaurants that specialized in meal replacement and limited FSR. The sale was approved in 2000, and constituted McDonald's first major acquisition outside of its QSR stronghold. In response to continuing criticism regarding its foods' nutritional content and to broaden its appeal to health conscious consumers, McDonald's has added a variety of healthier meal options, including premium salads and fresh fruit. The company discontinued its "supersize" menu items in 2004, and in 2006, McDonald's was the first fast food restaurant to post nutritional information on the packaging of each of its food items. The new packaging will use bar charts and icons to detail five basic nutritional elements - calories, protein, fat, carbohydrates and sodium. Competitive Positioning McDonald's is by far the leading fast food burger chain in the US, with nearly a 45% market share in foodservice. The company does, however, face strong competition, like other foodservice operators, but its ever growing market penetration, new product innovation and strong advertising backing helped the company see a consecutive value share increase between 2000 and 2005. The reach of the McDonald's brand has posed growth challenges in recent years, as saturation presents limits to opportunities for unit growth in the US, the company's main market. The company initially turned to a strategy of diversification, evident in its acquisitions of Chipotle

Biography of Rovin Jay and Jonathan Larson Research Paper

Biography of Rovin Jay and Jonathan Larson - Research Paper Example He wrote an autobiography, Tick Tick to express his disappointment. Billy Aronson a playwright collaborated with Jonathan on updating la Boh’eme a show that was later named Rent. They also wrote three songs together before separating. The Rent show was relevant to his generation and incorporated gays, those who are straight, battling with AIDS and loneliness. Alongside he also did other things, he wrote a revue about teen issues, produced a video for children called Away We Go. He won Richard Rodgers grant for Rent in 1994 and at the same time the New York theater workshop agreed to mount a studio production for him. He quit his waiter job and worked with his producers, project director Michael Greif, and theater artistic Jim Nicola. Shortly thereafter the show was cast and rehearsals began. Unfortunately, Larson died before his show could pick up. The show gained a lot of publicity and was transferred to Broadway. The show has won many awards including the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Four Tonys (Larson page 59) There is little information provided about Robin jay, however he an American based producer of rent and an Actor at Knotts Berry Farm. After rent moved to Broadway production it won Tony Award but the production closed soon after. The achievement of the show however led to several foreign productions. Later on the show moved to motion picture in which most of the early cast members were included. Among them were Director Rovin Jay, Choregrapher Sonya Randall and Music Director Brian Sherick. He acted as the Samaritan in a Christmas Carol, and Narrator 1 in the Gift of the Magi at the world famous Bird Cage Theatre. For eight years, he was the actor of Disneyland Resort, and in 2009 he performed as Naphtali the calypso singing brother and the Technicolor Dreamcoat (Larson 24). For four months, he

Shipping companies listed on New Yorks Stock Exchange

Shipping companies listed on New Yorks Stock Exchange This study was based on 21 shipping companies listed in New York Stock Exchange, over the period of 2005 to 2009. On the table below the selected shipping companies are shown. Shipping Companies listed in the New York Stock Exchange DIANA SHIPPING INC NAVIOS MARITIME HOLDINGS INC 3 SAFE BULKERS INC 4 GENCO SHIPPING TRADING LIMITED 5 TEEKAY CORPORATION 6 TSAKOS ENERGY NAVIGATION LIMITED 7 EXCEL MARITIME CARRIERS LTD 8 DANAOS CORPORATION 9 AEGEAN MARINE PETROLEUM NETWORK INCORPORATION 10 FRONTLINE LIMITED 11 SEACOR HOLDINGS INCORPORATED 12 NORDIC TANKERS 13 GLOBAL SHIP LEASE INCORPORATION 14 GENERAL MARITIME CORPORATION 15 SEASPAN CORPORATION 16 SHIP FINANCE INTERNATIONAL LIMITED 17 KIRBY CORPORATION 18 OVERSEAS SHIPHOLDING GROUP, INC 19 DHT MARITIME INCORPORATION 20 INTERNATIONAL SHIPHOLDING CORPORATION 21 TIDEWATER INC This paper seeks to examine the relationship among three corporate governance mechanisms (board composition, chief executive status and audit committee) and some firm performance measures (return on investment capital, return on equity, Return on Assets and Current Ratio). Also, the essay examines the relationship among these three corporate governance mechanisms and the operating performance (Net Sales to Operating Cost) of the corporations. Part 1 Corporate Governance Corporate governance is the set of processes, customs, policies, laws, and institutions affecting the way a corporation (or company) is directed, administered or controlled with the objective to enhance shareholders wealth. Corporate governance also includes the relationships among the stakeholders involved and the goals by which the corporation is governed. It is supposed that better corporate governance leads to better corporate performance by preventing the expropriation of controlling shareholders and ensuring better decision-making. Corporate governance is a priority along with financial indicators when evaluating investment decisions according to investors. The majority of them are prepared to pay a premium for companies having high governance standards. On the opposite, there are also bad forms of corporate governance that lead corporations to problems. Good corporate governance is considered to be a fundamental necessity to run a firm successfully. Moreover corporate governance is a process which can ensure growth for a firm and the economy in general. Most of the selected shipping companies are foreign private issuers established in Marshal or Bermuda islands. The minority of the selected companies are U.S corporations. Consequently most of them are not required to comply with the corporate governance practices followed by U.S. companies following the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) listing standards. However, they are required to state any significant differences between their corporate governance practices and the practices required by the NYSE according to Section 303.A.11 of the NYSE Listed Company Manual.  Furthermore almost every chosen shipping company adopts NYSE required practices, such as having a majority of independent directors, establishing audit and compensation and nominating committees as well as adopting a Code of Ethics.   NYSE requires companies to adopt and disclose corporate governance guidelines.   The guidelines should address to the director qualification standards, the director responsibilities, the director access to management and independent advisers, the director compensation, the director orientation and continuing education, management succession as well as an annual performance evaluation. However,   most of the shipping companies trade in NYSE are not obliged to comply with these rules due to that they are foreign private issuers as well as most of them are offshore. For these companies there is no obligation of complying with any corporate governance guidelines or code of ethics. Shareholders can be informed via the annual reports and Code of Ethics, both of which have been publicly filed by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission available on the companies web-sites. Corporate governance guidelines and shipping companies intend to publish an overview of the Companys gu iding principles which focuses on social issues. This Code cannot cover every applicable law or provide answers to all questions that may arise but it can set out general principles about an organization belief on matters such as mission, quality, conflicts of interest, internal reporting, privacy or the environment. Furthermore, it may define proper procedures to determine whether a violation of the code of ethics has occurred. Code of ethics and corporate social responsibility is a neglected issue in the shipping industry. Traditionally there is no reason for the shipping companies to invest in advertising or in any other activity that could improve their image. Consequently the main goal of the management of a shipping company is to attract as many as possible new clients. Any characteristic that can improve the reputation of the company is not a priority for the managers of a shipping company. Many years have passed and shipping companies were not obliged to follow some rules of social responsibilities. Fortunately, the last decade various regulations have been imposed to the operation of a shipping company, although the control mechanisms were not always efficient. Board of Directors An important aspect that influences the corporate governance is the board of directors. The board of directors plays an important role to the company operation. It oversees top management and is entrusted with the responsibility of monitoring and supervising the company resources and operation. Moreover, it undertakes the obligation of appointing a qualified person as the Chief Executive Officer and other management staff. Therefore, the board is seen as a team of individuals with fiduciary responsibilities of leading and directing a firm, with the primary objective of protecting the shareholders interests with high sense of integrity and commitment to the firm. The role of the Board is significant in designing efficient corporate monitoring and ratification mechanisms. With respect to reducing agency costs at the Board level, Boards of directors have three key decision rights: (1) Monitoring (2) Ratification (3) Reward and punishment rights. They may even remove top managers from their positions and sanction them for their decisions. NYSE rules require the size of the board of directors not to be smaller than three members. As it can be observed by the survey the size of the board of directors of the sample is between five and seven members. Although there are some shipping companies that have more than seven members in the board and some others that have less than five members. It can be concluded that the majority of the board members in the board of directors are outside directors (member of a company board of directors who is not an employee or stakeholder in the company). The role of independent directors on the board of directors is to effectively monitor and control firm activities in reducing opportunistic managerial behaviors and expropriation of firm resources. The majority of the board members are outsiders for most of the companies; some of them use relatives as well as acquaintances as board members. This indicates a tendency for the shipping companies to be governed by a closed team of people. In accordance to NYSE rules the board should have audit, compensation, and nominating committees made up entirely by outside directors. Almost all of them are consisted by the three obligatory committees opposed to the majority of the selected shipping companies that do not have the obligation to comply with the NYSE rules. The role of these committees is significant; they are assigned to evaluate the board The role of the Audit Committee The purpose of the Audit Committee is to: Monitor the integrity of the firm financial statements. Monitor the qualifications, independence and performance of the company independent auditors. Monitor the performance of the company internal audit function. The audit committee ensures that the books of the company are not fake and that shareholders are properly informed of the financial status of the firm. In this essay it is made an effort to examine the importance of the audit committee in shipping companies listed in the New York Stock Exchange. NYSE requires from a listed U.S. company to have an audit committee with a minimum of three members. But it is permitted by Rule 10A-3 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that audit committees of foreign companies can have less than three independent members in the audit committee. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Status The Chief Executive Officer position and the whole management team is an important position to hold in a corporation. They are responsible for Operating the firm in an effective way. Preparing the annual operating plans and budgets. Establishing an effective system of internal control. In this essay it is examined the role of the Chief executive officer (CEO) in the shipping companies. There are two types of leadership structure i.e. combined leadership structure and separated structure. Combined leadership structure happens when the CEO is also the chairman of the board. On the other hand separated leadership structure takes place when the Chairman of the board is a different person from the CEO. Many studies identifying the implications of CEO duality exist. It is thought that the operating performance may be improved as a result of less debate among the CEO and chairman and/or other directors. From the sample of the shipping companies that it was taken a significant tendency cannot be provided. In some of the shipping companies the CEO is also the chairman of the board while in others is not. Part 2 Methodology The aim of this research is to figure out if the corporate governance mechanisms have an effect on firm performance. Therefore, the measurement of firm performance is primarily comprised of two factors: operating and financial performance. The data used for this research were extracted from the audited financial statements of 21 shipping companies listed in the New York Stock Exchange. The survey covers the time period through 2005 2009. The sample consists of the annual observations for the board size of every company, for the CEO status and for the size of the audit committee of every shipping company. The aim of the research is to find if these corporate governance mechanisms influence the operating and financial performance ratios. Consequently regression models have been constructed in order to prove the association between the corporation governance in operating and financial performance. Microsoft Excel and the statistical package Eviews were used so as to collect the data run the appropriate regressions and identify the results. Moreover except from the companies annual reports a lot of information was extracted through the Thomson Database. In the end panel data methodology was adopted because it combined time series and cross sectional data. The method of analysis is that of multiple regressions and the method of estimation is Ordinary Least Squares (OLS). By running the appropriate regressions via Eviews and by using Return on equity and the profit margin as the dependent variables, the results were considered inadequate. Consequently it was considered integral to proceed to further research. That is why the below financial ratios were used as dependent variables. For the financial performance: Return on equity ratio: Profitability ratio, it can indicate the management effectiveness Return on assets ratio: Profitability ratio, it can also indicate the management effectiveness Return on investment capital ratio: Profitability ratio, it can also indicate the management effectiveness Current ratio: liquidity  ratio Finally in order to measure the operating performance: The above formulas contributed on calculating the ratios of the shipping companies for the time period of 2005 2009. Moreover, many independent variables were used to define the most accurate and specifically those that would give some results. Consequently as independent variables are defined the above: Out_Board = the proportion of the independent directors over the total directors. CEO = if the same person occupies the post of the chairman of the board and the Chief executive is defined by valuing with zero, otherwise value with one. Audcom1 = the proportion of the audit committee. In the end in order to run the regression, the economic models should be defined. For the return on equity: For the return on assets For the return on investment capital For the current ratio So as to measure the operating performance of the shipping companies the above economic model was used. Furthermore the above parameters should be defined. ÃŽÂ ²o:Constant term ÃŽÂ ²1:Coefficient of the regression ÃŽÂ ²2: Coefficient of the regression ÃŽÂ ²3: Coefficient of the regression eit: Disturbance term Empirical Results and Discussion It is important to mention some important data before continuing to comment on the outputs of the regression. First of all the regression outputs will be tested for all the three confidence intervals 90%,95% and 99%. In order to have a statistical significant output the t statistic has to be greater than 1.64, 1.96 and 2.576 respectively. Moreover so as to have a statistically significant variable the p value has to be less than 0,1 , 0.05 and 0.01 respectively. As it can be observed from the table below, the three independent variables are statistically insignificant because the t statistics are lower than the critical values. Moreover it can be confirmed because all the p values are greater than the level of significance. Dependent Variable: ROE Method: Panel Least Squares Total panel (unbalanced) observations: 99 Variable Coefficient Std. Error t-Statistic Prob. OUT_BOARD -0.00683 0.552604 -0.01236 0.9902 CEO 0.017437 0.17098 0.101982 0.919 AUDCOM1 -0.002796 0.101423 -0.027571 0.9781 C 0.18661 0.529641 0.352334 0.7254 R-squared 0.000114 Adjusted R-squared -0.031461 F-statistic 0.003613 Prob(F-statistic) 0.999698 S.E. of regression 0.791347 Dependent Variable: ROA Method: Panel Least Squares Total panel (unbalanced) observations: 99 Variable Coefficient Std. Error t-Statistic Prob. OUT_BOARD -0.095721 0.061678 -1.551956 0.124 CEO -0.032232 0.019084 -1.688972 0.0945 AUDCOM1 0.009389 0.01132 0.829387 0.409 C 0.140099 0.059115 2.369954 0.0198 R-squared 0.078318 Adjusted R-squared 0.049212 F-statistic 2.690791 Prob(F-statistic) 0.050602 S.E. of regression 0.088325 Dependent Variable: ROA Method: Panel Least Squares Total panel (unbalanced) observations: 99 Variable Coefficient Std. Error t-Statistic Prob. OUT_BOARD -0.104552 0.060653 -1.723773 0.088 CEO -0.028425 0.018493 -1.537033 0.1276 C 0.171387 0.045439 3.771807 0.0003 R-squared 0.071644 Adjusted R-squared 0.052303 F-statistic 3.704289 Prob(F-statistic) 0.028204 S.E. of regression 0.088181 It is evident from the tables above that there is a correlation between return on assets and the independent variables. On the first table it can be observed that the CEO independent variable is statistically significant on 10% confidence interval. Also R- Squared is 7.16% of the variability of the return on assets and is explained by the regression. On the second table one independent variable is excluded from the regression in order to prove that the proportion of the outside directors over the total number of the board is also statistically significant at the 90% confidence interval. It is evident that these two variables influence the financial performance of the shipping companies that are selected in the sample. On the table below it is shown the regression output between the return on investment capital and the independent variables. It can be observed that the proportion of the outside directors and the CEO are statistically significant on the 90% confidence interval. It implies that the majority of the sampled firms, in the period under study, have separate persons occupying the posts of chief executive and the board chair. Dependent Variable: ROIC Total panel (unbalanced) observations: 97 Method: Panel Least Squares Variable Coefficient Std. Error t-Statistic Prob. OUT_BOARD -0.108758 0.062348 -1.744367 0.0844 CEO -0.031869 0.019189 -1.660741 0.1001 AUDCOM1 0.00542 0.011377 0.476405 0.6349 C 0.199476 0.059341 3.361532 0.0011 R-squared 0.081182 Adjusted R-squared 0.051542 F-statistic 2.738981 Prob(F-statistic) 0.047783 S.E. of regression 0.088251 Dependent Variable: CURRENT_RATIO Method: Panel Least Squares Total panel (unbalanced) observations: 99 Variable Coefficient Std. Error t-Statistic OUT_BOARD 0.554821 1.498786 0.37018 CEO -0.636588 0.463736 -1.372737 AUDCOM1 0.538569 0.275082 1.95785 C 0.954122 1.436504 0.664197 R-squared 0.047648 Adjusted R-squared 0.017574 F-statistic 1.584356 Prob(F-statistic) 0.198271 S.E. of regression 2.146311 Another ratio so as to observe the financial performance of a company is the current ratio. By running a regression it can be concluded that the audit committee size is statistically significant at a 90% and 95% confidence interval. Because of the different financial performance ratio it can be observed a different correlation between the dependent and the independent variable. On the particular output the positive relationship between the liquidity ratio and the audit committee seems to be a very reasonable result. Shipping companies follow the corporate governance guidelines which are given by the NYSE for the audit committees. In the end a regression was run for the operating performance of the shipping companies. On the table below it is shown that the proportion of the outside directors is statistically significant at 90% confidence interval with t statistic greater than the critical values. Also it is shown that the audit committee variable is also statistically significant for all the confidence intervals. But the R squared of the output is very low which means that only the 8.76% of the variability of the dependent variable is explained. Dependent Variable: OPER_PERF Method: Panel Least Squares Total panel (unbalanced) observations: 99 Variable Coefficient Std. Error t-Statistic Prob. OUT_BOARD -0.951585 0.50254 -1.893552 0.0613 CEO 0.083654 0.15549 0.538005 0.5918 AUDCOM1 -0.23875 0.092234 -2.588514 0.0112 C 3.109729 0.481657 6.456321 0 R-squared 0.087671 Adjusted R-squared 0.05886 F-statistic 3.043024 Prob(F-statistic) 0.032629 S.E. of regression 0.719653 Descriptive statistics The table below presents the result of the descriptive statistics analysis between the dependent variables and the independent variables by measuring the mean, the standard deviation and the percentage of distribution range of the pooled years of the sample under study. Descriptive Statistics Oper_Perf Roa Roe Roic Cur_ratio Out_Board CEO AUDCOM1 Mean 1.741854 0.078202 0.18183 0.11603 3.243112 0.762211 0.474747 2.808081 Median 1.527139 0.072055 0.156449 0.110134 1.86132 0.777778 0 3 Maximum 5.409894 0.513177 3.84573 0.368966 70.57955 1 1 5 Minimum 0.889839 -0.42841 -4.60062 -0.41285 0.1406 0.428571 0 1 Std. Dev. 0.737746 0.090581 0.779185 0.09045 7.100746 0.153031 0.501903 0.816623 Skewness 1.867152 -0.45139 -1.94635 -1.54254 8.614659 -0.20659 0.101139 0.250996 Kurtosis 8.233289 16.32647 24.76835 14.17857 81.7566 2.085215 1.010229 3.44567 Jarque-Bera 177.3846 735.9403 2017.183 549.1192 27351.86 4.156112 16.50043 1.858795 Probabil. 0 0 0 0 0 0.125173 0.000261 0.394791 Sum 179.411 7.741993 18.00119 11.3709 327.5543 75.45889 47 278 Sum Sq. D. 55.51539 0.804091 59.49867 0.793579 5042.06 2.295021 24.68687 65.35354 Observ. 103 99 99 98 101 99 99 99 As it can be referred from the table above the number of the observations is all close to the hundred. This is because some of the data were not available and could not be extracted from the financial reports. Moreover another reason of the lack of some data is that some of the shipping companies were listed in the New York Stock Exchange after 2005. Conclusion The aim of this essay was to prove that there is a relationship between corporate governance mechanisms and firm performance using a sample of 21 shipping companies which are listed in the New York Stock Exchange from 2005 until 2009. The study used firm performance ratios and three mechanisms to prove the above relationship. Panel data methodology is employed; the method of analysis is multiple regressions and the method of estimation is Ordinary Least Squares. The study concludes to the followings: There is no significant relationship between ROE and none of the independent variables. There is a significant relationship among ROA and CEO status and the proportion of the outside directors. There is significant relationship among ROIC, board composition and CEO status. There is a significant relationship between Current ratio and audit committee. And there is a significant relationship among operating performance, board composition and audit committee. Concerning future research, efforts should be made to increase the sample size and the corporate governance variables to achieve a clearer view about the affection of the corporate governance mechanisms on the shipping companies. It can be said that shipping industry has been expanded all over the world from family to family. It is a closed industry which excludes many people. Consequently the nature of the industry makes it very difficult to perform an in depth research and establish an outcome. References Web Sites http://www.investopedia.com/ http://en.wikipedia.org http://www.dianashippinginc.com Home page

Negotiating Identity: The Frontier in Moby-Dick, by Herman Melville :: Moby Dick Essays

Written during a period of American history characterized by great expansionism, Herman Melville's Moby-Dick may be read as a reflection upon both the rapidly changing geographical frontiers of America, and the accompanying shift of social, political, religious and cultural boundaries. The Pequod's world is governed by laws other than those of the American mainland. Figuratively situated at the frontier of the New World, the ship evokes the mythic American pioneer with the independent spirit, aggression and courage to wrench a nation from the wilderness. Melville lays out a version of the frontier myth that sees redefinition of national identity in terms of man confronting his other, reaffirming the self, and - through Ishmael's survival and narration - returning to civilization having defined what he is not.. Captain Ahab and his obsessive quest for the white whale symbolize in its most extreme form, an American desire to face the wild unknown and to promote national ascendancy thro ugh the confrontation. This paper will examine the seductive but limited conditions under which claims to define American-ness are able to be made in Moby-Dick, through interrogating the way in which the crew's desires are subsumed into Ahab's private vendetta. The notion of the frontier as a place of infinite possibility, where power relations are renegotiated, even as are geographical limits, goes some way towards explaining why, despite Ahab's disregard for his men's well-being, they agree to follow him down his tragic path. Both the license that Ahab's position gives him to compel them into action, and his ability to tap the crew's own belief in the power of the mythical American capacity for self-reinvention, indicate the potential for unbridled violence in the search for the self. Crucially, this highlights the discrepancy between America's claims of its own democracy, liberty and equality, and its national enthusiasm for imperialist conquest and its tolerance of slavery. The pervasiveness of the mythological connection between American self-invention and aggression, is underlined by Slotkin in his claim that the first colonists saw in America an opportunity to regenerate their fortunes, their spirits, and the power of their church and nation; but the means to that regeneration ultimately became the means of violence, and the myth of regeneration through violence became the structuring metaphor of the American experience. (Slotkin, 5) Renowned for the risk it involved, and for the physical demands it made on the sailors, whaling invites many comparisons with both the pioneer's intrepid conquest of the western wilderness, and the march of soldiers into war.

Explore the Role of Trading Blocs on International Trade Essay

International Business In this assignment, I will be defining international trading bloc and their purpose before outline all the different examples of trading blocs such as WTO, Customers Unions, and Common Markets before explaining how these impact on the international trade. I will apply the trading blocs and examples to Jaguar – Land Rover, a multimillion-pound car manufacturer distributing worldwide. Trading Blocs Trading Blocs is a group of countries in a geographical area that gets together to protect themselves from countries outside the group, working together to make goods or services move more easily and placing restrictions on the number of goods or services being brought into the area. Some organizations help to make these countries work together and move goods or services more easily. These organizations include World Trade Organisation and other common markets such as the EU. World Trade Organisation (WTO) The WTO makes sure that countries can trade with each other as smoothly, predictably and freely as possible so that businesses can sell their goods all over the world. The WTO has negotiated agreements between countries so that businesses trading have legal rights and agreements to protect them. If there are disagreements or arguments between two countries then WTO will step in and assist the situation. WTO has a positive impact on international trading as they ensure all businesses trade fairly and legally and ensure that no one is ripped off or miss sold goods. Customs Unions and Common Markets In some areas of the world, customers unions and common markets have been established to allow free trade to take place between those different countries. This allows businesses more rights and opportunities to trade with each other with the support of the common market to ensure everyone is trading and operating legally and effectively. The EU The EU was established in Second World War through European Economic Community. At the start, 6 countries joined the EU, France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg. Over the next 60 years, more and more countries joined the EU, 28 countries including the UK joined by 1973. The EU was a very crucial in international trade as they set up their own internal market which allowed countries to move and trade goods or services even freer between the countries involved. It achieves the above through a number of different ways. – It has its own currency, the Euro. – It provides EU citizens the movement to other countries without VISA`s as long as they are a member of the EU. – They have their own set of rules they must adhere to in order to maintain a member of the EU. Mercosur Rather like the EU, this group was established to help the third world, less developed countries increase the trading opportunities between each other. Countries involved within the common market are Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela, all less developed countries who can`t afford the scale and size of international trade deals occurring in the EU, hence why they are a part of the Mercosur. They have more land and size than the EU, however, have made little progression when compared to the EU, however, have similar aspirations and goals, wanting to make international trade and movement as easy as the EU do. The effect it has on the countries involved is that it provides them with a platform to trade internationally and increase the size of deals, bringing in more money to the country and helping to improve local economies. They still have the same legal rights and regulations when it comes to b2b trading. The above have a massive positive impact on countries who are a part of the Europe Union as it provides plenty of other countries the opportunity to trade freely between each other using the same currency and operating under the same legal rules and regulations. If any deals went downhill and a business within the EU was miss sold goods or not paid the full balance then they can appeal to the EU for support and guidance, allowing them to take legal action against the other business. Jaguar – Land Rover will be impacted in different ways by the above trading blocs due to the size and scale of them having a negative impact towards local businesses. If Jaguar – Land Rover are having a positive impact on the economy of a country, increasing the countries revenue through their taxes and increasing employment rates then the government for that country may increase the easiness of movement of goods across the country, encouraging them to continue trading within, benefiting the country as a whole. The World Trade Organisation has a big role in the trade deals of Jaguar – Land Rover as the deals they are working on is worth millions of pounds and therefore involve high risk and liability if they go wrong, this is where the World Trade Organisation will step in, resolve the issue and ensure the deal is still going to go ahead. They will ensure no party is ripped off or miss sold goods and that all parties are aware of the terms and conditions througho ut the deal. The Customs Unions and Common Markets and the EU allow businesses or countries within a certain area free trade and more rights to trade between each other. This would have a negative impact on Jaguar – Land Rover as they would have to pay importation and exportation taxes, increasing the expenditure for each product meaning they can`t be as competitive on pricing as other businesses within the market. The Mercosur won`t have an impact on Jaguar – Land Rover due to the size and scale of them and how the Mercosur id directed at smaller, less established businesses acting as a platform to boost them. Jaguar – Land Rover will not face the competition from this market as the size and scale will counterbalance the benefits that Mercosur provides the smaller businesses with. Conclusion In the above assignment, I have listed, explained and evaluated the impact different common markets have on international trade for the countries involved. I have explained the different reasons for how they work and the benefits they bring. All markets have similar aims and understandings, have the same legal rules and regulations and all believe in fair, free movement of goods or services.

Why Being a Perfectionist Can Be Harmful

Why Being a Perfectionist Can Be Harmful If you are a perfectionist, you are probably familiar with the feeling of wanting to get everything just right. You may struggle with handing in papers, agonize over projects at work, and even worry about small errors from the past. High standards are one thing, but perfectionism  is quite another. And as some researchers have discovered, pursuing perfection can have serious consequences to both mental and physical well being. What Is Perfectionism? According to researchers, perfectionists hold themselves to unrealistically  high standards  and become self-critical if they believe they haven’t met these standards. Perfectionists are also likely to feel guilt and shame if they experience failures, which often leads them to avoid situations where they are worried they might fail. Amanda Ruggeri, writing about perfectionism for BBC Future, explains, â€Å"When  [perfectionists] don’t succeed, they don’t just feel disappointment about how they did. They feel shame about who they are.† How Perfectionism Can Be Harmful Although many people see the pursuit of excellence as a good thing, researchers have found that on the extreme end, perfectionism is actually linked to lower mental health. In one study, researchers analyzed how perfectionism was related to mental health across previous studies. They looked at a total of 284 studies (with over 57,000 participants) and found that perfectionism was associated with symptoms of depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and eating disorders. They also found that people higher in perfectionism (i.e. participants who more strongly identified with perfectionist traits) also reported higher levels of overall psychological distress. In an article published in 2016, researchers looked at how perfectionism and depression were related over time. They found that people higher in perfectionism tended to have increases in depression symptoms, which suggests that perfectionism may be a risk factor for developing depression. In other words, although people may think of their perfectionism as something that helps them succeed, it appears that their perfectionism may actually be harmful for their mental health. Is perfectionism always harmful? Psychologists have debated this point, with some suggesting that there can be such a thing as adaptive perfectionism, in which people hold themselves to high standards without engaging in self-criticism over mistakes they make. Some researchers have suggested that a healthier form of perfectionism involves pursuing goals because you want to, and not blaming yourself if you fail to meet a goal. However, other  researchers suggest that perfectionism is not adaptive: according to these researchers, perfectionism is more than just holding yourself to high standards, and they don’t think perfectionism is beneficial. Is Perfectionism on the Rise? In one study, researchers looked at how perfectionism has changed over time. The researchers reviewed previously collected data from over 41,000 college students, from 1989 to 2016. They found that over the time period studied, college students reported increasing levels of perfectionism: they held themselves to higher standards, felt there were higher expectations placed on them, and held others to higher standards. Importantly, what increased the most were the social expectations that young adults picked up on from the surrounding environment. The researchers hypothesize that this could be because society is increasingly competitive: college students might pick up on these pressures from their parents and from society, which would increase perfectionist tendencies. How to Combat Perfectionism Since perfectionism is associated with negative outcomes, what can someone with perfectionist tendencies do to change their behavior? Although people are sometimes hesitant to give up their perfectionist tendencies, psychologists point out that giving up on perfection doesn’t mean being less successful. In fact, because mistakes are an important part of learning and growing, embracing imperfection can actually help us in the long run. One possible alternative to perfectionism involves developing what psychologists call a growth mindset. Researchers at Stanford University have found that cultivating a growth mindset is a crucial way to help us learn from our failures. Unlike those with fixed mindsets (who see their skill levels as innate and unchangeable), those with growth mindsets believe they can improve their abilities by learning from their mistakes. Psychologists point out that parents can play a crucial role in helping their children develop healthier attitudes towards failure: they can praise their children for making an effort (even if their results were imperfect) and help children learn to persevere when they make mistakes. Another potential alternative to perfectionism is to cultivate self-compassion. To understand self-compassion, think about how you would respond to a close friend if they made a mistake. Odds are, you’d probably respond with kindness and understanding, knowing that your friend meant well. The idea behind self-compassion is that we should treat ourselves kindly when we make mistakes, remind ourselves that mistakes are part of being human, and avoid being consumed by negative emotions. As Ruggeri points out for BBC Future, self-compassion can be beneficial for mental health, but perfectionists tend not to treat themselves in compassionate ways. If you’re interested in trying to foster more self-compassion, the researcher who developed the concept of self-compassion has a short exercise you can try. Psychologists have also suggested that cognitive behavioral therapy can be a way to help people change their beliefs about perfectionism. Although perfectionism is linked to lower mental health, the good news is that perfectionism is something you can change. By working to see mistakes as learning opportunities, and replacing self-criticism with self-compassion, it’s possible to overcome perfectionism and develop a healthier way of setting goals for yourself. References: Curran, T., Hill, A. P. (2017, Dec 28). Perfectionism Is Increasing Over Time: A Meta- Analysis of Birth Cohort Differences From 1989 to 2016. Psychological Bulletin. Advance online publication. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/bul0000138 apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/bul-bul0000138.pdfDahl, M. (2015, Sept 17). Is it possible to be a perfectionist without driving yourself nuts? The Science of Us (New York Magazine). http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2015/09/perfectionism-but-without-driving-yourself-nuts.htmlLeahy, R. L. (2017, Mar 15). Successful imperfection. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/anxiety-files/201703/successful-imperfectionLimburg, K., Watson, H. J., Hagger, M. S., Egan, S. J. (2016). The relationship between perfectionism and psychopathology: A meta-analysis. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 73(10), 1301-1326. doi: 10.1002/jclp.22435 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/311939754Neff. K. Definition of self-compassion. http://self-compassion.org/the-t hree-elements-of-self-compassion-2/ Pruett, K. D. (2017, May 18). Being parents of a perfectionist. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/once-upon-child/201705/being-parents-perfectionistRuggeri, A. (2018, Feb 21). The dangerous downsides of perfectionism. BBC Future. bbc.com/future/story/20180219-toxic-perfectionism-is-on-the-riseSmith, M. M., Sherry, S. B., Rnic, K., Saklofske, D. H., Enns, M., Gralnick, T. (2016). Are perfectionism dimensions vulnerability factors for depressive symptoms after controlling for neuroticism? A meta-analysis of 10 longitudinal studies. European Journal of Personality, 30(2), 201-212. doi: 10.1002/per.2053 https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/b6ad/6f32c90beb8b2c2e6f3a0b698bd781bed0ba.pdf

Marx vs Locke essays

Marx vs Locke essays John Locke and Karl Marx are two of the most respected philosophers in history. Locke was born in Great Britain in 1632, and among other works, wrote The Second Treatise of Government. He believed that the best structure for society was capitalism, which is an economic system where the means of production and distribution are privately or corporately owned. Karl Marx, born in 1818 in Germany, was the author of Estranged Labor, and co-author of Communist Manifesto. He was an advocate of socialism, which is a system of social organization in which the means of producing and distributing goods is owned by a centralized government that also controls the economy. Locke and Marx both make valid statements to defend their respective opinions; in reality Locke has the most successful theory, but when written on paper, Marx has the best ideas for a utopian world. Karl Marx views human beings in a capitalist society through the work that they produce; The devaluation of the human world grows in direct proportion to the increase in value of the world of things (Estranged Labor 119). The people of the working class became a commodity, which is something that can be used for commercial value, just like the goods created by the workers. The owners of a laborers product make a profit by charging the customer more money than the cost of production for the commodity. The worker becomes estranged from his labor because he produces objects in exchange for his paycheck, and then must use that paycheck to buy back the object which he created. This cycle forces the worker to be stuck in the same rut without the hope of ever advancing in society because someone is always holding the dollar bill just above his reach. The purpose of work in a Marxian world is to provide satisfaction for the worker. Political economy conceals the estrangement in the nature of labor by ignoring the direct relationship between...

Anti-Social Behavior Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Anti-Social Behavior Policy - Essay Example Margaret Thatcher the conservative prime minister was the initiator who linked crime as the internal social issue that affects the victims and society on a whole. In seventies the act carried out by burglars, violent union members were considered as a crime. The after math developments of the economy and the society being diversified has elevated the freedom of the society where common man handling guns for an immature criminal act. These activities were at times carried out even by the juvenile generation questioning the levels of freedom. These people being in the society damage the values and moral essence of the society. As the moral values of the society depletes the society at times may be regarded as harmful to survive. Keeping in view of the social values, the community has to be reformed at every stage to enlighten the generation to lead a disciplined life together. Margaret Thatcher largely succeeded in highlighting the impact on society but unable to implement. John major the successor had tried to unite the political concerns and the electoral concerns. The momentum for constructive authoritative move resulted due to the incidents of 1992 where the young offenders went on rampage. The reports indicate that 104.5 indictable were recorded by thousand population1. This issue was made political 1993 and was projected as major political issue. 1993 and 1995 were the years where there was a 25 per cent in crease in the number of people imprisoned stands at about 74000. The above graph reveals that the crime rate has been on a raise from 1960 an according to report of house of common libraries depicts that there is an increase in crime rate from 1960 in England and Wales. 1 Source: The British crime survey Fig.2 The graph depicts that a major change has occurred after 1980 where it has been observed that the crime has slowly increased. The significance aspect of this is that the accused were the youth who were the main culprits in eve teasing, damaging properties, graffiti etc. youth turned violent, vandalism, and verbal abuses were major issues where as the repetitive nature of harassment like the noise, improper behavior created an unsocial atmosphere in the living environment When the concern elevates to an extreme level the unacceptable activities generated a social fear and commotion. The ignorance may become an excuse and the accused may turn more unbearable. There is a need to curb this menace at this initial stage to regulate it without reaching unacceptable levels. So the anti social behavior has gained importance. Anti social behavior has wider scope of concerns which may not be acute as a criminal offense, however in the long run people are experiencing the ill effects of ASB. The crime which has shaped into more social concern evolved from extremist activities to the acts perceived in unconscious states and out of rampage. The fact that 1991 to 1995 saw a huge raise in crime rate is visible in graph above. The legal initiatives taken in 1995 and 1996 kept a hold regulated the crime rate from that juncture. The acts like public order act, Environmental act, Housing acts existed to cater the existing requirements. To unify these acts and to cover all these above concerns under one roof "Anti social behavi

Management in context Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Management in context - Essay Example e union density is an expression of the proportion of eligible workforce which can be used as an indicator of the degree to which workers or employees are organized. Trade union density differ from geographical areas by the fact that it lays emphasis on level of organization of workers and not how they are distributed all over the world. Female are more likely to join trade unions because they have unique challenges that need to be address contrary to those facing the male employees. Such include maternity offs. Therefore they need such issue to be handled generally by trade unions. In servicing strategy, the members are like third parties to the trade union and they do not play active roles in them while in organizing strategy, the members are the union themselves by playing a very active role in it. Public sector employees are more likely to engage in industrial actions because they enjoy a lot of job security compared to those in the private sector. They are not under any risk of job loss even when they go on strike or other industrial