Dream Act

Education is a benefit for society. Higher education offers higher economic advantages for both workers and the economy. The United States is the home of about 65,000 undocumented children who graduate high school each year and have lived in the country for more than five years (Dreams Deferred, 2010). These children are intelligent, outstanding class presidents, valedictorians, and honor students who aspire to be successful doctors, engineers, teachers, and lawyers.However, because of legal and financial obstacles confronting them just because they are undocumented students, many are unable to live their American dream and attend a college or university. It is estimated that only about 5 to 10% of undocumented high school graduates go on to college (Dreams Deferred, 2010). According to the Immigration Policy Center, â€Å"Studies of undocumented immigrants who legalized their status through the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986 reveal that legal status brings fiscal , economic, and labor-market benefits to individual immigrants, their families, and U.S. society in general† (Dreams Deferred, 2010). The U. S. Department of Labor found that wages of these immigrants who received their legal status under IRCA increased their wages to 15% five years later. If given the opportunity, undocumented students will expand their education, get better jobs, and pay taxes. The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act is a proposed federal legislation in the U. S. that will enact two major changes in current law.The DREAM Act will 1) â€Å"Permit certain immigrant students who have grown up in the U. S. to apply legal status and to eventually obtain permanent status and become eligible for U. S. citizenship if they go to college or serve in the U. S. military; and 2) Eliminate a federal provision that penalizes states that provide in-state tuition without regard to immigration status. † (DREAM Act: Summary, 2, 2010)The passa ge of the DREAM Act is critical to raise the quality of the U.S. workforce through higher education to maintain a strong economy. The DREAM Act will increase the number of undocumented immigrant students who attend college, it will benefit the nation’s economy, and the nation will save the high cost of ignoring these undocumented immigrant students. The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act is a bipartisan legislation led by senators Richard Durbin, Chuck Hagel, andRichard Lugar, this bill will restore states’ rights to offer in-state tuition to undocumented immigrant students who live in that state in order to make it easier for students to afford a higher level education. The DREAM Act will also provide citizenship to the hardworking immigrant youth who was brought to the U. S. as children and who pursue a higher education or military service, allowing them to contribute to the American society (Basic Facts about In-State Tuition for Undocum ented Immigrant Students, 2006).The bill has been introduced several times in the House of Representatives and the Senate, but it has never been brought to a floor vote. In the senate it was brought to debate on October 24, 2007, but failed by a 52-44 vote. The DREAM Act was reintroduced on March 26, 2009 by Richard Durbin and Richard Lugar in the senate and in the House of Representatives by Howard Berman, Lincoln Diaz, and Lucille Roybal-Allard (DREAM Act: Summary, 2010). To qualify, a DREAM Act beneficiary would have to meet the following requirements: * Proof of having arrived to the U.S. at the age of 15 or younger. * Proof of residence in the U. S. for at least 5 consecutive years since the date of their arrival. * Must be between the age of 12 and 35 at the time of the enactment of the bill. * Have graduated from an American high school, or obtained a GED. * Display â€Å"Good Moral Character† defined as â€Å"the absence of significant criminal record or any major ch arge of drugs† by the National Council of La Raza (The ‘DREAM Act’ and the ‘American Dream Act, 1, 2007). The student must have accomplished one of the following within six year after the permanent residence was granted: * Earn a degree from a 2 or 4 year institution, or have maintained a â€Å"good standing† for at least two years at a 2 or 4 year institution while working toward a bachelor’s degree or higher (The ‘DREAM Act’ and the ‘American Dream Act, 2007). * Served in the U. S. Armed Forces for at least 2 years. Without the DREAM Act the U. S. faces critical financial and emotional costs.After years of hard work and achieving success in high school every student in America expects a reward. 65,000 undocumented students currently living in America expect these rewards as well. They were raised the American way. According to the National Council of La Raza, the American way is to â€Å"offer equal opportunities to all an d encourage all to make the most of their talents† (The ‘DREAM Act’ and the ‘American Dream Act, 2, 2007). As young children, these students were brought to this nation by their parents; it was beyond their control to stay in their native land.Brenda Garcia states, her family faced monetary problems while living in Mexico, the only solution to their problem was to come to the United States, she had no say so in this decision and was forced to follow her parents and leave her country (2010). These students have shared all the American values and traditions; they see this country as their home. These students grew up pledging allegiance to the United States of America, and now the United States of America can’t give its loyalists the opportunity for citizenship and a more affordable higher level education.Current law punishes these students for a decision they did not make and for their lack of documentation. America has imposed insuperable obstacles fo r these students and crushed their hopes of exceeding in their education, as a result â€Å"only 5 to 10 percent of undocumented young people who graduate from high school go on to college† (Basic Facts about In-State Tuition for Undocumented Immigrant Students, 2, 2006) either because schools deny them admission, they are charged out-of state tuition which is much more than the in-state tuition rate, they are not eligible for financial aid, and cannot work legally in the United States.The discouragement is too much and most of these hard working, and goal oriented undocumented students with high academic standing don’t get to live their American dream. With the passage of the DREAM Act these student’s dreams could be attainable and as a result more students could attend college, exceed in their education, and contribute to the United States economy. The DREAM Act will â€Å"facilitate access to college for immigrant students in the U.S. by restoring statesâ₠¬â„¢ rights to offer in-state tuition to immigrant students residing in their state,† states the National Council of La Raza (The ‘DREAM Act’ and the ‘American Dream Act, 1, 2007). Many states argue that the schools will not have revenue if undocumented students are charged only in-state tuition, but who said in-state tuition meant free tuition? â€Å"In-state tuition is not the same as free tuition.It is a discount,† claims the National Immigration Law Center (Basic Facts about In-State Tuition for Undocumented Immigrant Students, 2, 2006) if the discount is provided, more undocumented students will attend an institution of higher level education and the money paid by these students will increase school revenues by far because it will be money that would otherwise not be there, and even then, after all, education pays for itself, claims the National Immigration Law Center (Basic Facts about In-State Tuition for Undocumented Immigrant Students, 3, 200 6).The United States’ economic future depends on its current students, documented and undocumented. If given the opportunity, through the DREAM Act, undocumented students will expand their education and raise the schools revenues; they will get better jobs in which they will help out the U. S. society by curing the ill, sharing their knowledge with young people, designing new buildings for the community, and opening new businesses, etc.The National Immigration Law Center claims that â€Å"As baby boomers age, the number of retirees in the U. S. swell (Basic Facts about In-State Tuition for Undocumented Immigrant Students, 2, 2006) and that’s why in the future the U. S. will need new proficient people to take over those jobs. These young immigrants can be the future professionals the U. S. will need, they are â€Å"key to our ability to counteract the serious demographic challenges we face† (Basic Facts about In-State Tuition for Undocumented Immigrant Students, 2, 2006).We as a nation must â€Å"raise the caliber of our workforce through higher education to have a chance to maintain a strong economy† (Basic Facts about In-State Tuition for Undocumented Immigrant Students, 2, 2006). Additionally each person who attends college and obtains a professional job means one less expense to the state in terms of social service, as well, an asset in terms of tax payments to the state. The nation cannot burden these motivated and high achieving immigrant youth; after all they will only benefit the nation in the future.Undocumented students who don’t have the opportunity to get the best out of their education are simply wasted talent, a new report from the Immigration Policy Center by Roberto Gonzalez, Wasted Talent and Broken Dreams: The Lost Potential of Undocumented Students, makes it clear that â€Å"without means to legalize their status, these children are seldom able to go on to college, cannot work legally in the United States, and therefore cannot put their educations to good use† (Dreams Deferred, 1, 2010).The United States has invested in the education of these undocumented students since they were in pre-kinder all the way through their high school education. If the United States cuts their education short by not gathering the full potential of these children’s’ education it will face an enormous cost because there will be no benefits for the nation. In the future these tudents will not give back to the nation, and that will be a result of waste talent, wasted money, and lost potential. Why not let these students contribute back to the country that gave them so much? The American way is to be fair and offer equal opportunities to all and encourage everyone to make the best out of their talents, America, now is the time to live up to your American way. Don’t punish these undocumented students for a decision that they did not make.These students are your children, they are Ame ricans, they are friends, classmates, outstanding students, they are family. There is a significant cost in denying these children their college education. Don’t crush their American Dream. â€Å"This wasted talent imposes financial and emotional costs not only on undocumented students themselves, but on the U. S. economy and U. S. society as a whole† (Dreams Deferred, 1, 2010). Dream Act Cynthia Nguyen Ms. Thompson ENC 1101 November 28, 2011 â€Å"Amy's Story. † Immigration and Multiculturalism: Essential Primary Sources. Ed. K. Lee Lerner, Brenda Wilmoth Lerner, and Adrienne Wilmoth Lerner. Detroit: Gale, 2006. 329-333. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 14 Nov. 2011. Definition/Background History: The IRCA (Immigration and Reform Control Act) was introduced in 1986, this act enabled immigrants who came to America illegally residency and citizenship. The widespread amount of illegal immigrants caused border controls for those who are foreigners.Unfortunately Amy, an anonymous illegal immigrant, and her family surpassed the deadline by three and a half weeks. Amy tells her story about her family and financial struggles due to being an undocumented immigrant. She faced out-of-state tuition fees because of college requirements of being resident in the United States. Hiding undercover pretending to be a citizen was becoming tough for Amy so she had to drop out of school. Now she tutors and has low-paid jobs to support her parents and herself. Cynthia Nguyen Ms. Thompson ENC 1101 November 28, 2011Bennion, David. â€Å"Undocumented Youths Organize to Pass DREAM Act. † Legal Intelligencer. 31 Aug 2009. Print. David Bennion. â€Å"Children of Illegal Aliens Should Go to College and Gain Legal Status. † â€Å"What Rights Should Illegal Immigrants Have? † Noel Merino, Ed. At Issue Series. Greenhaven Press, 2010. Opposing Viewpoints. Web. 9 Nov. 2011. Positive Effect: David Bennion, an immigration attorney at Nationalities Service Center in Philadelphia, stated: â€Å"Each year, about 65,000 undocumented students graduate from high school in the United States.They then face often insurmountable barriers to pursuing further education or employment opportunities. † By passing the DREAM Act the amount of undocumented immigrants that are already living in America could help the economy and prosper in education and em ployment. Negative Effect: Keeping the act repealed is beneficial because the amount of illegal immigrants in America could incline. By permitting the â€Å"Dreamers† to pay in-state-college tuition and become a citizen of U. S. would promote more illegal immigrants into America. Cynthia NguyenMs. Thompson ENC 1101 November 28, 2011 â€Å"Dream on. † America 19 July 2010: 5. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 14 Nov. 2011. Positive Effects: President Obama reignited the idea of allowing illegal immigrants education and ability to attend colleges under certain circumstances written in the DREAM Act. He states â€Å"We should stop punishing innocent young people for the actions of their parents by denying them the chance to stay here and earn an education and contribute their talents to build the country where they’ve grown up. With this idea, this allows the children who are documented an opportunity to succeed in the United States not only for themselves , but our economy as well. Cynthia Nguyen Ms. Thompson ENC 1101 November 28, 2011 Ling-Ling, Yeh. â€Å"The Dream for Some, a Nightmare for the Rest. † The Daily Californian. 19 Oct 2007. Print. Yeh Ling-Ling. â€Å"Children of Illegal Aliens Should Not Go to College and Gail Legal Status. † â€Å"What Rights Should Illegal Immigrants Have? † Noel Merino, Ed. At Issue Series. Greenhaven Press. 2010. Print. Opposing Viewpoints. Web. 9 Nov. 2011. Undesirable Effects:Yeh Ling-Ling an executive director of the Diversity Alliance for a Sustainable America, and an immigrant states â€Å"Passing the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act, or DREAM Act, is a bad idea. Allowing illegal immigrant students to pay in-state college tuition and gain residency would only encourage more illegal immigrants in the United States. The act would have a negative economic impact and hurt American citizens. † Passing the Dream Act would economically stress our f unds because in reality most illegal immigrants are low-paid and cannot afford to pay taxes.The amount of children in American public education would rise. â€Å"This cost can exceed $9,500 per child per year if the student receives the so-called bilingual education, not to mention the costs of other social services. † By accepting this act, it would be a reward to illegal immigrants and would cause more to migrate to America. The Dream Act would negatively effect politics as well. For example, Hispanic activists encourage the pressuring of the United States to be identical as Mexico. This factor effects the future of millions of our nation.Not only politics would be effected but, â€Å"The U. S. population has quadrupled since 1900, from 76 million to 303 million. In the last 15 years alone,over 50 million people have been added to the United States mostly due to immigration-derived growth! If our population continues to grow at the rate of last decade, by 2100—withi n the lifetimes of today's children's children—the United States will have India's current population. † Cynthia Nguyen Ms. Thompson ENC 1101 November 28, 2011 â€Å"Illegal Immigrants. Current Issues: Macmillian Social Science Library. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 9 Nov. 2011. Definition/History/Background: â€Å"An immigrant is a person who migrates from one country to another. An â€Å"illegal† immigrant is a person who does so without following the established legal procedures of the destination country and who resides in that country without proper visas or other documents. Illegal immigrants are sometimes referred to as â€Å"illegal aliens† or â€Å"undocumented workers. † Most illegal immigrants of the United States come from Mexico by crossing the 1,955-mile border or the northern border with Canada. Desirable: Economic effects of immigrants can be positive. Illegal immigrants are more open to low-wage jo bs because without paperwork they are not allowed to apply for a job. â€Å"†¦ immigrants take on hard and dangerous jobs that native Americans will not do. These defenders maintain that immigrants’ labor and entrepreneurship helps to revitalize American industries and create more jobs than they take. † Undesirable:For the people who do pay taxes, immigrants are expensive to have. â€Å"The study concluded that taxpayers were paying $4 billion annually in unemployment, medical, educational, and other government programs and services. † Cynthia Nguyen Ms. Thompson ENC 1101 November 28, 2011 Texier, Le Emmanuelle. â€Å"The Debate for In-State Tuition Fees Regardless of Immigration Status: The Right to Educate. † La Prensa San Diego 9 May 2003. Print. Emmanuelle Le Texier. â€Å"Undocumented Immigrants Are Entitled to In-State Tuition. † Lori Newman Ed. At Issues Series. Greenhaven Press, 2006.Opposing Viewpoints. Web. 14 Nov. 2011. Positive Eff ects: Enabling illegal immigrants to continue with education formulates a chain reaction to the economy’s rise. Educating a large portion of our country promotes skilled workers, in which help with building a better future for America. Students have not done anything to harm our economy. No matter illegal, or not the children are the future of America and should be rewarded by the ability to fulfill higher education. Allowing this higher education promotes more skilled workers â€Å"building the future of a country. † Dream Act Cynthia Nguyen Ms. Thompson ENC 1101 November 28, 2011 â€Å"Amy's Story. † Immigration and Multiculturalism: Essential Primary Sources. Ed. K. Lee Lerner, Brenda Wilmoth Lerner, and Adrienne Wilmoth Lerner. Detroit: Gale, 2006. 329-333. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 14 Nov. 2011. Definition/Background History: The IRCA (Immigration and Reform Control Act) was introduced in 1986, this act enabled immigrants who came to America illegally residency and citizenship. The widespread amount of illegal immigrants caused border controls for those who are foreigners.Unfortunately Amy, an anonymous illegal immigrant, and her family surpassed the deadline by three and a half weeks. Amy tells her story about her family and financial struggles due to being an undocumented immigrant. She faced out-of-state tuition fees because of college requirements of being resident in the United States. Hiding undercover pretending to be a citizen was becoming tough for Amy so she had to drop out of school. Now she tutors and has low-paid jobs to support her parents and herself. Cynthia Nguyen Ms. Thompson ENC 1101 November 28, 2011Bennion, David. â€Å"Undocumented Youths Organize to Pass DREAM Act. † Legal Intelligencer. 31 Aug 2009. Print. David Bennion. â€Å"Children of Illegal Aliens Should Go to College and Gain Legal Status. † â€Å"What Rights Should Illegal Immigrants Have? † Noel Merino, Ed. At Issue Series. Greenhaven Press, 2010. Opposing Viewpoints. Web. 9 Nov. 2011. Positive Effect: David Bennion, an immigration attorney at Nationalities Service Center in Philadelphia, stated: â€Å"Each year, about 65,000 undocumented students graduate from high school in the United States.They then face often insurmountable barriers to pursuing further education or employment opportunities. † By passing the DREAM Act the amount of undocumented immigrants that are already living in America could help the economy and prosper in education and em ployment. Negative Effect: Keeping the act repealed is beneficial because the amount of illegal immigrants in America could incline. By permitting the â€Å"Dreamers† to pay in-state-college tuition and become a citizen of U. S. would promote more illegal immigrants into America. Cynthia NguyenMs. Thompson ENC 1101 November 28, 2011 â€Å"Dream on. † America 19 July 2010: 5. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 14 Nov. 2011. Positive Effects: President Obama reignited the idea of allowing illegal immigrants education and ability to attend colleges under certain circumstances written in the DREAM Act. He states â€Å"We should stop punishing innocent young people for the actions of their parents by denying them the chance to stay here and earn an education and contribute their talents to build the country where they’ve grown up. With this idea, this allows the children who are documented an opportunity to succeed in the United States not only for themselves , but our economy as well. Cynthia Nguyen Ms. Thompson ENC 1101 November 28, 2011 Ling-Ling, Yeh. â€Å"The Dream for Some, a Nightmare for the Rest. † The Daily Californian. 19 Oct 2007. Print. Yeh Ling-Ling. â€Å"Children of Illegal Aliens Should Not Go to College and Gail Legal Status. † â€Å"What Rights Should Illegal Immigrants Have? † Noel Merino, Ed. At Issue Series. Greenhaven Press. 2010. Print. Opposing Viewpoints. Web. 9 Nov. 2011. Undesirable Effects:Yeh Ling-Ling an executive director of the Diversity Alliance for a Sustainable America, and an immigrant states â€Å"Passing the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act, or DREAM Act, is a bad idea. Allowing illegal immigrant students to pay in-state college tuition and gain residency would only encourage more illegal immigrants in the United States. The act would have a negative economic impact and hurt American citizens. † Passing the Dream Act would economically stress our f unds because in reality most illegal immigrants are low-paid and cannot afford to pay taxes.The amount of children in American public education would rise. â€Å"This cost can exceed $9,500 per child per year if the student receives the so-called bilingual education, not to mention the costs of other social services. † By accepting this act, it would be a reward to illegal immigrants and would cause more to migrate to America. The Dream Act would negatively effect politics as well. For example, Hispanic activists encourage the pressuring of the United States to be identical as Mexico. This factor effects the future of millions of our nation.Not only politics would be effected but, â€Å"The U. S. population has quadrupled since 1900, from 76 million to 303 million. In the last 15 years alone,over 50 million people have been added to the United States mostly due to immigration-derived growth! If our population continues to grow at the rate of last decade, by 2100—withi n the lifetimes of today's children's children—the United States will have India's current population. † Cynthia Nguyen Ms. Thompson ENC 1101 November 28, 2011 â€Å"Illegal Immigrants. Current Issues: Macmillian Social Science Library. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 9 Nov. 2011. Definition/History/Background: â€Å"An immigrant is a person who migrates from one country to another. An â€Å"illegal† immigrant is a person who does so without following the established legal procedures of the destination country and who resides in that country without proper visas or other documents. Illegal immigrants are sometimes referred to as â€Å"illegal aliens† or â€Å"undocumented workers. † Most illegal immigrants of the United States come from Mexico by crossing the 1,955-mile border or the northern border with Canada. Desirable: Economic effects of immigrants can be positive. Illegal immigrants are more open to low-wage jo bs because without paperwork they are not allowed to apply for a job. â€Å"†¦ immigrants take on hard and dangerous jobs that native Americans will not do. These defenders maintain that immigrants’ labor and entrepreneurship helps to revitalize American industries and create more jobs than they take. † Undesirable:For the people who do pay taxes, immigrants are expensive to have. â€Å"The study concluded that taxpayers were paying $4 billion annually in unemployment, medical, educational, and other government programs and services. † Cynthia Nguyen Ms. Thompson ENC 1101 November 28, 2011 Texier, Le Emmanuelle. â€Å"The Debate for In-State Tuition Fees Regardless of Immigration Status: The Right to Educate. † La Prensa San Diego 9 May 2003. Print. Emmanuelle Le Texier. â€Å"Undocumented Immigrants Are Entitled to In-State Tuition. † Lori Newman Ed. At Issues Series. Greenhaven Press, 2006.Opposing Viewpoints. Web. 14 Nov. 2011. Positive Eff ects: Enabling illegal immigrants to continue with education formulates a chain reaction to the economy’s rise. Educating a large portion of our country promotes skilled workers, in which help with building a better future for America. Students have not done anything to harm our economy. No matter illegal, or not the children are the future of America and should be rewarded by the ability to fulfill higher education. Allowing this higher education promotes more skilled workers â€Å"building the future of a country. †

Enron-The Smartest Guys in the Room paper Essay

Answer the following questions based on the film Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005). 1. (a) Describe the ownership structure at Enron. (b) How did the ownership structure contribute to the Enron scandal? (15 points) When Enron became a publicly traded company, the employees and executives had more incentive to manipulate earnings and financials. With the shift in structure, there were more external stakeholders to satisfy, which caused the company to focus on short-term results, rather than long-term interests. The company went as far as to trade all sorts of things, including weather and broadband, in order to gain support from investors. Enron got a lot of that support. Investment banks put about $25 million each into the company. With high stakes and image on the line, Enron manipulated earnings to drive stock prices up through mark-to-market accounting to please its stakeholders. 2.(a) Describe the following three leaders: Ken Lay, Jeff Skilling, and Andy Fastow. (b) How did EACH leader contribute to the scandal? (20 points) Ken Lay was a very ambitious man. He was the son of a poor Baptist preacher. Because of Lay’s humble roots, Lay worked several jobs as a kid. He always dreamed about being a businessman one day and making huge wealth for himself. Lay believed he could have a better life with more wealth. He also believed in government deregulation. Lay had a PhD in economics. He aggressively pushed for deregulation of energy markets in Washington. His goal was to liberate businessmen from government’s hold. He took advantage of government letting energy prices float with the market, and started Enron Corporation through a few mergers. Jeffrey Skilling, former CEO of Enron, was said to be â€Å"incandescently brilliant† by many at Enron. In reality, he was a risky, danger-seeking gambler. Skilling had a Darwinian view and strongly beli eved in the idea of â€Å"survival of the fittest†. He implemented a group called the Performance Review Committee. The committee was involved in the â€Å"rank and yank† system, in which the bottom 15 percent of the company got fired each year. This ultimately led to numerous unethical actions and turning a blind eye to fraud because of employees’ determination for job  security. Skilling was a former nerd, and went on to change himself. He was very admired at Enron. When he got Lasik surgery, everyone else did too. Skilling was responsible for making energy into a tradable entity and for his advocacy of mark-to-market accounting, which was the main tool for Enron’s earnings manipulation. Fastow was a very greedy man. He served as CFO of Enron. He was responsible for running numerous companies that partnered with Enron. He mainly worked to cover up the financial fantasy land that Lay and Skilling had created. He was hired before age 30 by Skilling to join Enron. He always idolized Skilling and wanted to please him. He ended up hiding about $30 billion in debt through his companies. In addition, he skimmed off many of the deals he made, using Enron stocks as collateral. Fastow did not have a strong moral compass, and would play to the greed of the investment banks. He would offer investment banks accounts for their silence. One analyst, John Olsen, star ted to question the firm, and weeks later, was fired by the investment bank because Fastow paid off the bank with big Enron accounts. 3.(a) Describe the organizational culture at Enron. (b) How did the organizational culture contribute to the Enron scandal? (15 points) The culture at Enron was very cut-throat and filled with greed. Money drove the company and its employees. In fact, even the elevators had displays of the stock prices. The company was overtaken by hubris as well. Everyone was on the bandwagon—the accounting firm, investors, executives, and employees. The entire company thought it was changing the world. Everyone was blinded by arrogance, greed, and money. Enron was always portrayed as a super power in the market. It was said that is someone wanted to be part of the market, they had to go through Enron. In addition, many employees, including Skilling, were former nerds and had something to prove. There was a very macho culture at Enron. Skilling would organize dangerous, macho trips for employees and big clients. The stories from these adventures became legend. One man almost died from a flipp ed Jeep. Stories like that were legendary in the office. The culture ultimately led Enron to scandal because of the ideas it had put into people’s heads—that money drove everything and cash was king. 4.(a) Describe the performance management/reward system at Enron. (b) How did the performance   management/reward system contribute to the Enron scandal? (20 points) The reward systems were big. The executives and employees were all fans of the â€Å"pump and dump† system in which the employees drove the stock prices up, and would them sell the stocks off. The company was consumed by stock prices, as stocks were a large part of the compensation structure at Enron. Even the elevators had stock prices posted, so people could be reminded daily that there was more money to be made. The cash bonuses were extravagant too. In fact, a 25-year-old made a $5 million bonus. Executives were given multi million dollar bonuses. In addition, to prevent anyone from raising any flags, Enron played on the greed of the outside accounting firm, Arthur Anderson, as well as law firms. In fact, in 2001, Arthur Anderson got $1 million a week to keep things quiet and go along with everything. The la w firm was paid off handsomely as well. Analysts at investment banks would never really look into things because of greed as well. Because of all the bonuses, outsiders turned a blind eye, as did employees, which ultimately gave way to the scandal that ensued. 5.(a) Describe the regulatory/oversight weaknesses for Enron. (b) How did the regulatory/oversight weaknesses contribute to the Enron scandal? (15 points) Enron sought to take advantage of the low level of government regulation and the hyper capitalism created by the reigning consumer culture of the time. The company was run by a group of intelligent individuals who recognized they could take advantage of the government failure of low regulation. Early on while working for Enron, Lay founded many friends within Congress, including the friendship of George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush. The government helped in pork barrel legislation for the company, granting it even more power. In addition, Bush senior helped secure millions of subsidies for Enron and helped promote Ken Lay as ambassador of deregulation at large. In addition, even energy-specific regulators turned a blind eye. Pat Wood, chair of FERC, was recommended by Lay as chair, and would work with Enron in lack of government in tervention. Even the power plants in California were working with Enron at one point. Enron could call someone at a power plant and cause rolling blackouts in parts of California,  driving energy prices up. With support from the government and very low regulation and intervention, Enron had a clean path to scandal. 6.Describe three (3) specific ways, which are directly related to the above factors, that Enron-like scandals could be prevented in the future. (15 points) 1. Publically-traded companies should have a strong board of directors that oversees the company and does not have investment in the company. Greed drove Enron to do what it did, but a board of directors who has no stake in the company would be more objective and ethical in decision-making for the company. 2. There should be less compensation tied to stock performance, as that was a large incentive for fraud at Enron. People’s earnings were tied too closely to stock. 3. Analysts should be help more responsible for their actions. The investment banks they worked for got sued, but who’s to say the analysts who turned a blind eye ever got punished? They made the banks lots of money, so they probably kept their jobs and got a slap on the wrist. More consequence in the public eye would deter these actions in the future.

Business Benefits of Agile

Business Benefits of Agile Agile marketing has proven to be one of the most vital business concepts leading to success in both individualized customer experience, as well as overall product performance. The key component of this type of marketing, agility, represents an organizations ability to assess environmental change and then efficiently and effectively respond to that change. This approach improves the predictability, adaptability, speed, and transparency to change of the marketing function. Being able to tailor their efforts in a quick manner is a must for marketers, so to successfully respond to changes that occur in market conditions, customer behavior, and business direction to benefit market share. By doing so, marketers will gain the ability to gain a more individualized connection with customers in a dependable, effective and engaging way, therefore achieving what is known as individualized marketing. As a result of keeping customers up to date with all marketing affairs and therefore gaining a le gitimate grasp of their habits and issues, marketers put themselves in the best position of creating rewarding relationships. Marketing agility is centered around the ability of marketing organizations to collaborate in an efficient fashion, while also being able to adjust their performance to potential changes. In combination with this, it is imperative that marketing organizations also focus on the execution of the following key initiatives: Centralizing the management of all marketing programs Aligning marketing activities to budgets and spending accounts Developing reusable process workflows Responding at the speed of the customer Adjusting campaign execution based on analytical insights Improving marketing performance by employing proven strategies for success Remaining agile throughout a campaign so changes can be made in real time There are three primary operations considerations in agile marketing. The first is Planning Spend Management, which is the ability to fully access limited marketing resources so that marketers can get the most ROI from their marketing initiatives. Next is Workflow Collaboration Management, or the ability to prioritize and execute all incoming marketing requests with pre-established, reusable workflows. And finally, Marketing Asset Management, the ability to design, edit, produce, and deliver creative assets that consistently and automatically invoke executive, marketing, and legal approval mechanisms. Planning Spend Management: Marketers have the chance to get the most on their investment, but in order to do so, they need to have the option of seeing limited marketing resources more clearly and thoroughly. Focusing on planning and spend management can help this happen. If there is a lack of perceptibility in terms of how marketing resources are being designated, both marketing costs and missed opportunities are likely to increase. Implementing current insights into spending rates and budget adherence, enables marketers to make well-informed decisions concerning the success of strategic initiatives and make immediate and responsive adjustments. Another consideration for improving planning and spend management is creating a centralized marketing calendar which links every action to the spend that supports it, allowing greater visibility into every strategic initiative and its measurable results. Access to this information also allows for informed conversations and eliminates opinio n battles with fact-based data. Workflow Collaboration Management: In order to better manage workflow and collaboration, there needs to be a clear understanding of all incoming marketing requests so work can be prioritized and carried out with pre established, reusable workflows. This will not only maximizes an organization’s marketing efforts, but also ensure process compliance and reporting. Additionally, the ability to choreograph and manage all the intra-agency and inter-agency communications and activities that support the creation, execution, and governance of omni-channel customer campaigns is essential to an organization’s efficiency, agility, and overall success. The system manages itself, providing the opportunity for marketers to focus on creativity. The true power of workflow and collaboration management is exposed when the broad aspect of it enables a complete end-to-end process and encompasses all steps of the marketing activity. Marketing Asset Management: The best and most effective marketing efforts require that an organization’s creative assets are designed, edited, produced, and delivered in a way that consistently and automatically invokes executive, marketing, and legal approval mechanisms. By harmonizing these operations in an efficient and compliant way, marketers can ensure their digital and creative content is both effective and compliant. By prioritizing a close and efficient process with creative asset production partners, marketers can position their organizations to successfully deliver streamlined, approved, and compliant assets at the speed each customer wants and expects. The best marketing asset management approach establishes a consistent process for creation and a single place to store properly licensed and approved assets. The financial benefits of this repository are undisputable – marketers have the most up-to-date creative pieces they require at their fingertips, and there is never a cost associated with replacing lost or misplaced assets. The benefits of increasing marketing agility are both measurable and substantial. In fact, highly agile organizations report they meet goals and business objectives 83% of the time, compared to 59% of less agile organizations. Increase in productivity is a big one, which can be measured in ways such as completed marketing tasks, results, points, etc. There is also more transparency, allowing other branches of management to see the whereabouts of marketing. Because two agile marketing core values are accountability and measurability, this emphasis better develops marketing’s contribution communication skills. Customer satisfaction also increases as a result of customer needs being met quickly and with honesty, encouraging them to make a purchasing decision. Agile marketing allows for marketing teams to have a better overall connection with their different departments and allows for improved communication internally and with their customers. Experience and performance will not o nly improve exponentially, but marketers’ ability to do their job will prove to be more straightforward and more fun. Being able to share and collaborate with the people you work with makes way for greater respect and satisfaction throughout the workplace.

Benefits of Foreign Direct Investment Research Proposal

Benefits of Foreign Direct Investment - Research Proposal Example Despite its economic significance, on political grounds, FDI is a very controversial term as it is marred by controversies and political victimization, especially in developing countries. Iran is one such case where FDI has mostly remained a political issue despite the fact that Iran held one of the largest oil reserves in the world. Over the period of time, due to international sanctions, the process of Foreign Direct Investment has remained stagnant due to political hostility towards Iran. However, despite such a situation, due to Iran's strategic oil & gas reserves, many countries such as China, Pakistan, India as well as other European countries made a foreign direct investment into the country. Jensen (2004) is of the view that institutional lending by supernatural institutions such as IMF has very complex and perplexing impacts on the economic performance of the countries due to institutional interference and policy dictations made by such institutions lower the flow of foreign direct investments into the developing countries. Foreign Direct Investment has multiple consequences for the countries as it not only create an impact on the economic situation of the country but also has consequences on the political as well as social environment of the country. (Kudrle & Bobrow, 1982). The question of foreign direct investment is therefore largely viewed within the perspective of the presence of foreign influence in the country as non-domestic entities tend to control some of the strategic assets of the country. The nature of foreign direct investment into developing countries is therefore largely considered more like a political action rather than an economic impact. This research study therefore will consider following research question "The nature of foreign direct investment key determinants in Iran " The above research question has been selected keeping in view the diverse impacts of foreign direct investment on the overall economy of the country especially in presence of different institutional arrangements such as economic sanctions, IMF/World Bank lead lending as well as openness to the free market policies adopted by the receiver countries.

Buddhism in India Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Buddhism in India - Essay Example The history of Buddhism spans from the 6th century BCE to the present, starting with the birth of the Buddha Siddharta Gautama (History of Buddhism). India is considered to be the birthplace of Buddhism where Buddha found enlightenment at the age of 35. He then became to be known as Gautama Buddha, or simply "The Buddha", which means "the awakened one" (History of Buddhism). Buddha took much of his inspiration from the Indus Valley religions and traditions. Buddhism flourished in India during the dynasty of the Guptas (4th-6th century). Indian Buddhism weakened in the 7th century following White Hun and Islamic invasions. However, it enjoyed a strong revival under the Pala Empire, in which Mahayana Buddhism flourished between the 8th and the 12th century (History of Buddhism). Some non-Buddhist religion adopted many great things from Buddhism doctrine but spoke ill of Buddhism as well to discredit Buddhism. Some other religious fanatics also have persecuted the Buddhists, a process, which other foreign invaders of India followed until Buddhism was practically driven out of India (Buddhism in India). So by the dawn of the 20th century, Buddhism is limited only in some isolated places in India. Today, India is again appearing on the Buddhist map of the world due to the Angarika Dhammapala of Sri Lanka and great son of India Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar (Dr. B. R. Ambedkar) the architect of modern Indian constitution. He after studying all existing religions of the world embarrassed Buddhism along with his five lakhs followers on 14th October 1956. Indians are awakening to their Buddhist past. Since then the Indians began to be surprised at the discovery of the Buddhist legacy. To talk of a "revival of Buddhism in modern India" is right in this sense of the discovery of the Buddhist heritage by Indians (Buddhism in India). Jainism, traditionally known as Jain Dharma, is a dharmic religion with its origins in the prehistory of India. There are 9 million people around the world who are Jains today. Jainism was established by Mahavira in about 500 B. C. Mahavira was called 'Jina' meaning the big winner and from this name was derived the name of the religion. (Information on India). Mahavira's full name is Vardhamaan Mahavir, he was born in about 600BC. in the home of Siddharta the King of Kundgraam of Bihar province in India on the thirteenth day under the rising moon of Chaitra. He is considered to be the twenty-fourth or the last Teerthankar of Jainism (Mahavir Swami Nirvana). He became detached from the world on the death of his parents and left his home for the forest at the age of thirty. There he practiced very hard simple life until he attained enlightenment (Mahavir Swami Nirvana).

Updating Computer Operating System Research Paper

Updating Computer Operating System - Research Paper Example Upgrading computer operating system means adding the latest versions of computer programs to run the computer with more speed. It includes updating in software and in hardware of the system. Updating in software system means to install advanced enhancements over old versions, whereas an upgraded hard drive enables the computer system to perform in a better way (Wempen, 2002). It is important for every user to maintain and upgrade the personal computer. Computer upgrading process analysis approach includes the following steps: 1. Arranging: Arrange a back-up for all important records to any other hard disk. It is important because if a problem occurs during the upgrading process, there is a risk of losing some or all data of the computer. Defragmentation of the hard disk is another important task because it helps the computer to read fragmented files more efficiently which are located in different areas. These files can slow down the speed of computer functions (Thompson & Thompson, 2 006 ). In order to install a new operating system, a new folder should be made. Until you are sure that everything is working perfectly on the new operating system preserve your whole data of computer into another windows directory.

Answer the questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Answer the questions - Essay Example The scope entails establishing the capability of the system to interact with other elements within the environment with which the system operates is essential. The requirements of the users must be assessed effectively to ensure that they are incorporated within the operation of the system. The identification of system weaknesses is fundamental in seeking to establish a properly functioning system to undertake the required functions. Limitations into the process of system analysis are the regulations that exist with regard to the technology that can be utilised in establishing a functioning system. Technological differences between the system and the applications being utilised presents a significant challenge to system analysts Fact-finding measures are essential in the determination of the functions that a system can undertake, with regard to the user requirements. Use cases provide a platform upon which system usability is commonly analysed. Information gained from fact-finding and use cases is essential in system analysis, as it is the fundamental base upon which decisions regarding the system are made. Technological discrepancies are commonly solved by undertaking an analysis of the available technology during the feasibility study. These social settings provide an individual with guidelines through which daily activities are based upon. Before undertaking any personal activity, one requires to make an analysis of the activities involved in order to determine which one comes before the others. The consideration for the environment within which one undertakes his/her activities is essential in ensuring that no harm comes to the society. The limitations that an individual experiences in life come from the knowledge possessed, and the values held by the individual. The fundamental assumptions within the context of this project include the capability of an individual to undertake an object analysis of self, and the capability to undertake the

An Examination of Pablo Neruda as a Character in Il Postino Essay

An Examination of Pablo Neruda as a Character in Il Postino - Essay Example This essay declares that the film presents the creation and growth of a relationship between the poet in exile and a temporary mail carrier who is an indigenous resident on the island. The link between the poet and the mail carrier present a story about a person who discovers oneself through poetry. The poetic perspective was previously alien, and the personal discovery was an induction of the poet. The mail carrier, Mario, becomes the hero of the film as a result of the teaching and resemblance of Pablo Neruda. The release of the movie was in 1994 whereby the movie had an international success in the art film industry recognition. One of the successes was the winning of various global awards. Some of the awards include two BAFTAS that include the awards for the best director award and best alien language flick.This research stresses that  Pablo’s character represents the rich in the social hierarchy but a character that has a longing for a general outlook. The ideology of t he character is that the resources should be under the ownership of the community and not the few who have the power and are in control. The nature of being audible about communist ideology and the sending of the exile of Neruda to Italy is only possible to a person who has a wide reputation. The Italian government even lets Neruda confide in the country by turning down the request by Chile to extradite Neruda for constitutional claims.

Psycolinguistics Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Psycolinguistics - Research Proposal Example The psychological factors include the child’s family setting, stress, abuse, neglect, separation from loved ones, or an extreme psychological event that distressed him emotionally. The research will focus on questions like: Does an unsuitable family setting affect a child’s perception of speech? What impact does stress and emotional distress has on his speech and sound recognition? Does getting him separated from his loved ones like a parent affect his ability to perceive speech? These issues have inspired me to conduct this qualitative research. Literature Review Past Research Papers. Some past research that will be helpful is: Benedek, Elissa P. and Diane H. Schetky. â€Å"Problems in Validating Allegations of Sexual Abuse. Part 1: Factors Affecting Perception and Recall of Events.† Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 26.6 (1987): 912-915. (This is a research on the effect of sexual abuse of child’s perception of events bu t it will also be helpful in interpreting child’s speech perception.) Hurewitz, Felicia, Brown-Schmidt, Sarah, Thorpe, Kirsten, Gleitman, Lila R. and John C. Trueswell.

Effective team performance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Effective team performance - Essay Example In this document, this issue will be looked at critically to see how the teams in Electron were used in the recruitment process and the application of this in other organisations. This case study showed that a good team formation can be useful in creating a good platform for recruitment. Recruitment is changing, and it is getting increasingly necessary for organisations to be able to get talent and develop talents. This document will indicate, through a closer look at the facts in the case study, how an organisation can use teams in the organisation to have a proper and productive recruitment. It also indicates how these teams can be used in getting the right talents and also in maintaining the best talent and making sure that the wrong employees are kicked out of the organisation when and if necessary. 3 Team synergy A crucial effect of teams is actually synergy where each team members bring in their best and use it to improve the team in terms of productivity and efficiency (Select Knowledge Limited 2011). This document will look at this with regard to how the team members in Electron contributed to the development of a more formidable workforce. According to Dyer 2013, team synergy is about making sure that every member in the team benefits from the strengths of others and that each of the individual weaknesses are covered by the other members. However, how this is achieved can be a challenge because there may be other inhibiting factors that may make it harder for a team to synergise. 4 Team is not a collection of people One of the most important theories about a team is a collection of people with common goals and who aid each other in achieving this goal (Belbin 2012). With regard to the Electron case study, this will be investigated to see how the teams in Electron worked together in order to achieve their goals together. 5 Introduction Teamwork is one of the most important performance tools. Being able to inspire teamwork in the organisation is one of t he most useful things that an organisation can do. Teamwork may be utilised as a tool to help the organisation to overcome numerous setbacks in the market. This can be exemplified in the Electron case study. The teamwork illustrated in the case study can be looked at using the different team theories. One thing that is the most striking about the teams in Electron is that they are able to work together to a stronger force in order to achieve their goals. 6 Concertive control One of the main issues that come out in the case study is the way the team have used concertive control in making sure that the teams remain functional. There exist various factors which may be attributed to this concertive control. One of them is the fact it becomes more effective than having a manager led team. According to Kelley 1992, concertive control can be seen as a way to help the teams to be able to have leadership that is not dependent on one person but rather where everyone, new or old has a say and can contribute to the leadership. This is very useful in motivating team members into contributing to the team. People are more likely to be effective and cooperative when get the attitude that they are in control of their environment rather than when they feel that they are controlled

Apple Price Cut Essay Example for Free

Apple Price Cut Essay To what extent the iPhone pricing strategy is similar to the iPod pricing strategy? How do you explain that the iPod price cut did not lead to such a level of customers’ protest? Answer: Both iPhone and iPod have experienced a large amount of price cut in their product lifecycle. In this document, we can find that iPod was launched in October 2001. Tough relatively high priced for an MP3 player, it was hugely demanded and remains popular till date though there was a price slash in 2005. Similar to the price cut of the iPod, two months after the launch of the iPhone, Apple lowered the price by 200 USD. However, regarding the price strategy, a big difference between two products is the timing of price cut. iPod adjusted its price after experiencing a 4-year success from its launch in 2001, whereas iPhone drop in price in only 2 month, which is the main explanation of why the iPod price cut did not lead to such a serious level of customers’ protest. Although both price adjustments were designed for the aim to further expand in the mass market and improve the sales, we can find that the main reason for price cut of iPod is to sell more products in its declining period of product lifecycle. By contrast, the objective of price cut of iPhone is to rapidly monopoly the smart phone market in its growing period of product lifecycle, which resulted a part of Apple fans’ profits since they bought the product in a high price. 2. â€Å"Market analysts pointed out that Apple had created a strong brand and customer loyalty which it capitalized on by adopting a skimming strategy in pricing. They also felt that customers accept its highly priced products with equanimity. To go a step further, they consciously expect it to be so. What does this tell you about the value of iPhone own-price elasticity, cross-price elasticity and income elasticity? Answer: The practice of ‘price skimming’ involves charging a relatively high price for a short time where a new, innovative, or much-improved product is launched onto a market. Obviously, due to the reason that Apple had created a strong brand image by its innovation of technology and creativity of design, and loyalty of customers, particularly those Apple crazy fans, the price skimming strategy was able to work extremely well when iPhone was launched onto the market. Meanwhile, Apple’s iPhone entered the highly volatile cell phone market combining telephony, MP3, Web surfing and video watching, which completely revolutionized the tech-savvy market and was most awaited by both the technology enthusiasts and mainstream media. Therefore, the success of this strategy was largely dependent on those first adopters’ inelasticity of demand for the product either by the market as a whole. However, in the cell phone industry, where the product lifecycle is relatively short and the market is highly competitive. Before some other competing products or substitutes emerging on the market, iPhone could enjoy its high price and benefit from its â€Å"monopoly profits† in a short term where demand is relatively inelastic. Whereas in the cell phone industry, the demand from mass market is price elastic, which is the main reason that Apple needs to drop its price to increase its sales according to its mass-market strategy. In terms of cross-price elasticity, we can think about this question from two aspects: complements and substitutes. Firstly, due the reason that the demand of iPhone is price elastic in mass market, price of iPhone decrease, quantity demanded of components increases, which leads Apple to get a lower price of components from its supplier and further guarantee its gross margin of iPhone. In addition, the increase of sales also means the increase number of customer buying and renting apps from Apple’s online store. Secondly, considering substitutes, price of iPhone decrease, and quantity of competing products demanded decrease. Since the demand is price elastic, the lower production cost and increase revenue from Apple softer ware are able to recuperate the loss from cost cut. We can make the conclusion that regarding to the income elasticity, a decrease of price of iPhone has a positive impact on its total revenue. 3. Based on the information provided in the case would you say that the market for smartphone is closer to monopoly or to monopolistic competition? Justify. Answer: Yes, base on the information provided in the case, I regard the smartphone industry as a monopolistic competition. Monopolistic competition  is a form of imperfect competition  where many competing producers sell products that are  differentiated  from one another. Smartphone industry has following characteristics: * There are several producers like Apple, Blackberry, Nokia, Motorola etc. , and many consumers in the market, but no company can total control over the market price. * Consumers perceive that there are non-price differences among the competitors products. * There are few barriers to entry and exit. Producers have a degree of control over price. 4. Is the price cut decided by Apple two months after iPhone initial launch consistent with the smartphone market structure described above? Answer: Yes, the performance of iPhone is consistent with the smartphone market structure. Firstly, the MC firms sell products that have real or perceived non-price differences. However, the differences are not so great as to eliminate other goods as substitutes. Technically, the cross price el asticity of demand between goods in such a market is positive. In this case, iPhone perform the same basic functions but have differences in qualities such as design, style, reputation and appearance. Secondly, independent decision-making is another characteristic of monopolistic competition. The firm gives no consideration to what effect its decision may have on competitors. In other words each firm feels free to set prices as if it were a monopoly. Lastly, Apple has some degree of market power. Market power means that the firm has control over the terms and conditions of exchange. An MC firm can raise it prices without losing all its customers. The firm can also lower prices without triggering a potentially ruinous price war with competitors, which is the reason why iPhone was able to largely cut its price in two months. 5. Knowing the price cut affected negatively Apple reputation, do you believe Apple adopted an opportunistic pricing strategy initially selling the iPhone at a high price to take advantage of holiday season high spending habits and then dropping the price to stimulate market growth? Is this consistent with Apple pricing strategy in its other product lines like computers and iPod? Answer: I don’t entirely believe that iPhone lunched at a high price was due to it attempted to take the advantage of â€Å"holiday season high spending habits†. From my point of view, there are two main reasons why iPhone priced high at the beginning: Firstly, the core consumer groups of iPhone are enthusiastic fans of high-tech gadgets; and some of them are loyalty customers of Apple. These parts of people are not sensitive for iPhone’s price. What attract them are its quality, design and innovation. The first adopters’ inelasticity of demand is a good opportunity for using the price skimming strategy. Secondly, high price strategy is an effective method to build a high-end brand image. It’s much easier that a high brand image product cuts its price for promotion than a low brand image one raises it. For the tech-savvy market, the product lifecycle is short. We can often find on the market that a product of Apple or other brands cuts its price when it has been launched for a period of time. But iPhone dropped its price only 2 months after it had been introduced onto the market. This strategy is quite different from other products of Apple. For instance, iPod depreciated 2 years after it came into the market. Seeing the price of iPhone must be in line with iPod Touch, this strategy is â€Å"special† for Apple, comparing with other products. 6. â€Å"According to Apple executives the move had been planned long ago and felt that the pricing strategy was conceived in part to keep the iPhone’s pricing in line with its new iPod touch. † Explain to what extent a high-priced iPhone could be an obstacle to the success of the new iPod Touch. Based on what you know about Apple late development do you find that explanation convincing? Answer: In terms of the features of these two types of products, iPod Touch is like a simplified version of iPhone, without the function of a â€Å"phone†. This determines that the prices of these two types of products must be â€Å"in a line†, which means, for a reasonable consideration, the price of iPod Touch must be lower than iPhone but not too far away. If iPhone had not cut its price, iPod Touch must have had been priced at a higher level than the realistic one. We assume that, if iPhone 4 GB continued being sold at 499USD, iPod Touch may be sold at 400 or 450USD. As an mp3 player, it would be much more expensive than its competing brands. On the contrary, if iPhone had kept a high price level but iPod Touch had been set at a low one, the customers would have had been confused for â€Å"why a simplified version of iPhone is so much ‘cheaper’ than iPhone? † That would have had a negative impacts on the sales of both iPhone and iPod Touch, even would have had impaired Apple’s brand image. Combining with what I know about the late development of these two types of products, I found although the price cutting had a temporary harm on customer’s trust, iPhone and iPod Touch both performed well on the market. It proved the importance of keeping the price of iPhone and iPod Touch in a line. 7. â€Å"But the sharp price cut suggested that even Apple, which has long lived in a pricing bubble insulated from other personal computer makers, is not immune from the brutal pressures of the cellular phone business. † Does this statement mean that the personal computers market is different from the cellular phone business in other words, the cellular phone market is more competitive than the personal computer market? Why? Do you share this view? Justify. Answer: From this statement, I can’t make the conclusion that the cell phone market is more competitive than the personal computer market. Apple is one of the earliest personal computer manufacturers in the world. Its personal computer products are behalf of the most advanced PC technology of the world. Especially its graphics processing technology and operating system have high reputation. Thus, Apple’s PC products long lived in a pricing bubble insulated from other personal computer makers. That means Apple has definitely strong market power on PC market. Its high price doesn’t mean there is less competition. Furthermore, the technical innovation, appearance design, and function combination of cell phone products are updating so fast. So the lifecycle of a handset product is shorter than a computer. The price cutting often occurs when a mobile phone has come onto market for a period of time. The objective usually is for making price room for a new generation of product, which isn’t caused by competing activities. In conclusion, I don’t share this view. 8. â€Å"Keeping in mind Apple’s range of high priced products which gives it an â€Å"aura† of exclusivity, was Jobs decision to reduce the price a right one? With a 50% gross margin, Apple is setting itself up for aggressive price declines going forward†. Do you believe that Apple move is a sign that it is ready to enter a price war? Would this mean that Apple is leaving the niche market position it held for decades to go after mass market? What would be the pros and cons of that strategy? Do you believe it? Answer: The characteristics of Apple’s products are novel design, fashionable appearance and the combination of music, game, music, web surfing and other functions. It determines the positioning of iPhone must be high, and the main target consumer group is high income, music ; digital amateurs. This segment of consumer has low sensitive for price. Pure price war will not yield more market shares for iPhone. So, the price cutting strategy doesn’t mean Apple is ready for the price war. The product’s features determine Apple’s niche market strategy. But a cell phone product innovates relatively faster than other cargos. When a product successfully attracted some first adopters, how to sell them to more followers should be the core problem. Cutting the price and going in to the mass market is a universal method. Apple also adopted this strategy on iPhone. Pros of going to mass market: * iPhone can attract more followers. Some of them are sensitive to the price, their demands are elastic. Before the price cutting and entry of the mass market, some of the non-owners didn’t buy it just because of the high price. * iPhone can expand its market share quicker, and establish the competitive barriers. Its market power will be stronger. * The expanded customers would have had bought more online products, which would have had a big growth of income. By this strategy, iPhone can consolidate their customer-friendly brand image, and increase the loyalty of the customers. * The cooperation with AT;T can get a synergy between these two brands, and can receive a sum of bonus revenue from the carrier. Cons of going to mass market: * It made the brand image be lower than before. * Decreased the gross margin of iPhone. * Hurt some die-hards’ loyalty. * Increased the degree of monopoly, made the competition imperfect, and harmed the balance of the benign competition with its rivals. But a cellular phone product such as iPhone goes into the mass market is usually a temporary strategy when the product comes into the mature or declining period in its lifecycle, or when the company wants to make some price room for a new product. Apple cut iPhone’s price was just for keeping the iPhone’s price being in a line with iPod Touch’s. It didn’t mean Apple changed its main branding strategy to go into the mass market. For that time, I assume that it was a reasonable strategy for Apple to cut iPhone’s price.

Bullying and School Essay Example for Free

Bullying and School Essay Bullying has become one of the most serious issues facing our schools today. We’ve all heard the sad tales of children, some as young as 11, committing suicide because they could no longer deal with the bullying they experienced in school. In July 2008, the U.S. Congress began work on legislation for H.R. 2262, the Safe School Improvement Act, which would require schools to collect data, establish disciplinary guidelines and develop a system for registering complaints to combat bullying in our schools. However, as school counselors we can’t wait for laws to be passed to take action. We need to make a difference now. I started my quest to stop bullying at Midway Elementary School in Midway, Utah, six years ago. I attended conferences, read books and studied various programs. I learned a lot about the statistics and issues but little about specifically what to do. So I began taking steps to develop a program that would help my school and others combat school bullying. In my search for knowledge I discovered a fascinating study by Dr. Kenneth Merrell from the University of Oregon on the effectiveness of school bullying intervention programs. The study results showed that bully intervention programs, especially those aimed specifically at bullies, were effective in raising the level of awareness among students and staff but did little to reduce bullying behaviors. Merrell, along with others, recommend a schoolwide comprehensive approach to bully prevention. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, programs cracking down on individual bullies rarely work, but when there is a sch oolwide commitment to end bullying, it can be reduced by up to 50 percent. Program Framework As my program evolved over the years I identified four hallmarks of a successful schoolwide bully prevention program. Lead to systemic change: Successful programs bring about systemic change. The factors contributing to bullying in any school environment are complex and nebulous. The only way to have an impact on these critical factors is to cast a wide net. There must be change at all levels in the school environment and in the community. You are literally changing the culture of the entire school. You need to utilize all existing programs and resources such as comprehensive school counseling programs, positive behavior interventions and supports, character education, the parent-teacher organization, schoolwide discipline programs, grade-level teams or professional learning communities and more. Garner commitment from all: Schoolwide bully prevention programs require commitment from all stakeholders. Although your school may have a small team to oversee the bully prevention program, collaboration among administrators, school counselors, teachers, students, parents, secretaries, custodians, lunch workers, librarians, bus drivers, etc. is essential for success. Teach comprehensive strategies and skills: Effective programs are comprehensive. Teaching students about specific issues related to bullying is only one aspect of an effective schoolwide program. There are many supporting concepts and social skills you also need to address, such as conflict resolution, tattling vs. reporting, respect, accepting differences, teasing, cliques, relational aggression, cooperation and more. Effective data analysis will help you identify many of these specific needs. Continue year after year: Many times schools will bring in a pre-packaged bully prevention program, have a big anti-bullying campaign, raise a lot of awareness and then call it good. Effective bully prevention programs are not a one-shot deal. Effective prevention programs are nonstop. They require intervention, data to assess the program’s effectiveness and components, and ongoing specific targeted interventions for bullies, their victims and the bystander population. Key Components Eight key components, best implemented sequentially, have led to the success of Midway Elementary’s bully prevention program. Administrative support: An extremely important aspect of starting a bully prevention program is soliciting the support of your school administrators. Without strong and effective leadership, systemic change is difficult. As leaders in the school, administrators should become experts on bullying issues. They should form a bully prevention team and identify a go-getter staff member to lead this team. The administrators need to develop an anti-bullying code of conduct and communicate it to all stakeholders, especially students. Most importantly, administrators should establish the tone and expectations for students and staff and outline clear and consistent consequences for students who violate the anti-bullying code of conduct. Consequences should be based on a level system for first and subsequent offenses. It is important to follow district guidelines when establishing the level system. School administrators should utilize a behavior referral system to provide valuable data. The behavior referral system should include specific information that will help provide meaningful data to identify areas of concern and needs. Administrators should involve parents of both victims and bullies, especially for repeat offenders, to discuss concerns, outline consequences and form a strategic plan to stop the bullying behaviors. Schoolwide positive behavior interventions and supports program: If your school doesn’t have a PBIS program, I would highly recommend implementing one. Use the PBIS program to establish clear schoolwide rules. The rules should be specific to location, taught to all students and posted throughout the school. Introduce desired behaviors, clearly teach them and then model them. Once you’ve taught the behaviors, reinforce student compliance using a variety of incentive programs. Use data to measure the effectiveness of your program and to identify ongoing areas of concern. Data: I use two types of data, behavioral referral data and surveys given to students, parents and staff. Data can provide baseline information, measure the effectiveness of your program, discover areas of concern and identify chronic bullies and their victims. Online surveys will help gather subjective data to assess stakeholders’ level of concern, to measure student awareness and knowledge, to solicit input from staff members and to assess parent perspectives and concerns. Office behavior referral data provide objective data for analysis. Behavior referral forms or systems should include information directly related to bullying. By regularly reviewing these data, you can identify types of bullying, locations, repeat offenders and victims. Upon identifying specific problems, bully prevention team members should develop a plan of action to deal with the issues. Staff training: All staff members should receive training to include definitions of bullying, types of bullying, effects of bullying on victims, school code of conduct and expectations, legal liability based on state law and, most importantly, how to intervene when they witness bullying incidents or a student reports it to them. Make sure your staff training includes teachers, administrators, specialists, secretaries, lunch staff, custodians, aides and bus drivers. Student awareness and education: Give all students a basic introductory lesson including definitions for bullying, types of bullying with examples, school code of conduct and expectations, what to do when they are bullied or how to help others as bystanders. Students need to learn about the importance of speaking up and supporting each other with the skills they learn. Establish a common language for discussing bullying issues, and post it in every classroom and in key locations throughout the school. Critical social skills training: Once you’ve taught them the basics, students need additional information and skills to increase their level of awareness and to deal with bullying issues. At Midway Elementary, we’ve spent time on topics such as tattling vs. reporting, conflict resolution, teasing, relational aggression/cliques, cooperation, caring, respect and any other topics that come out of the stakeholder surveys or behavior referral data. Develop classroom guidance lessons to specifically address these needs, and teach students the skills and knowledge necessary to reduce the problem. Targeted interventions for bullies and victims: Data analysis will help you identify chronic bullies and their victims. These students most likely will need highly targeted interventions and supports. When it comes to intervention for bullies there is no silver bullet. The factors contributing to the reasons why children bully others are complex and often almost impossible to identify. Research also suggests that interventions such as out-of-school suspension, peer mediation and group counseling for bullies aren’t effective. Effective interventions include individual counseling/education on issues such as developing empathy; perspective taking; social skills training; anger management; conflict resolution; and identification of psychological disorders such as ADHD, depression and anxiety. Teaching bullies pro-social leadership roles and opportunities for self-competence and success may also be useful. Behavioral strategies such as behavior contracts, check-in/check-out programs, parent meetings, etc. may also be required to facilitate change. It is also important to provide intervention for repeat victims, especially chronic victims. Interventions may include providing an adult advocate, individual or group counseling, social skills training, peer support, structured recess, etc. You may need to refer some students to outside help for more therapeutic interventions to address self-esteem issues, depression and anxiety. Program generalization: Once you’ve taught pro-social behaviors in the classroom, you need to generalize these newly acquired behaviors to various conditions and situations. An effective PBIS program is a great way to teach, model and reinforce desired behaviors. Give appropriate incentives to students who demonstrate the desired behaviors along with verbal praise providing specific examples of why the student is being rewarded. Other program generalization ideas may include: * Posters placed in key locations throughout the school to remind students and staff about the bullying code of conduct and a schoolwide common language. * Buttons worn by both students and staff as a symbol of the school’s commitment to stop bullying. * Student â€Å"spotlight† programs to celebrate students who are positive role models. * Assemblies and student pledges to kick off the school year and to promote school commitment or unity. * Parent and community education via parent/teacher conferences, parent newsletters, school Web sites, community newspaper articles, PTA and community council meetings. School bullying and hazing issues are complex and multifaceted. They require a comprehensive approach to increase the probability of addressing many of the contributing factors. School counselors are in a unique position to promote a comprehensive approach because of their training and expertise in the social and emotional wellness of children and adolescents. School counselors who are trained in the ASCA National Model are familiar with the use of data to drive programs and the delivery of interventions. School counselors understand the importance of early intervention and prevention to promote positive outcomes in behavior and academics. Systemic change requires leadership and, as John Quincy Adams said, â€Å"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.† Parents can play a central role to preventing bullying and stopping it when it happens. Here are a few things you can do. * Teach kids to solve problems without using violence and praise them when they do. * Give children positive feedback when they behave well to help their build self-esteem. Help give them the self-confidence to stand up for what they believe in. * Ask your children about their day and listen to them talk about school, social events, their classmates, and any problems they have. * Take bullying seriously. Many kids are embarrassed to say they have been bullied. You may only have one chance to step in and help. * If you see any bullying, stop it right away, even if your child is the one doing the bullying. * Encourage your child to help others who need it. * Dont bully your children or bully others in front of them. Many times kids who are bullied at home reactby bullying other kids. If your children see you hit, ridicule, or gossip about someone else, they are also more likely to do so themselves. * Support bully prevention programs in your childs school. If your school doesnt have one, consider starting one with other parents, teachers, and concerned adults. When Your Child Is Bullied Many kids are embarrassed to be bullied and may not tell their parents or another adult right away. If your child comes to you and asks for help with a bully, take it seriously. Many times, if kids arent taken seriously the first time they ask for help, they dont ask again. Even if your child doesnt turn to you for help, you can watch for these warning signs that he or she is being bullied. Kids who are bullied often experience * Withdrawal * A loss of friends * A drop in grades * A loss of interest in activities he or she previously enjoyed * Torn clothing * Bruises * A need for extra money or supplies If you think your child is being bullied or if your child has told you that he or she is being bullied, you can help. Parents are often the best resource to build a childs self-confidence and teach him or her how to best solve problems. Here are a few ways you can help * Talk to your childs teacher about it instead of confronting the bullys parents. If the teacher doesnt act to stop the bullying, talk to the principal. * Teach your child nonviolent ways to deal with bullies, like walking away, playing with friends, or talking it out. * Help your child act with self-confidence. With him or her, practice walking upright, looking people inthe eye, and speaking clearly. * Dont encourage your child to fight. This could lead to him or her getting hurt, getting in trouble, and beginning more serious problems with the bully. * Involve your child in activities outside of school. This way he or she can make friends in a different social circle. Some children seem to be bullied all the time, while others rarely get picked on. Why do some kids seem to attract all of the bullies? Kids who are bullied often * Are different from other kids, whether by size, race, sexually, or have different interests * Seem weak, either physically or emotionally * Are insecure * Want approval * Wont tell on their bullies When Your Child Is a Bully Its hard for any parent to believe that their child is a bully, but sometimes it happens. But just because your child bullies doesnt mean that he or she will bully forever. Parents are one of the best resources to help their child stop bullying and start interacting positively with their classmates. Your child may bully if, he or she * Lacks empathy and doesnt sympathize with others * Values aggression * Likes to be in charge * Is an arrogant winner and a sore loser * Often fights often with brothers and sisters * Is impulsive What you can do to stop your child from bullying * Take it seriously. Dont treat bullying as a passing phase. Even if youre not worried about long-lasting effects on your child, another child is being hurt. * Talk to your child to find out why he or she is bullying. Often, children bully when they feel sad, angry, lonely, or insecure and many times major changes at home or school may bring on these feelings. * Help build empathy for others and talk to your child about how it feels to be bullied. * Ask a teacher or a school counselor if your child is facing any problems at school, such as if your child is struggling with a particular subject or has difficulty making friends. Ask them for advice on how you and your child can work through the problem. * Ask yourself if someone at home is bullying your child. Often, kids who bully are bullied themselvesby a parent, family member, or another adult. http://www.ncpc.org/topics/bullying/what-parents-can-do How can parents help to prevent bullying at their childs school? * Talk with and listen to your kids every day. Research shows that approximately half the children who have been bullied never tell their parents about it. Children are often too ashamed of themselves to tell anyone; sometimes they feel that no one can help, not even their parents.1 * Spend time at school and recess. Research shows that 67% of bullying happens when adults are not present. Whether you can volunteer once a week or once a month, you can make a real difference just by showing up. * Be a good example of kindness and leadership. Your kids learn a lot about power relationships from watching you. Any time you speak to another person in a hurtful or abusive way, you’re teaching your child that bullying is ok. * Learn the signs. If you suspect that your child might be bullied, talk with your child’s teacher or find ways to observe his or her peer interactions to determine whether or not your suspicions might be correct. * Create healthy anti-bullying habits early. Help develop anti-bullying and anti-victimization habits early in your children, as early as kindergarten. Coach your children what not to do hitting, pushing, teasing, being mean to others. Equally if not more importantly, teach your children what to do kindness, empathy, fair play, and turn-taking are critical skills for good peer relations. * Help your child’s school address bullying effectively. Whether your children have been bullied or not, you should know what their school is doing to address bullying. Research shows that â€Å"zero-tolerance† policies aren’t effective. What works better are ongoing educational programs that help create a healthy social climate in the school. * Establish household rules about bullying. Your children need to hear from you explicitly that it’s not normal, okay, or tolerable for them to bully, to be bullied, or to stand by and watch other kids be bullied. If your child is bullying, you can help him or her find other ways to exert their personal power, status, and leadership at school. Work with your child, his or her teachers, and the principal to implement a kindness plan at school. * Teach your child how to be a good witness. Children can often effectively diffuse a bullying situation by yelling â€Å"Stop! You’re bullying!† Must bullies stop within 10 seconds when someone tells him or her to stop. * Spread the word that bullying should not be a normal part of childhood. Some adults hesitate to act when they observe or hear about bullying because they think of bullying as a typical phase of childhood that must be endured. It is important for everyone to understand that all forms of bullying physical, verbal, social (gossip, rumors, exclusion from the group), and cyberbullying are NOT a normal part of childhood. * Adults (teachers and parent volunteers) in the classroom should be aware of class social structures. Which children typically affiliate together? Which children are leaders and socially influential? Which children are socially marginalized? Purposefully pairing and grouping children so that children who bully and those who are victims can work together helps to prevent bullying outside the classroom.

Conflict between the debt holders and shareholders

Conflict between the debt holders and shareholders Myers and Majluf (1984) in their pioneering work on pecking-order theory show that if the investors are not well informed about the information which the insiders have, the equity of that firm may be severely mispriced. In their paper they also show that if any firm wants to fund its new project by new equity then the equity can be so undervalued that the new investors will be better off by getting more value than the projects NPV. So the organization will go for such a source which is not underpriced by the market like internal funds or riskless debt. So, in case of information asymmetry companies should follow an order of financing. Myers (1984) refers to this order as the pecking order. As per the pecking order the firm first goes for internal funds and then for low risk debt and finally equity. As we have three major capital structure theories in the literature, it becomes an interesting task to test which theory characterises the behaviour of Indian firms in their determining th e capital structure during the bullish phase of capital market. There are many empirical studies [Bradley, Jarrell, and Kim (1984), Titman and Wessels (1988), Rajan and Zingales (1995), Wald (1999) and Booth et al. (2001)] which have been done to test the applicability of the above mentioned capital structure theories in the developed and developing countries. Market Timing Theory Market timing, a comparatively old initiative (see Myers, 1984), is having a new surge of fame in the academic literature. In study by Graham and Harvey (2001), managers carry on to offer support for the plan. Consistent with the behavior of market timing, firms inclined to issue equity subsequent a stock price run-up. Furthermore, researches that analyze long-run stock profits following business financing events find proof reliable with market timing. Lucas and McDonald (1990) investigate a dynamic adverse selection model that mix essentials of the pecking order with the market timing theory, which can give details of pre-issue run-ups but not post issue Under performance. Baker and Wurgler (2002) said that capital structure is best perceived as the cumulative effect of precedent attempts to time the market. The basic suggestion is that managers look at existing circumstances in both debt market and equity markets. If they found a need of financing, they use whichever market present ly looks more favorable. If neither market looks positive, they may go for defer issuances. On the other hand, if present conditions look strangely favorable, funds possibly will be raised still if the firm has no need for any funds at this time. While this idea seems reasonable, it has not anything to say about most of the factors conventionally considered in studies of corporate financing. However, it does propose that stock returns and debt market circumstances will play an significant role in capital structure decisions. LITERATURE REVIEW The first paper on capital structure was written by Miller and Modigliani in 1958, Showing that subject to some restrictive situation, the impact of leveraging on the worth of firm is immaterial; the conceptually provided that the worth of firm is not dependent upon the capital structure decision given that certain conditions are met. Because of the unrealistic assumptions in MM irrelevance theory, research on capital structure gave birth to other theories. According to the traditional (or static) trade-of theory (TOT), firms select optimal capital structure by comparing the tax benefits of the debt, the costs of bankruptcy and the costs of agency of debt and equity, that is to say the corrective role of debt and the fact that debt effects from informational cost than outside equity. (Modigliani and Miller, 1963; Stiglitz, 1972; Jensen and Meckling, 1976; Myers, 1977; Titman, 1984.) The Trade Off theory says that a firms adjustment toward an optimal leverage is influenced by three factors namely taxes, xosts of financial distress and agency costs. Baxter (1967) argued that the extensive use of debt increases the chances of bankruptcy because of which creditors demand extra risk premium. He said that firms should not use debt beyond the point where the cost of debt becomes larger than the tax advantage. In the so-called Pecking Order Theory (POT) (Donaldson, 1961; Myers and Majluf, 1984; Myers, 1984), because of asymmetries of information between insiders and outsiders, the company will prefer to be financed first by internal resources, then by debt and finally by stockholders equity. The debt ratio depends then on the degree of information asymmetry, on the capacity of self-financing and on the various constraints which the company meets in the access to the various sources of financing. So, in the pecking order world, observed leverage reflects the past profitability and investment opportunities of the companies. The dynamic trade-off theory (DTOT) tries a compromise between TOT and POT (Fischer et al., 1989; Leland, 1994, 1998[1]). Although, due to information asymmetries, market imperfections and transaction costs, many companies allow their leverage ratios to drift away from their targets for a time, when the distance becomes large enough managers take steps to move their companies back toward the targets. While the POT explains short-run deviation from the target, the traditional TOT holds in the long run. Following this approach, leverage must converge toward a target leverage ratio. That would no be the case following POT because managers make no effort to turn around changes in leverage. Two additional theories also reject the idea of timely meeting toward a target leverage ratio. According to the theories of market timing and inertia, the capital structure is the result at a given time of an historical process. Supporters of the market timing approach (Jalilvand and Harris, 1984; Korajczyk et al., 1991; Lucas and McDonald, 1990; Jung et al., 1996; Loughran et al., 1994; Baker and Wurgler, 2002) argue that companies will sell overpriced equity shares. Companys share prices will fluctuate around their factual value, and managers inclined to issue shares when the market-to-book ratio is high. A small debt ratio must thus follow a long period of high market-to-book ratio. According to the managerial inertia approach (Welch, 2004) companies do not adjust their debt ratio to the fluctuations of the market value of their equity. High market-to-book ratio must thus be accompanied by small debt. Graham and Harvey (2001) find that chief financial officers in the USA express concern about earnings volatility in capital structure choices. According to Mohammad M. Omran and John Pointon (2009) study, one of our issues of interest is whether debt is negatively associated with earnings volatility, in which case firms react to the risk, and manage it by reducing debt. On the other hand, if debt is found to be positively associated with earnings volatility, then they do not appear to manage the risk. Ayesha Mazhar and Mohamed Nisar (1997) have discussed the determinants of capital structure of Pakistani firms. They selected a sample from Pakistani companies registered on Islamabad Stock Exchange. The sample is divided into two sub-samples of private and government owned companies to make comparison between both sectors. The sample comprised 91 Pakistani companies out of which 80 companies are private and 11 are government owned covering the period of 1999-2006. They have taken debt to equity as a proxy of leverage of a firm, and tangibility of assets, profitability, size, growth, tax provision and return on assets as independent variables. They use correlation to determine the degree of association between different variables. Spearmen correlation is used for all independent variables association with dependent variables. Regression is also used to measure the relationship between dependent and independent variables. Attaullah shah and saifullah khan (2007) they used two variants of penal data i.e. constant coefficient model and fixed effect model to calculate the determinants of capital structure of Karachi Stock Exchange listed non-financial firms from1994 to2002. Pooled regression investigation was applied with the hypothesis that there were no industry or time effects. Though, by means of fixed effect dummy variable regression, the coefficients for a amount of industries were significant displaying there were significant industry effects later we accepted the late model for our investigation. He had measured effect of seven explanatory variables is measured on leverage ratio which is designed by dividing the total debt by total assets. Safdar Ali Butt and ArshadHasan(2009) had explores the association between capital structure and corporate governance of stock exchange listed companies in an equity market. The study considered the period of 2002 to 2005 for which 58 randomly selected non-financial listed companies from Karachi Stock Exchange has been investigated by using multivariate regression line analysis with fixed effect model method. Managerial ownership has negative relationship with debt to equity ratio indicating that concentration of ownership induces the managers to lower the gearing levels. Institutional ownership has positive relationship with capital structure which is consistent with corporate governance philosophy but this relation is statistically insignificant. Traditional determinants of capital structure like size and profitability have significantly effect on corporate financing decisions. Profitability is negatively related with debt to equity ratio and it is consistent with pecking order hyp othesis. Similarly, size has positive relationship which shows that large firms can arrange debt financing due to long term Relationship and better collateral offering. NengjiuJu, Robert Parrino, Allen M. Poteshman, and Michael S. Weisbach Abstract (2005) this paper inspect optimal capital structure choice by means of a dynamic capital structure model that is standardized to reflect genuine firm features. They also examine the relation between firm value and capital structure. They estimate indicate that the impact on firm value of moderate deviations from optimal capital structure is small. This paper suggests that the trade-off model performs reasonably well in predicting capital structures for firms with typical levels of debt. This paper also shows that the major forces affecting a firms financing decisions are corporate taxes and bankruptcy costs. Mohamad H. Mohamad, Professor of Business Administration. School of Management, University Utara Malaysia (Northern University of Malaysia), Sintok, Kedah DarulAman, Malaysia (1995).they examine the determinants of firms capital structure in Malaysia covering the period between 1986 to 1990. There are significant inter-industry differences in capital structure among Malaysian companies. Highly-leveraged firms are more likely to earn higher profits than less-leveraged firms. Similarly the relation between firms profit and equity ratio is also positive and is reflected in terms of the importance of efficient capital markets. Laurence Booth, VaroujAivazian, AsliDemirguc-Kunt, Vojislav Maksimovic(1999) has analyzed capital structure of firms in ten developing countries and provide indication that these choices are affected by the same variables as in advanced countries. But, there are constantly repeated differences across countries, when corporations choose to use of debt financing; they are altering some predictable future cash flows away from equity pretenders in exchange for cash up front. The issues that drive this decision remain mysterious regardless of a vast theoretical literature and years of experimental tests. The quantity of proof is large, and so it is frequently all too relaxed to provide some pragmatic support for nearly any idea. It is satisfactory for a given paper but more challenging for the general expansion of our thoughtful of capital structure choice. As an outcome, in current decades the literature has not had a concrete experimental basis to differentiate the weaknesses and streng ths of the main theories. Numerous theories of capital structure have been proposed which theory shall we take seriously? Of course, opinions differ. Remarkably, nearly all corporate finance textbooks inclined to the trade-off theory in which bankruptcy costs and deadweight taxation are key operators. Myers (1984) projected the pecking order theory in which there is a financing hierarchy of retained earnings, debt, and then equity. In recent times, the idea that firms are engage in market timing has gain popularity. In conclusion, agency theory lurks in the background of a lot theoretical conversation. Agency concerns are frequently collected into the trade-off structure largely interpreted. Advocates of these types of models are frequently point to experimental proof to support their preferred theory. Often suggestion has been made to the survey by Harris and Raviv (1991) or to the experimental study by Titman and Wessels (1988). Both these two standard papers point up a serious empirical difficulty. They are disagreed over basic facts. According to Harris and Raviv (1991, p. 334), the accessible studies normally agree that leverage increases with tangible fixed assets, growth opportunities, non debt tax shields, firm size and decreases with advertising expenditures, volatility, research and development expenditures, profitability, bankruptcy probability, and uniqueness of the product. On the other hand, Titman and Wessels(1988, p. 17) find that their outcome do not provide sustain for an effect on debt ratios due to non debt tax shields, collateral value, volatility, or future growth. Therefore, advocates of exacting theories are presented a choice of absolutely opposing well-known summaries of what we all know from the preceding literature. Obviously this is unacceptable, and th e study aims to assist resolve this experimental difficulty.