Faulty Organizational Behavior in Tyco International Ltd

Most employees travel to and from the workplace each day with the ultimate goal to successfully perform their assigned job according to company standards. These company standards may include agendas, mission statements, professional conduct guidelines and even a code of ethics. How employees choose to follow company standards may govern their overall progress or success. While some may deviate from standards and fail, others may find themselves slipping through cracks unnoticed. Either way, the rules were broken. This paper will examine the failure suffered by Tyco International Ltd where leadership, management, and organizational structures were compromised. Let us start with the aftermath. According to MSNBC (2005), â€Å"Kozlowski and Swartz were accused of giving themselves more than $150 million in illegal bonuses and forgiving loans to themselves, besides manipulating the company’s stock price† (Corporate Scandals, para 14). Clearly, a scandal had hit Tyco International Ltd. Not only did former top executives slip themselves extra money, but they also toyed around with the stock prices. These actions had made the powerful men very wealthy. They also affected the lives of other individuals. During the trial, Kozlowski and Swartz pointed out that unlike WorldCom and Enron, Tyco continued to thrive as a company after the scandal (MSNBC, 2005). While this may have been a valid point, we cannot dismiss the fact that stealing, fraud, and self-indulgence had been present in the company. Now we will examine how the management, leadership, and organizational structure of Tyco International Ltd contributed to this failure. Robbins and Judge (2007) explain how managers coordinate social units of an organization in order to achieve common goals. Management performs several functions in a company that may include: planning, organizing, leading, and controlling (Robbins & Judge, 2007). As mentioned above, these functions are performed within social units to achieve common goals set by the company. Should deviation occur, it becomes the manager’s responsibility to get the employees back on track. The management at Tyco International Ltd strayed off course. Instead of performing tasks for the greater good of all members of the company, top xecutives allowed self-interest to govern decision-making. While managerial functions may have remained in place, the goals of these functions became malicious. Top executives began to plan, organize, lead and control in a fashion that was not in the best interest of all company members. An important managerial function is leading. â€Å"When managers motivate employees, direct the activities of others, select the most effective communication channels, or resolve conflicts among members, they’re engaging in leading† (Robbins & Judge, 2007, p. ). Tyco experienced a lack of honest leadership. While some of the normal leadership was maintained to ensure the overall success of the company, there were areas that were intentionally pointed in the wrong direction. The corrupt executives started to make decisions that resulted in large sums of money directed their way. Stock price adjustment and illegal bonuses represented leadership that was no longer in the best interest of the company. These leaders chose to use power in a self-gratifying way. As a result, Kozlowski and Swartz entered a case that â€Å"exposed the executive’s extravagant lifestyle after they pilfered some $600 million from the company including a $2 million toga party for Kozlowski’s wife on a Mediterranean island and an $18 million Manhattan apartment with a $6,000 shower curtain† (MSNBC, 2005). These men were making decisions that did not reflect the company’s overall goal for success. The unlawful actions represented the misuse of leadership. Tyco International Ltd experienced a disruption in organizational behavior as a result of this scandal. Organizational behavior is concerned with actions of people and how these specific actions and behaviors affect the overall performance of the company (Robbins & Judge, 2007). Kozlowski and Swartz exhibited corrupt behavior and illegal actions for their benefit. Their actions caused a scandal that changed the way that the public and company members viewed Tyco International Ltd. Unethical practices led to fraud, stealing, and eventually perjury (MSNBC, 2005). Overall, these men undermined the values and standards of the company. They were prosecuted and Tyco International Ltd was able to move forward. Today, Tyco International Ltd has an ethical standard in place. According to Verschoor (2006), â€Å"Against a dismal backdrop of corrupted ethics and failed governance, Ed Breen, Tyco chairman and CEO, began the process of ethical reform when he joined the company in the middle of 2002† (p. 15). Tyco now has four core values that include: integrity, excellence, teamwork, and accountability. These values are listed and explained in the 40-page booklet titled The Tyco Guide to Ethical Conduct: Doing the Right Thing (Verschoor, 2006). Employees are urged to report any unethical actions and must remain compliant with all standards. Unlike other businesses faced with scandal, Tyco survived. Managers realized the need for installing strict rules and standards that would require enforcement. As a result, the organizational behavior of Tyco became more stable. New standards make it more difficult for unethical behavior to slip by and cause scandal. Tyco International Ltd turned a negative situation into a learning experience. References MSNBC.  (2005).  Ex-Tyco executives get up to 25 years in prison.  Retrieved from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9399803/ns/business-corporate_scandals Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2007). Organizational Behavior (12th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Verschoor, C. C. (2006,  April). Tyco: An Ethical Metamorphosis. Strategic Finance, 87(10), 15-16.

Property Management Essay

Introduction Humans are an organization’s greatest assets; without them, everyday business functions such as managing cash flow, making business transactions, communicating through all forms of media, and dealing with customers could not be completed. Humans and the potential they possess drive an organization. Today’s organizations are continuously changing. Organizational change impacts not only the business but also its employees. In order to maximize organizational effectiveness, human potential—individuals’ capabilities, time, and talents—must be managed. Human resource management works to ensure that employees are able to meet the organization’s goals. Human resource management is responsible for how people are treated in organizations. It is responsible for bringing people into the organization, helping them perform their work, compensating them for their labors, and solving problems that arise. The Human Resources Management (HRM) function includes a variety of activities, and key among them is deciding what staffing needs you have and whether to use independent contractors or hire employees to fill these needs, recruiting and training the best employees, ensuring they are high performers, dealing with performance issues, and ensuring your personnel and management practices conform to various regulations. Other activities of HRM also include:. 1. Recruitment and Selection (Staffing). In terms of recruitment and selection it is important to consider carrying out a thorough job analysis to determine the level of skills/technical abilities, competencies, flexibility of the employee required etc. At this point it is important to consider both the internal and external factors that can have an impact on the recruitment of employees. The external factors are those out-with the powers of the organization and include issues such as current and future trends of the labor market e. g. kills, education level, government investment into industries etc. On the other hand internal influences are easier to control, predict and monitor, for example management styles or even the organizational culture. Job analysis is completed to determine activities, skills, and knowledge required of an employee for a specific job. Job analyses are â€Å"performed on three occasions: (1) when the organization is first started. (2) when a new job is created. (3) when a job is changed as a resul t of new methods, new procedures, or new technology. Jobs can be analyzed through the use of questionnaires, observations, interviews, employee recordings, or a combination of any of these methods. Two important tools used in defining the job are: (1) job description, which identifies the job, provides a listing of responsibilities and duties unique to the job, gives performance standards, and specifies necessary machines and equipment; and (2) Job specification, which states the minimum amount of education and experience needed for performing the job Someone (e. g. , a department manager) or some event (e. g. , an employee’s leaving) within the organization usually determines a need to hire a new employee. In large organizations, an employee requisition must be submitted to the HR department that specifies the job title, the department, and the date the employee is needed. From there, the job description can be referenced for specific job related qualifications to provide more detail when advertising the position—either internally, externally, or both. Not only must the HR department attract qualified applicants through job postings or other forms of advertising, but it also assists in screening candidates’ resumes and bringing those with the proper qualifications in for an interview. The final say in selecting the candidate will probably be the line manager’s, assuming all Equal Employment Opportunity requirements are met. Other ongoing staffing responsibilities involve planning for new or changing positions and reviewing current job analyses and job descriptions to make sure they accurately reflect the current position. . Performance Appraisals Once a talented individual is brought into an organization, another function of HRM comes into play—creating an environment that will motivate and reward exemplary performance. One way to assess performance is through a formal review on a periodic basis, generally annually, known as a performance appraisal or performance evaluation. Because line managers are in daily c ontact with the employees and can best measure performance, they are usually the ones who conduct the appraisals.

A Dirty Job Chapter 1

For when the Gods made man, They kept immortality for themselves. Fill your belly. Day and night make merry, Let Days be full of joy. Love the child that holds your hand. Let your wife delight in your embrace. For these alone are the concerns of man. – The Epic of Gilgamesh 1 BECAUSE I COULD NOT STOP FOR DEATH – HE KINDLY STOPPED FOR ME – Charlie Asher walked the earth like an ant walks on the surface of water, as if the slightest misstep might send him plummeting through the surface to be sucked to the depths below. Blessed with the Beta Male imagination, he spent much of his life squinting into the future so he might spot ways in which the world was conspiring to kill him – him; his wife, Rachel; and now, newborn Sophie. But despite his attention, his paranoia, his ceaseless fretting from the moment Rachel peed a blue stripe on the pregnancy stick to the time they wheeled her into recovery at St. Francis Memorial, Death slipped in. â€Å"She’s not breathing,† Charlie said. â€Å"She’s breathing fine,† Rachel said, patting the baby’s back. â€Å"Do you want to hold her?† Charlie had held baby Sophie for a few seconds earlier in the day, and had handed her quickly to a nurse insisting that someone more qualified than he do some finger and toe counting. He’d done it twice and kept coming up with twenty-one. â€Å"They act like that’s all there is to it. Like if the kid has the minimum ten fingers and ten toes it’s all going to be fine. What if there are extras? Huh? Extra-credit fingers? What if the kid has a tail?† (Charlie was sure he’d spotted a tail in the six-month sonogram. Umbilical indeed! He’d kept a hard copy.) â€Å"She doesn’t have a tail, Mr. Asher,† the nurse explained. â€Å"And it’s ten and ten, we’ve all checked. Perhaps you should go home and get some rest.† â€Å"I’ll still love her, even with her extra finger.† â€Å"She’s perfectly normal.† â€Å"Or toe.† â€Å"We really do know what we’re doing, Mr. Asher. She’s a beautiful, healthy baby girl.† â€Å"Or a tail.† The nurse sighed. She was short, wide, and had a tattoo of a snake up her right calf that showed through her white nurse stockings. She spent four hours of every workday massaging preemie babies, her hands threaded through ports in a Lucite incubator, like she was handling a radioactive spark in there. She talked to them, coaxed them, told them how special they were, and felt their hearts fluttering in chests no bigger than a balled-up pair of sweat socks. She cried over every one, and believed that her tears and touch poured a bit of her own life into the tiny bodies, which was just fine with her. She could spare it. She had been a neonatal nurse for twenty years and had never so much as raised her voice to a new father. â€Å"There’s no goddamn tail, you doofus! Look!† She pulled down the blanket and aimed baby Sophie’s bottom at him like she might unleash a fusillade of weapons-grade poopage such as the guileless Beta Male had never seen. Charlie jumped back – a lean and nimble thirty, he was – then, once he realized that the baby wasn’t loaded, he straightened the lapels on his tweed jacket in a gesture of righteous indignation. â€Å"You could have removed her tail in the delivery room and we’d never know.† He didn’t know. He’d been asked to leave the delivery room, first by the ob-gyn and finally by Rachel. (â€Å"Him or me,† Rachel said. â€Å"One of us has to go.†) In Rachel’s room, Charlie said: â€Å"If they removed her tail, I want it. She’ll want it when she gets older.† â€Å"Sophie, your Papa isn’t really insane. He just hasn’t slept for a couple of days.† â€Å"She’s looking at me,† Charlie said. â€Å"She’s looking at me like I blew her college money at the track and now she’s going to have to turn tricks to get her MBA.† Rachel took his hand. â€Å"Honey, I don’t think her eyes can even focus this early, and besides, she’s a little young to start worrying about her turning tricks to get her MFA.† â€Å"MBA,† Charlie corrected. â€Å"They start very young these days. By the time I figure out how to get to the track, she could be old enough. God, your parents are going to hate me.† â€Å"And that would be different how?† â€Å"New reasons, that’s how. Now I’ve made their granddaughter a shiksa.† â€Å"She’s not a shiksa, Charlie. We’ve been through this. She’s my daughter, so she’s as Jewish as I am.† Charlie went down on one knee next to the bed and took one of Sophie’s tiny hands between his fingers. â€Å"Daddy’s sorry he made you a shiksa.† He put his head down, buried his face in the crook where the baby met Rachel’s side. Rachel traced his hairline with her fingernail, describing a tight U-turn around his narrow forehead. â€Å"You need to go home and get some sleep.† Charlie mumbled something into the covers. When he looked up there were tears in his eyes. â€Å"She feels warm.† â€Å"She is warm. She’s supposed to be. It’s a mammal thing. Goes with the breast-feeding. Why are you crying?† â€Å"You guys are so beautiful.† He began arranging Rachel’s dark hair across the pillow, brought a long lock down over Sophie’s head, and started styling it into a baby hairpiece. â€Å"It will be okay if she can’t grow hair. There was that angry Irish singer who didn’t have any hair and she was attractive. If we had her tail we could transplant plugs from that.† â€Å"Charlie! Go home!† â€Å"Your parents will blame me. Their bald shiksa granddaughter turning tricks and getting a business degree – it will be all my fault.† Rachel grabbed the buzzer from the blanket and held it up like it was wired to a bomb. â€Å"Charlie, if you don’t go home and get some sleep right now, I swear I’ll buzz the nurse and have her throw you out.† She sounded stern, but she was smiling. Charlie liked looking at her smile, always had; it felt like approval and permission at the same time. Permission to be Charlie Asher. â€Å"Okay, I’ll go.† He reached to feel her forehead. â€Å"Do you have a fever? You look tired.† â€Å"I just gave birth, you squirrel!† â€Å"I’m just concerned about you.† He was not a squirrel. She was blaming him for Sophie’s tail, that’s why she’d said squirrel, and not doofus like everyone else. â€Å"Sweetie, go. Now. So I can get some rest.† Charlie fluffed her pillows, checked her water pitcher, tucked in the blankets, kissed her forehead, kissed the baby’s head, fluffed the baby, then started to rearrange the flowers that his mother had sent, moving the big stargazer lily in the front, accenting it with a spray of baby’s breath – â€Å"Charlie!† â€Å"I’m going. Jeez.† He checked the room, one last time, then backed toward the door. â€Å"Can I bring you anything from home?† â€Å"I’ll be fine. The ready kit you packed covered everything, I think. In fact, I may not even need the fire extinguisher.† â€Å"Better to have it and not need it, than to need it – â€Å" â€Å"Go! I’ll get some rest, the doctor will check Sophie out, and we’ll take her home in the morning.† â€Å"That seems soon.† â€Å"It’s standard.† â€Å"Should I bring more propane for the camp stove?† â€Å"We’ll try to make it last.† â€Å"But – â€Å" Rachel held up the buzzer, as if her demands were not met, the consequences could be dire. â€Å"Love you,† she said. â€Å"Love you, too,† Charlie said. â€Å"Both of you.† â€Å"Bye, Daddy.† Rachel puppeted Sophie’s little hand in a wave. Charlie felt a lump rising in his throat. No one had ever called him Daddy before, not even a puppet. (He had once asked Rachel, â€Å"Who’s your daddy?† during sex, to which she had replied, â€Å"Saul Goldstein,† thus rendering him impotent for a week and raising all kinds of issues that he didn’t really like to think about.) He backed out of the room, palming the door shut as he went, then headed down the hall and past the desk where the neonatal nurse with the snake tattoo gave him a sideways smile as he went by. Charlie drove a six-year-old minivan that he’d inherited from his father, along with the thrift store and the building that housed it. The minivan always smelled faintly of dust, mothballs, and body odor, despite a forest of smell-good Christmas trees that Charlie had hung from every hook, knob, and protrusion. He opened the car door and the odor of the unwanted – the wares of the thrift-store owner – washed over him. Before he even had the key in the ignition, he noticed the Sarah McLachlan CD lying on the passenger seat. Well, Rachel was going to miss that. It was her favorite CD and there she was, recovering without it, and he could not have that. Charlie grabbed the CD, locked the van, and headed back up to Rachel’s room. To his relief, the nurse had stepped away from the desk so he didn’t have to endure her frosty stare of accusation, or what he guessed would be her frosty stare of accusation. He’d mentally prepared a short speech about how being a good husband and father included anticipating the wants and needs of his wife and that included bringing her music – well, he could use the speech on the way out if she gave him the frosty stare. He opened the door to Rachel’s room slowly so as not to startle her – anticipating her warm smile of disapproval, but instead she appeared to be asleep and there was a very tall black man dressed in mint green standing next to her bed. â€Å"What are you doing here?† The man in mint green turned, startled. â€Å"You can see me?† He gestured to his chocolate-brown tie, and Charlie was reminded, just for a second, of those thin mints they put on the pillow in nicer hotels. â€Å"Of course I can see you. What are you doing here?† Charlie moved to Rachel’s bedside, putting himself between the stranger and his family. Baby Sophie seemed fascinated by the tall black man. â€Å"This is not good,† said Mint Green. â€Å"You’re in the wrong room,† Charlie said. â€Å"You get out of here.† Charlie reached behind and patted Rachel’s hand. â€Å"This is really, really not good.† â€Å"Sir, my wife is trying to sleep and you’re in the wrong room. Now please go before – â€Å" â€Å"She’s not sleeping,† said Mint Green. His voice was soft, and a little Southern. â€Å"I’m sorry.† Charlie turned to look down at Rachel, expecting to see her smile, hear her tell him to calm down, but her eyes were closed and her head had lolled off the pillow. â€Å"Honey?† Charlie dropped the CD he was carrying and shook her gently. â€Å"Honey?† Baby Sophie began to cry. Charlie felt Rachel’s forehead, took her by the shoulders, and shook her. â€Å"Honey, wake up. Rachel.† He put his ear to her heart and heard nothing. â€Å"Nurse!† Charlie scrambled across the bed to grab the buzzer that had slipped from Rachel’s hand and lay on the blanket. â€Å"Nurse!† He pounded the button and turned to look at the man in mint green. â€Å"What happened†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He was gone. Charlie ran into the hall, but no one was out there. â€Å"Nurse!† Twenty seconds later the nurse with the snake tattoo arrived, followed in another thirty seconds by a resuscitation team with a crash cart. There was nothing they could do. A Dirty Job Chapter 1 For when the Gods made man, They kept immortality for themselves. Fill your belly. Day and night make merry, Let Days be full of joy. Love the child that holds your hand. Let your wife delight in your embrace. For these alone are the concerns of man. – The Epic of Gilgamesh 1 BECAUSE I COULD NOT STOP FOR DEATH – HE KINDLY STOPPED FOR ME – Charlie Asher walked the earth like an ant walks on the surface of water, as if the slightest misstep might send him plummeting through the surface to be sucked to the depths below. Blessed with the Beta Male imagination, he spent much of his life squinting into the future so he might spot ways in which the world was conspiring to kill him – him; his wife, Rachel; and now, newborn Sophie. But despite his attention, his paranoia, his ceaseless fretting from the moment Rachel peed a blue stripe on the pregnancy stick to the time they wheeled her into recovery at St. Francis Memorial, Death slipped in. â€Å"She’s not breathing,† Charlie said. â€Å"She’s breathing fine,† Rachel said, patting the baby’s back. â€Å"Do you want to hold her?† Charlie had held baby Sophie for a few seconds earlier in the day, and had handed her quickly to a nurse insisting that someone more qualified than he do some finger and toe counting. He’d done it twice and kept coming up with twenty-one. â€Å"They act like that’s all there is to it. Like if the kid has the minimum ten fingers and ten toes it’s all going to be fine. What if there are extras? Huh? Extra-credit fingers? What if the kid has a tail?† (Charlie was sure he’d spotted a tail in the six-month sonogram. Umbilical indeed! He’d kept a hard copy.) â€Å"She doesn’t have a tail, Mr. Asher,† the nurse explained. â€Å"And it’s ten and ten, we’ve all checked. Perhaps you should go home and get some rest.† â€Å"I’ll still love her, even with her extra finger.† â€Å"She’s perfectly normal.† â€Å"Or toe.† â€Å"We really do know what we’re doing, Mr. Asher. She’s a beautiful, healthy baby girl.† â€Å"Or a tail.† The nurse sighed. She was short, wide, and had a tattoo of a snake up her right calf that showed through her white nurse stockings. She spent four hours of every workday massaging preemie babies, her hands threaded through ports in a Lucite incubator, like she was handling a radioactive spark in there. She talked to them, coaxed them, told them how special they were, and felt their hearts fluttering in chests no bigger than a balled-up pair of sweat socks. She cried over every one, and believed that her tears and touch poured a bit of her own life into the tiny bodies, which was just fine with her. She could spare it. She had been a neonatal nurse for twenty years and had never so much as raised her voice to a new father. â€Å"There’s no goddamn tail, you doofus! Look!† She pulled down the blanket and aimed baby Sophie’s bottom at him like she might unleash a fusillade of weapons-grade poopage such as the guileless Beta Male had never seen. Charlie jumped back – a lean and nimble thirty, he was – then, once he realized that the baby wasn’t loaded, he straightened the lapels on his tweed jacket in a gesture of righteous indignation. â€Å"You could have removed her tail in the delivery room and we’d never know.† He didn’t know. He’d been asked to leave the delivery room, first by the ob-gyn and finally by Rachel. (â€Å"Him or me,† Rachel said. â€Å"One of us has to go.†) In Rachel’s room, Charlie said: â€Å"If they removed her tail, I want it. She’ll want it when she gets older.† â€Å"Sophie, your Papa isn’t really insane. He just hasn’t slept for a couple of days.† â€Å"She’s looking at me,† Charlie said. â€Å"She’s looking at me like I blew her college money at the track and now she’s going to have to turn tricks to get her MBA.† Rachel took his hand. â€Å"Honey, I don’t think her eyes can even focus this early, and besides, she’s a little young to start worrying about her turning tricks to get her MFA.† â€Å"MBA,† Charlie corrected. â€Å"They start very young these days. By the time I figure out how to get to the track, she could be old enough. God, your parents are going to hate me.† â€Å"And that would be different how?† â€Å"New reasons, that’s how. Now I’ve made their granddaughter a shiksa.† â€Å"She’s not a shiksa, Charlie. We’ve been through this. She’s my daughter, so she’s as Jewish as I am.† Charlie went down on one knee next to the bed and took one of Sophie’s tiny hands between his fingers. â€Å"Daddy’s sorry he made you a shiksa.† He put his head down, buried his face in the crook where the baby met Rachel’s side. Rachel traced his hairline with her fingernail, describing a tight U-turn around his narrow forehead. â€Å"You need to go home and get some sleep.† Charlie mumbled something into the covers. When he looked up there were tears in his eyes. â€Å"She feels warm.† â€Å"She is warm. She’s supposed to be. It’s a mammal thing. Goes with the breast-feeding. Why are you crying?† â€Å"You guys are so beautiful.† He began arranging Rachel’s dark hair across the pillow, brought a long lock down over Sophie’s head, and started styling it into a baby hairpiece. â€Å"It will be okay if she can’t grow hair. There was that angry Irish singer who didn’t have any hair and she was attractive. If we had her tail we could transplant plugs from that.† â€Å"Charlie! Go home!† â€Å"Your parents will blame me. Their bald shiksa granddaughter turning tricks and getting a business degree – it will be all my fault.† Rachel grabbed the buzzer from the blanket and held it up like it was wired to a bomb. â€Å"Charlie, if you don’t go home and get some sleep right now, I swear I’ll buzz the nurse and have her throw you out.† She sounded stern, but she was smiling. Charlie liked looking at her smile, always had; it felt like approval and permission at the same time. Permission to be Charlie Asher. â€Å"Okay, I’ll go.† He reached to feel her forehead. â€Å"Do you have a fever? You look tired.† â€Å"I just gave birth, you squirrel!† â€Å"I’m just concerned about you.† He was not a squirrel. She was blaming him for Sophie’s tail, that’s why she’d said squirrel, and not doofus like everyone else. â€Å"Sweetie, go. Now. So I can get some rest.† Charlie fluffed her pillows, checked her water pitcher, tucked in the blankets, kissed her forehead, kissed the baby’s head, fluffed the baby, then started to rearrange the flowers that his mother had sent, moving the big stargazer lily in the front, accenting it with a spray of baby’s breath – â€Å"Charlie!† â€Å"I’m going. Jeez.† He checked the room, one last time, then backed toward the door. â€Å"Can I bring you anything from home?† â€Å"I’ll be fine. The ready kit you packed covered everything, I think. In fact, I may not even need the fire extinguisher.† â€Å"Better to have it and not need it, than to need it – â€Å" â€Å"Go! I’ll get some rest, the doctor will check Sophie out, and we’ll take her home in the morning.† â€Å"That seems soon.† â€Å"It’s standard.† â€Å"Should I bring more propane for the camp stove?† â€Å"We’ll try to make it last.† â€Å"But – â€Å" Rachel held up the buzzer, as if her demands were not met, the consequences could be dire. â€Å"Love you,† she said. â€Å"Love you, too,† Charlie said. â€Å"Both of you.† â€Å"Bye, Daddy.† Rachel puppeted Sophie’s little hand in a wave. Charlie felt a lump rising in his throat. No one had ever called him Daddy before, not even a puppet. (He had once asked Rachel, â€Å"Who’s your daddy?† during sex, to which she had replied, â€Å"Saul Goldstein,† thus rendering him impotent for a week and raising all kinds of issues that he didn’t really like to think about.) He backed out of the room, palming the door shut as he went, then headed down the hall and past the desk where the neonatal nurse with the snake tattoo gave him a sideways smile as he went by. Charlie drove a six-year-old minivan that he’d inherited from his father, along with the thrift store and the building that housed it. The minivan always smelled faintly of dust, mothballs, and body odor, despite a forest of smell-good Christmas trees that Charlie had hung from every hook, knob, and protrusion. He opened the car door and the odor of the unwanted – the wares of the thrift-store owner – washed over him. Before he even had the key in the ignition, he noticed the Sarah McLachlan CD lying on the passenger seat. Well, Rachel was going to miss that. It was her favorite CD and there she was, recovering without it, and he could not have that. Charlie grabbed the CD, locked the van, and headed back up to Rachel’s room. To his relief, the nurse had stepped away from the desk so he didn’t have to endure her frosty stare of accusation, or what he guessed would be her frosty stare of accusation. He’d mentally prepared a short speech about how being a good husband and father included anticipating the wants and needs of his wife and that included bringing her music – well, he could use the speech on the way out if she gave him the frosty stare. He opened the door to Rachel’s room slowly so as not to startle her – anticipating her warm smile of disapproval, but instead she appeared to be asleep and there was a very tall black man dressed in mint green standing next to her bed. â€Å"What are you doing here?† The man in mint green turned, startled. â€Å"You can see me?† He gestured to his chocolate-brown tie, and Charlie was reminded, just for a second, of those thin mints they put on the pillow in nicer hotels. â€Å"Of course I can see you. What are you doing here?† Charlie moved to Rachel’s bedside, putting himself between the stranger and his family. Baby Sophie seemed fascinated by the tall black man. â€Å"This is not good,† said Mint Green. â€Å"You’re in the wrong room,† Charlie said. â€Å"You get out of here.† Charlie reached behind and patted Rachel’s hand. â€Å"This is really, really not good.† â€Å"Sir, my wife is trying to sleep and you’re in the wrong room. Now please go before – â€Å" â€Å"She’s not sleeping,† said Mint Green. His voice was soft, and a little Southern. â€Å"I’m sorry.† Charlie turned to look down at Rachel, expecting to see her smile, hear her tell him to calm down, but her eyes were closed and her head had lolled off the pillow. â€Å"Honey?† Charlie dropped the CD he was carrying and shook her gently. â€Å"Honey?† Baby Sophie began to cry. Charlie felt Rachel’s forehead, took her by the shoulders, and shook her. â€Å"Honey, wake up. Rachel.† He put his ear to her heart and heard nothing. â€Å"Nurse!† Charlie scrambled across the bed to grab the buzzer that had slipped from Rachel’s hand and lay on the blanket. â€Å"Nurse!† He pounded the button and turned to look at the man in mint green. â€Å"What happened†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He was gone. Charlie ran into the hall, but no one was out there. â€Å"Nurse!† Twenty seconds later the nurse with the snake tattoo arrived, followed in another thirty seconds by a resuscitation team with a crash cart. There was nothing they could do.

The Flat Woods On Top Of the Hill Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Flat Woods On Top Of the Hill - Essay Example The year 1938 foster the town's transformation where it was incorporated under the name Flatwoods and correspondingly, the post office carries its new name. The newly named town is named after the areas of original topography which consists of a belt of flat wooded land, approximately sixty feet in elevation, which runs parallel to the Ohio River. This quiet and charming town was once rolling farmland with green gardens and active pastures. The people are ever so hard working and maintain a closely knit relationship among each other. It was a harmonious town where people help each other in life as in the death of a family. Aside from these, the people likewise enjoy hearty meals together over succulent dishes of foods. My fondest memory of the place was Mr. and Mrs. Wilburn. The Wilburns lived at the top of my street in a charming old farmhouse. The couple had lived in Flatwoods all their lives. It has been said that Mr. Wilburn had moved in the neighborhood of Flatwoods at around 1910. As a child, he has been my depiction of the way life has been. His large overpowering farmhouse stood majestically across our modest home. He drove his antique Model-T Ford around town like it was the newest thing from Detroit. He and his wife were kind and giving people. I particularly enjoyed visiting them at night in their porch where they would animatedly tell stories of the old times. The old man at 70, does not show any sign of aging as he lovingly tends to his overflowing fruits and vegetable garden. Being the kind-hearted couple that they were, they always gave us fruits and vegetables like apples and tomatoes, which in turn we bring home to our parents. Aside from this, another neighbor's house used to be a church. I have lived in Wilburn Street, which was named after the kind-hearted couple. My family's redwood ranch style house is with a small front yard, but with a large fenced-in backyard which sat on a dead end gravel street. The huge back yard is surrounded with healthy green oak trees and scented bushes, a perfect place to be one with nature or just spend a quiet afternoon with a book or sharing the afternoon sun playing games with friends. The house looked bigger than it really was because of the attached two car garage. There were large picture windows in the front that rose to the sky with flower boxes stretching around the house, such an ideal place for family bonding and get together. I have been blessed with a wonderful family.  Ã‚  

Internal Control System. The Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX) Essay

Internal Control System. The Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX) - Essay Example I believe that one of the most important aspects of a control system is the risk assessment. If a company does not assess a particular risk adequately the firm will not establish adequate internal controls because the problem was never identified. Risk assessment serves as a preventive measure that can be used to create an adequate plan of attack to deal with a problem. In the famous Enron scandal the lack an internal control system allowed Fay, Skilling, and Fastow to collude and steal millions of dollars. 2. When an internal control mechanism is evaluated in phases the accountants can better segment the problematic areas of the system. If for instance deficiencies are found in the monitoring phase; the company can inject money and resources to attempt to fix the problem. It is easier to perform micro evaluations than to evaluate a system as a whole. Clearly identifiable phases create added reliability in the system. Looking at the end results of the accounting cycle or at the finan cial statements is not the best way to detect fraud. About 10 years ago the Enron Corporation got away with accounting murder when they inflated their earnings by one billion in 2000 when in reality the firm did not have any profits. A good internal control system could have prevented this scandal from ever occurring. I agree with you that some companies do not have well defined activities. One of the reasons that this occurs is due to budgetary constraints. Implementing control mechanisms is quite expensive. It is estimated that Section 404 of the Sarbanes Oxley Act costs between $1 to 3 million to implement yearly. I think that despite the fact that internal control mechanism can be expensive sometimes it is better to assume the expenses than to pay the consequences. Employee theft can be prevented by placing cameras in the warehouse where inventory is kept. Another technological innovation that can be used to protect inventory is the use of RFID tags. RFID tags allow a company to track the movement of merchandise. These systems are the long term solution to substitute the current scanner system used at the majority of retail stores. 4. I agree with you that the Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX) requires that companies implement all the components of an internal control mechanism. The Sarbanes Oxley Act goes a step further in its requirement of internal controls. All public companies must include within the annual report a section dedicated to reporting the internal controls of the firm. I think that SOX was a tremendous idea, despite the high implementation costs. Nobody wants to go back to a business environment in which record bankruptcies were occurring largely due to accounting misbehavior. 5. I tend to agree with you that the five components of internal control are universal. As you mentioned the environment is key to the effectiveness of an internal control. As you mentioned in your response the environment of a company is largely controlled by the managerial staff. Companies that are corrupt often have leaders that allow that type of unethical behavior. I have heard of companies that have been turn into unethical companies because they let external factors such as foreign cultures cloud their judgment. If for a company it is unethical to accept a bribe in the United States, the rules should not change just because you are doing business in China. 6. I think that the lack of any of the five components automatically makes a system weaker from the perspective of how good the system could be. Just because one component of the internal control is missing does not mean that that system is weaker than another company’s system that includes all five components. For instance a company may not have a necessity to monitor due to the fact that the firm has few

Zoology article from NYT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Zoology article from NYT - Essay Example Apparently, they can mate with a second female in case she is a virgin and heavy. Using the Argiope bruennichi species, the study found that 80% of the times, the females were successful in eating their mates after the initial copulation (Bhanoo). During the mating process, the pedipalp that transfers the sperm from the male is broken off while in the female to form a plug. Consequently, this prevents any subsequent fertilization of eggs by other males. The male has two pedipalps, thus can mate twice in their life. If the male does mate with a virgin, he secures all 100% paternity of all their eggs. However, if the female is not a virgin, the spider’s chance at paternity decreases by ninety percent. Additionally, the males can only mate early in the day with the same female. Later on in the day, the male spider seeks to mate with a second spider. This is a compare and contrast paper between a zoology related article from the New York Times and an original scientific article by the scientist Sindya Bhanoo. In the scientific article, Conditional monogyny: female quality predicts male faithfulness, Bhandoo and his colleagues found that this palp removal reduced the weight of the male orb-web spider, and thus, increasing its stamina significantly. This, in turn, enhances the spider’s endurance capacity.

Business taxation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Business taxation - Essay Example Understanding Revenue and Capital Expenditures Revenue expenditures such as rent of premises for conducting business, employee wages, raw materials and many such items are ongoing expenditures that are necessary to generate business profits. Revenue expenditure is also known as circulating capital that means capital changes hands to produce profit and loss. On the other hand, capital expenditures such as purchasing land or building, plant and machinery or goodwill form a long-term expenditure that accrue benefits until its useful life. The Statute ICTA88/S74 (1) (a) provides that only those expenditures are allowed for deductions that are "incurred wholly and exclusively for the purpose of trade" (BIM37035). However, capital expenditures are not allowed for deductions fully, and its treatment is governed by different statutes, as incorporated by the governing office from time to time. Capital Expenditures – Differential Treatment in GAAP and Income Tax It is important to note that accountancy and income tax laws are not fully in alignment as far as treatment of capital expenditure is concerned. ... All revenue expenditures are allowed for deduction to profit and loss statement. All capital expenditures are not allowed for deductions unless allowed by statute. For example, ITTOIA/S58 and S59 are the statues that allow deductions for the incidental costs incurred while raising a loan for business purposes (BIM45800, 2012). The statutes deal with the costs incurred while raising loans or issuing loan stock. These statutes do not provide relief for the costs incurred while raising finance through other methods such as bills of exchange, leasing assets, hire purchase, buying assets on credit or any form of equity financing. The incidental costs to obtain finance have been defined in ITTOIA/S58 (2). The allowable costs include commissions, fees, advertising, printing and related matters. It is required that the costs must be incurred, wholly and exclusively, for the purpose of acquiring or repaying the finance including its security. Some of the costs that are included under this sta tute can be described as per the following (BIM45815). a. Introduction fees, underwriting commissions, brokerage. b. Professional and legal expenses for negotiating the loan and getting the document ready. c. Valuer's fees, land registry fees incurred towards the security of the loan. d. Commitment fees. e. The costs of issuing a prospectus, postage, and the costs of advertising etc (BIM45815). Statute ITTOIA/S59 (1) provides that expenditure incurred while obtaining loan is not allowed for any deduction if it has provisions of conversion into shares or if any other securities or conversion takes place before three years from the date of loan obtaining (BIM45810). There are several deductions

Exams Taking Strategy for College Students Research Paper

Exams Taking Strategy for College Students - Research Paper Example Daily review of notes and finding relevant questions and assignments is crucial. One has to prepare a timetable for every day and weekly study sessions. Looking for an ample place without any disturbance and ensuring one has all the necessary tools and equipment is another major step. Regular study prior to the exam will ease the final preparations for tests. Assigning every subject a time like an hour will ensure that one gives adequate time to all the subjects. Short breaks in between such as stretching and moving around increases absorption rate. Short period study foster retention of information and reduces fatigue and stress (Durham, 94). Making a study group also becomes handy so that students/learners can exchange ideas. Preparing of revision tools is very crucial towards performing in tests. Learning to take good notes is useful for learning as well as taking the notes. Review notes after class, daily and on weekly basis. Notes review before exam acts as a reminder of the broader knowledge one has gained. Some lecturers give notes at a fast rate and a student may not be able to listen and write. One can record the notes using means such as tape recorder and listen to them later as he writes in a notebook. To widen the scope of knowledge of the subject, other reliable sources such as textbooks and internet can be utilized. To ensure adequate coverage and understanding of a subject, the student should make a list of all topics he is supposed to cover and allocate time to each (Scruggs, Thomas & Margo, 93). Index cards can also be the best review tool. They help one review easily without having to use books and notes, concentrate on specific details and ease memorization (Kesselman-Turkel, Judi & Frank lynn, 52). The main word is written on one side and facts on the other side. One can also take short notes after reading a chapter and writing down main points.

The Law Of The Contract Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Law Of The Contract - Essay Example Owing to this delay and damages, the firm suffered losses for not being able to complete the job in time. Dodgy Developers then decided to holdback payments of bills and in addition intended to claim losses from the supplier. In reply, Office Supplies asked for full payment and indicated that reimbursement of any losses is not a binding as per their 'Terms & Conditions 'of contract which state as below: Following these developments, Dodgy Developers desired to seek expert advises on the applicability of the above clause in particular. The following sections attempt to analyze and assess the situation for Dodgy Developers under the ambit of the 'English Contract Law' and advice appropriate line of action. required goods. The supplier or trader is 'Office Supplies' who further appointed an independent agent called 'Shifty Shifters' for transporting and delivering goods (workstations) to the buyer. The urgency of the project required Dodgy developers to call on their known supplier (had earlier business relations) 'Office Supplies' for supply of required workstations positively by 28th November. Office Supplies promptly expressed their acceptance by sending standard 'Terms & Conditions' of contracts. Under these circumstances this is a combination of oral and written contract and as both the supplier and buyer intended to conduct business, it is a valid contract [2]. The point here is that this is more of a unilateral contract on the supplier's terms and conditions and here 'time is the essence of contract' [3]. Another important point is that the supplier and purchaser having done such business before, are known to each other and under the eye of the law this is undoubtedly a "special relationship" validating the 'duty of care' [4] where both parties are required to proceed with a caring attitude of business dealings (For example see-Hedley Byrne & Co v Heller and Partners (1964). Here, the buyer was only prudent to rely on Office Supplies, his special sourcing point as he did on many previous occasions and under this condition the supplier is also expected, though not compulsorily, to extend a mutually risk-free and friendly term of contract. Esthetically, trust should not be responded by mistrust or by any terms protecting or camouflaging negligent conduct. The Applicable Laws & Legislations The principal laws governing contract in the UK are- the sale of goods Act, 1979, the supply of goods and services Act, 1982, Unfair contract terms Act, 1977 and the Unfair Terms in consumer contracts Regulations, 1994 [1]. However, in case of business-contract (as in this case), the supplier and the buyer can mutually and knowingly declare to impose some restriction clauses or provisions as 'Terms and Conditions' of contracts. Importantly, a trader dealing with a consumer, or dealing with any customer on his own written standard terms of business, cannot exclude or restrict his liability for breach of contract or allow himself to provide an inadequate service unless he can show that the clause satisfies the "test of reasonableness" [5]. Thus, even tough the case is legal; the supplier may not breach any common law duty in the form of protection clauses or terms and conditi