Great Expectations Essay Example for Free

Great Expectations Essay QS. Look carefully at the opening chapters of great expectations and explore some of the ways in which Dickens captures and keeps the interest and attention of the reader. Explore also how social conditions of the time inform his writing. When Dickens writes he uses three methods to interest his readers, the presentation of character, creation of atmosphere and his use of narrative, description and speech. To begin with we will look at dickens presentation of character. When my English class first began reading great expectations I noticed that Dickens did not describe a character physically or through their thoughts, instead he describes them with two details, their surroundings and their past. For example we are never told that Pip is blonde or his age etc, instead we are only told that he has a married older sister who cares for him and that they live quite simply for example we learn that for dinner they would have something like buttered bread which suggests that they have poor nutrition. We are also told about the fact that when Pip was younger his parents died along with five of his siblings, which suggests that he comes from a family that were and still are struggling and this suggests that they are living in the popular social conditions of the time which were harsh cold, poor hygiene, no hot water or heat, high infant mortality rate etc and this is also suggested at the bottom of page two when Pip says I was undersized for my age and not strong, the house they live in is also described as being in the marsh country this method of Dickens I found to be quite striking as I have not before read a book that does the same, however I think it is very effective because it allows the reader to paint their own picture of the characters and give them a greater insight into the characters and helps them to understand the characters actions, thoughts and words. This also allows the reader to become more involved in the novel and therefore the readers interest is already being drawn in. These social conditions, so far mentioned inform the novel a great deal as it is the story-line of this young boy from a poor background, and because he has been raised by hand that this child is so meek and innocent, and because of this innocence, and by chance, he is given the opportunity to become someone, quite literally, a man of great expectations In the first two chapters it is also noticeable that Dickens starts to give particular traits to each character to make them individual, such as Mrs Joe Gargery Was the evil step-mother while her husband Mr Joe Gargery was the quiet and almost wimpy yet kind man. Dickens narrative technique is also very powerful. Unlike most novels the action starts almost straight away. By page two we are shocked by the very sudden arrival of Magwitch with the shocking and almost frightening line Hold your noise! We are suddenly completely sucked in to the story when we find very quickly that Pip, the young boy we have become fond of is in danger and that Magwitch has only just escaped from a prison ship and is in desperate need of food, drink and possibly a file, if he will be able to make a full escape. This makes the first chapter become very exciting. Also it seems quite realistic because Magwitchs language is very powerful because it is so graphic, blunt and colloquial. Also Magwitch not only speaks in the way you would expect a convict to speak but he dresses how you would expect as well. Dickens uses many subordinate clauses and he also uses the word and a lot yet he uses it with style and it makes his writing seem much more rhythmic, for example in the third paragraph in the first chapter when Pip is telling us of his first memory, he says My first most vivid and broad impression of the identity of things and that the small bundle of shivers growing afraid of it all and beginning to cry, was Pip Dickens mainly keeps our attention by using drama such as when Magwitch enters on page two. Another way in which Dickens sustains the readers attention is his use of language in the way he writes. For example the type of words he uses to describe the new characters intrigues the readers so that they want to know more such as when Mr Joe Gargery is being introduced, In the middle of page six, Pip describes him as being a sort of Hercules in strength, and also in weakness. This seems to be very confusing and makes the reader want to continue in the story in order to figure out its meaning. Finally the most effective way which Dickens uses to with-hold the readers attention is through the creation of atmosphere. By using words such as raw, bleak, marsh and phrases like overgrown with nettles, dark flat wilderness etc. the writer makes the scene seem gloomy, drag and sad, and with the opening setting not only being in a churchyard, but a graveyard, we are subconsciously being prepared for Magwitchs arrival. Pip describes the river as a low leaden line This is a perfect example of Dickens art of alliteration. The word low is also representing the low spirit of Pip, The word Leaden makes us think of something that is heavy, grey and dull, and the word line sounds very bland and boring. Also the way in which Dickens uses personification for example in calling the wind a savage beast, these words make us think of Pip a small helpless child who is out alone in what seems like an extremely solitude and scary place. We then fear for this young child and want to learn what happens to him so once again the reader finds that they wish to continue in the book, and for the rest of the novel the drama and language that Charles Dickens uses makes us keep wanting to read on continues Therefore it is through using the techniques previously mentioned, of character presentation, creation of atmosphere and narrative, description and speech that Dickens gains and sustains his readers attention. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Great Expectations section.

Fatherhood Essay Example for Free

Fatherhood Essay Homer Simpson from The Simpsons, Peter Griffin from Family Guy, and Jerry from Wizards of Waverly Place, are just a few of the many youth television shows that present a dangerously distorted male figure. Or The Sweet Life of Zack and Cody, who run rampant throughout the hotel that they live in with their mother who was left to raise her children due to a dead beat father who left the family when the kids were young. Whether there is a Dad or there is not a Dad; they are presented as weak, childish, and brainless. These men are, at best, the whipping post for the strong-willed mothers who apparently have the real power and are the ones that essentially keep the home and the children from falling apart. It is clear that the role of Fatherhood has been distorted and watered down in the current century. Because of this, many modern day fathers fail to accomplish their duties towards their family, duties defined in Scripture, not because they do not want to but because they do not understand how crucial they are to their family, because society tells them that they are not really needed, and simply that they do not even know where to start. The task of being a father is of critical importance, and it has never been more so than in this day and age. A child’s relationship with Dad is a decisive factor in that young man or woman’s health, development and happiness. Stephen K. Baskerville, an American scholar of political science as well as a leading authority on divorce, child custody and the family court system, wrote, â€Å"A generation of fatherhood advocates has emerged who insist that fatherlessness is the most critical social issue of our time. In Fatherless America, David Blankenhorn calls the crisis of fatherless children â€Å"the most destructive trend of our generation† (1995, 1). Their case is powerful. Virtually every major social pathology issue has been linked to fatherless children: violent crime, drug and alcohol abuse, truancy, unwed pregnancy, suicide, and psychological disorders—all correlating more strongly with fatherlessness than with any other single factor, surpassing even race and poverty. The majority of prisoners, juvenile detention inmates, high school dropouts, pregnant teenagers, adolescent murderers, and rapists come from fatherless homes (Daniels 1998, passim). Children from affluent but broken families are much more likely to get into trouble than children from poor but intact ones, and white children from separated families are at higher risk than black children in intact families (McLanahan 1998, 88). The connection between single-parent households and crime is so strong that controlling for this factor erases the relationship between race and crime as well as between low income and crime (Kamarck and Galston 1990, 14)† (Baskerville, independent. org). These statistics bring forth something vastly different than what is seen in pop culture’s most-watched TV shows. Despite these staggering statistics, no attempt is being made to change this very prominent issue that American society faces every day. Instead of the government focusing on getting rid of poverty through public school systems, go to the true source of the issue which would involve eliminating one-parent families and teaching every young man the importance of fatherhood and should be preparing them to step up when that day comes. History also plays a key role in the downfall of Male leaders in the home. The Industrial Revolution came upon the world with great force. Women began entering the workforce and started becoming more and more independent. Feminists rose from this age and helped fuel the beginnings of what we see today: that being, more and more single family homes, often being run by the mother and not the father. Women think they can do it on their own but this is not always the case. There are some women out there who have been able to raise successful children but this is not the case for many other single family homes. The bible is very vocal when it comes to fatherhood. The concept of fatherhood begins with the one who created the universe. Derek Prince, an international Bible teacher, says that â€Å"The fact behind all other facts is that God created the universe as father. He left his imprint on every aspect of creation† (Prince, 57). God is indeed, the perfect father whom every earthly father should model themselves after and give their all to be the best father they can be. Proverbs 22:6-11 reads, â€Å"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it† (English Standard Version). The father is the initial instructor of his children and therefore sets the path for how they are going to live their lives. Ephesians 6:4 is a summary of instruction to parents, represented by the father, in a negative and positive way which states, â€Å"and now a word to you fathers, don’t make your children angry by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction approved by the Lord† (English Standard Version). This is where the issue of discipline comes into play. The father should not discipline with the intention of frustrating their child or making their child feel less of themselves. Wanda L. Ball, an author, speaker, and teacher, writes, â€Å"A wise parent wants to make obedience desirable through love and gentleness. Christian discipline is needed to prevent children from growing up without reverence for God, respect for their parent’s authority, knowledge of Christian standards and self-control. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, ‘All scripture is given of God and is profitable for teaching, reproving, correcting and instruction in righteousness; that the man (or woman) of God may be completely equipped for all good works. ’ This is what the Bible says about being a father† (Ball-publications. com). With this being said, a solid framework for how a father should be is established. The tricky part is how to carry this all out. God is indeed the model father. As Josh McDowell writes in his book, The Father Connection, â€Å"He is a tender Father who invites us to address Him as ‘Abba’†¦He is a listening Father who bids us to approach him boldly as ‘our father in heaven’ He is a loving Father who freely and forcefully demonstrated his Father-love at the baptism of his Son, Jesus with a voice like thunder that said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. ’ He is a giving Father who gives good gifts to his children. He is the Father of all, the very definition of father-hood, the fount of everything that is good, moral, and worthy of imitation† (McDowell, 18). If this is not how a father would want to be then something is very wrong. Every man should be humble enough to model themselves to be like their Heavenly father who gave them the opportunity to even be a father. God is a wondrous God who is more to us than just a Creator. What follows will lay out all that a father should be towards his son, his daughter, as well as his wife. These will all be discussed separately and then related back to each-other in the end. For his son, a father must create an early bond with him, must be able to discipline his son, and lastly, must be a consistent example for his son in every aspect of life. For his daughter, a father must recognize that he is the first man in her life, must constantly encourage her, must exercise leadership and display perseverance, and needs to be there for his daughter by comforting her, being compassionate, and by supporting her. Lastly for a father, is his relationship with his wife, who is the source of his father-hood. How a husband treats his wife is crucial in raising children. A husband must be able to take input from his wife and be able to make decisions from that input, must love and cherish his wife at all time, and must also be able to give praise to his wife. A father’s children watch him constantly and one of the main ways children learn from their father is by observing how he treats their mother. The modern day man fails to accomplish his duties towards his son: to teach and guide him towards manhood. Fatherhood is not something to fool around with and take lightly. A father has the responsibility of properly raising members of the future generations. The job of a father is not just doing well in business but rather raising their son. A father’s main goal in raising his son should be to train the young boy throughout his early life how to be a man and to teach him what it means to be a man. Fatherhood is complex and requires hard work and commitment, as well as love. To start, manhood needs to be defined. Rick Johnson, a best-selling Christian author and speaker focusing on parenting, marriage, fathering, personal growth, character development, and masculinity, says that â€Å"authentic manhood is living for a cause bigger than yourself† (Johnson, 18-19). This means that one should not simply live for themselves but live for the benefit of others. A man needs to be a servant to others which includes, first and foremost, his wife and children; to be the protector and leader. When it comes to the son, he needs to be able to look at his father in a similar way to the way he looks at superheroes like superman and spider-man. In other words, his father needs to be able to look at his father and say, â€Å"I want to be like my dad when I grow up. † For a father, this type of respect must be earned. Relationships are hard work and take effort and care. As it says in Proverbs, â€Å"train a child in the way he should go, and when he is older he will not turn from it† (English Standard Version, Proverbs 22:6). A father needs to focus on his character because that is the best way to gain a young boys respect. A father could be courageous, compassionate, loving, strong, understanding, and so on. A son will notice this and seek to emulate it. To start out, a father must begin to bond with his son in his sons early years. This is much harder to do now than it did in the past. Before the Industrial Revolution, the father and son were with each other almost every moment of every day. The father would work the land at home and would train his son at an early age to do the same. Fathers did not have to take time out of there day to have â€Å"bonding time† with their son. It just happened because that’s how the times were (Johnson). Unfortunately, after the Industrial revolution, the men started to work outside of the home for hours and hours on end and were not home nearly as much. In current culture it becomes more and more difficult for fathers to bond with their sons in the early stages of life. Cheryl Erwin, a licensed marriage and family therapist who provides parent coaching, parent education, and professional training to help you develop both wisdom and skill wrote, â€Å"A fathers role in the raising of his children has changed dramatically over the past century or two. In generations past, sons expected to follow in their fathers footsteps, apprenticing in their work and in their approach to life. During the nineteenth century, however, fathers began to go out to work, and the measure of a mans success slowly changed. Rather than the closeness of his family and the strength of his family business, a mans worth could be measured in his income, the value of his house, and the size of his car. Parenting became womens work; fathers were just too busy earning a living. And generations of boys grew up hungering for closeness with a father they barely knew, someone who came home only to eat dinner, look over omework, hear about the days misbehavior, and watch a little television† (Erwin, life. familyeducation. com) Sons yearn for their fathers. In Proverbs it says, â€Å"The glory of sons is their fathers† (English Standard Version, Proverbs 17:6). Just as God’s people seek to worship him, a son seeks to worship his father. It’s clear that young boys seek to be like their father. They try to walk the same way, talk the same way, dress the same way. It is a part of our genetic makeup. Rick Johnson writes, â€Å"Our sons’ eyes are watching us constantly. They observe how we react to the many justices and injustices of the world† (Johnson, 20). They need to see a man’s ability to recover from mistakes and stay strong in tough times. A boy relies on his father to be there through all of what life brings forth. Next, a father needs to be able to discipline his son. Many men misunderstand the concept of discipline. They think that discipline should be used to instill fear in their children for what he might do to punish them for their wrongful actions. This however, is exactly the opposite of what disciplining is. Discipline is to be done in love and not anger. One does not discipline because he is angry that his child has overstepped his bounds. Instead, he should be committed to teaching the child what to do and what not to do; to know what is right and what is wrong. Dr. Lawrence Balter, a child psychologist and parenting expert wrote that â€Å"discipline is not just punishing, forcing compliance or stamping out bad behavior. Rather, discipline has to do with teaching proper deportment, caring about others, controlling oneself and putting someone else’ wishes before one’s own when the occasion calls for it. When disciplining, the focus needs to be on teaching and not on punishing. Over time, as a father bonds with his son and develops a deeper relationship with him, the son should not have to fear the wrath that is about to come but should instead fear disappointing him due to the deep respect the son has for the father. Lastly, possibly the most difficult of all, is the father being a constant example to his son. In order for the son to accept things that he is corrected about, he must see that the Father does those things that he is constantly instilling in his son. The most important of which is being respectful to everyone. In order for one’s son to respect him, they must see that the father respects everyone in all situations including his son. In order to get respect you must first give it . Respect is earned. In relation to having respect for others, the father must display self-respect. A boy must see confidence in his father. The father must know that no matter what people think of him his son will always think highly of him. This goes a long with the fact that boys yearn for their fathers love. Included in being an example is having respect for women. Chivalry, something that has been around for hundreds of years is becoming less and less implemented in young men by their fathers. One of the simplest ways a father can do this is by opening doors for women. This shows a young boy that we are willing servants of women in that we do the â€Å"dirty work. † A woman is delicate and should be treated as such. Chivalry is only the half of it. A father needs to be an example for his son by how he treats his wife. The bible calls men to be considerate of their wives and to treat them with respect. If a son sees his father disrespecting his wife he will more than likely treat women in a similar fashion and vice versa. In the end, the father plays the most crucial role in the development of a young man. It is easy for a man to become distracted with all of the things life throws at him and forget about how important he is to his son. A man needs to set his priorities straight from the moment he gets married and has children. In all things, God is first, family is second, and work is third. A man needs to, above all else, instill biblical principles in the family life. He needs to be the anchor of the family in Christ. He is the natural leader and needs to act as such. His job is to raise a son with the same values. Moving on to daughters, Meg Meeker, a Pediatrician, wrote, â€Å"Fathers, more than anyone else, set the course for a daughter’s life† (Meeker 1). Whether a father wants to believe it, he is the most important person in a young girl’s life, not the mother. The problem today is that fathers assume they do not have much of an influence on their daughters. A father automatically thinks that the mother has the bigger responsibility over the daughter because she can better relate to a girl’s problems. In media, it is very common for the father to cause their daughter to cry over an unimportant issue and then would send the mother after her to comfort her. Unfortunately, this is how it is in many homes. Fathers are becoming more and more distant from their daughters and are unaware of how detrimental this can be as they become more and more uninvolved in their daughter’s life. The modern day father fails to accomplish his duties towards his daughter and to realize how important he is to his daughter, not because he does not want to but because he does not know what to do or even where to start. A father needs to recognize that he is the first man in his daughter’s life, needs to be encouraging of his daughter, must display leadership and perseverance, and must be able to be compassionate and understanding towards his daughter’s emotions and problems.

Enron and the role of tone at the top in fraud

Enron and the role of tone at the top in fraud Research and review the Enron case against the concept of tone at the top. Produce a referenced report and bibliography which demonstrates specifically how the conduct of the senior leadership in Enron shaped the dominant culture of the company and how this contributed towards an acceptance of the use of Fraud for personal gain within Enron. The central purpose of this report is to examine and review the Enron case; the most profiled, serious white collar crime reported in the world today. The report shall specifically look at the how the companies ‘tone at the top’ contributed to their failure and also how the demeanour of the senior leadership within the company shaped the culture of the company and how this contributed towards an acceptance of the use of Fraud for personal gain within Enron. In the business atmosphere it is important for there to be a trust between management and employees, and that either party does not abuse their positions for personal gain, as doing so can often have detrimental effects on a business as proved by Enron. The eventual demise of the Enron Corporation was a result of a lack of ethical corporate behaviour, corporate greed and the utilisation of special purpose entities, which were used to hide financial debt. A large contributing factor to the fall of Enron was down weak tone at the top of the company. However other factors such as mismanagement of risk and over extension of capital resources, philosophical differences in management, involvement in mark to market accounting, earnings to assets failures and the tone set by the management of the company to overestimate assets to meet targets for greater bonuses also contributed to the failure of the company. To remove competition – Ir. in Jacobs? He was bought out using the employees’ pension fund, a move which is morally wrong. People to mention Jeffrey skilling – CEO of enron Ken Lay – background? Little management experience and qualifications 1999 – annual report – Ken Lay – we support employees Cressey – fraud 3 elements – pressure, opportunity and rationalisation. Arthur Anderson their accounting company – desperate to gain contracts in the competitive market. They became involved in the Enron scandal and even shredded important documents which were requested by investigators later on. ‘Tone at the Top’[1] refers to the moral construct which is formed in a workplace. ‘The tone is set by top management, the corporate environment within which reporting occurs.’[2] ‘Tone at the top is described as†¦. ACFE’ Examples of good tone at the top – following the code of ethics Zero tolerance to crime and fraud within a company Good tone at the top of an organisation reduces the likelihood of rationalisation for ‘unethical’ behaviour, creating an honest and trustworthy work environment. Good tone at the top doesn’t always lead to a successful business, however it gives a business a better chance. Don’t cover anything up. Example IBM suffered a bad spell, were honest and open about it and discussed how they could improve the situation. Enrons code of ethics, which integrity, respect, communication and excellence. Enrons bad tone at the top Enrons foundations wernt based on the marketing of a successful product, but a free market which they thought they could abuse. poor business ethics including the ‘rank or yank’ scheme which enron employed, employees were ranked on their performance and would dismiss the bottom 15% if they didn’t improve within the consecture 6 months. This strategy meant that employees were scared of loosing their jobs, therefore didn’t question business practises and were even often forced to make unethical decisions for themselves. Employees rationalised their actions, as they had to commit fraud in order to meet targets and keep their job safe. Enron recruited young employees who had just graduated, who were ‘impressionable’ and who needed the job, therefor would not question or report the operating style of the company. Enon needed contant funding to provide high returns with little risk. It has been discovered that an organisation can be dictated on the upper management’s attitude towards integrity and ethical values; this suggests that if the manager’s outlook can dictate employee’s views, it therefore can increase or decrease the chance of fraud occurring within the business. Corporate greed often destroys a company,[3] as it did with the Enron Corporation. In the mid 1990’s Enron was the dominant energy company in the United States, and one of the leading companies in the world and later on in 2001, they went onto filing for bankruptcy. Enron went bankrupt the way that most companies fail, investing in projects that are too risky, and therefore they were unable to keep up with the debt obligations of the firm. (niskanen, 2005, p. 2). High level managers in mark and skillings teams were taking advantage of huge compensation packages for having completed deals through questionable practises. , however the firm’s success was down to an elaborate scam ran by executives of the company. The rapid suc ­cess and the pos ­i ­tive scrutiny the com ­pany was receiv ­ing from the press and finan ­cial ana ­lysts, supplemented fuel to the company’s com ­pet ­i ­tive cul ­ture. Jefferey Skilling a company executive ran a staff of executives who used loopholes, mislead financial information and used deception to hide billions of pounds of debts they were in from previous failed projects and deals. The culture at Enron was that any ‘ethical wrongdoing is to be hidden at any cost; deny, play the dupe, claim ignorance, lie, quit’.[4] Enron used a technique called ‘mark to market’ this is an accounting technique which is used by recording the price/value of a security on a daily basis to calculate the profits and losses, this allowed Enron to project earnings from long term energy contracts as their current income, this was how they distorted their balance sheets to inflate their revenue by manipulating projections for future revenue. This technique made it difficult to see how the company was making money, and therefore stock prices remained high for the company however Enron wasn’t paying high taxes, therefore this method allowed the company to make money without bringing in taxable money, by doing this the company had wiped out ‘$70 billion of shareholder value but also defaulted on tens of billions of dollar of debts’[5] This approach increased the pressure at the top of the company, the company used bonuses to push employees to keep the business going. The organisational culture for the company was seen as a ‘dysfunctional corporate culture’ whose main focus was on profit gains through the means of bonuses. practice was carried out at all levels of the organisation, disregarding the quality of cash flow or profits, in order to achieve a better rating for their performance tables. This meant that stakeholders and lenders saw inaccurate figures. fraudulent reporting and accounting was to ensure that the business kept up with the stock price value. This practice enabled employees within the organisation and executives to receive large bonuses.[6] These are common features that indicate that tone at the top failed in the Enron’s business environment and it also produces evidence that moral ethics can affect a whole organisation. If cor ­po ­rate lead ­ers encour ­age rule defiance and fos ­ter an intim ­i ­dat ­ing, aggres ­sive envi ­ron ­ment, it was indisputable that the eth ­i ­cal bound ­aries at Enron eroded away to noth ­ing. In 2001, Richard Grubman an Analyst from Wall Street discovered that Enron weren’t producing their balance sheets or financial statements. The CEO of Enron Jeffrey Skilling responded to this by saying, â€Å"Well, thank you very much. We appreciate it†¦ a–hole!†[7] This comment made gives a picture of the culture ran within the organisation and also gives an idea of the tone at the top of the company, that executives who ran the company didn’t have high standards of civility or integrity. When their malpractice was discovered Lay and Skilling argued that they were participating in ‘normal business practice’,[8] however their defensiveness towards the situation intensified the awareness of such ‘Gaming the system’.[9] The failure of the Enron Corporation identified certain judgements which need to be considered with regards to business ethics, the issue isn’t the fact that fraud was classed as acceptable in that business environment. The occurrence of disreputable practices and the systematic temperament of the misinterpreting and reporting of financial reports in the case lead the UK and US to implement regulations to stop this behaviour happening in other businesses. Accord ­ing to Schein (1985) there are five pri ­mary mech ­a ­nisms that a leader can use to influ ­ence an organisation’s cul ­ture atten ­tion, reac ­tion to crises, role modelling, allo ­ca ­tion of rewards, and cri ­te ­ria for selec ­tion and dis ­missal. Schein’s assump ­tion is that these mechanisms rein, force and encour ­age behavioural and cul ­tural norms within a business environment. However the exec ­u ­tives at Enron used the five mech ­a ­nisms to rein ­force a working cul ­ture that was morally indecent, exposing the company and employees to degen ­er ­a ­tion, lying, cheat ­ing, and stealing. Rafraf commented that the executives in the company were solely focused on profit and gains in the short term and not achieving long sustainable business goals or profits,[10] he suggested this was their main focus, regardless of business ethics.[11] A previous employee commented that executive Jeffery Skilling was ‘driven by the almighty dollar.’[12] It was evident in the Enron case that employees were ‘overconfident’ therefore it has been suggested that this behaviour can often lead to fraudulent behaviour to become or stay successful.[13] The company went under investigation after scrutiny from its own employees who whistle blew as they didn’t like the way that the business was being ran as the activities that were undertaken to stay successful were unethical, morally wrong and illegal. A former employee commented, â€Å"We are such a crooked company.’[14] Executives such as Kenneth Lay soon started to sell off their own shares whilst also pocketing some money.[15] Whilst in the meantime Lay was telling workers in company to buy shares as they were incredibly low, this supports that it was executives within the company who determined this crooked culture within the organisation. The company executives were charged for fraud and money laundering. Tone at the top failed at Enron, as business procedures show that morale ethics can affect the whole organisation. Business ethics were not evident in the company, regardless of position in hierarchy. Tone of the Top allows a business to have control over itself, the stronger the tone at the top, the more likely the business is to be successful, however it has been suggested that organisations who rely too much on tone at the top give businesses too much independence. The reason for Enron’s failure was due to the lack of tone at top, ethical values and morals also didn’t play a role in the decisions which were made at the expense of the business, employees and customers. This particular case of failure in business highlighted the fact that when tone at the top is not implemented into a business, employees often follow the decisions made even if they are ethically immoral, this can be down to personal circumstances and a need for the job. There are regulations in place t hat deter organisations and employees from committing this white collar crime and also the criminal law prosecution. The Enron case highlights how an organisation can quickly sink if they lack tone at the top, however the case failed to provide a message against ‘gaming the system’[16]. Tone at the top is imperative in a business that wishes to be successful, as otherwise the company can be led astray by an individual who has no business morale and lead the company into committing fraud to make the company successful. Conclude The poor tone at the top at Enron allowed the management to profit through their illegal business practises. This was also the case for many employees who were taught in an environment that allowed for personal gain, from illegal activities. Enron had a code of ethics, which was evidently not followed. code of ethics, Honesty and integrity. Followed by all ranks of a company to set a good ‘tone at the top’, ethical behaviour. National commission on fraudulent financial reporting suggests; identify and understand the factors that lead to fraudulent financial reporting, design and implement internal controls within the company, which detects/prevents this behaviour. Integrity is an important characteristic to behold, as compliance goes hand in hand. This attitude encourages whistle blowers and deters staff from using rationalisation and justification to commit fraudulent behaviour. The main element in the fraud triangle, therefore reducing the likeliness of fraud within a company. A culture of narcissm fostered at Enron, rewarding individuals for unethical practises, such as CFO chief financial advisor Andrew Fastow who created an illegal scheme Chewco to hide enrons mounting debt. Mark and skillings dispute to which business model to follow, accounting scandals emerged to the public in 2001, finally brought Enron to the ground. Enron culture developed – trait theory Stogdill found leadership changed depending on situations encounted, 5 major leadership traits intelligence, self confidence, determination, integrity and sociability (northhouse, p. 19) Traits worked together to provide effective leadership, balance between individual leader n situational factors needed to influence group member behaviour and develop healthy organisational culture. One or more of the traits are lacking in the leader, problems can arise in the social exchange between leader and group members. Impacting in a negative manner the development of organisational culture. Enron: absence of key trair – integrity. Enrons leadership did not live out the ethics they claimed to have valued. Mixed deontology and universal ethical egoism help to understand how the culture of narcissm at enron developed from an ethical framework. Trait and transformational theories help us to make sense of what went wrong at enron from a leadership perspective. 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Descriptive Essay - The Swimming Pool -- Description, Observation

Descriptive Essay - The Swimming Pool The tiles were still dirty from the residue of chlorine and pittle combined into one thick layer of impossible gunk. This gunk surrounded the edge of pool right where the water met the lowest part of the tile and was even apparent underneath the shallow water fountain around the back end. The ring had been worn away in spots where the missus had got so fed up that she was gonna put an end to this "ring of filth" once and for all. A few times she had started, but had always found a broken nail or straying hair to become spontaneously obsessive about when her arm got tired of scrubbing. The diving board had been broken several times since last summer and had become somewhat of a hazard to the youngins. Just looking at the double springs and a...

Primate Species Profile :: essays papers

Primate Species Profile Red-shanked Douc Langurs What are their names? Scientific name: Pygathrix nemaeus English name: Red-shanked douc langurs How are they classified? Order: Primata Family: Cercopithecidae Did you know..... -That Douc langurs are leaf-eating monkeys with long intestines and very large stomachs to get nutrients out of leaves. Leaves are difficult to digest, so therefore, the langurs spend most of their time sleeping in order to properly digest them. They leaves they eat ferment inside them as part of their natural digestion, which releases bubbles of gas and causes them to burp! -Douc langurs have a specific "playface" in which the eyes are closed, exposing very pale blue eyelids. -The tails of Douc langurs are actually longer than their body. -Douc langur babies are very susceptible to the pet trade because they are so cute. Unfortunately most of these babies die due to lack of proper nutrients because their owners feed them only fruits - and they need many other nutrients for a balanced, healthy diet. Where do they live? Douc langurs are found most frequently in primary evergreen forests of Vietnam and Laos (also in Cambodia), at around 300-2000 meters elevation. Recent fieldwork has demonstrated that although douc lagurs were once thought to have a restricted habitat, they are actually found in a variety of habitats. While douc langur monkeys are restricted to wooded areas, they occur in a variety of forest types. Populations of doucs have been located from both monsoon forests as well as rainforests and include: semi-evergreen, lowland lower montane and upper montane forest types. What are their general characteristics? Description: Douc langurs appear as if dressed in costume. They have grey-black underparts, and the upper part of the leg is also black, and finally continuing down the knee and below are orange-red. Cheeks and throat are white, and the hands, feet, brow, and shoulders are a contrasting black. The tail, forearms, and genital region are also white. There is no sexual dimorphism in the size of douc langurs, and the size ranges are the following: the body length ranges from 23.1-23.5 inches, the tail length ranges from 23.5-26.8 inches, and their weights range from 18.1-24.0 lbs. Diet: Douc langurs are vegetarians, getting adequate protien and fluid by eating leaves, buds, fruit, and flowers. They eat 50 species of plant but no animals. At the zoo, the animals eat primate chow and various types of greens that they get in a rotating diet. That way the animals get to choose which type of green they want.

The Minimum Wage For Restaurant Workers Must Be Raised Essay -- Argume

"It is but equity...that they who feed, clothe and lodge the whole body of the people, should have such a share of the produce of their own labor as to be themselves tolerably well fed, clothed and lodged." -- Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations, 1776 The restaurant server is one of the most popular jobs in the country and according to the National Restaurant Association, currently, 1 in 12 Americans work in the restaurant industry and about 50 percent of all adults have worked in the industry at some point during their lives. The industry is clearly very large with over 13 billion workers, but overall, workers in the industry do not get paid very well. According to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), the average annual salary for a server is just over $20,000. In fact, servers are twice as likely to use food stamps as the rest of the U.S. workforce and three times as likely to be living in poverty. The main reason for this is the existence of the tipped minimum wage, which since 1991 has stayed set at $2.13 per hour. Not many people even realize that the tipped minimum wage exists, but according to the DOL, servers in 43 states get paid less than the regular minimum wage hourly based on the assumption that the rest of their wages will come from customer tips. In fact, 22 states pay their tipped workers less than $3 per hour. Although tips can often lead to servers making well over regular minimum wage per hour, overall, tips are very inconsistent and are completely dependent on restaurant customers. Not only does the customer decide how much to tip based on his/her enjoyment of the dining experience, but also servers need busy restaurants in order to make good money. There is an ebb and flow to the restaurant busin... ...y-income-fine-dining-servers-20195.html>. Myotte, Maria. â€Å"Op-Ed: Restaurant Servers Can’t Live on $2.13 an Hour.† Yahoo! News. Yahoo!, 11 Dec. 2013. Web. 30 Oct. 2014. . National Restaurant Association. 2013 Restaurant Industry Pocket Factbook. Rep. National Restaurant Association, 2013. Web. 30 Oct. 2014. . Nayak, Rajesh, and Paul Sonn. Restoring the Minimum Wage for America’s Tipped Workers. Rep. National Employment Law Project, 2009. Web. 30 Oct. 2014. . U.S. Department of Labor. Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees. Rep. U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division, Dec. 2011. Web. 30 Oct. 2014. .

Proportion of Work Demands and Level of Education

School plays an important role in our life. Many of us will spend more than fifteen years at school in order to get the qualifications that are required to work in a specific field. Of course, those years are broken down into several levels, some of them being more liked than others. Two important steps that we go through are high school and college. Even though some people would think they are almost similar, yet there are significant differences between them. The cost of high school education is not the same as the cost of college education. Also, some differences apply from an academic point of view. Typically, the social environment also differs from high school to college, a fact that can be related to the question of freedom versus responsibility. It is true to say that college is more expensive than high school. Of course, it provides a higher level of education, but by having so high fees it does not give a chance to them coming from a family with a low income. Also, at college you have to buy your own books whereas in high school you borrow them from the school for a year. As they do for high schools, the government should pay for the books and then borrow them to students, as they do in high schools. Paying for the education you get is expensive, but many people have to pay even more. Many cities do not have colleges, so students who want to get a higher education have to move away to another city where they will be provided the education they need. This often involves paying for an apartment and for food, and sometimes for the bus , which is not, unlike high school, free. As you can see, college is a lot more expensive than high school. However, the cost is not the only think to consider when comparing high school and college, the relation between teachers and students are also different. At high school, they see their students lower than them., not as equals. To tell the truth, it is very hard for high school students to become friends with them because of the fact that they are seen as simple students who have nothing to learn to their teachers. However, at college, it is easy to have a friendly relation with a teacher because their students as equals. As college provides a higher level of education, the amount of work you have to do at home is a lot greater. At high school, where we get a more general education the time spent home doing homework is a lot smaller. This does not mean that you do not work at high school but it does mean that it is easier in that sense. Moreover, a big advantage of college, from an academic point of view, is that you have more choices. You can choose a lot of subjects related or not to your field of studies whereas at high school you cannot. There are also some differences between the social environment of students at high school and students at college. Since college students have more work to do at home, they have a limited freedom out of school and this makes it harder for them to see their friends during the week. However, at high school they have known their friends for a while whereas at college they often have to make new friends, because many of theirs have moved away to another city. This can be really hard for some people, but for other people this is a good opportunity to meet a lot of new people, which means a lot of new experiences to benefit of. Before concluding, it would be important to mention that often college students have a whole new set of responsibilities to deal with. Since many moves away from home, they have to live in an apartment, pay their bills, buy their own food, make their own meals, clean up their apartment themselves, etc. For most of them, this is something new and they have to learn how to deal with it and this normally takes a while. Compared to them, high school students have almost nothing to care about except for school, because they live at home with their parents, who do most of those things for them. It is obvious from what has been said that college and high school both have their advantages and their inconveniences. Attending the former is more expensive than attending the latter. Then, at college, you are considered to be more like adults whereas at high school you are looked upon as simple students of a lower class. Also, high school students do have fewer homework and more free times, but at school they are not really free in many ways. Finally, attending college engages being a lot responsible, because you have a lot of things to care about. As you can see they differ a lot but have at least two things in common: they are both there to give students a good education and they both represent many years they will never forget.