Phillis Wheatley - Slave Poet of Colonial America

Dates: about 1753 or 1754 - December 5, 1784Also known as: sometimes misspelled as Phyllis Wheatley An Unusual Background Phillis Wheatley was born in Africa (probably Senegal) about 1753 or 1754. When she was about eight years old, she was kidnapped and brought to Boston. There, in 1761, John Wheatley bought her for his wife, Susanna, as a personal servant. As was the custom of the time, she was given the Wheatley familys surname. The Wheatley family taught Phillis English and Christianity, and, impressed by her quick learning, they also taught her some Latin, ancient history, mythology and classical literature. Writing Once Phillis Wheatley demonstrated her abilities, the Wheatleys, clearly a family of culture and education, allowed Phillis time to do study and write. Her situation allowed her time to learn and, as early as 1765, to write poetry. Phillis Wheatley had fewer restrictions than most slaves experienced -- but she was still a slave. Her situation was unusual. She was not quite part of the white Wheatley family, nor did she quite share the place and experiences of other slaves. Published Poems In 1767, the Newport Mercury published Phillis Wheatleys first poem, a tale of two men who nearly drowned at sea, and of their steady faith in God. Her elegy for the evangelist George Whitefield, brought more attention to Phillis Wheatley. This attention included visits by a number of Bostons notables, including political figures and poets. She published more poems each year 1771-1773, and a collection of her poems was published in London in 1773. The introduction to this volume of poetry by Phillis Wheatley is unusual: as a preface is an attestation by seventeen men of Boston that she had, indeed, written the poems herself: WE whose Names are underwritten, do assure the World, that the POEMS specified in the following Page, were (as we verily believe) written by Phillis, a young Negro Girl, who was but a few Years since, brought an uncultivated Barbarian from Africa, and has ever since been, and now is, under the Disadvantage of serving as a Slave in a Family in this Town. She has been examined by some of the best Judges, and is thought qualified to write them. The collection of poems by Phillis Wheatley followed a trip that she took to England. She was sent to England for her health when the Wheatleys son, Nathaniel Wheatley, was traveling to England on business. She caused quite a sensation in Europe. She had to return unexpectedly to America when they received word that Mrs. Wheatley was ill. Sources disagree on whether Phillis Wheatley was freed before, during or just after this trip, or whether she was freed later. Mrs. Wheatley died the next spring. The American Revolution The American Revolution intervened in Phillis Wheatleys career, and the effect was not completely positive. The people of Boston -- and of America and England -- bought books on other topics rather than the volume of Phillis Wheatley poems. It also caused other disruptions in her life. First her master moved the household to Providence, Rhode Island, then back to Boston. When her master died in March of 1778, she was effectively if not legally freed. Mary Wheatley, the daughter of the family, died that same year. A month after the death of John Wheatley, Phillis Wheatley married John Peters, a free black man of Boston. Marriage and Children History is not clear about John Peters story. He was either a neer-do-well who tried many professions for which he was not qualified, or a bright man who had few options to succeed given his color and lack of formal education. The Revolutionary War continued its disruption, and John and Phillis moved briefly to Wilmington, Massachusetts. Having children, trying to support the family, losing two children to death, and dealing with the wars effects and a shaky marriage, Phillis Wheatley was able to publish few poems during this period. She and a publisher solicited subscriptions for an additional volume of her poetry which would include 39 of her poems, but with her changed circumstances and the wars effect on Boston, the project failed. A few poems were published as pamphlets. George Washington In 1776, Phillis Wheatley had written a poem to George Washington, lauding his appointment as commander of the Continental Army. That was while her master and mistress were still alive, and while she was still quite the sensation. But after her marriage, she addressed several other poems to George Washington. She sent them to him, but he never responded again. Later Life Eventually John deserted Phillis, and to support herself and surviving child she had to work as a scullery maid in a boardinghouse. In poverty and among strangers, on December 5, 1784, she died, and her third child died hours after she did. Her last known poem was written for George Washington. Her second volume of poetry was lost. More About Phillis Wheatley Phillis Wheatley: Analysis of Her Poems Suggested Reading on This Site African American History and Women Timeline 1700-1799African American Writers Recommended Books Phillis Wheatley - Bibliography Vincent Carretta, editor. Complete Writings - Penguin Classics. Reprint 2001.John C. Shields, editor. The Collected Works of Phillis Wheatley. Reprint 1989.Merle A. Richmond. Bid the Vassal Soar: Interpretive Essays on the Poetry of Phillis Wheatley. 1974.Mary McAleer Balkun. Phillis Wheatleys construction of otherness and the rhetoric of performed ideology. African American Review, Spring 2002 v. 36 i. 1 p. 121. Childrens Books Ages 8-12:Kathryn Lasky. A Voice of Her Own: The Story of Phillis Wheatley, Slave Poet. January 2003.Susan R. Gregson. Phillis Wheatley. January 2002.Maryann N. Weidt. Revolutionary Poet: A Story about Phillis Wheatley. October 1997.Young Adult:Ann Rinaldi. Hang a Thousand Trees with Ribbons: The Story of Phillis Wheatley. 1996.

Why Some People Fail to React or Act during an Emergency...

SECTION I The presence of other individuals in an emergency situation tends to make people less likely to help a victim. This is known as the bystander effect. Having others around you makes you feel less responsibility and want to make the correct social decision. If a person were by himself or herself, this effect would not happen because they are not feeling judgment of those around and all the accountability is on them. The articles for this paper look at experiments conducted to test the bystander effect and how participants act according to social norms. For example, the murder of a woman in the middle of a New York street took place and not one of the thirty-eight witnesses helped her. This may seem insane but research shows most people would react the same. Social and group norms have a great influence on the social psychological concept of the bystander effect. This concept has been thought to happen due to factors of diffusion of responsibility, social influence, audience inh ibition, and an overall lack of a sense of community (Chekroun, P., 2002). SECTION II New York Times reported a story of a woman who was stabbed and died in the middle of the road in a section of New York City. The public failed to assist the woman although there were more than thirty-eight witnesses. Such cases of murders are rare, but this incident received little public attention. It was only when the New York Times covered it that the public began to gain attention. The murdererShow MoreRelatedEssay on Stress: The Silent Disease 1747 Words   |  7 Pagesto how many people really have stress in each individual’s life. People do not consider what the reasons are for the feelings and emotions they experience. There are all different types of stress, and stress can do a lot to a person. Each person also handles stress in a different way. 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People have always lived in fear but with the help of these agencies we will no longer have to live in fear. I will try to give as much detail information as possible to help with any problems or situation that might come up. Homeland Security in the United States and law enforcement have extensive research skills and knowledge in serving and protecting

Business Diploma Development of KPI

Question: Discuss about theBusiness Diplomafor Development of KPI. Answer: Introduction Customer satisfaction is the key to achieve the business success in this competitive scenario. The study will identify the two major concerns of establishing the effective customer service. The first concern is to handle the complaints of the customers and retaining them by fulfilling their queries and offering the relevant services. The second concern is to train the employees the proper way of dealing with the customers. More specifically, it is necessary to guide an underperforming employee to bring the most efficient work outcome (Zohar 2014). The development of the relevant KPI would help in resolving such issues and establishing the efficient customer service process. The study will also focus on the recommendations that will resolve such challenges and bring more efficiency to the organisational functionalities. Development of KPI (Key Performance Indicator) The case scenario is highlighting is one of the premium customers of the company did not receive the widget equipment for the mining project. However, the company promised to deliver the equipment within three days whereas even after a week it was not delivered to the client. Mary, one of the customer service team members was an underperforming candidate. She sometimes behaves very rude to the customers. In fact, in this case, she started arguing with the client due to misunderstandings. However, the issues can affect the organisational functionalities in a significant way. The development of some of the key performance indicators is essential for this case scenario. The major KPIs of customer service are as follows: Overall Satisfaction Satisfaction Improvements Customer Retention Net Promoter Score Conversion Rate Average Resolution Time Active Issues Resolved Issues Employee Productivity Employee Retention/ Employee Turnover Complaint Escalation Rate The set of KPIs addressed above are developed to handle the customers complaints and managing the underperforming employees. It is necessary to pay the attention towards the performance parameter of the associated staffs to bring the most effective outcome (Parmenter 2015). The further plan will be developed to mitigate the merging issues and provide the customers remarkable services. Development of the KPI Plan for Monitoring the Team Members Performance Task/responsibilities Key outcomes Actual Performance Overall Satisfaction Performing the regular customer satisfaction survey Daily for 3 months Satisfaction Improvement Improving the satisfaction by bringing the changes in the business process and establishing the innovative ideas (Dickson 2015). 1st month Customer Retention Involving the satisfied customers for offering the customer service. 3 months Net Promoter Score Customers would provide the net score depending on the satisfaction level. Monitoring the result on a regular basis for 3 months. Conversion Rate Conversion rate goes higher if the communicator from the customer service team is efficient enough to convince the customers (Goetsch and Davis 2014). The improvement of the communication and convincing power of the team members is essential. Therefore, the training should be provided for 1 week. Average Resolution Time The customer service provider needs to answer the queries quickly. The quick response of the service provider crates the significant impacts on the customers minds. The customer service provider needs to be knowledgeable enough for resolving the queries promptly. Active Issues If the staffs are unable to response too quickly, it is necessary to deal with one issue at a time. Too many issues may create confusions. Resolving one issue at a time will generate confidence to deal with other challenges. The staffs need to receive proper training to confront such situation. Resolved Issues The staffs can take a look on the past resolved issues to derive knowledge about the customers responses (Anitha 2014). It will be helpful enough in understanding the proper process of dealing with such challenges Guiding the employees in an appropriate way and sharing the past experiences with them would help in handling the customers in a better manner. Employee Productivity Application of the useful method of measuring the employee productivity is essential. Taking feedbacks and monitoring the performance of the employees would be helpful to measure the employee productivity. Employee Retention/Turnover If the employees are comfortable with the work environment, they tend to focus on their jobs and stay for longer time. The proper motivation and training provides to the employees would be helpful enough in retaining them for longer time. Compliant Escalation Rate The complaint escalation rate determines the satisfaction rate of the employees (Dhar 2015). The changing demands of the customers may bring more escalations. It is necessary to be much responsive and make the modifications as per the needs. Table 1: KPI Plan (Source: Created by Author) Questionnaire for Customer Satisfaction feedback Q.1) How far are you satisfied with the quality of the widget equipment offered by our company Options Response Rate Response Number Total Respondents Highly Satisfied 5% 1 20 Satisfied 15% 3 20 Neutral 25% 5 20 Dissatisfied 35% 7 20 Highly Dissatisfied 20% 4 20 Table 2: Quality Satisfaction (Source: Created by Author) The derived information from the responses is indicating that majority of customers are not really happy with the quality of the services. It is essential for the company to keep the attention towards the quality parameter that will be beneficial in attracting the customers for future. According to you what are the major areas that need improvements? Options Response Rate Response Number Total Respondents Communication 20% 4 20 Quick Response 15% 3 20 On time delivery 35% 7 20 Quality Service 30% 6 20 Table 2: Improvement Areas (Source: Created by Author) The responses extracted in this process is indicating that majority of the customers opt for on time delivery of the services. It is essential to maintain the proper time schedule and deliver the products to the customers on time. Hence, the company needs to focus on timely delivery of the services. Along with the scheduled timeline, it is even necessary to keep the focus on the responses of the employees, quality parameter of the service, and the communication process. Recommendation The above study highlights the company has been facing the issues due to the poor handling of the customer service problems. It is essential for the company to keep focus on the performance parameter of the associated employees who usually communicate with the customers and convince them to purchase the service. Therefore, it is essential to keep focus on the following recommendations that will help in developing the effective customer services. Providing the Proper Training and Development Session When the employees receive the proper guidance and training from the management, it becomes easier for them to handle the customers queries. It is noted that the customers requires quick responses and expected service delivery on time. In order to fulfil such needs, the employees need to receive the proper information and work methods. It will be helpful enough in resolving the issues that the customers are facing. Establishing the Transparent Communication Maintenance of the transparency in communication is essential for retaining the customers as well as employees. When a customer orders something, it is the responsibility of the employees to keep the entire information including the delivery time. When the customer does not receive the service within the proper time, the employees can resolve the queries by communicating in a significant way. On the other hand, the management needs to focus on motivating the employees and providing them the comfortable atmosphere to work. The establishments of the transparent communication are much helpful in identifying the demands of both the employees and the customers. Development of the Employees Interpersonal Skills The management needs to provide the proper guidance to the employees for improving their interpersonal communication skills. As per the regulations, the customers have the full rights to lodge a complaint against the company if the expected services are not received. Similarly, the employees should not behave rude to the customers in any circumstances. The right body language and polite response would be considerable for retaining the customers and the reputation of the company. References Anitha, J., 2014. Determinants of employee engagement and their impact on employee performance.International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management. Dhar, R.L., 2015. Service quality and the training of employees: The mediating role of organizational commitment.Tourism Management,46, pp.419-430. Dickson, P.R., 2015. The adoption of customer service improvement practices.Marketing Letters,26(1), pp.1-15. Goetsch, D.L. and Davis, S.B., 2014.Quality management for organizational excellence. Upper Saddle River, NJ: pearson. Parmenter, D., 2015.Key performance indicators: developing, implementing, and using winning KPIs. John Wiley Sons. Zohar, D., 2014. Safety climate: Conceptualization, measurement, and improvement.The Oxford handbook of organizational climate and culture, pp.317-334.

Religious Practices and Meaning

Introduction Religious practices and meaning are constructed in relation to other social institutions like economics and politics. From the anthropological perspective, religion may alter economic and political structures or the latter may change religion, as well.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Religious Practices and Meaning specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Relationship between social institutions and religion Religion plays a vital role in political change. Most religions take conservative stances about social matters. Many of these social issues are subject to political change. Consequently religion affects the overall direction that political change follows. For instance, Muslims have always had a conservative stance about women’s place in society. Some feminists in the Middle East have tried to oppose this view by advocating for better protection of women’s rights by the Quran. Strong Islamic believers have responded to these efforts by making religious decrees against such reformers. A number of them have even called for their death (Andreatta Ferraro 364). Therefore, religion and politics are intertwined because sometimes religion stalls major political changes. Muslims have always opposed different political values, as these are viewed as western and foreign. The same thing has taken place in predominantly Catholic states. This church has always taken a conservative stance against major political initiatives like abortion or gay rights (Andreatta Ferraro 149). On the other hand, religion may be a source of revolutionary change within a certain community. This happens when religious leaders take on reformist or revolutionary roles. A case in point was one by the Buddhist priests in Vietnam. A number of them burnt themselves to death in order to protest against the US-led war. This prompted US authorities to reconsider their position in Vietnam, and eventually led to their withdrawal. Another scenario occurred in South American during the 1970s. Catholic followers created a militant version of their faith in order to fight for the rights of the poor and the oppressed. Many of them lost their lives since they clashed with political authorities. Similarly, African American religious leaders have speared political change through mobilization and stimulation of the masses. Martin Luther King Jr. was first a religious leader before he became a political one (Andreatta Ferraro 364). His revolutionary stances led to substantial changes in civil rights movements and the liberation of black people. Furthermore, the Nation of Islam, which was an African American version of Islam, sensitized many blacks about marginalization in the American state.Advertising Looking for essay on religion theology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More These sentiments led to radical civil reforms, albeit through other r eform vehicles. As such, religious institutions have been a platform for political change from time immemorial. They have fought against injustice and inequality, and thus taken on a political dimension. Therefore, religion can alter political environments if members of a certain faith feel threatened. Conversely, social institutions such as economics can also alter religious practices or movements. In this regard, a dramatic change in the economic fate of a particular group may cause a religious revival of the affected group. This stems from the devastation and sense of hopelessness that the changes create. One such example was the case of a Native American group. These individuals were attacked by the Europeans and lost their land in the sixteenth century (Andreatta Ferraro 365). They could no longer carry out their traditional economic practices. Therefore the hunters, traders and warriors in this community lost their only means of survival. Many of them felt dehumanized and def eated. A series of antisocial behavior started developing, such as alcoholism. In response to this disorganization, a prophet emerged known as Handsome Lake. He created a new Native American religious movement that merged old practices with new concepts. For instance, it completely prohibited alcoholism. Furthermore, it embraced the western view of family institutions. The prophet advised men and women to participate in economic activities equally. It also encouraged members of the faith to adopt a series of agricultural practices from the Europeans. As such, an external economic change caused religious changes in the community owing to the devastation that the economic alterations created (Andreatta Ferraro 365). Another illustration of how economics affects religion is through the lives of Indonesians in the 1990s. In the previous decades Indonesians had been economically prosperous, with most of their investments emanating from the central government or foreign investors. Howeve r, in the late nineteen nineties, the economy of the country collapsed. Banks went bankrupt, foreign investors existed and unemployment levels reached massive proportions. As such, most people were disillusioned and extremely stressed. The Muhammadiyah Islamic organization arose in response to this situation. It claimed to be the ultimate solution to Indonesia’s problem (Andreatta Ferraro 365). Its followers were approximately 30 million in number.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Religious Practices and Meaning specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This movement emphasized the importance of getting back to Islam’s moral values. Most Indonesians had abandoned their religious principles during the previous decades of economic prosperity. They were corrupt and cared little about religious teachings. However, in this period of crisis, the teachings of the Islamic organization seemed quite relevant to them, so there was a revival of traditional values. The movement also initiated a number of local economic projects such as job programs, health services and schools. Religious authorities in this group wanted to create some sort of economic independence in order to place economic control in the hands of locals rather than government bodies or foreign investors. Religion and economics are interrelated because failures in economics can lead to religious revivals that intend on fixing the economic problem. When discussing the relationship between religion and politics, one must look at the question of separation of church/ religion from state. The latter has been the subject of controversy in some western nations like the United States. Many citizens argue that religious expression in public institutions ought to be restricted. They also claim that religion should not interfere with public policies. However, other individuals do not share these same sentiments. Conservatives and Republican s tend to vote for people with strong Christian values. A number of them use Christian values in order to guide their policy stances. On the other hand, a certain block of voters also vote for leaders who hold similar religious stances as their own. Consequently, religion affects politics as a social institution because political representatives need to epitomize the overall religious values of majority of the population (Moro Myers 9). Religious nationalism is also another way of looking at the relationship between religion and politics. Many nations of the Middle East merge their political institutions with their faith. In fact, Arabic identity has become synonymous to Islam. Religious nationalism causes members of such nations to abandon ideas about tolerance and democracy as these are seen as contradictory to their principles (Andreatta Ferraro 368). As a matter of fact, many fundamentalist Islamic nations reject the concept of individual freedom. They believe that followers m ust sacrifice their selfish interests in order to propagate the true way. They treat western states as enemies and sources of retrogression in their nations. As a result, most of them have used their foreign policies in order to eliminate western influences from their society. Others have tried to cut ties with western nations in order to preserve their religious principles. Economic concerns have been thrown into this equation. Some western nations, such as the US, have invaded fundamentalist nations in order to fight for freedom and democracy in those nations. However, other analysts believe that the US simply uses this excuse to protect its economic interests in those oil-rich nations. Therefore, religion, which causes these nations to scorn democracy and personal freedom, gives some western nations excuses to invade their land.Advertising Looking for essay on religion theology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More However, economic reasons underlie these invasions. A typical scenario was the September eleventh attacks. It was asserted that the US was conducting a war against terror when it decided to invade Iraq (which may have been partly true). Therefore, a fundamentalist religious act of terror propelled this political decision to go to war with another nation. Nonetheless, because Iraq has oil reserves, the US government may also have intended to secure its own economic interests when entering this nation. Religious stances affected economic and political actions between these two nations. In other circumstances, religious fundamentalists may impede economic and political development. Middle Eastern states initially banned books from western nations in order to protect their citizens from western influence. A number of these countries still censor particular books today. They also control other forms of mass media, such as, television in order to minimize indoctrination of the Islamic peo ple. These radical decisions have placed followers in a cocoon, and condemned them to economic stagnation. Furthermore, since concepts such as democracy are seen as foreign, then political development is also undermined (Andreatta Ferraro 204). Politics and economics are dependent on religion in order to function. Religion helps to make people obedient and responsible. The values taught in many religious institutions promote cooperation and cohesion. They make people perform good deeds and keep their promises. Such values tend to create a very conducive atmosphere for economic activities as trade depends on trust between the exchanging parties. On the other hand, this purpose of religion also strengthens political institutions because religion encourages many people to respect others’ rights. Many people will do as they are expected to without law enforcement because of their knowledge of right and wrong. It would be much harder for politicians to pass certain policies if th ere was no respect for human rights. Religion is a predecessor to proper political laws and regulations. The Ten Commandments are an example of how this interaction occurs. The commandments instruct followers on how they can interact with each other and with God. Most of them restrict the harm of other people through stealing, killing and coveting. If these religious teachings are obeyed, then good relationships will arise and social order will prevail. Because of this, religion plays a political role because it promotes order, which paves the way for political prosperity (Moro Myers 44). A number of economic premises tend to coincide with particular religious stances. Liberal capitalists tend to stay away from religious beliefs. Nations with many liberal capitalists will not consider religious values when making political decisions. Conversely, economic conservatives tend to thrive in countries with highly religious persons. Economic conservatives as well as Christians believe tha t liberalism leads to social degeneracy. They claim that a return to traditional values would protect people from drug abuse, teenage pregnancy, gun violence and family disintegration. Conclusion Economics and politics can transform religion when frustrations arise in these social institutions. Here, religious leaders may become change agents in politics or economics. On the other hand, religious values may undermine economic and political development through views held. Works Cited Andreatta, Susan Gary Ferraro. Cultural anthropology: An applied perspective. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2010. Print. Moro, Pamela James Myers. Magic, witchcraft and religion: a reader in the anthropology of religion. Boston: McGrawhill, 2010. Print. This essay on Religious Practices and Meaning was written and submitted by user Libby Blake to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Interesting Facts About Baryonyx

Interesting Facts About Baryonyx Baryonyx is a relatively recent addition to the dinosaur bestiary, and one that (despite its popularity) is still poorly understood. Here are 10 facts you may or may not have known about Baryonyx. Discovered in 1983 Considering how well-known it is, its remarkable that Baryonyx was excavated only a few decades ago, well after the golden age of dinosaur discovery. This theropods type fossil was discovered in England by the amateur fossil hunter William Walker; the first thing he noticed was a single claw, which pointed the way to a near-complete skeleton buried nearby. Greek for "Heavy Claw" Not surprisingly, Baryonyx (pronounced bah-RYE-oh-nicks) was named in reference to that prominent clawwhich, however, had nothing to do with the prominent claws of another family of carnivorous dinosaurs, the Raptors. Rather than a raptor, Baryonyx was a type of theropod closely related to Spinosaurus and Carcharodontosaurus. Spent Its Day Hunting for Fish The snout of Baryonyx was unlike that of most theropod dinosaurs: long and narrow, with rows of studded teeth. This has led paleontologists to conclude that Baryonyx prowled the edges of lakes and rivers, plucking fish out of the water. (Want more proof? Fossilized remnants of the prehistoric fish Lepidotes have been found in Baryonyxs stomach!) Oversized Claws on Its Thumbs The piscivorous (fish-eating) diet of Baryonyx points to the function of the oversized claws this dinosaur was named after: rather than using these scary-looking appendages to disembowel herbivorous dinosaurs (like its raptor cousins), Baryonyx dipped its longer-than-usual arms in the water and speared passing, wriggling fish. Close Relative of Spinosaurus As mentioned above, the western European Baryonyx was closely related to three African dinosaursSuchomimus, Carcharodontosaurus and the truly enormous Spinosaurusas well as the South American Irritator. All of these theropods were distinguished by their narrow, crocodile-like snouts, though only Spinosaurus sported a sail along its backbone. Remains Have Been Found All Over Europe As so often happens in paleontology, the identification of Baryonyx in 1983 laid the groundwork for future fossil discoveries. Additional specimens of Baryonyx were later unearthed in Spain and Portugal, and this dinosaurs debut prompted the re-examination of a forgotten trove of fossils from England, yielding yet another specimen. Almost Twice as Many Teeth as T. Rex Granted, the teeth of Baryonyx werent nearly as impressive as those of its fellow theropod, Tyrannosaurus Rex. As small as they were, though, Baryonyxs choppers were much more numerous, 64 relatively small teeth embedded in its lower jaw and 32 relatively bigger ones in its upper jaw (compared to about 60 total for T. Rex). Jaws Angled to Keep Prey From Wriggling Free As any fisherman will tell you, catching a trout is the easy part; keeping it from wriggling out of your hands is much harder. Like other fish-eating animals (including some birds and crocodiles), the jaws of Baryonyx were shaped so as to minimize the possibility that its hard-won meal could wriggle out of its mouth and flop back into the water. Lived During the Early Cretaceous Period Baryonyx and its spinosaur cousins shared one important characteristic: They all lived during the early to middle Cretaceous period, about 110 to 100 million years ago, rather than the late Cretaceous, like most other discovered theropod dinosaurs. Its anyones guess as to why these long-snouted dinosaurs didnt survive up until the K/T Extinction event 65 million years ago. May One Day Be Renamed "Suchosaurus" Remember the day when Brontosaurus was suddenly renamed Apatosaurus? That same fate may yet befall Baryonyx. It turns out that an obscure dinosaur named Suchosaurus (crocodile lizard), discovered in the middle 19th century, may actually have been a specimen of Baryonyx; if this is confirmed, the name Suchosaurus would take precedence in the dinosaur record books.

Reflection Paper Religion in Society, A Sociology of Religion

Reflection Paper Religion in Society, A Sociology of Religion Many a times, people raise the question on the origin of religion; in addition, this question has fascinated philosophers as well as scientists throughout the centuries (Johnstone 21). Different religions have different practices of what they believe in and so the question remains; what is the origin of these practices.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Reflection Paper: Religion in Society, A Sociology of Religion specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Where did the notion that God exists come from? Due to these questions, many different answers have been given as a way of satisfying people’s curiosity. From my definition, religion is anything that a person relies on, which has pivotal value, whereby the person discovers indispensable wholeness as both an individual and person in the society. Nevertheless, religion can have numerous definitions particularly based on a person’s experience. The emergence of Chri stianity gives the simplest answer as to where religion came from since it gives the answer that God came up with the idea of religion. Religious teachings, especially Christianity, record that God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh. He created a man, animals, and everything else in the world and while in the Garden of Eden, he instilled rules that he wanted people in the garden to follow. He also revealed his intentions by using prophets to get his message across to the people, and through this process, they recorded his words. In this process, there emerged the creation of religion via revelation. Christianity is not the only religion where there is divine origin; for instance, the founder of Buddhism, Gautama Buddha, stated that he received heavenly inspiration in his search for the truth as he sat under the tree known as bo (Johnstone 23). Therefore, he got his religious practices through revelation. In the Islamic religion, Muhammad reports to obtain vision s in a cave close to Mecca from the angel Gabriel. Looking at all the aforementioned reports, it is easy to see a dominant belief that a certain divine power interceded leading to what we know today as religion. The followers of religious leaders who recorded the supernatural revelations believed it to be true and so there was the emergence of a religious system (Johnstone 23). Therefore, in my opinion, these religious leaders played a key role in developing religious practices that people follow in the world we live in and this trend will continue for many centuries to come. Religion at times comes out as science particularly in an environment where thought and language give people control. There is the use of tools, shelters built, seeds planted, and clothes made to keep the body warm. However, in the past, people could not explain what caused the rain to fall, what caused the sun to rise and even where human beings came from. Different communities had varied explanations for all these and many other questions; nevertheless, the principles continued to be the same.Advertising Looking for essay on religion theology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More According to Taylor, one god was responsible for pulling the sun with his chariot across the sky, while another made the wind to blow and many other explanations (94). Therefore, it is clear that people believed that gods had something to do with creating the universe as well as humanity. For quite a number of years, the analyses made concerning the world made a lot of sense as they could underscore the existing facts. Religion had an explanation for the world and so for the ancestors, science was a religion. At times crops failed, people died, and there was answering of prayers and people could see all these occurrences as gods’ doing. On the other hand, after the passing of many years, philosophers started to understand that gods did not ha ve anything to do with the events that happened, the world simply obeyed the already rules of nature (Royce 36). Apart from social scientists who have tried to explain where religion came from, anthropologists and especially those in the 19th Century, came up with their own version of unraveling the mystery of the origin of religion. In their belief, they have the notion that religion in a way came as a response to the various experience that people underwent in the world they lived (Johnstone 24). People went through mysterious, awesome, and horrifying events such as lighting, thunder, tidal waves, illness, death and many others and so they saw the need to know what caused those happenings, hence religious systems slowly came up. From my perspective, I can see how this aspect led to the emergence of religion for people could not go through such traumatic events and not want to know the causes of the same. This realization explains the thinking of anthropologists such as Max Muller who represented the naturalistic school that put emphasis on the significance of nature’s physical acts like sunrises, storms, and tides. Anthropologist from the past believed that trees, rocks, people, and animals possessed spirits (Johnstone 25). There exist psychological explanations with regard to identifying where religion came from. The explanation focuses on people’s emotional needs. It states that people are more likely to look for maintenance of emotional stability particularly when faced with danger, disruption, and insecurity (Johnstone 27). They try to come up with answers as to why such bad things are happening to them and how they can fight against them in order to overcome, and at this point religion comes in because the rational mind cannot unravel the mysteries surrounding such issues.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Reflection Paper: Religion in Society, A Sociology of Religion specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Therefore, human beings look for divine intervention and look up to God to answer their prayers and show them the way to follow so that they can come out of the predicament they are in and look forward to a brighter future. In the Christian religion, the records hold that God loves everyone and whoever shall seek him will find him and this assurance underscores why God sent his only son so that he could die for the sake of mankind’s sins and relieve them of eternal punishment (Royce 63). This aspect explains why many people who are having challenges think that they have done something wrong, hence the reason why God is punishing them. According to Sigmund Freud who is regarded as the â€Å"father of psychoanalysis†, religion comes entirely from the guilt that people feel after having done something wrong (Johnstone 28). Consequently, in his perspective, religion by definition is a mechanism that gives people room to sublimate most of the prim itive instincts that they have, but society usually represses. Looking at the sociological views that explain where religion came from, we go over the various explanations by diverse sociologists like Durkheim, Georg Simmel, Emile Durkheim, and Guy Swanson. According to Georg Simmel, faith has to exist in religion just as it is imperative in other human relationships. Religious faith to a supreme being is crucial in our everyday today life (Johnstone 30). I agree with this assertion because, if people do not have faith in a supreme being, they are bound to lose hope in life especially when faced with seemingly insurmountable calamities. Having religious faith helps people to be in a position to believe even when one cannot see the Supreme Being and have trust that everything will work out favorably. Despite the fact that the origins of religion for sure are not clear, speculation as well as research has however been successful. From chapter 2, it is clear that even though there are different suggestions as to where religion came from, it is clear that religion started a long time ago and it was build as a way of helping people to stay on the right path coupled with understanding some of the mysterious events that happen. In my view, the psychological explanations stand out as I also believe and uphold the practices highlighted here. In most cases, people are going through challenging occurrences that they look for divine intervention to help them to sort out their issues. People have the belief that God helps people who help themselves, but I believe there are areas where people are unable to help themselves and so God has to intervene, and this area highlights the need for prayers, as they underscore the popular way of requesting assistance from God. In addition to the aforementioned information, religion is also a way to enforce morality. People’s thinking capacity developed and so did their ego. Property and ego result to conflict and this explains w hy people kill each other in order to defend what is theirs. Uncontrolled egos on the other hand make people vulnerable and both of these aspects give way to moral decay. Therefore, religion came in as a way of underpinning morality.Advertising Looking for essay on religion theology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Consequently, communities came up with moral codes, which are rules regarding life, sexual activities, as well as property. This aspect greatly helps people to put their behaviors in check. Different communities had different rules; however, there were some that remained the same; for example, do not steal, do not kill or do not commit adultery. Nevertheless, people are weak; therefore, the probability of breaking their own moral code is very high and so a strong community has to be present to ensure morality is enforced. The strongest moral code however emanates from a supreme being because he lives forever and sees everything and has power over life and death; therefore, he commands the greatest respect. Identifying religion with morality has been happening for thousands of years such that many people believe there is no difference between the two. Religion in my opinion also came as a way of making communities to be united. This move was extremely necessary particularly in a prim itive world. Nevertheless, there was a time that religion turned to be very violent especially after the Islamic expansion almost 1400 years ago. There was no unification of communities especially in the 21st century and every religion blamed other religions for the violence (Royce 118). Overall, religion from my perspective was a good thing to emerge as it definitely acted as guidance for all human beings across the world. Otherwise, without religion, people would be acting in any manner that pleases themselves oblivious or ignorant of the consequences. Being able to answer to a supreme being makes people to become humble and aware that there are grave repercussions to any evil deed they engage in (Taylor 123). From the chapter, it is clear that religion serves the purpose of giving people answers to concerns and questions over destiny, purpose, and mystery coupled with offering support and comfort in times of bereavement, danger, and death among other eventualities. Religion is al so important, as it is real unlike in magic where there is a creation of illusions and people get false hope. Religion offers a safe haven for people who are in need of help and particularly divine intervention. From reading chapter 2, it is evident where religion came from irrespective of whether it is a theory or from scientific evidence. All the information given allows us to realize that religion has come a long way to reach where it is today. It also makes us to realize the vital role played by religious leaders from the past who made it possible for people to believe in a supreme being and thus uphold to the rules and practices of religion that help in instilling morality amongst people. Johnstone, Ronald. Religion in Society, A Sociology of Religion. 8th ed. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 2007. Print. Taylor, Justin. Where did Christianity come from? Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 2001. Print. Royce, Josiah. Sources of religious insight 1912. New York: Kessinger Publishing, 2003. Print.

Undertake an investigative project in the animal management sector Assignment

Undertake an investigative project in the animal management sector - Assignment Example turn, offer support to the industry either through legislative procedures or by creating the appropriate environment to promote such performances (Bradley 144) However, there is a touch to this entertainment industry that has drawn the attention of rights activists all over the world and that is the use of animals in entertainment. Animals have been used by humans to perform various roles since historical times. In fact, in most mythical renditions or oral narrations, man has been mentioned to have domesticated animals from time immemorial. One of the animals is the dog. A dog is an animal that is considered man’s best friend. Over the years, the dog has been used by man for various activities including security as well as to run errands. This has been in exchange for accommodation and food. This is not to mean that left on its own, a dog would never take care of itself. Humans are conscious animals. The ability of man to have a subconscious mind sets him apart from the other animals. In domesticating these animals, the concern is usually on their welfare. This has given rise to animal rights lobby groups whose concerns are how people relate to animals in their quest for pets, social creatures, and entertainment (Webster 56). Therefore, any form of mistreatment on the animals is usually dealt with throu gh the legal stipulations in the law. From early history, man has always used animals to offer entertainment. For instance, dog races in America dates back to the seventieth century. However, as humans increase in number, the forms of entertainment and creativity have also evolved in tandem. Modern day entertainment involving animals like dogs is christened a circus. This is a type of entertainment in which both people and animals are brought to a stage and made to perform stunts that are not commonly witnessed. The audience in attendance usually pays money to attend such shows or witness the performances (Michael 99). As the games grew in popularity, so did

Developing the Artisan Teacher Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Developing the Artisan Teacher - Essay Example One of the responsibilities of a school administrator is to provide support to the school. Therefore, one should be familiar with the school resources so that he can quickly provide support to both teachers and students. Administrators also plans, manages finance and are always the first face of the school to a new visitor. He should, therefore, be kind, humble, honest, trustworthy and one that is willing to go the extra mile for others. A teacher is a very instrumental person in a student’s life. His teachings are embedded in the students’ mind. Therefore, every teacher should ensure he promotes values, skills and talents in his pupils’. A teacher who has a one on one time with his student is likely to be more influential and impactful than the one who does not have such time. He can also quickly identify each student’s strength, weaknesses, and talents. For maximum coordination and impact, a class should have a few students. Teachers are unable to manage relatively large classes and thus have a poor result and performance. Quality education is as a result of a well-analyzed topic and a teacher’s ability to share the knowledge in a manner that the students will understand best. However, each teacher has a unique way of teaching. Different approaches may bring optimal results depending on the environment, the students and the situation at hand (Tuck, 2012). A teacher has the mandate to identify skills amongst his student. He should create an environment and tasks that propel the students to bring out their natural skills (Olszewski & Thomson, 2015). The teacher should then attentively and deliberately watch the students as they engage in the different activities so that he can be able to identify what every student is gifted at. Then, he can create more opportunities for each child to develop in the area that they are good at (Ornstein, 2015). An external person listens to a teacher teaching and picks his key strengths

Explain the principle psychological perspective Essay Example for Free

Explain the principle psychological perspective Essay Behaviourist A perspective means a way of seeing things. Behaviourist is the first approach in this criterion. Behaviourist is the study of human minds, they study behaviour. The behaviourist sees the brain as a black box, this is because as they study animals it is easy to experiment, and they think that humans and animals are similar. The behaviourist wanted to become scientist, which is why they carried out the experiment. Although JB Watson (1887) was the founder of this theorist he studied the work of Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936). Pavlov did an experiment once on a dog. The dog salivated every time Pavlov came to the lab with the food. The dog then started associating the time, the bell and the brown coat. This kind of association is called classic conditioning. JB Watson also once experimented on a little boy called Albert. JB Watson taught Albert to have fear of the rats. Albert had a white fluffy rabbit. One day a white rat came pass Albert, but Albert did not seem to be frightened. JB Watson stood behind Albert’s back with metals. Every time the rat went pass JB banged the metals and Albert was startled, JB did this couple of times until Albert was scared of the rat, however Albert was not only scared of the white rat, it was also scared of his white fluffy rabbit as them to animals has the same colour. BF Skinner was also another behaviourist theorist, he did an experiment on a rat in a cage, he put some food on the food pallet for the rat, the rat accidently put its foot on the lever and food cam e out. So the rat did this few time and knew that if the rat puts the foot on the lever food would come out, this type of experiment was positive reinforcement. On the opposite Skinner experimented on the negative reinforcement. Skinner investigated this by giving the rat a small electric shock whenever it pressed the lever. The consequence of lever pressing was experienced as unpleasant, so the rat learnt to stop pressing the lever. Psycho dynamic Freud ( 1856-1939) and Erikson(1902-194) are two men who came up with the psycho dynamic theory. Freud said that we humans are like animals driven by basic biological natures. He came up with the psyche idea. He said that the psyche idea had three stages, ID means the basic animal instinct, for example, eating sleeping and reproducing, SUPER EGO means morality and EGO means reality and logic. It is said that Freud was the earliest thinkers to bring public attention the idea that us humans are not always aware of some aspects in our lives. He believed that we lock up memories that we do not want to remember or feeling that we do not want to expose somewhere in our brains. He referred consciousness to a tip of an iceberg. He referred pre consciousness at the middle of the ice berg and he also referred unconsciousness as at the bottom of the iceberg. He also came up with defence mechanisms. He knew that when people do not want to remember things, they want to deny it. This mechanism has five stages. Denial is when a person reject the thought or feeling, repression is when we push down the bad memories to the unconsciousness however it could leak at some points. Projection is when a person pushes the social unacceptable thoughts or feelings to someone else. Rationalisation means making excuses and lastly sublimation is putting all the energies onto something else. Freud also came up with the early experience; he came up with this idea which has five stages. Oral means mouth, anal means anus, phallic is a Latin word for penis, latent which means resting and genital which means private parts. Erikson agrees with Freud however he thought that this continues throughout our life time and were essentially social in nature. Social Learning Theory The theorist of social learning theory is bandura. He is said to be sympathetic towards behaviourist. Although bandura does not criticize, he tells the behaviourist to build up to it. Bandura agrees with the positive reinforcement. Albert bandura said that leaning takes place in social situations, such as in the family or with friends and other people. How Skinner came up with positive reinforcement, Albert came up with vicarious reinforcement, this means when people observe and get affected. For example, Barbara is good to her mother and the father praises her, her sister is observing it but she gets affected by how she is getting treated by her parents, Barbara’s sister was vicariously reinforced. The other idea bandura came up with was role model and modelling. The people we learn from are our role model but the process of imitating the person is called modelling. Modelling has five stages, attention, which is when a person is attracted to a celebrity or a person they reall y like. Retention is when the person is keeping the likeness inside them, reproduction is when he person copies the behaviour, motivation is when the person is tempted to do what the celebrity does and lastly self efficacy is when the person is confident in one area. It is said that we do not imitate all behaviour we observe and remember. Humanistic This approach has been found by two theorist called Carl Rogers (1902-1987) and Abraham Maslow. Carl Rogers (1902-1087) theory is based on clinic and it is also based on the years he has been dealing with different clients with different problems. Rogers sees people as good and he thinks that â€Å"good mental health is a natural progression of human development†. This quote shows that he is stating that human being instinctively know what is bad and what is not. Rogers came up with an idea of an actualisation theory. This is the natural motivation that every human being has. For example, we as human beings try to do very risky things, such as flying to the moon. Some of our hobbies is to create music and paint pictures, we do all because we want to be the best we can, achieve and become successful in the future. He also came up with the idea of unconditional positive regard; he said that this is when people like you, because of who you are regardless of your performances and conformity. The opposite of this is conditional positive regard, which simply explains when someone likes you if their expectations are fulfilled. In other words, Rogers believed that some of the people feel wanted and belonged when they fulfilled other people’s expectations and that is when they develop conditional self regard. Cognitive Approach Cognitive approach is found by three theorist, Jean Piaget, Kelly and beck/Ellis. With the invention of computers and other aids brain activities was like the operation of a computer. Loads of researches have been devoted to understand the process of cognitive, such as attention, memory information processing and problem solving. Jean Piaget came up with an idea related to how people develop throughout their lives. He came to a conclusion that cognition develops through a series of stages. There are four stages that Piaget has mentioned in the theory. The first stage is called the sensory motor, it means that babies from 0 to 2 are experiencing through motor and the sense. stage 2 is the pre operational, this is when children from 2 to 7 develop languages along with the memory, stage 3 is the concrete operational which means that the child can now understand conservations but cannot solve problems yet. The last stage is the formal stage, this is when the children can abstract thought s and present problems of their own and other people. Biological Approach The theorist of this theory is called Arnold Gessel (1880-1961), Gessel came up with the idea is that people are born with a set of genes and the genes carries different personalities, so the theorist is stating that behaviour does not to do with environment and what can of people you socialise with but it is to do with the genes the person is born with. This is quite different to the humanistic approach where the effectiveness of nurture is paramount. Gessel believes that as the baby is being formed in the womb of the mother, for example, the heart being first to form. As the child develops the genes allows to flower over the person. The theorist came up with the genetic influences on behaviour idea. He thinks that genes effect behaviour in many ways, some illnesses such as Huntingdons disease is caused by the genes caused by the parents genes or the genes from the family. This disorder will change the person’s behaviour, for example, they will speak in appropriately and they will become aggressive.

Comparing the Novel and Film Versions of Elizabeth Bowen’s The Heat of the Day :: Comparison Compare Contrast Essays

Comparing the Novel and Film Versions of Elizabeth Bowen’s The Heat of the Day When reading Elizabeth Bowen’s 1949 novel, The Heat of the Day, and then, viewing the movie by the same title, large and small differences are noted. These differences are enough to make both the reading and the viewing interesting and not a boring duplication. When comparing the opening sequences, the differences are striking. Bowen’s story begins with the interaction between the mysterious Harrison and the determined woman, Louie, in Regent’s Park; the screenwriter’s version establishes all the characters and places the stories events into a chronological order that changes the impact of the scene. By discussing the opening scenes in each media it becomes apparent that Elizabeth Bowen has more faith in her audience than the screenwriter has in his. Bowen assumes that the reader is capable of comprehending the introductory scenes when written from the view of the ‘mind’s eye’. The screenwriter lacks confidence in his viewer and finds it necessary to lose the cloak and dagger impact in order to make sure the story is understood. Elizabeth Bowen’s writing is very descriptive. She takes great pains to ensure that her reader â€Å"sees† the environment in which her characters dwell as well as having a clear picture of the personalities and characteristics of each individual. In Chapter One’s opening two sentences, Bowen perfectly paints a portrait of autumn in London’s Regent’s Park. The reader’s mind easily drifts into an autumn mood and remembers fond times of his life when the leaves gently floated down from trees overhead attempting to cover the earth in a riot of color. As Chapter One continues, Bowen establishes her venue in the park describing the open-air theatre with its walled thickets and tall trees, musicians performing the music of waltzes, marches and overtures, and the varying nationalities of people in attendance, not just the English but visitors too. It is at this point that the reader first discovers the comic elements that will be hidden throughout within the perplexing story. Bowen writes, â€Å"mothers tired of being mothers forgot their children as their children forgot them – one held her baby as though it had been a doll† and then goes on to say, â€Å"these were the English† (4-5). Here is the dry tongue-in-cheek British humor that brings a quiet giggle to the surface or a smile to the face.

Agency conflicts

The genius of public corporations teems from their capacity to allow efficient sharing or spreading of risk among many investors, who appoint a professional manager run the company on the behalf of shareholders. However, the public corporation has a key weakness – namely, the conflicts of Interest between managers and shareholders. The separation of the company ownership and control, which Is especially prevalent where corporate ownership Is highly diffused, gives rise to possible conflicts between shareholders and managers.In theory, shareholders elect the board of directors of the company, which in turn ire's managers to run the company for the Interests of shareholders. Managers are supposed to be agents working for their principals, that Is, shareholders, who are the real owners of the company. In a public company with diffused ownership, the board of directors is entrusted with the vital tasks of monitoring the management and safeguarding the interests of shareholders. Un fortunately, with diffused ownership, few shareholders have strong enough incentive to incur the costs of monitoring management themselves when the benefits from such monitoring accrue to all shareholders alike. The benefits are shared, but not the costs. When company ownership is highly diffused, this â€Å"free-rider† problem discourages shareholder activism. As a result, the interests of managers and shareholders are often allowed to diverge. With an ineffective and unmotivated board of directors, shareholders are basically left without effective recourse to control managerial self-dealings.Recognition of this key weakness of the public corporation can be traced at least as far back as to Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations (1 776), which stated: The directors of such Joint-stocks companies, however, being the managers rather of other people's money than of their own, it cannot well be the partners of a private cooperator frequently watch over their own†¦. Negligence and p rofusion, therefore, must always prevail, more or less, in the management of the affairs of such a company.Agency theory in a formal sense originated in the early asses, but the concepts behind it have a long and varied history. Among the influences are property-rights theories, organization economics, contract law, and political philosophy, including the works of Locke and Hobbes. Some noteworthy scholars involved in agency theory's roommate period in the asses included Airmen Lucian, Harold Demesne, S. A. Ross and the famous paper â€Å"Theory of the Firm: Managerial Behavior, Agency Costs, and Ownership Structure. † of Michael Jensen and William Neckline.In an ideal situation the manager (or entrepreneur) and the investors sign a contract that specifies how the manager will use the funds and also how the investment returns will be divided between the manager and the investors. If the two sides can write a complete contract that specifies exactly what the manager will do un der each of all possible future unforeseen events, there will be no room for any inflicts of interest or managerial discretion. Thus, under a complete contract, there will be no agency problem. However, it is practically impossible to foresee all future contingencies and write a complete contract.This means that the manager and the investors will have to set up the control rights to make decisions under those contingencies that are not specifically covered by the contract. Because the outside investors may be neither qualified nor interested in making business decisions, or if there will be too many of investors, the manager often ends up acquiring most of this residual control right. The investors supply funds to the company but are not involved in the company's daily decision making. As a result, many public companies come to have â€Å"strong managers and weak shareholders. The agency problem refers to the possible conflicts of interest between self – interested managers as agents and shareholders of the firm, who are the principals. In the described circumstances the manager will end up with residual control rights to allocate investors' funds, and sometimes the disclosure of investment channels may not be clear and full. So the investors are not longer assured of achieving fair returns on their funds, in other words the agency problem lies in a loss of trust for the manager by the shareholders of the company.In the following paper examples of the agency problem, proposed ways of solving and controlling methods and their analysis will be presented and discussed. Chapter 1 . Prerequisites of the agency problem and different approaches to solving it 1. 1 . How we detect an agency problem Agency theory suggests that the firm can be viewed as a combination of different relationships – some of them well and others can be loosely defined – between resource holders. The primary agency relationship in business is between stockholders and mana gers.The relationships are not necessarily harmonious; indeed, the agency theory is concerned with so-called agency conflicts, or conflicts of interest between agents and principals. This has implications for, among other things, corporate governance and business ethics. When the agency problem occurs sustain an effective agency relationship, those will be discussed a bit later. So what can be signals for managerial self-interested behavior? Sometimes, the manager simply steals investors' funds.Alternatively, the manager may use a more pesticides scheme, setting up an independent company that he owns and diverting to it the main company's cash and assets through transfer pricing. For example, the manager can sell the main company's output to the company he owns at below market prices, or buy the output of the company he owns at above market prices. Some oil companies are known to sell oil to manager-owned trading companies at below market prices and not always bother to collect the bills.Self- interested managers may also waste funds by undertaking unprofitable projects that benefit themselves but not investors. For example, managers may allocate funds the ay to take over other companies and overpay for the targets if it serves their private interests. Needless to say, this type of investment will destroy shareholders' value. What is more, the same managers may take anti-takeover measures for their own company in order to secure their personal Job and perpetuate private benefits.In the same vein, managers may resist any attempts to be replaced even if shareholders' interests will be better served by their resignation. These managerial entrenchment efforts are clear signs of the agency problem. One of the clearest signals for the existence of the agency problem can be management of free cash-flow. High level of free cash-flows are usually presented in companies on a maturity stage of life cycle, with a low level of growth, so those free cash?flows are supposed to be distributed as dividends or should be invested in some projects, both of the actions can probably increase the firm's value.But there are a few important incentives for managers to retain cash flows. First, cash reserves provide corporate managers with a measure of independence from the capital markets, insulating them from external scrutiny and discipline. This will make life easier for managers. Second, growing the size of the company via retention of cash tends to have the effect of raising managerial compensation. As is well known, executive compensation depends as much on the size of the company as on its profitability, if not more.Third, senior executives can boost their social and political power and prestige by increasing the size of their company. Executives presiding over large companies are likely to enjoy greater social prominence and visibility than those running small companies. Also, the company's size itself can be a way of satisfying the executive ego. Consequ ently, managers of those companies either sit n a huge bunch of money, or bound to invest in a lot of not so successful projects or to take over some other firms in attempt to diversify and not to pay dividends or at least too high dividends.In the contrast in high-growth industries, such as biotechnology, financial services, and pharmaceuticals, where companies internally generate funds, which fall short of profitable investment opportunities, managers are less likely to waste funds in unprofitable projects. After all, managers in these industries need to have a â€Å"good reputation†, as they must repeatedly come back to capital markets for funding. Once the managers of a company are known for wasting funds for private benefits, external funding for the company may dry up quickly.The managers in these industries thus have an incentive to serve the interests of outside undertaking their â€Å"good† investment projects. Generally, the heart of the agency problem is the conflicts of interest between managers and the outside investors over the disposition of free cash-flows, so in the following part I would like to present different approaches on how owners of the firm can hedge and maintain managers of the firm to lower the risk of agency problem ND, subsequently, agency costs. 1. 2.Remedies of agency problem Obviously, it is a matter of vital importance for shareholders to control the agency problem; otherwise, they may not be able to get their money back. It is also important for society as a whole to solve the agency problem, since the agency problem leads to waste of scarce resources, hampers capital market functions, and retards economic growth. Several main governance mechanisms exist to manage or completely remove an agency problem: 1. Board of directors 2. Incentive contracts 3. Concentrated ownership 4. Debt 5.Overseas stock listings 6. Market for corporate control (takeovers) In most of the countries, shareholders have the right to elect the board of directors, which is legally charged with representing the interests of shareholders. If the board of directors remains independent of management, it can serve as an effective mechanism for curbing the agency problem. For example, studies showed that the appointment of outside directors is associated with a higher turnover rate of Coos following poor firm performances, thus curbing managerial entrenchment.In the same vein, in a study of corporate governance in the United Kingdom, Daddy and McConnell report that the board of directors is more likely to appoint an outside CEO after an increase in outsiders' representation on the board. But due to the diffused ownership structure of the public company, management often gets to choose board members who are likely to be friendly to management. The structure and legal charge of corporate boards vary greatly across countries.In Germany, for instance, the corporate board is not legally charged with representing the interests of shareholders. Rather, it is charged with looking after the interests of stakeholders (e. G. , workers, creditors, etc. ) in general, not Just hardliners. In Germany, there are two-tier boards consisting of supervisory and management boards. Based on the German extermination system, the law requires that workers be represented on the supervisory board. Likewise, some U. S. Companies have labor union representatives on their boards, although it is not legally mandated.In the United Kingdom, the majority of public companies voluntarily abide by the Code of Best Practice on corporate governance recommended by the Catbird Committee. The code recommends that there should be at least three outside directors and that the board chairman and the CEO should be different individuals in USA there are a lot of examples of CEO and chairman being the same individual, what is in author's opinion, can be one of the most crucial factors of top-managerial frauds).Apart from outside directors, separati on of the chairman and CEO positions can further enhance the independence of the board of directors. In Japan, most welfare of the keiretsu to which the company belongs. As previously discussed, managers capture residual control rights and thus have enormous discretion over how to run the company. But they own relatively little of the equity of the company they manage. To the extent that managers do not own equity shares, they do not have cash flow rights.Although managers run the company at their own discretion, they may not significantly benefit from the profit generated from their efforts and expertise. In the end of sees researches showed that the pay of American executives changes only by about $3 per every $1,000 change of shareholder wealth; executive pay is nearly insensitive to changes in shareholder wealth. This situation implies that managers may not be very interested in the minimization of shareholder wealth. This â€Å"gap† between managerial control rights and cash flow rights may enlarge the agency problem.When professional managers have small equity positions of their own in a company with diffused ownership, they have both power and a motive to engage in self-dealings. Aware of this situation, many companies provide managers with incentive contracts, such as stocks and stock options, in order to reduce this gap and align better the interests of managers with investors'. With the grant of stocks or stock options, managers can be given an incentive to run the company in such a way that enhances shareholder wealth as well as their own.Against this backdrop, incentive contracts for senior executives have become common among public companies in the United States. As will be shown in the second chapter of the paper, however, senior executives can abuse incentive contracts by artificially manipulating accounting numbers, sometimes with the connivance of auditors (for example, Arthur Andersen's involvement's with the Enron debacle), or by alte ring investment policies so that they can reap enormous personal benefits.It is thus important for the board of directors to set up an independent compensation committee that can carefully design incentive contracts for executives and regularly monitor their actions, and these incentives contracts should be composed in accordance to the characteristics of firm's operational activity, as will be demonstrated in the third part of the chapter. An effective way to mitigate an agency problem is to concentrate shareholdings. If one or a few large investors own significant portions of the company, they will have a strong incentive to monitor management.For example, if an investor owns 51 percent of the company, he or she can definitely control the management (he can easily hire or fire managers) and will make sure that shareholders' rights are respected in the conduct of the company's affairs. With concentrated ownership and high stakes, the free-rider problem afflicting small, atomistic s hareholders dissipates. In the United States and the United Kingdom, concentrated ownership of a public company is relatively rare. Elsewhere in the world, however, concentrated ownership is regularly implemented.In Germany, for example, commercial banks, insurance and other companies, even families often own significant blocks of company stock. Similarly, extensive cross-holdings of equities among keiretsu member companies and main banks are commonplace in Japan. Also in France, cross-holdings and â€Å"core† investors are common. In Asia and Latin America, many companies are controlled by founders or their family members. In China, the government is often the controlling ownership has a positive effect on a company's performance and value, examples of Japan and Germany.This suggests that large shareholders indeed play a significant governance role. Of particular interest here is the effect of managerial equity holdings. Previous studies suggest that there can be a nonlinear relationship between managerial ownership share and firm value and performance. Specifically, as the managerial ownership share increases, firm value may initially increase, since he interests of managers and outside investors become better aligned (thus reducing agency costs).But if the managerial ownership share exceeds a certain point, firm value may actually start to decline as managers become more entrenched. With larger shareholdings, for example, managers may be able to more effectively resist takeover bids and extract larger private benefits at the expense of outside investors. If the managerial ownership share continues to rise, however, the alignment effect may become dominant again. When managers are large shareholders, they do not want to rob themselves. To summarize, there can be an interim range† of managerial ownership share over which the entrenchment effect is dominant.Studies showed (Merck, Shellfire, and Vishnu) that the â€Å"entrenchment effect† is roughly dominant over the range of managerial ownership between 5 percent and 25 percent, whereas the â€Å"alignment effect† is dominant for the ownership shares less than 5 percent and exceeding 25 percent. A relationship between managerial ownership and firm value is likely to vary across countries. Although managers have discretion over how much of a dividend to pay to shareholders, debt does not allow such managerial discretion.If managers fail to pay interest and principal to creditors, the company can be forced into bankruptcy and its managers may lose their Jobs. Borrowing and the subsequent obligation to make interest payments on time can have a major disciplinary effect on managers, motivating them to curb private perks and wasteful investments and trim bloated organizations. In fact, debt can serve as a substitute for dividends by forcing managers to disgorge free cash flow to outside investors rather than wasting it.For firms with free cash flows, debt can be a s tronger mechanism than stocks for credibly bonding managers to release cash flows to investors. Excessive debt, however, can create its own problem. In turbulent economic conditions, equities can buffer the company against adversity. Managers can pare down or skip dividend payments until the situation improves. With debt, however, managers do not have such flexibility and the company's survival can be threatened. Excessive debt may also induce the risk-averse managers to forgo profitable but risky investment projects, causing an underinvestment problem.For this reason, debt may not be such a desirable governance mechanism for young companies with few cash reserves or tangible assets. In addition, companies can misuse debt to finance corporate empire building. Companies domiciled in countries with weak investor protection, such as Italy, Korea, and Russia, can bond themselves credibly to better investor protection by listing their stocks in countries with strong investor protection, such as the United States and the United Kingdom.In other words, foreign firms with weak governance mechanisms can opt to outsource a superior corporate governance regime available decision to list its stock on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Since the level of shareholder protection afforded by the U. S. Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) and the NYSE is much higher than that provided in Italy, the action will be interpreted as signaling the company's commitment to shareholder rights. Then, investors both in Italy and abroad will be more willing to provide capital to the company and value the company shares more.Generally speaking, the beneficial effects from U. S. Listings will be greater for firms from countries with weaker governance mechanisms. Studies confirm the effects of cross-border listings. Specifically, Dodge, Karol, and Stall (2002) report that foreign firms listed in the United States are valued more Han those from the same countries that are not listed in the U nited States. They argue that firms listed in the United States can take better advantage of growth opportunities and that controlling shareholders cannot extract as many private benefits.It is pointed out, however, that foreign firms in mature industries with limited growth opportunities are not very likely to seek U. S. Listings, even though these firms face more serious agency problems than firms with growth opportunities that are more likely to seek U. S. Listings. In other words, firms with more serious problems are less likely to seek the remedies. Suppose a company continually performs poorly and all of its internal governance mechanisms fail to correct the problem. This situation may prompt an outsider (another company or investor) to mount a takeover bid.In a hostile takeover attempt, the bidder typically makes a tender offer to the target shareholders at a price substantially exceeding the prevailing share price. The target shareholders thus have an opportunity to sell the ir shares at a substantial premium. If the bid is successful, the bidder will acquire the control rights of the target and restructure the company. Following a successful takeover, the bidder often replaces the management team, divests some assets or divisions, and trims employment in effort to enhance efficiency.If these efforts are successful, the combined market value of the acquirer and target companies will become higher than the sum of stand-alone values of the two companies, reflecting the synergies created. The market for corporate control, if it exists, can have a disciplinary effect on managers and enhance company efficiency. In the United States and the United Kingdom, hostile takeovers can serve as a rustic governance mechanism of the last resort. Under the potential threat of takeover, managers cannot take their control of the company for granted. In many other countries, however, hostile takeovers are quite rare.This is so partly because of concentrated ownership in th ese countries and partly because of cultural values and political environments disapproving hostile corporate takeovers. But even in these countries, the incidence of corporate takeovers has been gradually increasing. This can be due, in part, to the spreading of equity culture and the opening and deregulation of capital markets. In Germany, for instance, takeovers are carried out through transfer of block holdings. In Japan, as in Germany, inter firm cross-holdings of equities are loosening, creating capital market conditions that are more conducive to takeover activities.To the extent that companies with poor investment opportunities and excess cash initiate takeovers, it is a symptom, rather than a cure, 1. 3. Different approach for different types of companies In the Journal of Financial and Strategic Decisions Robert L. Lippies wrote an article named â€Å"Agency conflicts, managerial compensation and firm variance†, where e described different situations where one type of managerial compensation would be more effective than others as a solution for an agency problem.The recent literature on agency conflicts between managers and shareholders is characterized by studies that test whether the implementation of incentive compensation schemes mitigate the manager-shareholder conflict. While these studies present evidence that incentives do influence managerial decision-making, no dominant class of incentives has been found. This finding is consistent with evidence that suggests firms must compensate according to their particular characteristics.The article of Robert Lippies will consider incentive compensation in relation to the manager's ability to increase the risk of future cash flows. In this context the relationship between compensation, risk taking, and managerial behavior can be evaluated. I would like to introduce some of his findings with short arguments. 1. Managers who receive a large portion of their total compensation in fixed wages will m ake efforts to reduce the variance of future cash flows. 2. Managers who receive a large portion of their total compensation in the form of fixed wages will have interests aligned to those of bondholders.Both wage and bond payoffs are negatively affected by increased dispersion because any values beyond these fixed claims are of no concern. This result implies that the interests of the manager and the bondholder become increasingly aligned as the manager's fixed wage increases. In the case of the pure fixed wage earner or pure bondholder, minimizing variance increases expected utility. Specifically, in this scenario, bondholders and wage earners have interests that are naturally aligned, and that is in direct conflict with the manager's role as an agent for the shareholders.The manager should consider bondholders interests to the extent that they impact the value of the firm but there should not be a direct alignment of interest between the manager and bondholders because this would violate the agency agreement between the shareholders and the manager and ultimately lower the value of common equity. Thus, the incentive compensation scheme must encourage the fulfillment of the principal-agent relationship. 3. Managers who receive a large portion of their total compensation in equity-related securities will make efforts to increase the variance of future cash flows. Managers who receive a large portion of their total compensation in equity-related securities will have interests aligned to those of shareholders. If the manager has significant control over the dispersion of firm values, the compensation scheme should reflect this fact by providing a lower fixed wage and more equity-related rewards. Of course, when the firm compensate its manager by equity-related reward, there is always a threat that the manager will manipulate with a price of shares, those manipulations may harm the real market value of the firm and may even lead to the firm's edge.If, however, t he manager has little control over the dispersion, a different type of remuneration package should be developed which limits the manager's exposure to risk which is beyond his control. 5. Managers of earning high wages will choose to hold larger amounts of the firm's equity-related securities. Assuming that a manager receives a wage, in case of high level of variance the manager should hold enough stock to offset any potential loss in wages.For example, if a firm is subject to large dispersions in value over which the manager has no control, the manager could hedge against a possible loss in wages by holding an mount of stock proportional to his wage claim. This wealth allocation would allow him to offset his potential loss of wages with potential capital gains. 6. Managers of stable firms who have little control over the dispersion of future cash flows and who earn high wages should receive fewer equity-related rewards from the firm.Clearly, if a manager has a little control over a firm's cash-flows, there is no need to connect his reward to the particular indexes of the firm, but as far as the firm is stable and has a lot of cash, it can allow high wage for its manager, what in turn is expected to be fair reward for the manger to prevent him from wrong-doings. 7. Firms which provide their managers with the ability to increase the dispersion of future cash flows should include more equity related rewards in the manager's compensation system. 8.The existence of compensation in the form of stock options lowers the incentive of managers to expropriate wealth from shareholders and increases the incentive to expropriate wealth from bondholders. While prior research has focused on managerial compensation and its motivational qualities; this model suggests that firm-specific characteristics relating o the propensity for firm variance and the degree of control that the manager has over this variance should be the fundamental determinants of managerial reward.In the s econd chapter of my paper various examples of agency problem will be presented, also how different aforementioned solutions were implemented for these examples will be analyzed and discussed. Chapter 2. Practical examples of agency problem's solution 2. 1. Good intentions usually backfire Executive loans. In the asses and early asses, loans by companies to executives with low interest rates and â€Å"forgiveness† often served as a form of compensation. Before ewe loans were banned in 2002, more than 30 percent of the 1500 largest US firms disclosed cash loans to executives in their regulatory filings, sum totaled $4. Billion, with the average loan being about $11 million. Half of these companies, charged no interest on executive loans, and half charged below market rates, and in either case the loans were often â€Å"forgiven†. An estimated $1 billion of the loans extended before 2002 (when they were banned) will eventually be forgiven, either while the executives are still at their companies or when they leave. For executives in companies that went bankrupt during the informational genealogy bubble collapse (when in the most of cases value of Internet-based or oriented companies could have been created by adding e- in front of their names or . Mom after), when investors lost of billions of dollars, this was very useful. According to the Financial Times, executives at the 25 largest US public firms that went bankrupt between January 2001 and August 2001 sold almost $3 billion worth of their companies' stock during that time and two preceding years as the collective shares fell by at least 75 percent, 25 had executives sell a total of â€Å"$23 billion before their stocks plummeted†.Large loans to executives were involved in more than a couple of these companies, one of the most notable being World. World loaned (directly or indirectly) hundreds of millions of dollars?approximately 20 percent of the cash on the firm's balance sheet?to its C EO Bernard Beers to help him pay off margin debt in his personal brokerage account. The loans were both unsecured and about half the normal interest rate a brokerage firm would have charged.World filed for bankruptcy a few months after the last loans were made. As a reaction to these scandals and clear frauds by top-management of huge impasses, the Serbians-Solely Act was passed in mid-2002 to improve financial disclosures from corporations and prevent accounting fraud, but also involved executive compensation. It banned loans by companies to directors and executives, also included the return of executive stock sale profit if overstating earnings will be revealed.Enron's compensation and performance management system was designed to retain and reward its most valuable employees, the system contributed to a dysfunctional corporate culture that became obsessed with short-term earnings to maximize bonuses. Employees constantly tried to start deals, often disregarding the laity of cash flow or profits, in order to get a better rating for their performance review, such actions helped ensure deal-makers and executives received large cash bonuses and stock options. The company was constantly emphasizing its stock price.Management was compensated extensively using stock options. This policy of stock option awards caused management to create expectations of rapid growth in efforts to give the appearance of reported earnings to meet Wall Street's expectations. At budget meetings, target earnings were developed on the basis â€Å"What earnings do you need to keep our stock price up? And that number would be used, even if it was not feasible. At December 31, 2000, Enron had 96 million shares outstanding as stock option plans (approximately 13% of common shares outstanding).Enron's proxy statement stated that, within three years, these awards were expected to be exercised. Using Enron's January 2001 stock price of $83. 13 and the directors' beneficial ownership reported i n the 2001 proxy, the value of director stock ownership was $659 million for the chairman of Enron Kenneth Lay, and $174 million for the CEO Jeffrey Killing. Employees had large expense accounts and many executives were paid moieties twice as much as competitors. In 1998, the top 200 highest-paid employees received $193 million from salaries, bonuses, and stock.Two years later, in 2000 the figure Jumped to $1. 4 billion. As we all know Enron had gone bankrupt on November 30, 2001, before that the price of Enron's share fell to 0,61 $, yet Just in the beginning of the year the CEO promised 2001 will be â€Å"their easiest year†. All in all we can conclude that pay-for-performance policy in combination with excessive stock- options for top-management result in shadowy deals and non-deliberated decisions on all levels of the company.