The Legal Perspective based on the film inside job Essay

The Legal Perspective based on the film inside job - Essay Example One legal aspect that was clearly brought out in the movie is the issue of fiduciary duty. Fiduciary duty is a legal obligation that one party, in this case, referred to as the fiduciary, act solely on another party’s called, the principal, interests. In the Inside Job, the representatives of Goldman Sachs violated this fiduciary duty by selling collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) that were of doubted quality to their clients (Ferguson and Beck, 2010). The selling of these collateralized debt obligations to client meant that the financial institutions dealing with them was transferring the repayment risks to investors and other clients who purchased them. According to Ferguson and Beck (2010), the financial institutions dealing with these collateral debts obligations won’t be affected in case the collateral debts obligation market collapsed. The borrowers’ credit worthiness did not mean a thing to the financial institutions that lend out collateral debt obligations. Since the investment banks knew of the impending risks in dealing with the collateral debt obligations, they had to part with hundreds of millions to credit rating firms such as Fitch, Moody’s and S&P in order for them to give the credits triple-A credit ratings. However, these rating firms when confronted about their rating, they said that those were only opinions and no one was to rely on them. From these strategies of selling risky collateral debt obligations during the financial downturn, some financial institutions ended up gaining and making millions from these situations. These include the Morgan Stanley and the Goldman Sachs. Fiduciary duties from the above issues in the Inside Job have been breached. The fiduciary duties involve different elements. These include first acting in utmost good faith. The second element is to put the client’s interests first in all actions. The next element was to put all material and

More Beer, Inc Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

More Beer, Inc - Case Study Example More Beer Inc. has to take extreme care while issuing termination notice to any of the employees included in the list supplied to me by you. I am trying to analyze the cases of each employee one by one in order to get more insights into the moral, legal and business aspects involved in the termination of them. Mike is definitely an asset to the company since his track records are above average. One of the major problems facing by HR managers at preset is the identification of skilled personnel for a particular job. In this difficult period, the services of people like Mike who is performing above average is essential for More Beer Inc. when we consider the future of our company. It should be noted that many of our employees are performing average or below average and Mike is one among the few of the employees who are performing above average. Mike’s age is definitely a positive factor for our company. People in the 30’s and 40’s are normally performing better than people in the 20’s or 50’s. In other words, younger age and older age of the employees are equally problematic to an organization. Young employees may have enough energy, but they may not have enough experience or expertize whereas older people may have enough experience, but they may not have enough energy or willingness to perform well. Under such circumstances Mike is an idle person for the company in his dedication to work. He has not taken a single day leave during his career with us which is definitely a factor we must consider in favor of Mike. As we all know, the major drawback of Mike is his heavy accent of speaking English. It is a fact that others are facing some problems in understanding him. However, firing Mike only because of his poor accent cannot be justified under the existing laws in America with respect to race discrimination. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), prohibits the

Characteristics In Autism Children Psychology Essay

Characteristics In Autism Children Psychology Essay Approximately one in every 88 children in the United States has been diagnosed with Autism, also known as Autism Spectrum Disorder, a complex neurodevelopmental disorder of unusual social and communication behaviors that begins in early life (Peterson and Barbel, 2013). This type of disorder has been more prevalent in recent years, occurring primarily in children. Even though many researchers have not yet found the exact cause of autism, they have pointed out several possible risk factors that contribute to autistic individuals. Without a specified cause of autism and universal intervention, the challenges of diagnosing and having care for the disorder causes more difficulty. However, it is important for parents to seek early intervention for children with autism. This causes many controversies and confusions from diagnosis to treatment. Yet, it is expected that new research will assist in discovering some of these mysteries aspects of autism. Characteristics in Autism Children with autism show a wide range of signs and symptoms that vary from child to child. It is difficult to phrase all the characteristics and signs into simple words. Characteristics found in autistic children have appeared in early ages, from toddlers to infants. However, they may improve overtime as the child develops. A study has been designed to assess the parents experiences regarding with their autistic child, and the majority of the parents said that the autistic child experiences unusual verbal communications and motor behavior (Guinchat et al, 2012). Additional core symptoms are unusual interests in activities or play (usually focus on little things of the toy, get upset at little things), nonverbal/ verbal communication (unable to interpret emotions, catch meaning in a word, delay or lack of communication skills), and social interactions and relationships (unable to make eye contact, make friends, feel what other people are feeling). This research was done to help docto rs to easily diagnose patients that are at risk of autism. However, this is a spectrum disorder, meaning that this affects each individual to a certain degree, ranging from mild to severe. Each child with ASD has his or her own individual pattern of unusual behavior that some parents questioned, what is wrong with their child. As a result, it is suggested that early detection of autism is up the parents and will make a huge difference on the childs life. Risk factors Many individuals questioned the cause of autism, but the question has remained open. The biggest mystery in the study of autism appears that researchers have linked possible risk factors. Autism diagnosis suggested that a combination of environmental and genetic risk factors contribute to higher chances of autism (Deth, Muratore, Benecry, Power-Charnitsky and Waly, 2008). Exposure to toxins or pollution, such as pesticides in the environment generates an increased chance of autism during pregnancy, and those toxins surrounds a genes DNA can affects the gene activity (Shelton, Hertz-Picciotto and Pessah, 2012). In addition, another study has shown that genetics influences the risk of autism; gene mutations and sex chromosomes are linked to ASD. Medical conditions with syndromes such as Fragile X syndrome, Rett syndrome, and tuberous sclerosis have shown signs of autism characteristics, but further research is still needed to prove this point (Johnson, Giarelli, Lewis, and Rice, 2013). Although much research has been conducted to build this mysterious case, researchers have yet to come up with a definite conclusion to the cause of autism. There are also controversial claims that mirror neurons are found to be delayed or dysfunctional in autism, but there is no evidence that mirror neurons in humans illustrate that correlation. Giacomo Rizzolatii, a scientist at the University of Parma, discovered mirror neurons in macaque monkeys; when the monkey observes an action from an individual, the monkey copies the same action (2004). He believes that humans behave in much the same way. The role of mirror neurons give us the ability to imitate, have empathy, and ability to understand social cues. According to an article in the Journal of Psychiatric Neuroscience and Therapeutic (2010), most children develop strong mirror activity while autistic individuals seem to have weak mirror neurons in their youth that lead to social deficits (Bastiaansen et al). However, other studies did not find mirror neuron contribute to the autistic individuals. IIan Dinstein and his colleagues doubted the mirror neuron hypothesis. His research fou nd that when the brains were scanned, there were no differences between autistic and normal individuals while the individuals performed specific tasks (Dinstein et al, 2010). Some studies show that autistic individuals mirror neurons are slower than usual while viewing the emotions or actions of others while other studies do not (Ramachandran, 2006). Due to the opposing conclusions of different studies with regard to the mirror neuron hypothesis, the link between mirror neurons and autism remains controversial. Early Intervention Evidence suggests the importance of early intervention in autistic children. Children who enter programs at younger ages will improve autism symptoms than those who enter programs at older ages. One approach to the early invention is the Early Start Denver Model (ESDM). According to the article in Journal of the American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry (2012), autistic children who received the ESDM intervention, which involves structured teaching, a relationship-based approach, showed substantial improvements in IQ, language, adaptive behavior, and autism diagnosis (Guinchat et al). Second approach to the early intervention is the Applied Behavior Analysis Programs, most notable treatment approach. This approach maximizes the encouragement of positive behaviors while discouraging negative behavior in order to improve a variety of skills (Matson et al, 2012). Another approach is the therapy-based intervention. This approach provides a specific therapy that targets specific di fficulties such as speech/language therapy, physical therapy, and occupational therapy. There are many kinds of interventions that can help to treat autism, and parents should take action as soon as possible, even if his or her child is not at risk of autism. Geraldine Dawson, Ph.D., a chief science officer of Autism Speak, suggested that even brief intervention will result in better improvements of social behavior such as imitation and small changes due to early preschool program will give some benefits to young children with autism (2012). Also, encouraging the child to play with objects and communication is important in early development. That being said, imitating others will help improve other aspects of autism. An example of how early intervention is involved is my little cousin, Conner. I did not understand the characteristics of autism before doing this research paper. Every time we had family gatherings and I tried to acknowledge him, he would run away in fear toward a nonfamily member. I stepped aside and asked his mother what his problem was. She told me he is diagnosed with autism and has some difficulties approaching other people. As I observed, he looked normal. The nonfamily member is a behavioral intervention specialist, also known as his nanny, who watches over him. He would not interact with the other little cousins, but only with his nanny. According to his mother, he was not able to be accepted into day care due to his special needs. He is the only family member that is autistic. Conclusion Overall, doing a research paper on this topic led me to determine that autism is an extremely difficult disorder to understand. This topic on autism will evolve over time and further research will be conducted with the aim of discovery of the causes and proper treatment. The biological aspect of the disorder is a mystery. Continued research on the development of the autistic child relative to a normal child will assist in diagnosing and treating. With the help of diagnosis, we can develop proper early intervention techniques to positively reduce the disorders effects. There are many research ventures that are being done concerning this disorder. The purpose of this research for future is to enhance awareness to parents about their early child that maybe at the risk of autism. Additionally, they can seek characteristics followed by early intervention that will help easily diagnosis and treat.

The Usefulness of Functionalism for an Understanding of the Family Essa

The Usefulness of Functionalism for an Understanding of the Family Functionalists focus on the roles of the family as an institution and its interaction with other institutions, such as the ratio of functions the family has to perform compared to those that other institutions such as schools and the NHS perform. Functionalism sees the use of the family in society and how it can take pressure from the government by becoming an almost dependent institution that will help support its own members. George Murdock analysed 250 societies and studied the purpose of the family, he came up with a final definition; that the family performs several main functions. These functions help the individuals within the family; Murdock believed the functions are sexual, educational, economic and reproductive. However, Murdock did not consider that the family may have a detrimental affect on members of the family as he seemed to assume that all families are harmonious and do not have any arguments or problems. He also overlooked alterna...

Government and Society

Corporate Social Responsibility is essentially about doing good and doing well.It generally refers to the process of integrating social values and mission within business decision making, to achieve positive and sustainable outcomes towards business, environment and the community at large. Concept of CSR includes specific issuesProduct safety Honesty in advertising Affirmative action Employees rights Affirmative action Environmental sustainability Ethical behavior Difference btw illegal and unethical behavior Eg: Buffet: wasted food. Glob csrCorporate Citizenship Concepts Corporate Social Responsibility ïÆ'   Obligation ïÆ'   accountability Corporate Social Responsiveness ïÆ'   Action activity Corporate Social Performance ïÆ'   outcomes resultsBusiness criticism/ social Responsibility cycle4-part definition of CSR Sustainable stakeholder model The Social Responsibility of business encompasses the economic, legal, ethical and discretionary ( philanthropic) expectations that societ y has of organizations at a given point of time. Economic ResponsibilitiesBusiness employs many management concepts that are directed toward financial performance of the organization Economic sustainability REQUIRED of biz by society Profitable Max sales, min costs Strategic decisions Legal responsibilities Reflect spciety’s view of â€Å"codified ethics† in the sensethat they embody basic notions of fair practices as established by our law makers Biz’s responsibility toward society to comply with these laws Do not embrace the full range of behaviours expected of biz by society Law is unable to address all issues that biz may faceLaw often lags behind more recent interpretationsof what is considered appropriate behavior Laws are made by lawmakers and may reflect the personal interest and political motivations of legislators rather than appropriate ethical justifications. Laws are essential but not adequateREQUIRED of biz by society Obey all laws, adhere to all r egulationsEthical Responsibilities Embrace activities and practices that are epected or prohibited by society even though they are not codified into aw Embody the full scope of norms, standards values and expectations that reflect what consumers, employes, shareholders, and the community regard as fair, just, and consistent with respect for or protection of stakeholders’ moral rights. Ethics/values are the driving forces behind the initial creation of laws and regulations. EXPECTED of a bizAvoid questionable practices. Do what os fair right and justDiscretionary expectations ( Philantrophic) Reflect current expectaions of biz by the public. Amount and nature of these activities are voluntary or discretionary, guided only bu biz’s desire to engage in social activities that are not mandated, not req by law, and not generally expected by biz in an ethical sense DESIRED/EXPECTED of biz by societyGood corporate citizen Contribute back by providing programs supporting commun ity: education, health or human services etc†¦ Provide for community betterment Engage in volunteerismPyramid of CSR Sustainable stakeholder modelEquation Economic Responsibility + Legal Responsibilities + Ethical Responsibilities + Philantrophic Responsibilities = Total Corporate ResponsibilityArguments against CSR FOR AGAINST Enlightened Self-interest If business is to have a healthy climate in which to operate in the future, it must take actions now to ensure long term viability Long term viability is the pri driver in the current concern for sustainability. Warding off government RegulationsAbility to ward off future govt regulations and intervention May ensure greater freedom in decision making Resources available Biz has a reservoir of management talent functional expertise, and capital.Proacting versus Reacting Proacting is more practical and less costly than simply reacting to problems that have alr occurred. Eg: environmental pollution: Biz cld prevent environmental de teoriration by adopting cleaner alternativesPublic support Classical Economics Social issues are not concerns of biz pp Should be resolved by the unfettered workings of the free market Business not equipped Managers are oriented towards finance and operations and do not have necessary expertise ( social kills) to make social decisions. Less true todayDilutes business purpose Too much power already Global competitiveness Placing biz in a vulnerable position in terms of global competition. Biz has to internalize costs that it formerly passed on to the society: environmenta cisr, discrimination.

Hawthorne Studies Essay

Employees can be considered as an organization most valuable asset. Their development by the organizational administrative possibly is a definition for personnel management. The needs for concern about individuals in an organization had been long time overdue. The Hawthorne studies were a step forward. Such studies was about relations approach through a series of research methods, for instance illuminations and relay assembly test room experiments, interviewing problem and bank wiring observation. This essay will discuss to which extent Personnel management is a legacy of the Hawthorne Studies. An economic motivation such as incentives was irrelevant in the process of increasing productivity. From the study one can derived that workers’ achievement was solely based on the group decisions. They decided what the right amount of the day was. There are other influential factors that account for the increase of productivity. One can speculate that the workers had their own agenda, given that the impose conditions on them was inefficient. The continuity in the increase of productions could still be observed regardless of the situations. Group interactions through both formal and informal group existed throughout every organizations. The study implies that informal groups existed alongside formal groups. Such groupings develop their own rules and behavior as well as mechanizations to implement it. The employees were more receptive to their group firmness than to the control and inducements of the executives. The will of individuals to belong to an informal cluster with folks of identical attitude and background is much desirable. One can speculate that workers often sympathize with one another consequently they might have a change in their attitude due to group demands. The Hawthorne effect is significant when discussing the legacy of Hawthorne studies. This resulted in the workers to modify investigational aspects of their behavior. A simple reason is that they knew they were being observed. One can imply that the workers bound to display exemplary behavior that is anticipated from them. In view of the fact that they will never know if there will be serious penalty to follow due to result obtained. As one will adapt to the environmental norms and also follow it. Biasness in the interpretations of data is to be questioned. The investigator’s own principles might have influences the constructions of justifications. No more than the management perspective was deliberated. How individuals maximize output were the focal point of the studies, nevertheless the lines of reasoning were in support of the management (servants of power) as describe by Baritz(1965). This in turn gave room for the sensitive employees to be manipulated by judicious managers. Managers often governed by logistics of cost and efficiency as a result they created conditions for workers to produce more. Other believable explanations was omitted, thus errors from the results was imminent. Rose remarked† the Hawthorne studies, upon which so much human relations theory depended, were too incompetently executed to demonstrated very much at all† (Rose 1978 P.171). One can give credit to Rose as the sampling of workers was selective instead of a random sampling method. Furthermore troublesome personnel were replaced; this was because the researchers wanted to maintain the friendly atmosphere within the chosen group. The isolation of the group was an additional mistake. All of these features did not simulate the actual working environment. The experiment employment surrounding was a faà §ade. This resulted in the naivety on the researcher’s behalf, whereby unexpectedly they guided workers to produce an expected conclusion. To conclude one will argue that the Hawthorne Studies was a legacy of personnel management. It is due to the studies that individuals in organizations were taken seriously. Group regulation is one of the aspects that influence individuals’ decisions to maximize or minimize output. Economic motivation is not that indispensible. On the other hand one cannot perceive the studies as a legacy in personnel management for the reason that the Hawthorne effect was mostly influential. Inevitable biasness from researchers’ judgment as they were from a affluent background and traditionally they support the management as George Homans (1962, p.4) a Hawthorne studies researcher remarked As a Republican Bostonian who had not rejected his comparative wealthy family, I felt during the thirties that I was under attack, above all from the Marxists. Lastly the condition under which the studies were undertaken was not up to standards, but according to the naivety of the researchers.

French Literary Tenses - Temps littéraires

French Literary Tenses - Temps littà ©raires There are five French past tenses that are not used in spoken French. They are called literary or historical tenses because they are reserved for written French, such as LiteratureJournalismHistorical textsNarration At one time, literary tenses were used in spoken French, but they have gradually disappeared. When they are used, they raise the speakers register to an extremely refined (some might even say snobbish) level of French. They may also be used for humorous effect. For example, in the French movie Ridicule, the aristocracy use literary tenses in their word games, in order to make themselves sound more educated and refined. Each of the literary tenses has a non-literary equivalent; however, there are subtle nuances that are lost when using the equivalents. Most of these nuances dont exist in English, so I explain the difference in my lessons. Because literary tenses are not used in spoken French, you need to be able to recognize them, but you will most likely never need to conjugate them. Even in written French, most of the literary tenses are disappearing. The passà © simple is still used, but the others are often replaced by their spoken equivalents or by other verbal constructions. Some say that the disappearance of literary tenses leaves gaping holes in the French language - what do you think? Literary tenses  are not used in spoken French - they have non-literary equivalents, explained here. For a definition of literary tenses and a description of where/when they are used, please read the  introduction.Click the name of each literary tense to learn more about to conjugate and use it.I. Passà © simpleThe passà © simple  is the literary simple past tense. Its English equivalent is the preterite or simple past.Il  choisit.- He chose.The spoken French equivalent is the  passà © composà ©Ã‚  - the English present perfect.Il  a choisi.  - He has chosen. You can see that by not using the  passà © simple  and the  passà © composà ©Ã‚  together, the  French language  has lost the nuance between he chose and he has chosen. The  passà © simple  indicates an action that is complete and has no relationship to the present, whereas using the  passà © composà ©Ã‚  indicates a relationship with the present.II.  Passà © antà ©rieurThe passà © antà ©rieur  is the literary compound past tense.Quand il  eut choisi, nous rà ®mes.  - When he had chosen, we laughed.Its equivalent in spoken French is the  plus-que-parfait  (the English pluperfect or past perfect).Quand il  avait choisi, nous avons ri.  - When he had chosen, we laughed.The  passà © antà ©rieur  expresses an action that took place right before the action in the main verb (expressed by the  passà © simple). Aside from being extremely rare in spoken French, the  passà © antà ©rieur  is even disappearing in written French, as it can be replaced by several different constructions (see the lesson on the  past anterior  for more information).III. Imparfait  du subjonctif*The imparfait du subjonctif  is the literary simple past subjunctive. Jai voulu quil  choisà ®t.  - I wanted him to choose. (I wanted that he chose)Its spoken French equivalent is the  present subjunctive.Jai voulu quil  choisisse.  - I wanted him to choose. (I wanted that he choose)The distinction lost here is this: by using the imperfect subjunctive in French, both the main clause (I wanted) and the  subordinate clause  (that he chose) are in the past, whereas in the spoken French, the subordinate clause is in the present (that he choose).IV.  Plus-que-parfait  du subjonctif*The plus-que-parfait du subjonctif  is the literary compound past subjunctive.Jaurais voulu quil  eà »t choisi.  - I would have wanted him to choose.(I would have wanted that he had chosen)Its spoken French equivalent is the  past subjunctive.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Jaurais voulu quil  ait choisi.  - I would have wanted him to choose.  Ã‚  Ã‚  (I would have wanted that he has chosen)This distinction is even more subtle, and is a combination of the  passà © composà ©Ã‚  and  imparfait du subjonctif  nuances: by using the  plus-que-parfait du subjonctif, the action is in the remote past and has no relationship to the present (that he had chosen), whereas using the past subjunctive indicates a slight relationship with the present (that he has chosen). V.  Seconde forme du conditionnel passà ©The  conditional perfect, second form, is the literary conditional past.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Si je leus vu, je leusse achetà ©.  - If I had seen it, I would have bought it.Its spoken French equivalent is the  conditional perfect.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Si je lavais vu, je laurais achetà ©.  - If I had seen it, I would have bought it.The use of the second form of the conditional perfect emphasizes the fact that I didnt buy it, whereas the non-literal conditional perfect makes it sound more like a opportunity that just happened to be missed. *The English equivalents for these two literary tenses are unhelpful, because English rarely uses the subjunctive. I gave the literal, ungrammatical English translation in parentheses simply to give you an idea of what the French structure is like. Summary Literary tense Literary tense classification Non-literary equivalent pass simple simple past pass compos pass antrieur compound past plus-que-parfait imparfait du subjonctif simple past subjunctive subjonctif plus-que-parfait du subjonctif compound past subjunctive subjonctif pass 2e forme du conditionnel pass conditional past conditionnel pass More Literary French The  present subjunctive  has some literary uses.Certain verbs can be negated with the  ne littà ©raire.In literary French, the  negative adverb  ne... pas  is replaced by  ne... point.