Emily Dickinson s Amazing Gifts As A Poet - 1178 Words

One of Emily’s Dickinson’s amazing gifts as a poet was her ability to write her poems using rich images. She was known to be a very intense viewer and through her poetry she shows her personal feelings in topics that greatly interested her. Emily Dickinson became recognized as one of the greatest female poet in American literature after her death in 1886. Emily Dickinson personal life experiences are reflected in her poetry writings. Her poetry shows the difficulties and needs of human relationship with writing that is moving and captivating. Emily Dickinson was born on December 10, 1830 in Amherst Massachusetts. She was well educated and attended the Amherst Academy. Her father was Edward Dickinson, he†¦show more content†¦She dedicated most of her time completing notebooks with poetry writing and letters to her friends. Dickinson manually bounded her booklets together by folding and sewing five to six sheets of her final version of her poems. When she wasn’t writing, she spent time caring for her sickly mother. Emily Dickinson was a middle child, her older brother was Austin and her litter sister name was Laviana. Emily and her sister did not get married nor had any children. Her brother married Susan Gilbert and Emily considered her a close friend. The few important people in her life inspired her to write poetry. One of the important people in Emily Dickinson life were Otis P. Lord, a Massachusetts Supreme Court Judge, Samuel Bowles, Editor of the Springfield Republican and Reverend Charles Wadworth Emily felt deeply in love with the minister but he was a married man. Many of her poems are believed to be dedicated to Wadsworth unreturned love towards her. In her early years of writing, Dickinson was influenced by Leonard Humphrey, Principal of Amherst Academy, and a family friend named Benjamin Franklin Newton. Newton presented Dickinson to the poetry of William Wordsworth, who also served as her inspiration and someone that she considered her closest earthly friend. Later on, Emily

Corporate Governance †Role of Board of Directors Free Essays

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE – ROLE OF BOARD OF DIRECTORS People often question whether corporate boards matter because their day-today impact is difficult to observe. But, when things go wrong, they can become the center of attention. Certainly this was true of the Enron, Worldcom, and Parmalat scandals. We will write a custom essay sample on Corporate Governance – Role of Board of Directors or any similar topic only for you Order Now The directors of Enron and Worldcom, in particular, were held liable for the fraud that occurred: Enron directors had to pay $168 million to investor plaintiffs, of which $13 million was out of pocket (not covered by insurance); and Worldcom directors had to pay $36 million, of which $18 million was out of pocket. As a consequence of these scandals and ongoing concerns about corporate governance, boards have been at the center of the policy debate concerning governance reform and the focus of considerable academic research. Because of this renewed interest in boardsmuch of the research on boards ultimately touches on the question â€Å"what is the role of the board? † Possible answers range from boards’ being simply legal necessities, something akin to the wearing of wigs in English courts, to their playing an active part in the overall management and control of the corporation. No doubt the truth lies somewhere between these extremes; indeed, there are probably multiple truths when this question is asked of different firms, in different countries, or in different periods. So what is a Board of Director (BoD) and what do Directors actually do? â€Å"A Board of Directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors. It is often simply referred to as ‘the board’ †. A board’s activities are determined by the powers, duties, and responsibilities delegated to it or conferred on it by an authority outside itself. These matters are typically detailed in the country’s company law, organization’s bylaws and/or the Article of Association (AoA). The bylaws commonly also specify the number of members of the board, how they are to be chosen, and when they are to meet. To better understand corporate boards, one should begin with the question of what do directors do’? Over the years there has been several indepth studies conducted and research literature published by some of the most brilliant academics only to answer this very question e. g. Mace, 1971, Whisler, 1984, Lorsch and MacIver, 1989, Demb and Neubauer, 1992, and Bowen, 1994 and their conclusions are presented breifly: The principal conclusions of Mace were that â€Å"directors serve as a source of adv ice and counsel, serve as some sort of discipline, and act in crisis situations†. The nature of their â€Å"advice and counsel† is unclear but Mace suggests that a board serves largely as a sounding board for the CEO and top management, occasionally providing expertise when a firm faces an issue about which one or more board members are expert. Yet Demb and Neubauer’s survey results find that approximately two-thirds of directors agreed that â€Å"setting the strategic direction of the company† was one of the jobs they did. 80% of the directors also agreed that they were â€Å"involved in setting strategy for the company†. 5% of respondents to another of Demb and Neubauer’s questionnaires report that they â€Å"set strategy, corporate policies, overall direction, mission, vision†. Indeed far more respondents agreed with that description of their job than agreed with the statements that their job entailed â€Å"oversee[ing], monitor[ing] top management, CEO† (45%); â€Å"succession, hiring/firing CEO and top managem ent† (26%); or serving as a â€Å"watchdog for shareholders, dividends† (23%). According to Epstein and Roy (2006), a high performance board must achieve three core objectives; in other words Epstein and Roy nail the core responsibilities of the board: . Provide superior strategic guidance to ensure the company’s growth and prosperity by Setting of Strategy: 2. Ensure accountability of the company to its stakeholders, including shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers, regulators and community; 3. Ensure that a highly qualified executive team is managing the company by The Hiring, Firing and Assessment of Management. Apart from what has been stated above one very significant and active role played by the board is in terms of â€Å"the hiring, firing, and assessment of management†. This is one role that is typically ascribed to directors is control of the process by which top executives are hired, promoted, assessed, and, if necessary, dismissed. Assessment can be seen as having two components, one is monitoring of what top management does and the other is determining the intrinsic ability of top management. The monitoring of managerial actions can, in part, be seen as part of a board’s obligation to be vigilant against managerial malfeasance. It is essential that the role, duties and responsibilities of directors are clearly defined. The Combined Code (2006) states that â€Å"the board’s role is to provide entrepreneurial leadership of the company within a framework of prudent and effective controls which enables risk to be assessed and managed†. According to UK Law, the directors should act in good faith in the interest of the company, and exercise care and skill in carrying out their duties. The Company Law Reform Bill (2005) defines, in section 154-161, the directors’ duties as follows: †¢ a duty to act within powers, that is, to act in accordance with the company’s constitution and only exercise powers for the purpose for which they are conferred; a duty to promote the success of the company, so a director must act in the way he considers, in good faith, would be most likely to promote success of the company for the benefit of its members as a whole; †¢ a duty to exercise independent judgment; †¢ a duty to exercise reasonable care, skill and diligence; †¢ a duty to avoid conflicts of interest; †¢ a duty not to accept benefits from third party †¢ a duty to declare an interest on proposed transactions or arrangements. But that does not quite answer our cardinal question as to ‘how the role the board plays is related to the overall corporate governance of the organization’. Nevertheless one thing is certain thus far is that the BoD lead and control a company and hence an effective board is fundamental to the success of the company. The board is the link between managers and the investors, and is essential to good corporate governance and investor relations. Since corporate governance represents the value framework, the ethical framework and the moral framework under which business decisions are taken; it therefore calls for three factors: 1. Transparency in decision-making; 2. Accountability which follows from transparency because responsibilities could be fixed easily for actions taken or not taken, and; . The accountability is for the safeguarding the interests of the stakeholders and the investors in the organization. Decisions relating to board composition and structure will be of fundamental importance in determining whether, and to what extent, the board is effective and successful in achieving these objectives. A board will typically be composed of a Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, Executive Directors, Non- Executive Director, Independent Director, Company Secretary and then there are committees made from among the board for specific purposes with a view to increased corporate governance and hence accountability. It is important that the board has a balanced composition both in terms of executive and non executive directors and also in terms of experience, qualities and skills that individuals bring to the table. The Institute of Directors (IoD) has published some useful guidance in this area in 2006 which is shared below: †¢ Consider the ratio and number of executive and non executive directors. †¢ Consider the energy, experience, knowledge, skill and personal attributes of current and prospective directors in relation to the future needs of the board as a whole, and develop specifications and processes for new appointments, as necessary. Consider the cohesion, dynamic tension and diversity of the board and its leadership by the chairman. †¢ Make and review succession plans for directors and the company secretary. †¢ Where necessary, remove incompetent or unsuitable directors of the company secretary, taking relevant legal, contractual, ethical and commercial matter into account. †¢ Agree proper procedures for electing a chairman and appointing the managing director and other directors. †¢ Identify potential candidates of the board, make selection and agree terms of appointment and remuneration. New appointments should be agreed by every board member. †¢ Provide new board members with a comprehensive induction to board process, and policies, inclusion to the company and to their new role. †¢ Monitor and appraise each individual’s performance, behavior, knowledge, effectiveness and values rigorously and regularly. †¢ Identify development needs and training opportunities for existing and potential directors and the company secretary. Roles of the board members 1. Chief Executive Officer and Chairman The CEO has the executive responsibility for running of the company’s business; on the other hand, the Chairman has responsibility for the running of the board. The two roles should not therefore be combined and carried out by one person Conclusions Corporate governance, and in particular the role of boards of directors, has been the topic of much attention lately. Although this attention is particularly topical due to well-publicized governance failures and subsequent regulatory changes, corporate governance is an area of longstanding interest in economics (dating back to at least Adam Smith, 1776). Because of corporations’ enormous share of economic activity in modern economies, the extent to which corporations deviate from value-maximization is extremely important. Consequently, corporate governance and the role of boards of directors is an issue of fundamental importance in economics. Understanding the role of boards is vital both for our understanding of corporate behavior and with respect to setting policy to regulate corporate activities. How to cite Corporate Governance – Role of Board of Directors, Essay examples

Preferred Hiring Practices Essays - Social Inequality,

Preferred Hiring Practices In recent years preferential hiring has become an issue of great interest. Preferential hiring, which was devised to create harmony between the different races and sexes, has divided the lines even more. Supporters on both sides seem fixed in their positions and often refuse to listen to the other group's platform. In this essay, the recipients of preferential hiring will be either black or female, and the position in question will be a professorship on the university level. The hirings in question are cases that involve several candidates, all roughly equal in their qualifications (including experience, education, people skills, etc.), with the only difference being race and/or sex. What we have here is a case of predetermined preference. The two candidates in question are equal in all ways, except race. The black applicant is selected, not because of skills or qualifications (in that case the white man would have provided the same result), but for his skin color. This seems to be b latant discrimination, but many believe it is justified. Some feel retribution for years of discrimination is reason enough, but that issue will be discussed later. First, lets focus on why this is not a solution to creating an unbiased society. Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." He desired a world without discrimination, without prejudice, and without stereotypes. The fundamental lesson years of discrimination should have taught is that to give anyone preference based on skin color, sex, or religious beliefs is, in one word, wrong. As Martin Luther King Jr. stated, judgment based on skin color must not exist. All preferential hiring does is keep judgments based on skin color alive. Race and sex should not be issues in today's society, yet preferential hiring continues to make these factors issues by treating mi norities as a group rather than as individuals. More importantly preferential hiring may actually fuel, rather than extinguish, feelings of racial hostility. Applying the concept of preferential hiring to another situation may help elucidate its shortcomings. A party of white men and a party of black men both arrive at a restaurant at the same time and only one table is free. The headwaiter can only seat one party and must make a decision. According to preferential hiring theory it is necessary to seat the black party first, since historically blacks have been discriminated against when seated in restaurants. In another situation, a white man and a black man are both equidistant from the last seat on the bus. Both men are the same age, have no medical problems, and are equal in all ways except skin color. Should the black man get the seat since in the past black men have been discriminated against? We could continue this practice for several centuries before the debt we owe for depr iving blacks of a seat on the bus would be paid. Perhaps these examples are invalid. It could be said that jobs are a different issue. They help define social status and provide economic well-being. They might even boost self-confidence, something that discrimination has stolen. Two points must be considered before moving any further. First, blacks may learn better from a black, and women may learn better from a woman. Second, hiring women and blacks will provide role models for others. The first point Thomson quickly concedes as likely to be false. Discussion about the second point however is required, and will, in effect, serve to negate the first point as well. First, lets create a character, Bill. Bill is grossly overweight and unattractive. Studies have shown that many employers discriminate (whether subconsciously or not), against both overweight and unattractive individuals. Unfortunately for Bill, he fits into both categories. His inability to land a job reflective of his ab ilities, coupled with years of public humiliation through jokes made at his expense, has destroyed his self-esteem. This has caused him to accept as fact the notion that he will never be able to reach his goals. Few "Bill" success stories exist,

Biology Lesson 3 Essays

Biology Lesson 3 Essays Biology Lesson 3 Paper Biology Lesson 3 Paper Primary producers or autotrophs are the ones that can produce complex organic substances or â€Å"food† from an energy source and inorgranic materials and in the illustration shown, these are the algae.   Herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores are classified as heterotrophs or organisms that get their energy by consuming organic substances.   Herbivores feed on plants, and in the illustration shown, these are the small animals and protists which feed on algae. Carnivores get their energy from eating live animals, and these are the killer whale, elephant seal, leopard seal, crabeater seal, and adelie penguin.   Omnivores feed on both plants and live animals, and these are the cod, squid and krill which feed on algae and small animals and protists. Detritivores are animals and plants that consume decomposing organic materials or detritus.   Decomposers on the other hand are organisms that consume decomposed or dead organisms. They both contribute to decomposition and the recycling of nutrients. In the food chain or food web, detritivores can be the millipedes, woodlice, and worms that consume dead organic matter like a dead elephant, and decomposers are the bacteria and fungi that digest and decompose organic matter more fully than the detritivores. The system of feeding relationships as shown in the illustration is better defined as a food web because of the complexity of the network of interactions.   Food chain is just a simple straight-forward linear pathway from one organism to the next and so on.   In the illustration, it is obvious that the path of the flow of energy looks like a web, meaning the flow of energy from one source to another and so on is interconnected by different paths. Burning fossil fuels emit CO2, a greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere which in turn contributes to the increasing temperature change in the atmosphere.   The increase in temperature change in the atmosphere is a phenomenon called global climate change or more popularly known as the global warming. In the graph shown, increasing concentration of CO2 directly results to an increasing temperature change in the atmosphere as time passes.   The graph also has direct relation to the industrial revolution happening on our planet. More and more industries and power plants have come out as time passes and most of these industries and power plants rely on burning fossil fuels as their primary source of energy.   This brings a detrimental effect on our planet resulting to an increasing temperature in the atmosphere.

Schools socio-cultural goals for students

Schools socio-cultural goals for students Preventing moral failure in academic institutions appears highly dependent on the morality and ethics of its leaders and teaching staff. Hashtag: #Scandal School’s Socio-Cultural Goals for Students Scandals normally occur when somebody got involved in an act or event that is morally or legally wrong. However, the impact of scandalous acts is commonly far greater when it involves public figures and educational institutions that are supposed to model good virtues or morally acceptable behavior and attitudes in young people. School-related scandals such as physical abuse of students by a high school teacher, sex between a female teacher and underage boy-students, racism, misused of funds by school officials, and others were violations of ethical guidelines and codes professional conduct that eventually hinders achievement of school’s socio-cultural goals for students. The outbreak of school sex scandals involving female teachers and young students in the media not only triggered public controversy but raised questions and heated debate over the ethics and professional conduct of female teachers. A social researcher, for instance, assumed that although teachers involved in these scandals clearly crossed the line of what constitutes a morally acceptable practice; they are not actually at fault engaging in a male-female sexual relationship. Feminist educators, on the other hand, argues that such relationship will never occur if these female teachers value professionalism and committed to ethical teaching practices. Moreover, aside from being unprofessional, sex between teachers and students upset the learning environment and reduced public confidence in the ability of the academic institution to provide moral education. The Limits of Academic Freedom Trust according to literature is key to successful relationship thus schools with moral and ethical leaders and staff are more successful than others in establishing a moral purpose, building a caring and consistent long-term relationship with the community. Role of Ethical Educators in Preventing Moral Failures Preventing moral failure in academic institutions appears highly dependent on the morality and ethics of its leaders and teaching staff. The reason is that leaders and teachers are individuals students will look up to as an example of decent people. For instance, students will likely trust, respect, and emulate teachers making correct and consistent ethical decisions and judgments. In contrast, since decisions in school are made in absolutes, erroneous ethical decisions and judgments often result to immoral, unethical, and sinful decisions with major consequences. Teachers are humans who from time to time make an error. However, there is absolutely no excuse for making moral mistakes such as a teacher having sex with students, school principal stealing money from school funds, a teacher accepting a bribe, and others. Years ago, Bill Clinton’s presidency was damaged by his immoral actions against Monica Lewinsky and failure of the moral purpose of his political position. Similarly, a male teacher raising test score of a female student for sex is a moral and ethical dilemma destructive of the moral purpose of a school. It is, therefore, important for schools to employ ethical educators who practice what they preach and make moral decisions based on conscience and moral doctrine supporting the socio-cultural goals of schools for students. Moral failures in teachers can be avoided by understanding oneself, reflecting on experiences, moral and ethical values, and developing their own personalized code of ethics. This is because moral failure is often caused by the  competing interest, overload and pressures at work, excessive relationship with students, and error in judgment.

The Financial Folly of MLB Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Financial Folly of MLB - Case Study Example The case has sub - issues within the main case that include the behavior of other teams that participate in the league. The character and trend in behavior of the teams together with their fans is a factor that can make it a topic of consideration or discussion. In such a particular case, strategies that have to be used to solve the problem have to be critically analyzed. The strategy that has been used here is that of taxation, and the owners are planning to switch formulas. The strategy will be done in a way that the largest percentage of money is awarded to the team with the largest revenue unlike where before the largest percentage was given to the team with the lowest revenues. This strategy comes with the opportunity in instilling motivation among the teams but faces the challenge of revenue allocation because determining the percentage for the middle teams will not be easy. In relating to the main issue of performance of the organization, the economic policy might bring about mixed results. At first, due to resistance from other teams and stakeholders, revenues will be low but they are bound to increase with time after a clear understanding of the policy and the teams have been synchronized. As a recommendation, the government should take the initiative and offer more revenues and percentages to the organization that are in the economy. Apart from job security being guaranteed, there is also job satisfaction to both the owners of the Baseball League and the

Aramco and British Petroluem Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Aramco and British Petroluem - Essay Example Saudi Aramco or Aramco is the national petroleum and natural gas company in Saudi Arabia. As per the reports, the company holds the largest crude oil reserves as well as the highest daily oil production capacity in the world. Observing such large scale operations, in 2015, Forbes magazine has facilitated Saudi Aramco as the largest oil and gas company in the world. Considering British Petroleum Plc, it is one of the six largest oil and gas companies in the world. This vertically integrated London based company concentrates on all segments of oil and gas industry ranging from exploration of energies to its production, refining and distribution in the global markets. From the company brief, it is evident that these two holds a very important position among the few companies in global oil and gas industry. Therefore, analyzing the internal operational techniques as well as global strategies related to corporate governance and leadership is definitely considered to be a critical task. Th erefore, for the purpose of analysis, the value chain and strength-weakness, opportunities-threats of these two firms will be evaluated and the corporate and global business strategies of these two companies will also be examined. In the next segment, global operational strategies of Saudi Aramco and British Petroleum will be analyzed in terms of Value Chain and SWOT analysis. The value chain defines a set of activities as identified by eminent strategist Michael Porter, analyzing which the company can recognize those factors that have enabled it to gain competitive advantage in the industry segment. Such factors can be categorized under primary and secondary activities. SWOT analysis helps an organization to identify the internal strength and weakness of the company as well as the opportunities and threats lying in its external environment. Saudi Aramco holds a very strong value chain depending upon which the company enjoys huge