Anorexia nervosa- Is it all in the mind or is the media to blame Dissertation

Anorexia nervosa- Is it all in the mind or is the media to blame - Dissertation Example This paradox explains that it is psychological since it is irrational. The psychological therapy alone is the ultimate remedy for this ailment. It is therefore concluded that anorexia nervosa is a mental condition and that media is entirely to blame. Table of contents Sl no Particulars Page No Abstract 1 Chapter 1 Introduction 3 1.2 Prevalence and distribution 3 1.3 Media’s role 4 1.4 Problem statement 5 1.5 Conclusion 6 Chapter 2 Literature Review 7 2.1 Evolution or genealogy of anorexia nervosa 7 2.2 Treatment 10 2.3 The Biological Model 11 2.4 The Psychodynamic Model 11 2.5 The Family Model 12 2.6 The Cognitive-Behavioral model 13 2.7 Media role in the treatment of anorexia nervosa 17 2.8 Conclusion 29 Chapter 3 Research Methodology 20 Chapter 4 Findings and Discussion 27 Chapter 5 Conclusion 31 References 33 Chapter1 Introduction Anorexia Nervosa was identified as early as in 1873 when William Gull coined the term. (Giordano, 2005). In 1874, Lasegue termed it as â€Å"ano rexie histerique’ and later ‘anorexie mentale’ (Bruch H. , 1980) Mara Selvini Palazzoli called it ‘anoressia mentale’ i.e mental anorexia so that it avoided confusion with neurological and endocrine disorders. Yet, ‘anorexia nervosa’ continues in usage internationally. Etymologically, the meaning of anorexia is ‘lack of appetite’ though anorexia nervosa does not mean lack of appetite. On the other hand, it is a condition of trying to suppress the feeling of appetite in spite being hungry. (Giordano, 2005). Moreover, starved of food, anorexics tend to always think of food (Bruch H. , 1980). This is the reason why Selvini Palazzoli states that mental anorexia is not a case of lack of appetite but a desire to be thin for achieving which anorexics willingly indulge in self-denial of food (Palazzoli M. S., 1998). In Germany, the condition is known as ‘adolescent mania of thinness’ (pubertatsmagersucht) (Gordon, 1990) . 1.2 Prevalence and distribution Anorexia affects 0.5 to 1 % of the population as reported by the American Psychiatric Association in 1999. The data available on the prevalence is inconsistent because of methodological problems involving several years of screening (Giordano, 2005) Prevalence denotes the number of cases in the population and incidence is the number of new cases in the population involving eating disorders (Hoek H. W.). In addition, there are cases never reported in the case of silent sufferers who would not seek help and never admit that they have the problem resulting in their data never entering statistical estimates (Giordano, 2005). In addition to anorexia nervosa, there are other eating disorders such as bulimia and binge eating all of which are exclusive to the Western and Westernized and other developed countries (Wardle, Bindra, Fairclough, & Westecombe, 1993). Eating disorders such as anorexia have been recognized only in the recent past as a syndrome. They appear in the 1992 version of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) though anorexia nervosa appears in ICD-9 itself. It was a rare syndrome in the 1970s (Hill, 1977). However, the eating disorders have been on the increase since 1970s to 1990s. Because of the alarming increase in the incidence, anorexia nervosa along with the other eating disorders is now being called ‘a social epidemic’. Researchers are however, unsure of cause of the increase as they speculate on variables such as â€Å"demographic changes, public awareness of the condition, diagnostic criteria etc which are

Decline of USSR after the Cold War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Decline of USSR after the Cold War - Essay Example The collapse of the Soviet Union is regarded by the West as "a victory for freedom, a triumph of democracy over totalitarianism, and evidence of the superiority of capitalism over socialism." (Fall of the Soviet Union). The fall of the Soviet Union can rightly be understood as the fall of communism and the subsequent spread of democracy as a better form of government. The growth of communism in the USSR can be traced back to the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. The newly formed Government after the revolution was based on socialistic and Communist ideologies and the aim of the Bolsheviks was "to overcome national differences, and rather to create one monolithic state based on a centralized economical and political system." (Fall of the Soviet Union). Later, the state was transformed into a totalitarian state which was controlled by the communist leadership. However, the totalitarian government could not assimilate the non-Russian ethnic groups in the country and the economic planning g of the state proved to be inadequate to meet the need of the time and its arms race with the United States proved to be disastrous for the nation. By the time, Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet Union's last leader, assumed power in the nation, the economic and political problems in the country was at its peak.In 1985, the election of Mikhail Gorbachev to the position of G eneral Secretary of the Soviet Union led to more political and economic liberalization in the Moscow regime. The Gorbachev era witnessed many radical economic reforms like perestroika in the USSR. The Glasnost offered greater freedom of expression and offered freedom of press which can be marked as the first step towards democracy in the nation. The Glasnost had far reaching effects in the USSR as the media brought to spotlight many of the social and political issues that the people were dissatisfied with, and this brought about a sort of new nationalism and resulted in ethnic tensions. In January 1987, Gorbachev moved a step forward to democratic way of multi-candidate elections and later his reforms were aimed at reducing the Communist party's hold in governmental affairs. The ultimate result of these reforms was that the central Moscow government lost its absolute control over the USSR's constituent republics and brought about decentralization of power. Gorbachev's radical reform s, in a way, offered opportunity for the constituent republics to demand autonomy and independence. It was the Baltic region under the government of Estonia that protested against the Moscow regime in 1987. Later Lithuania and Latvia came out with similar upheavals and culminated in the coup d'etat of 1991. There were massive protests in the nation and the military refused to suppress the protestors who were led by Yeltsin. After the failed coup attempt there were public demonstrations demanding democracy in the nation and finally on December 25, 1991, Gorbachev had to resign and the "Commonwealth of Independent Republics" replaced the communist regime. Boris Yeltsin resigned from the communist party and declared Russia's independence. This stirred the

As sophocles observes in antigone Essay Example for Free

As sophocles observes in antigone Essay 4. Awareness (Greenleaf, 2002): Able servant-leaders are usually sharply awake and reasonably disturbed from integrated holistic perspectives, yet with inner serenity (Greenleaf, 2002). Habit 1 (of 7 or of 8), Being Proactive or the concept of Inside-Out, that any significant type of change in the would-be-leader must first come from within himself (Covey, 1900). 5. Persuasion (Greenleaf, 2002): Servant-leaders rely primarily on persuasion and on convincing even by way of group-building consensus, rather than through coercion or force based on the traditional authoritarian model (Greenleaf, 2002). While Gardner insists that: â€Å"Leadership is the process of persuasion or example by which an individual (or leadership team) induces a group to pursue objectives held by the leader or shared by the leader and his or her followers† (Gardner, 1990). Yukl emphatically stressed, in that: â€Å"influence is the essence of leadership† (Yukl, 2001). 6. Conceptualization (Greenleaf, 2002): Servant-leaders perform a delicate balance between thinking out a problem and facing beyond day-to-day-focused-realities approach (Greenleaf, 2002). Habit 2 (of 7 or of 8), Beginning with the End in Mind, that the would-be-leader develops his own principled-center mission statement in life with long-term goals (Covey, 1900). 7. Foresight (Greenleaf, 2002): Intuitive servant-leaders understand the lessons from the past, the realities of the present, and the likely consequence of a decision for the future (Greenleaf, 2002). Characteristic 1, They Are Continually Learning, that the would-be-leader’s perception is more than enough honed by his self-initiated desire to know it all (Covey, 1992) and similar to Characteristic 6, They See Life As An Adventure (Covey, 1992). Alfred North Whitehead strongly suggested, in that: Every leader, to be effective, must simultaneously adhere to the symbols of change and revision and the symbols of tradition and stability (Warren Bennis, 1995). 8. Stewardship (Greenleaf, 2002): Servant-leaders merely act as stewards or â€Å"hold men and resources in trust† for the good of all or for society, emphasizing openness and persuasion (Greenleaf, 2002), likewise very similar to Stewardship Delegation (Covey, 1900). Habit 3 (of 7 or of 8), Put First Things First, that the would-be-leader’s effectiveness lies in making sure he balances his Production (P) with his building Production Capacity PC (Covey, 1900). Also, hence, according to Covey’s classification, Stewardship is under Habit 3 (Covey, 1900). 9. Commitment to the Growth of People (Greenleaf, 2002): Servant-leaders are seriously responsible and deeply committed to the growth and nurturing of each individual worker within the institution (Greenleaf, 2002). Characteristic 2, They Are Service-Oriented, that the would-be-leader/ servant-leader regards his work as a vocation or a way of life and not as a career (Covey, 1992). Characteristic 4, They Believe In Other People, that the would-be-leader is very hopeful for the beneficial potential capacity of everyone around him (Covey, 1992) though not quite far is Habit 8, It is about Finding Your Voice and Helping Others to Find Theirs (Covey, 2006). 10. Building Community (Greenleaf, 2002): Servant-leaders selflessly give themselves for building true communities among themselves who work within given institutions (Greenleaf, 2002). Characteristic 3, They Radiate Positive Energy, that the would-be-leader despite the â€Å"drudgery† of strengthening his institution, you could still find him cheerful, pleasant, happy; his attitude optimistic, positive, upbeat; and his spirit enthusiastic, hopeful, believing. Therefore, with the above, Covey concluded, in that: â€Å"A (good) habit can be defined as the intersection of knowledge, skill and desire† (Covey, 1900). Thus, with all of the above information, Sergeant Kidd’s dictum of soldiers learning to be good leaders from good leaders (Army, 1999) could now apply even to civilian employees or even ordinary civilians as more and more people are convinced through more and more pieces of literature pointing towards that thinning gray area between military and civilian leaderships. Political leadership is what John W. Gardner in his On Leadership, espoused in that: â€Å"Men and women of the greatest integrity, character, and courage should turn to public life as a natural duty and a natural outlet for their talents† (Gardner, 1990). While under business leadership falls all the works of Covey, Bennis, Goldsmith, and Yukl; however, noteworthy are those other works by Frances Hesselbein and Retired US Army General Eric Shinseki’s BE*KNOW*DO, Leadership the Army Way (Frances Hesselbein, 2004) and Jason Santamaria, Vincent Martino, and Eric Clemons’ The Marine Corps Way: Using Maneuver Warfare to Lead a Winning Organization (Jason A. Santamaria, 2003) because they believe that the business world could benefit from their shared experiences of the military. While the civilian sector regularly and easily pirates top executives from one private company to another or among themselves, the military sector cannot do that but because the military must so promote within its own ranks is why military leadership development is that paramount according to Hesselbein and Shinseki (Frances Hesselbein, 2004). Santamaria, Martino, and Climons first laid down the premise that although business and war are entirely worlds apart, the same principles apply to them because they both thrive in very competitive environments. The authors gave 23 true-to-life civilian examples followed by explanations before proceeding to compare and contrast 23 parallel true-to-life military examples (Jason A. Santamaria, 2003). Like the non-original â€Å"Servant-Leader† Greenleaf with his 6th century BCE Tao Te Ching, the non-original â€Å"Maneuver Warfare† Santamaria has his more than 2,500 years ago genius and timelessness of Sun Tzus work The Art of War, especially in targeting critical vulnerabilities, surprise, focus, tempo (speed), and combined arms. The authors ask if they are really â€Å"natural or universal laws of warfare†; however, because the concepts are intuitive to the greatest strategists, generals, and CEOs, the authors have endeavored to transform such intuition into a systematic problem-solving approach that the rest of us can clearly grasp and then apply (Jason A. Santamaria, 2003). These authors interchangeably explained the 46 examples in detail the workings of the Marine Corps Way by compressing Maneuver Warfare through these not only 7, but 10 Guiding Principles which when implemented singly and shortly is very powerful, but all the more deadly when applied in subsets or as an integrated whole (Jason A. Santamaria, 2003). When these situationers are examined closely, potential businesses should achieve breakthrough results (Jason A. Santamaria, 2003). 1. Targeting Critical Vulnerabilities (Jason A.Santamaria, 2003): To attack and to swiftly take advantage of the competitor’s weaknesses after thoroughly studying both the allied leader’s group and the competitor’s situation (Jason A. Santamaria, 2003). 2. Boldness (Jason A. Santamaria, 2003): When occasion arises to grab that opportunity to carry out calculated risks which can secure breakthrough results (Jason A. Santamaria, 2003). 3. Surprise (Jason A. Santamaria, 2003): Using surreptitiousness, vagueness, and sham to confuse the competitors. And for them to outrightly disregard their knowledge of the allied leader’s group condition thereby prejudicing their capability to position well their assets against the allied leader’s group (Jason A. Santamaria, 2003). 4. Focus (Jason A. Santamaria, 2003): Clustering together the allied leader’s group materiel at decisive places and times to take advantage of important favorable conditions to meet the allied leader’s group needs and objectives (Jason A. Santamaria, 2003). 5. Decentralized Decision Making (Jason A. Santamaria, 2003): Designating responsible people for them to make their own judicious decisions nearest the action centers after they have timely and thoroughly assessed firsthand local information about the situation within the mission target area (Jason A. Santamaria, 2003). 6. Tempo (Jason A. Santamaria, 2003): Recognizing prospective breaks, deciding, and executing plans more swiftly than opponents for the allied leader’s group to grab the upper hand and relegate the enemy to always be on the defensive and always to be confused by the allied leader’s group concerted and coordinated actions against the enemy (Jason A.Santamaria, 2003). 7. Combined Arms (Jason A. Santamaria, 2003): Timing the allied leader’s group attack in such a way that his group’s people, vehicles, equipment with pre-planned sequencing become orchestrated as only one entity; whereas, if the allied leader’s group use them singly, the effect will not be as dramatic (Jason A. Santamaria, 2003). 8. Integration of Principles (Jason A. Santamaria, 2003): When measured individually, these concepts give the best results when implemented in subsets or all are treated collectively as only one whole (Jason A.Santamaria, 2003). 9. Reconnaissance Pull (Jason A. Santamaria, 2003): Reconnaissance pull is an illustration of implementing the concepts in subsets: the unintended reaction is an actual time happening to a golden chance to weaken or defeat the enemy, whereby when the possibility is afforded to the allied leader to surprise the enemy, that leader then familiarizes the greater organization towards the situation, with him assuming that leadership function in setting up and applying the attack. Reconnaissance pull covers four of maneuver warfare’s ten concepts: decentralized decision-making, targeting critical vulnerabilities, tempo, and focus (Jason A. Santamaria, 2003). 10. Full Integration (Jason A. Santamaria, 2003): Joining simultaneously all ten concepts together as one combined entity allows the person to effect the greatest outcome with much reduced cost of materiel (Jason A. Santamaria, 2003).

Concept Of Maximising Shareholder Wealth And Competing Theories Finance Essay

Concept Of Maximising Shareholder Wealth And Competing Theories Finance Essay Maximizing share holder wealth is a concept in which optimally increasing the long-term value of the firm is emphasized. Milton Friedman recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences is often quoted as saying The business of business is business He actually did say there is one and only one social responsibility of business-to use it resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say, engages in open and free competition without deception or fraud. Friedman used the term profits, rather than shareholder wealth but the two are often seen as interchangeable. Not only is this not true, there is an increasing body of opinion that views the prime motive of maximizing shareholder wealth as deeply flawed. In the history accounting and finance, it is assumed that the objective of the business is to maximize the value of a company. Put simply, this means that the managers of a business should create as much wealth as possible for the shareholders. Given this objective, any financing or investment decision that is expected to improve the value of the shareholders stake in the business is acceptable. In short, the objective for managers running a business should be profit maximization both in the short and long-term. Shareholders are deemed as the owners of the business. Their main aim is to increase their wealth, finance managers are employed to achieve this aim. In order to maximise shareholder wealth it would mean Maximising the flow of dividends to shareholders through time there is a long term prospective (Arnold, 2005) Shareholder wealth is a short-term gain, and can be artificially increased without adding any tangible assets or products to the companys rooster. You can, for example, simply lay off an entire short-term unessential department; say Research and Development rather than the shop floor, and the next quarters profits will be increased. But what about the social responsibility of the workers made redundant in order to make share price healthy? That is the fallacy with an unthinking mantra of maximizing. Almost any executive decision, no matter how socially irresponsible or unethical can be justified as intended to increase the stock price. Managers on short term leash might stay at the same point on the demand curve but economize more on resource if they must maximize shareholder wealth. Economizing inputs tend to offset the maximisers reducing output. In an economy with widespread monopoly some firms encouraged to maximize shareholder wealth would primarily encourage while others shoul d slash production and reduce allocative efficiency one cannot predict which effect would dominate. Traditional theory suggests that the key aim of any business is to generate the greatest possible value for the company, leading to the maximum possible return for shareholders. As Ian Davies argues, this so-called Shareholder Theory is based on the idea that the ultimate aim of a company is to generate profit and pass this profit, along with any associated value, on to the shareholders who took the risk of purchasing those shares in the first place (Davies, 2007); furthermore, any approach that minimises the companys outgoings will, in theory, contribute to the growth of the asset-value of the company and therefore to the ultimate return to shareholders. Within the concept of Shareholder Theory, there is technically no limit to the methods that might be used in order to maximise shareholder wealth. One of the most commonly used methods, according to Jill H. Ellsworth and Matthew V. Ellsworth, is strategies for the reduction of tax liabilities, in other words reducing the amount of tax paid in order to increase the amount of money that can be paid out as dividends to shareholders (Ellsworth Ellsworth, 2007 ed., p. 58). However, arguably, this theory is overly simplistic: for example, while one strategy might generate greater short-term wealth for shareholders, a less obvious strategy might, in the longer-term, generate far greater wealth. For example, while a company could use surplus profits in order to increase the dividend, it could also use them to invest in projects that could yield far greater gains in the future. This, in turn, could increase the overall share price. This approach highlights an important problem: not all share holders are the same, and while some are willing to wait for the longer-term results, others are after short term gain. There is no guarantee that both can be satisfied by the same approach. COMPETING THEORIES Other theories for example Stakeholder theory asserts that managers should make decisions that take into account the interests of all stakeholders of the firm. Such stakeholders include not only financial claimholders but also employees, managers, customers, suppliers, local communities, government, and others. Thus, stakeholder theory involves trying to maximize multiple objectives. Maximization of shareholder wealth focuses on owners and is a single-valued objective. This does not mean that corporate managers should disregard stakeholders other than owners. On the contrary, they need to be aware of the needs, wants, and interests of these other constituencies, but the owners come first. Although Shareholder Theory has been the dominant approach for many years, the new Stakeholder Theory is gaining ground. This theory suggests that Shareholder Theory is merely one part of the overall strategy that should be employed, with the others including such relatively unfixed concepts as earnings per share, employee satisfaction and environmental protection. Andy Coulson-Thomas argues that Stakeholder Theory is based on the idea that a business is an organic creature that will produce better results for everyone if holistically managed and, overall, led towards a situation in which every aspect of the company is performing well (Worthington et al., 2008, p. 147). This is clearly not a short-term theory, and one again illustrates the dramatic divide between the aims of different shareholders. However, Stakeholder Theory does have one major advantage, which is that it allows a more organic, cross-company angle to be applied, one which allows for stable long-term growth at the ex pense, perhaps, of short-term profit and wealth maximisation. Its also important to consider the size of the company and its location. Size affects such matters as taxation liability and economy of scale, and there are dramatically different rules when it comes to larger corporate entities. Although generalisations are dangerous, its true to say that smaller companies face less legislation in terms of moves to prevent tax avoidance etc., although to compensate for these larger companies often employ legal teams to address such issues. Davies argues that this balances out leading to virtual parity in terms of how companies of different sizes deal with taxation (and) they end up paying virtually the same rates, albeit from very different starting points (Davies, 2007, p. 37). Its also possible to relocate the companys base to a state with little or no corporate income tax, or where potential lawsuits are far more likely to be resolved in the companys favour. This may generate subsequent problems for shareholders, however, since their profits will be considered to be coming from abroad and may therefore be subject to additional taxation. This is an example of what McLaney calls blind strategy (Davies, 2007, p. 6), whereby something that initially seems to be good (for the company) is ultimately bad for the shareholders. In light of the factors above, CEOs of major companies are being urged, to look to other theories of corporate purpose. In this theory, the customer comes first. Perhaps the most notable change of purpose, as advocated by Richard Ellsworth and Ian Davies, is to change corporate focus from the shareholder to the customer. For example, in his book Leading with purpose Ellsworth offers statistics, drawn from a study of 23 companies that show those businesses that were mostly customer-focused exceeded their industries median performance by 36 per cent. But what does focusing on the customer mean? Isnt it something that successful businesses have always done? Yes and no. In his book, The New Business Road Test John W. Mullins defines customer focus as a corporations ability to resolve customers pain. Mullins then goes on to highlight the case of Nike who impacted on the sports shoe market by designing shoes that met the specific speed and endurance needs of distance runners. In 1972, eight years after Nike (then known as Blue Ribbon Sports) was formed, four of the top seben finishers in the Olympic marathon wore Nike shoes. Two decades later, afte r many years of strong growth, Nike targeted women, for whom its products seemed to hold limited appeal. Nikes researchers found that for active women, clothes had to perform a double-duty, handle an intense workout and look good on the street. Nike turned their research iinto new product lines and in 2005 their combined womens business grew by almost 20% outpacing even the companies overall growth. But away from Mullins, Naomi Kliens book, No Logo, shows there is more to Nikes corporate purpose than target markets. Klien points out that Nike is also probably the most famous case of western companies using sweatshop labour a scandal that was bought to national USA attention in 1995-96 and has dogged the company ever since. The question is this: how do we interpret Nikes repeated attempts to change unethical working practices at its various sites around the world? What do we say about the introduction of schools, donations and increased wages it has given out to workers it previously exploited? Can they be seen as cynical attempts by a panicked business to maintain shareholder value, or genuine efforts to resolve their customers moral pain? Nikes efforts at ethical working practices brings me to CSR Corporate Social Responsibility CSR has become the basis on what organisations do well. There are several studies as to what CSR is, several researchers (Friedman, Rudolf, Davis etc.) have given their own definitions, the World Business Council has defined it as the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and to contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families, as well as of the local community and society at large. (Source: Xrefer, definition of Corporate Social Responsibility) Companies usually implement CSR into their policies and practices so the effects of their activities have a positive social, environmental, legal and economic impact on the communities in which they operate and on their stakeholders. Some organisations behave more socially responsibility because it is an obligation by the managerial board, but also because of fear of backlash from environmentalist and consumer pressure groups and the media, and negative corporate image. It has been argued that behaving in a more socially responsibility manner can be beneficial to an organisation in the long run. A good example of an ethical organisation is the Body Shop. The Body Shop was founded by Anita Roddick in 1976, and has achieved worldwide status for being profitable and socially responsible, which proved that an organisation can be ethical and successful and reward shareholders and satisfy stakeholders at the same time. It has achieved worldwide popularity due its ethical practices, famously recognised for being against animal testing and promoting cosmetic products that have not been tested on animals, . They had a business case to provide body care products that have not been tested on animals and their business case just provides further support that an organisation can be profitable whilst being ethical. SHAREHOLDER WEALTH CRITICISM Another difficulty with Shareholder Theory is that aspects of wealth growth, most notably those related to tax, are increasingly complex and require a variety of forensic-level approaches that are often impossible for a large corporation to undertake. For example, some shareholders might benefit from a corporation-based tax reduction strategy, while others might be better off utilising their own such systems. Its impossible to tell which system will suit which shareholder, and its also impossible to mix the two systems. There is therefore a fundamental need to balance competing needs and, often, to find a balance that generates the best average result for shareholders. To compensate for such problems, companies can help their shareholders to form their own corporation designed to either own stock or to act as consultants (mainly for smaller companies). A. McNeil notes that such tactics are likely to appeal only to shareholders who are more proactive in their involvement in the company, whereas research shows that over three quarters of shareholders prefer a far more passive involvement (McNeil, 2007, p. 85). Furthermore, a number of commentators have argued that such tactics usually offer fewer benefits than they promise on paper, since there must be consideration given to the costs of incorporation and the operation of such a company. Turner and Johnson, for example, argue that the hidden costs in such an operation almost always outweigh the possible benefits (Turner Johnson, 2003, p. 238). Ultimately, the concept of maximising shareholder wealth represents a return to the principle of using a business in order to increase the wealth of individuals. As Andy Coulson-Thomas has suggested, this approach has often been lost in recent years as individuals (instead) work for the greater good of the company, which is often valued more highly than the wealth of the shareholders (Worthington et al., 2008, p. 58). Its clear that attempts to focus on the maximisation of shareholder wealth often involve increased complexity and, as a result, present a number of potential points at which profit can be lost. There are a number of conflicting theories in terms of which approach might be best when it comes to maximising shareholder wealth, but its clear that the most fundamental problem is that shareholders often have different, and in many cases competing, aims the key difference is in terms of how quickly they want to see a profit, and the needs of short-term profit-seekers are like ly to contradict the needs of those seeking a longer-term profit generation system. There is even the problem with the stock price itself as illustrated in my third paragraph above. It simply isnt always in management control. Again, as we have seen recently, share value largely depends on the confidence the market has in a corporation or the sector that the corporation operates in. as confidence in the banking sector has recently plummeted, even organizations with a healthy balance sheet have seen their share prices tumble. Consider the monopolist in a nation that denigrates shareholder wealth maximization and has rules and norms that discourage lay-offs. Employees cannot easily be laid off. Their jobs cannot be radically reconfigured without their consent. As such, the monopolist might not cut production and raise prices further, despite the shareholder-wealth-maximization basis for doing so, because it must pay the employees anyway if labor markets are rigid and if it cannot costlessly redeploy its workforce. In such circumstances, not only are the employees with jobs protected, but national wealth is increased (or at least not decreased) by slack agency controls on managers. A weak shareholder primacy norm facilitates greater production. I would say there is the problem of the shareholders themselves. These are not necessarily long-term investors with the interests of the company at heart, but transient individuals, some of whom, as we have seen lately, may actually look to make money out of a business by betting on the share price going down .i.e. taking the fall of shareholders like Conrad Black and Bernard Madoff. As per tutor2u,  Managers of a business should create as much wealth as possible for the shareholders. Given this objective, any financing or investment decision that is expected to improve the value of the shareholders stake in the business is acceptable. This is based on the assumption that managers operate in the best interests of stockholders, not themselves, and do not attempt to expropriate wealth from lenders to benefit stockholders. Another assumption is that managers act in a socially responsible manner and do not create unreasonable costs to society in pursuit of stockholder wealth maximization.  Ã‚  (Blackwell publishing, 2009) Wealth maximization is achieved by maximization of the cash flows of the organization.  Ã‚  Cash flow is a better yardstick than the profits. There are several objections against the profit maximization: One it is vague; there are multiple meanings of Profit.  Ã‚  For example profit after tax, retained earnings. Thus profits cannot be the ultimate goal. Two it is uncertain; as per Freemba, Profit cannot be ascertained well in advance to express the probability of return as future is uncertain. It is not at possible to maximize what cannot be known. Hence the timing of the profit cant be estimated. Three it ignores time value of money; Profits ignore the time value of money which is not in the case of cash flows. One can exactly find the timing of cash flows. Hence cash flow is a better measure. CONCLUSION Despite its advantages of greatly simplifying directors decision making we should discard the fictional undiversified shareholder concept for two reasons. First, it is highly unrealistic, more so than the other alternatives here considered. Second, it is indeterminate as to the degree of risk-aversion that should be ascribed to this fictional shareholder, and this degree of freedom completely undercuts ability of the shareholder wealth maximization norm to constrain director conduct. The  goal of Maximization of profits I think to be a narrow outlook. Evidently when profit maximization becomes the basis of financial decisions of the concern, it ignores the interests of the community on the one hand and that of the government, workers and other concerned persons in the enterprise on the other hand. Hence profit maximization is not considered as the ultimate financial objective. Wealth maximization is considered to be the most important financial objective Organization should also consider non financial objectives too to satisfy the other stakeholders of the organization. Stakeholder can be a person, group, organization, or system who affects or can be affected by an organizations actions. This means satisfying the objectives of customers, suppliers, government agencies, families of employees, special interest groups.  This will help in achieving the success in long term too. Ultimately, the concept of maximising shareholder wealth represents a return to the principle of using a business in order to increase the wealth of individuals.This approach has often been lost in recent years as individuals work for the greater good of the company, which is often valued more highly than the wealth of the shareholders Its clear that attempts to focus on the maximisation of shareholder wealth often involve increased complexity and, as a result, present a number of potential points at which profit can be lost. There are a number of conflicting theories in terms of which approach might be best when it comes to maximising shareholder wealth, but its clear that the most fundamental problem is that shareholders often have different, and in many cases competing, aims the key difference is in terms of how quickly they want to see a profit, and the needs of short-term profit-seekers are likely to contradict the needs of those seeking a longer term profit generation system I also conclude that from above highlights it shows just how complex and interlinked all the financial and psychological aspects of business are. It is no longer enough (if it ever was) for businesses to concentrate soley on their shareholders. In the current climate of a credit crunch fuelled by a potent mix of incompetence and greed, with business ethics under scrutiny like never before, the customer is all of us. And the pain we need resolving is not just economic, but social and environmental as well if corporation investment decisions are best pursued through the use of a fictional shareholder concept, rather than through attempts by directors to ascertain and satisfy to the extent possible the conflicting preferences of their corporations actual shareholders and perhaps other stakeholders as well then the fictional diversified shareholder concept, despite its significant implementation difficulties, is the preferred alternative among those here considered. .

The Coup de Grace :: essays papers

The Coup de Grace The short film, The Coup de Grace is a realistic war movie that illustrates the casualties of war. This film does not glorifies war, instead it gives a very realistic view of its aftermath. One of the many artistic techniques use in this movie is the illusion of action which is achieved by the quick movement of the camera. For example, the Captain at the beginning of his search is stationary and facing forward for a long time. As he is facing forward, the background is in motion giving a sense of action. This means that the world around him is moving on and time does not stop for no one. Finally he moves aimlessly for a long time. This shows that to try to find someone in such a situation is not an easy task to do. He choose to do it alone even though he could have gather some soldiers to help him make the task faster if not easier. Perhaps he was afraid of the outcome and how he would handle it emotionally thus losing his bearing in front of his men. As he is searching, he is ver y gentle and careful went he turns the death bodies around to make a positive identification of his friend. He is giving the bodies the outmost respect even thought they are dead. The captain finally finds his wounded best friend. He reacted in an angry and confused way. The wounded sergeant had regressed to an earlier stage of development to deal with the immense pain of his wound. Seen his friend like this made the captain remember an earlier happy time went the sergeant was free of pain and injuries. The flashback is another artistic technique use in the film. The two friends are conversating and reminiscing their childhood. It is important to notice how yellow green the grass is in this scene compared to lather. The sergeant’s older bother, the major disturbs their happy conversation. The artistic technique use to do this is shown with an immediate sun spot. The sergeant gets up and renders a salute, but the captain does not salutes showing disrespect toward the major. The major expresses his jealously and gives him his assignment adding that if the captain wished, he could give it to someone else of lesser rank.

Autobiography of a Face, by Lucy Grealy Essay -- The Search for Unatta

In her memoir, Autobiography of a Face, Lucy Grealy tells the story of how the deformities caused by her cancer forced her into a life of isolation, cruel insults, and unhappiness. Grealy clearly demonstrates how a society that excessively emphasizes female beauty can negatively affect a young girl, especially one with a deformity. Most interpret this story as a way for Grealy to express the pain that she endured because she did not measure up to society’s definition of female beauty, a standard that forces girls into unhealthy habits, plastic surgery, and serious depression. In the afterword of the memoir, Grealy’s friend, Ann Patchett, tries to change this interpretation by saying that Grealy never meant for it to be a story of the hardships she faced as a young girl with a deformity; she simply wished it to be viewed â€Å"as a piece of literature.† (232). However, this short passage takes away from the important message that Grealy expresses in h er memoir: that the unattainable standards of female beauty in society can destroy the joy and livelihood of young girls. Grealy understandably denied this as her reason for writing because, to her, admitting that the story of her life was dominated by her deformity would be like admitting that she had never lived. She frequently explains in her memoir that she longed for physical beauty so that she could finally live without isolation and dejection. To label her memoir a story of loneliness and sorrow would be admitting that she never reached this sense of beauty she so strongly desired. Despite Ann Patchett’s interpretation of the memoir, it should still be seen as a story demonstrating how society’s unreachable standards of beauty can deprecate the lives of young girls, as ... ...t of sexes becomes more equal, young men may begin to develop the habits of young women who try so hard to live up to a perfect standard of beauty. This issue should not and cannot be ignored, and correct acknowledgement of stories like Grealy’s will tighten opportunities for young women to preserve and cherish what really makes them beautiful. Works Cited "A Conversation With Lucy Grealy." Charlie Rose. Web. 5 Mar 2010. Graydon, Shari. "How the Media Keeps Us Hung Up on Body Image." Herizons 22.1 (2008): n. pag. Web. 5 Mar 2010. Grealy, Lucy. Autobiography of a Face. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1994. Print. Kruger, Paula. "1 in 5 Girls Display Eating Disorder Behaviour." ABC News . 20 Jul 2007. ABC, Web. 5 Mar 2010. Sweeney, Camille. "Seeking Self-Esteem Through Surgery." New York Times 14 Jan 2009: n. pag. Web. 5 Mar 2010.

Promote good practice in handling information in health Essay

1. Understand requirements for handling information in health and social care settings 1.1 Identify legislation and codes of practice that relate to handling information in health and social care There are several legislations and codes of practice that relates to handling information. Data protection Act 2008 is a law that protects personal privacy and upholds individuals rights. This Act gives rights to the people the information is about, data subjects puts obligations on the people who held information, data controllers, non-compliance is a criminal offence. The freedom of information Act 2000 is the Act that gives you the right to ask any public body for all information they have on the chosen subject. Unless there’s a good reason, the organisation must provide information within 20 days. The care quality commission also apply rules and regulations that need to be followed. Now they have the legal right to close a home down if it doesn’t follow the procedures. Any information that you write about an individual has to be fact and written in clear, readable writing. You also have to sign and date everything that you write. 1.2 Summarise the main points of legal requirements and codes of practice for handling information in health and social care The main points are, to keep any information on a need to know basis, to hold any information shared to you as private and confidential, unless the service user tells people himself, or says otherwise. Do not discuss anything in earshot of other people, keep everything under lock and key. There are 8 enforceable principles and they are: Fairly and lawfully processed, processed for limited purposes, adequate and relevant and not excessive, accurate, not kept longer than necessary, processed in accordance with the data subject’s rights, kept secure and finally, not transferred to countries without adequate protection. 2. Be able to implement good practice in handling information 2.1 Describe features of manual and electronic information storage systems that help ensure Apart from what i have mentioned in the question below, manual systems, which are paper type records, for example, text, photos, X-Ray, hand written notes or comments, etc, these require to be out of general view when in use and locked away when not in use or attended. Lockable filing cabinets, locked rooms and special vaults and safes can also be used. Electronic records can be protected by password access to the computer, to the folder, to the file. Some systems allow access to anything electronic by only authorised personnel based on employee number or similar. Some computers are not connected to the internet to avoid the risk of intervention. Movement of data should require that the data is first encrypted so if intercepted cannot be viewed. 2.2 Demonstrate practices that ensure security when storing and accessing information We use what we call an electronic vault, which is a system that stores the data that is imputed into a secret file and can only be seen by management with a secure password. Anybody who wants the info has to ask the manager and she works on a need to know basis. Also care plans, Mars sheets and any document relating to one of the service users is locked away until it needs to be used. This ensures confidentiality and who gets to see them. We even keep information away from family and friends. The thing we say to them is, if the individual wanted them to know, then they will tell them. 2.3 Maintain records that are up to date, complete, accurate and legible It is important to keep records which are up to date to provide accurate, current, full and correct information concerning the condition and the care required for all individuals. All records which are produced weather written  or electronic must be signed and dated; they must also be stored correctly in accordance with that data protection act 1998. It is vital that records are kept up to date, as this ensures that the individual’s needs are being met and may also help to reduce the likelihood of abuse. If an organisation failed to keep up to date records about their service users then this could lead to serious concerns being raised and could also lead to their company reputation being damaged. Service users must be told about any changes made within their personal records and care plan files. Effective record keeping by health care workers can also ensure that a high standard of health and social care is being provided within the working environment. All information written in files must be clear and relevant and must never be discussed outside of a work, as this would again breach the customer confidentiality law, the law also states that if it’s not written down, then it never happened, so this is yet another reason as to why it is so important to keep up to date records, regarding an individual’s general health and well-being. All information recorded must be fact and not guess work or ideas. 3. Be able to support others to handle information 3.1 Support others to understand the need for secure handling of information This is all in the confidentiality training that everybody does. I would teach newbies how to handle information, why it has to be kept confidential, eg legislation, laws etc and show them the effect that mistrust can have on not only us, but the service user as well. The secure handling of information in an organisation is often vital. In health care settings there are numerous regulations for us to follow to safeguard the confidential and security of data. To support new employees on this vital task during orientation the policies and procedures should be gone over as well as examples scenarios to help drive home the topic. Think of the obvious. Explain how you tell new staff about this and describe what you do if you find a colleague has left confidential documents lying about, do you remind them why records should be kept securely or do you just put the records away and not say anything? 3.2 Support others to understand and contribute to records Let’s say a new work colleague might have some new ideas on how to support someone, instead of thinking she just goes and puts the new ideas in place herself without asking her supervisor. The proper way would be to have a meeting, discuss it and if new ideas are being put into place, then guidelines or support plans would need to be updated so things can be changed. So this is where you need to explain how she should have dealt with it, contributing is putting it down on records which are the support plans etc.