Accounting and Corporate Governance Essay Example for Free

Accounting and Corporate Governance Essay The memo is to address the accounting maneuver of Lehman’s Repo 105 (or 108) from perspectives of accounting and corporate governance. The memo will illustrate the role of repo transaction in Lehman’s business model, analyze the accounting irregularities regarding repo by Lehman, observe auditors’ role in these irregularities, and discuss the corresponding accounting and corporate governance issues. In addition, the memo will provide recommendations on how to prevent financial institutions from abusing regulatory deficiencies by emphasizing on the importance of accounting regulation, auditors’ role, and business ethics. See more: Recruitment and selection process essay The major goal of Lehman’s Repo 105 is to temporarily remove troubled securities from its balance sheet while presenting favorable financial statements to its investors, creditors, rating agencies, and the public. By temporarily removing these securities from its balance sheet, Lehman made its leverage ratio much lower. With low leverage ratio, Lehman would keep its credit rating at high level and maintained its customers’ confidence. A repo, or sale and repurchase agreement, is an agreement in which one party transfers to another party as collateral for a short-term borrowing of cash, while simultaneously agreeing to repay the cash and take back the collateral at a specific point in time (SFAS 140). An ordinary repo should be treated as a financing transaction and should be accounted for as a secured borrowing. An ordinary repo is a commonly-used form of secured loan between financial institutions. In fact, repo does not have real economic substance. However, by the Repo 105 transactions, Lehman did the same in an ordinary repo, but because the assets value were 105 percent or more of the cash received, accounting rules permitted the transactions to be treated as sales rather than financing. Lehman aggressively employed Repo 105 transactions before reporting periods at the end of 2007 and the first two quarters of 2008. During the reporting periods, Repo transactions helped Lehman remove assets from balance sheet and use cash received to payback short-term loans. In addition, Lehman did not report any liabilities that reflected the obligation to repay the borrowed funds. After the reporting periods, Lehman would borrow funds to repurchases the transferred assets. Then these assets would be reversed on the balance sheet again. The consideration is whether Lehman’s accounting for Repo 105 violated the Generally Accepted Accounting Principal (the GAAP). Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 140 (SFAS 140) provides the accounting guidelines on repo transactions. A company is permitted to account for these transactions as sales only if the transferor surrenders control over the assets to transferees. To account for a repo transaction as a sale, all three conditions must be met: 1) the transferred assets must be isolated from the transfer, 2) transferee has right to pledge or exchange the assets, 3) the transferor does not maintain effective control over the transferred assets. A typical repo contract can easily meet the first two conditions. However, in order to take advantage of favorable accounting treatment as sales transaction, Lehman has employed some accounting maneuvers to meet the third condition. SFAS 140 (Paragraph 218) states that the transferor’s right to repurchase is not assured unless the repurchase price is 102 percent or less of the cash received, or the cash received is 98 percent or more of the value of the transferred assets. â€Å"The Board believes that other collateral arrangements typical fall well outside that guideline (FASB, 2000, p. 91). † The repurchase price of Repo 105 is 105 percent of the cash received, which is higher than the 102 percent guideline. As a result, Lehman could argue that Repo 105 did not meet the third condition of maintaining effective control, and then classified it as sales. Based upon the above analysis, Lehman’s accounting for Repo 105 seemed to be technically in compliance with the U. S. GAAP. However, Lehman’s bankruptcy examiner Anton R. Valukas (2010) provided evidence showing that Lehman intended to use Repo 105 to manipulate its 10-K and 10-Q financial reporting. Valukas argued that the classification of these repo transactions should be based on its economic substance rather than its form (such as the 102 rule). Since Lehman had clear intent to buy back the transferred assets under Repo 105, these transactions are clearly secured borrowing and should not have been recorded as sales. The obvious accounting irregularity is Lehman’s failure of disclosing Repo 105 transaction in its quarterly and annual financial reports. Valukas (2010)’ report indicates that Lehman’s SEC 10-K and 10-Q filing between 2000 to third quarter, 2007, regularly misrepresented some repo transaction as â€Å"secured borrowings† despite that it actually recorded as sales. In addition, Lehman never disclosed its involvement in Repo 105 its 10-K of 2007 and the first 10-Q of 2008 (Chang et al, 2011). In fact, Lehman has aggressively involved in Repo 105 during the end of 2007 and first two quarters of 2008, removing approximately by $38. billion in fourth quarter 2007, $49. 1 billion in first quarter 2008, and $50. 38 billion in second quarter 2008 (Valukas, 2010). It is clear that Lehman’s misrepresentation and failure of disclosure of its Repo 105 practice is material enough to mislead its investors, debtors, rating agencies and the public. As the auditor of Lehman Brothers, Ernst Young approved the use of Repo 105 transactions. These transactions were characterized as sales of assets and created a misleading picture of Lehmans financial position during the financial meltdown. Ernst Young said in a statement: â€Å"Our last audit of the company was for the fiscal year ending November 30, 2007. Our opinion indicated that Lehman’s financial statements for that year were fairly presented in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, and we remain of that view. † Ernst Young would like the public to believe their responsibility for Lehman’s financial statements ends with the 2007 10-K. Actually, It does not. According to the examiner’s report, Ernst Young had just started planning for its year-end audit of Lehman when the firm collapsed into bankruptcy. Lehman remained an EY client until the bankruptcy in September 2008. This period included two more 10-Qs. But most troubling for the auditors could be allegations in the examiner’s report that Ernst Young did not inform the audit committee on Lehman’s board about a whistleblower who had expressed concerns about the repos to them. In a March 2010 letter to its clients, EY defended its audit work for Lehman. The letter states that Lehmans bankruptcy resulted from unprecedented adverse events in the financial markets, declining asset values, and loss of market confidence that caused a collapse in its liquidity. The firm believes the bankruptcy wasnt caused by accounting or disclosure issues, as Lehmans financial statements clearly portrayed it as a leveraged entity operating in a risky and volatile industry. † The most telling assertion in the complaint concerning EYs alleged misrepresentation of Lehmans compliance with applicable accounting standards is that EY didnt require the financial statements to reflect economic substance rather than just legal form. In other words, the complaint accuses EY of letting Lehman engage in transactions without business purpose in order to achieve a specific financial-statement result. The bankruptcy examiner said that the sole function of Repo 105 transactions as employed by Lehman was to reduce its publicly reported net leverage and net balance sheet. Although Lehman knew that none of its peer companies were using the same accounting tricks to arrive the leverage numbers, it continued to rely on the use of Repo 105 substantially, at a level that is much higher than the originally defined â€Å"materiality† level by the management. As a consequence, it left Lehman with heavy concentrations of illiquid assets which could not be monetized to meet its current obligations (Lehman Brothers Holding Inc. v. Debtors, 2010). The Examiner did not find supporting evidence to bring â€Å"colorable claims† (Lehman Brothers Holding Inc. v. Debtors, 2010) against Lehman’s directors, however, they should have better monitored the managers. And the examiner did find sufficient evidence to support a colorable claim against certain senior officers for breaching their fiduciary duties to shareholders and other stakeholders because they failed to inform the public and shareholders about the substantial use of Repo 105 by non-disclosure of related information and by filing materially misleading periodic reports, which risked the company with potential liabilities; and they also failed to advise the Board of Directors of the Repo 105 practice (Lehman Brothers Holding Inc. v. Debtors, 2010). The examiner also concluded that sufficient evidence existed that Lehman’s quarter? nd Repo 105 practice was material and should have been disclosed in the financial statements. In addition, Lehman had an obligation to disclose required information relate to Repo 105 in its MDA statement. In terms of accounting malpractice, Lehman’s external auditor, Ernst Young, was also held responsible for allowing Lehman’s financial reports to go unchallenged. Ernst Young well knew the practice of Repo 105 adopted by the company, but failed to review the volume and timing of Repo 105 transactions, and failed to access the materiality of information omitted regarding Repo 105 transactions. Furthermore, Ernst Young failed to conduct investigations with regard to the concern about Repo 105 raised by Matthew Lee, then-Senior President of Finance Division. In conclusion, corporate governance was lacking both internally and externally (Lehman Brothers Holding Inc. v. Debtors, 2010). The accounting irregularity of Lehman’s Repo 105 practice partly due to the deficiencies of accounting rules, however, integrity or accounting professionals as well as business ethics also play an important role in the accounting malpractice. In 2009, FASB issued SFAS 166 to amend SFAS 140. These efforts could close some loophole in accounting standards. Good corporate governance requires not only effective board and ethical top management, but also reliable accounting personnel and independent outside auditors, to properly perform their jobs and fulfill their responsibilities, to create the â€Å"check and balance† that can maintain the financial health of a company and at the same time to reduce agency cost. In case when one party went badly, the others could and should be there to detect the potential problems and to monitor and correct the mistakes. In summary, the ethical challenges faced by EY in deciding how to address issues with a long-standing and profitable client may be faced by many public accountants. In fact, accountants in all areas of the profession frequently face similar ethical issues of simultaneously complying with their duties for faithful service and loyalty to their employer or client while respecting their responsibilities to other stakeholders. Doing the right thing for all concerned may sometimes be an impossible assignment. Guidance such as the overarching principles of honesty, fairness, objectivity, and responsibility contained in the IMA Statement of Ethical Professional Practice will go a long way toward helping all accountants to do the right thing. Doing the right thing is always the best policy in the long run.

Latin America And Slavery Essay -- essays research papers

Prior to its independence Latin America had been controlled by external forces for hundreds of years. To be freed of control from these outside interests did not in any way guarantee Latin America a return to the status quo. In fact, the inhabitants of Latin America had done very well in assimilating their in house controllers. They adopted European language, religion, color, and just about everything else that the European culture had to offer them. Although they were free to do as they please and run their own affairs in the global neighborhood as we know it, they struggled to create an entity for themselves. They embody too much of what is not native to their region, yet the people that used to represent their land 500 years earlier were a truly unique culture. Let us go back to that point in time and trace the route Latin America has taken, from an isolated civilization with a unique, independent culture to a Europeanized puppet continent with little cultural identity.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Latin America began as a secluded land of aboriginal inhabitants that was cut off from the rest of the world. It was first discovered by Europeans while trying to find more efficient trade routes to India and China. These Europeans noticed the vast resources present in Latin America and smelled money. Europeans are very greedy and would do anything for their country if it meant higher social status when they returned. Soon the monarchs of their respective countries were sponsoring conquests and colonization of the Latin American lands in turn for profits and goods from the lands they took. Due to the tropical climate that encompasses most of Latin America, colonization meant growing sugar on plantations in the coastal regions of the continent. Labor was the main expense of this operation, so enslaving the natives and putting them to work on these plantations seemed like the most economically sensible thing to do. This was the first step to sterilizing the identity of the continent. Diseases introduced by the immune Europeans took their toll on the natives and killed many off. Coupled with the stress of working in the fields and in other aspects of enslaved life the aboriginal population soon dwindled to next to nothing. Looking at just the aboriginal population, there was a traumatic fall. Birth rates were very low, especially given that the newer â€Å"mixed† ch... ...ly communist governments around, but was communism actually a Cuban idea? I do not think so. Any radical ideas expressed by the individual in Cuba is however put down. The government in Cuba and Mexico try to keep people from returning to their roots. In Mexico there is a lady who puts on plays which call for social reform. The Mexican government is all over her case too. When the government tries to tell you who you are and what you do, you cannot identify with anything but an institution you have no desire to be a part of. Hence, you become something else. For Cubans, they are a raft ride away from becoming Americans. They do not want to identify with something they do not believe in. Why force it upon them? As long as the governments are poor in Latin America, there will be no unity. To be one as a people they need to be able to go back to their roots and start again. They need to overthrow the governments in their areas and install democracies that work for the people. Or els e they can progress at the snail’s pace which they are right now and have an identity later. When things change drastically all over the place. As things stand right now, they will be Euro-American clones.

Romantic Elements in Frankenstein and the Fall of the House of Usher

Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, and Edgar Allan Poe’s short story, The Fall of the House of Usher, although published in different periods, on different continents, have in common many of the main ideas that stood behind the literary movement of Romanticism (the sublime, the Romantic hero, imagination, isolation), combined with elements of the Gothic (the mysterious and remote setting dominated by a gloomy atmosphere, death, sin, pain, exotic elements, supernatural). One of the main elements that is integrated into the Romantic movement is the sublime. In his A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful , Edmund Burke defined the sublime as â€Å"Whatever is fitted in any sort to excite the ideas of pain and danger, that is to say, whatever is in any sort terrible, or is conversant about terrible objects, or operates in a manner analogous to terror, is a source of the sublime; that is, it is productive of the strongest emotion which the mind is capable of feeling. In Burke’s view, the typical qualities that characterize a sublime landscape are vastness of dimensions (especially in contrast with the limitations of the human body and mind), obscurity (that blurs the definition of boundaries), deep darkness or intense light. Through the impact that magnificent landscapes and violent storms produce, and in the midst of the terrors that nature creates, the characters experience the sublime, are overflown wi th dread, fear and a sense of astonishment, which eventually allows them to sense the divine. In Frankenstein, nature is a very powerful entity that can soothe and punish; this duality is especially obvious in the connection between Victor and nature that Shelly cultivates throughout the novel. More often than not, Victor takes sustenance from nature, which provides him with what could be described as personal therapy when he is subjected to stress or torment. When he falls ill, it is not the constant care and attention of his closest friends that ensure his recovery, but the beneficial influence of the fresh ir that he breathes: â€Å"We passed a fortnight in these perambulations: my health and spirits had long been restored, and they gained additional strength from the salubrious air I breathed, the natural incidents of our progress . . . I became the same happy creature who, a few years ago, loved and beloved by all, had no sorrow or care. When happy, inanimate nature had the power of bestowing on me the most delightful sensations. A serene sky and verdant fields filled m e with ecstasy. â€Å" After his brother William is brutally murdered by the Creature, Victor falls into a deep state of despair, unable to find solace in the company of the rest of his family, or his best friend Henry. Once again, it is nature that heals him and allows him to maintain his sanity:  «I remained two days at Lausanne, in this painful state of mind. I contemplated the lake: the waters were placid; all around was calm, and the snowy mountains, â€Å"the palaces of nature,† were not changed. By degrees the calm and heavenly scene restored me, and I continued my journey towards Geneva. The road ran by the side of the lake, which became narrower as I approached my native town. I discovered more distinctly the black sides of Jura, and the bright summit of Mont Blanc. I wept like a child: â€Å"Dear mountains! My own beautiful lake! How do you welcome your wanderer? Your summits are clear; the sky and lake are blue and placid. Is this to prognosticate peace or to mock at my unhappiness? †  » Aside from providing Victor with restoration and happiness when needed, nature prove to also be an omnipotent force of foreshadowing. The lightning shredding the tree in front of Victor’s eyes is a warning that his endeavors will ultimately bring destruction. When he is notified about William’s death, nature reflects his feelings of despair and suggests dark prospects of the future: â€Å"Night also closed around; and when I could hardly see the dark mountains, I felt still more gloomily. The picture appeared a vast and dim scene of evil, and I foresaw obscurely that I was destined to become the most wretched of human beings. The night that Victor gives life to his creations is â€Å"a dreary night of November†, with rain patting â€Å"dismally against the panes†. This is similar with the gloomy nature described at the beginning of The Fall of the House of Usher, where the imminent destruction of this ancient family is foreshadowed by the atmosphere of melancholy and decay and the eerie semblance of the house, covered by minute fungi and weakened by the fissure that extends from the roo f to the foundations: During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country; and at length found myself, as the shades of evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher. † Poe’s description of the unearthly storm that takes place on the dreadful night that brings the ultimate destruction to the ancient House of Usher is strikingly similar with the ones described in Frankestein: It was, indeed, a tempestuous yet sternly beautiful night, and one wildly singular in its terror and its beauty. A whirlwind had apparently collected its force in our vicinity; for there were frequent and violent alterations in the direction of the wind; and the exceeding density of the clouds (which hung so low as to press upon the turrets of the house) did not prevent our perceiving the life-like velocity with which they flew careering from all points against each other, without passing away into the distance. † Although both works present an overwhelmingly powerful nature, that can foreshadow future events, the nature in The Fall of the House of Usher lacks the vast landscapes that are often depicted in Frankenstein; the prevailing feeling that dominates Poe’s story is confinement, narrowness to the point of claustrophobia: the Usher estate is shut off from light and the initial description of the house, reflected by the tarn which is in turn mirrored by the windows creates the illusion of an enclosed space, from which escape is almost impossible. The house eventually becomes the tomb of Roderick and Madeline, collapsing onto itself and sinking into the reflecting pool. Supernatural, supported by the dark themes that are prevailing in both literary works, plays an important part in the plot development, both authors dwelling on the blurred boundary between the living and the dead, with an emphasis on the mysteries of life and the mysteries of existence. In Poe’s story, Madeline’s condition causing her to fall into a coma-like state that will lead to her being buried alive is highly unbelievable, especially in combination with the account of her incredible escape from the vault, which is presented in parallel with the plot of The Mad Trist. In addition to this, the destruction of the house in the storm on the night Madeline returns to the living only to be crushed together with her brother, thus ending the Usher bloodline is just as unrealistic, yet with a great artistic effect on the reader. As if in the superhuman energy of his utterance there had been found the potency of a spell — the huge antique panels to which the speaker pointed, threw slowly back, upon the instant, their ponderous and ebony jaws. It was the work of the rushing gust — but then without those doors there DID stand the lofty and enshrouded figure of the lady Madeline of Usher. There was blood upon her every portion of her emaciated frame. For a moment she remained trembling and reeling to and from upon the threshold, then, with a low moaning cry, fell heavily inward upon the person of her brother, and in her violent and now final death-agonies, bore him to the floor a corpse, and a victim to the terrors he had anticipated. † In Frankenstein, the major supernatural event (the creation of new life) is disguised under the appearance of a scientific experiment: Frankenstein manipulates nature in a bizarre and outlandish way, he uses electricity to animate a corpse composed of body parts collected from different cadavers. The result of his work is a creature so grotesque and uncanny, that it makes him run in fear and hide in his chamber: â€Å"How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains and care I had endeavoured to form? His limbs were in proportion, and I had selected his features as beautiful. Beautiful! Great God! His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same colour as the dun-white sockets in which they were set, his shrivelled complexion and straight black lips. The characters in both Frankenstein and The Fall of the House of Usher are deeply Romantic characters, with a strong propensity towards the Gothic. Roderick Usher is a strange figure, excessively reserved and somewhat mysterious, he lives isolated in a decrepit, dark and scary house. His physical appearance is quite shocking to the outside visitor, he looks dead even though he is still alive: A cadaverousness of complexion; an eye large, liquid, and luminous beyond comparison; lips somewhat thin and very pallid, but of a s urpassingly beautiful curve; a nose of a delicate Hebrew model, but with a breadth of nostril unusual in similar formations; a finely moulded chin, speaking, in its want of prominence, of a want of moral energy; hair of a a more than web-like softness and tenuity; these features, with an inordinate expansion above the regions of the temple, made up altogether a countenance not easily to be forgotten. † He suffers from a mysterious â€Å"nervous affection†, with bizarre symptoms (his senses are incredibly heightened, he can only bear to wear certain types of fabric, he cannot stand light or the smell of flowers, and all music, with the exception of some stringed instruments inspire him with horror). He often oscillates between vivacity and sullenness, between reason and incoherence, between amazement and dread. Roderick’s interests lie within the field of Arts, he is skilled at music and at painting, and the narrator compares him with a real artist, Fuseli, stating that â€Å"If ever mortal painted an idea, that mortal was Roderick Usher†. Roderick’s artistic creations reflect his state of mind, his obsession with death, the one painting of his that is described by the narrator is that of a tomb, â€Å"an immense long and rectangular vault or tunnel†, while one of the songs he plays at his guitar is The Haunted Palace. Roderick shows signs of other intellectual pursuits, he develops the idea of sentience of all vegetables and even inanimate things, like â€Å"the gray stones of the home of his forefathers†, giving as proof of their sentience â€Å"the gradual yet certain condensation of an atmosphere of their own about the waters and the walls†. Unlike Roderick, who is portrayed as an artist, Victor Frankenstein is depicted as a scientist. He is animated with a â€Å"thirst for knowledge†, a passionate desire to learn the secrets of heaven and earth; however, these feelings, noble at first are distorted into a morbid obsession, a dark hope of becoming god-like, of being liberated of earthly law and limitations, obsession that will ultimately lead to his demise. In his quest to discover the â€Å"principle of life†, Victor undergoes the study of its inevitable counterpart, death, and immerses himself in midnight labors, pillaging cemeteries and charnel houses and torturing living creatures. His ambition to create new life affects his entire being in such a way, that he undergoes intense emotional and mental changes, and manages to transcend the limited condition of an ordinary mortal, achieving a status similar to that of Dr. Faustus: â€Å"After days and nights of incredible labour and fatigue, I succeeded in discovering the cause of generation and life; nay, more, I became myself capable of bestowing animation upon lifeless matter. (†¦)No one can conceive the variety of feelings which bore me onwards, like a hurricane, in the first enthusiasm of success. Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds, which I should first break through, and pour a torrent of light into our dark world. A new species would bless me as its creator and source (†¦) I pursued nature to her hiding-places. Who shall conceive the horrors of my secret toil as I dabbled among the unhallowed damps of the grave or tortured the living animal to animate the lifeless clay? † Although not typical, the Creature is also a Romantic figure, a troubled soul forced into self-isolation, that strives to overcome his own limitations and possesses surprising depth and sensitivity. He has a dual nature, both inherently good and capable of evil, and is compared to both Adam (the creature that has been forsaken by his creator) and Satan (the fallen angel turned deviant in the absence of his god, capable of unspeakable acts of cruelty). He is torn between compassion and vengefulness, between the desire to be integrated into human society and the desire to destroy humans for rejecting and shunning him based on his grotesque appearance. He proves his benevolence when he saves a little girl from drowning and when he helps the De Laceys by providing them with firewood, but he is also a â€Å"wretched† creature that lets himself overtaken by the thirst for revenge and kills all the members of Victor’s family, including his best friend, Henry Clerval. The destinies of creator and creation are inextricably connected, they are viewed as doubles of each other: they both suffer from an impenetrable solitude, feeling like a â€Å"miserable wretch† unfit for human society, they both continually oscillate between good and evil, between elation and despair. Their identities are intricately intermingled, at one point the creature calls Victor his slave, reminding him that :†You are my creator, but I am your master†. Moreover, the reader is not able to discern who the real monster is between these two characters: Frankenstein, that out of purely selfish reasons brings the Creature into this world and abandons it, refusing to assume any type of responsibility for his actions, or the abominably-looking creature that succumbs to the dark dimension of his spirit and seeks to achieve revenge for his sufferings, thus destroying many innocent lives in the process. The same motif of the double (Doppelganger) can be found in Poe’s story, where there is a strong connection between Roderick and Madeline Usher, the last descendents of the Usher clan, the twins that mirror each other as Poe places an emphasis on the â€Å"striking similitude between brother and sister†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . The siblings share an inexplicable state of illness, they are both affected by a malady for which no remedy has been found: In the manner of my friend I was at once struck with an incoherence — an inconsistency; and I soon found this to arise from a series of feeble and futile struggles to overcome an habitual trepidancy — an excessive nervous agitation. (†¦)It was, he said, a constitutional and a family evil, and one for which he despaired to find a remedy — a mere nervous affection, he immediately added, which would undoubtedly soon pass off. It displayed itself in a host of unnatural sensations.  »  «The disease of the lady Madeli ne had long baffled the skill of her physicians. A settled apathy, a gradual wasting away of the person, and frequent although transient affectations of a partially cataleptical character were the unusual diagnosis.  » â€Å"Roderick and Madeline are not just brother and sister but twins who share â€Å"sympathies of a scarcely intelligible nature† which connect his mental disintegration with her physical decline. † (Martha Womak, Edgar Allan Poe’s â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher†). Moreover, according to Edward H. Davidson in his book Poe: A Critical Study, the fissure in the decaying mansion represents â€Å"an irreconcilable fracture in the individual’s personality†. Roderick represents the mind, the intellect, the conscious, while Madeline is the unconscious, the embodiment of the senses (hearing, seeing, touching, tasting and smelling). One of the conceptions that Gothic cultivated was that man was born basically evil, and that humans have to struggle throughout their entire lives in order to prevent their evil nature from overtaking them. In Poe’s story the two brothers visibly struggle against their psychological issues, the mental illnesses brought on by centuries of intermarriage in the family. He uses these characters to explore the human psychology, with a special mphasis on the perverse and self-destructive nature of the conscious and subconscious mind. In Frankenstein, the Creature seems to have been born evil based on his abominable appearance, yet later on his account of his first memories reveal his innocent nature, that is distorted by the hardships and constant rejections he is subjected to. Symbols play a significant role. The House of Usher refers both to the actual mansion and the last of the â€Å"all time-honoured Usher race†¦Ã¢â‚¬  and becomes an actual character, being presented with a humanized description, with â€Å"vacant eye-like windows†. The house seems to be an extension of the siblings’ souls, mirroring their state of mind, and Roderick develops a theory that the stones of the house have â€Å"sentience† and that they embody the fate of the Usher family . The fissure that is barely visible on its facade and the fungi that cover it are symbolic of the decay of the Usher bloodline. The collapsing of the house straight down into the tarn symbolizes the linearity of the Usher’s family tree, bereft of branches, and its inevitable collapse. The two main symbols in Frankenstein are light and fire. Walton expects to unveil the secrets of the universe in the North Pole, described as â€Å"a country of eternal light. † Nearly all of Victor’s epiphanies are under the sign of light. When he becomes interested in natural philosophy, he says that â€Å"A new light seemed to dawn upon my mind†, and when his ceaseless endeavors finally lead him to the discovery of the secret to creating new life, he describes his feelings as if â€Å"a sudden light broke in upon me. He compares the creation of a new species to pouring a â€Å"torrent of light into our dark world†. However, both Victor and Walton fail to understand that light that’s too bright is also blinding and they disregard the dangerous consequences of their quests for enlightenment. The importance of fire as a symbol is prefigured by the novel’s full title: Frankenstein, Or the Modern Prometheus. In Greek mythology, Prometheus was the titan who gave the knowledge of fire to humanity and for his generous action he was severely punished by the Gods. In Frankenstein, Victor attempts to give the gift of the secret of life to humanity, but ends up suffering grave punishment as a result of defying God: his creation kills his entire family and destroys his life. Throughout the novel, fire is depicted as a powerful yet dangerous force that can be used both for sustenance (the discovery of the wonders of fire by the monster) as well as for punishment (the description of demons suffering in the lake of fire in hell). Concerning narrative techniques and point of view, both stories are told using first person point of view, but with significant differences. The narrator of The Fall of the House of usher is a character of whom we know very little, highly unreliable, as we have no proof of his sanity; moreover, he is called â€Å"madman† by Roderick twice at the end of the story. He is submerged into the underworld of the human mind, where irrationality prevails over reason, where fantasy suppresses reality, and he is the only one that manages to escape and tell the story of what had happened. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is also written using the first person narrative, but from multiple perspectives, using a complex narrative structure, that combines the form of an epistolary novel with that of a frame story: the plot is completely encased in Robert Waldon’s letters, who he relates his encounter with Victor Frankenstein, who in turn gives an account of his terrible life story, including the confessions and lamentations of the creature. Each shift of perspective provides the reader with new insight regarding the facts of the story and the distinctive traits of the characters involved. In conclusion, both Frankenstein and The Fall of the House of Usher can be considered landmarks of Romantic and Gothic literature, the authors managing to combine standard and specific elements in a unique and captivating manner that has kept them relevant even almost two hundred years after they were first published.

Organizational Design And HRM Tel Comm Tek - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 8 Words: 2477 Downloads: 5 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Management Essay Type Argumentative essay Did you like this example? In this paper, I shall be discussing the relevance of organizational design and human resource management for a company engaged in foreign operations and management. Utilizing the case entitled Tel Comm Tek, relevant issues in terms of recognizing strategies in terms of understanding the organization of a global company through the maximization of human resource management will be discussed. As for the case of Tel Comm Tek, a resolution after a thorough consideration of available data will be answered in line with the relevant concepts related to organizational and human resource management for a global company. Significant and substantial research from both online and electronic internet resources was sourced to provide discussions for this paper. As a further recommendation, this research will pave the way to a further discussion on detailed effects of globalization in as far as the issues of human resource and organizational development is concerned. Keyword s: globalization, human resource management, organizational design, global company, culture, technical skills, adaptability, leadership skills CASE ANALYSIS: TEL COMM TEK Case Analysis: Tel Comm Tek Introduction Tel Comm Tek or TCT Indian has become one of the most promising and highly potential international subsidiaries of TCT. As a manufacturer of a variety of small office equipment in nine different countries such as copying machines, dictation units, laser printers, and paper-shredders worldwide with reported sales in more than 70 countries, TCT India has reported a significant growth in terms of sales in India because of the boom in information-technology since its establishment in the 1980s. Despite of the economic, environmental, and cultural factors affecting the operation of TCT in India, TCT India has remained strong primarily due to the booming information-technology industry in India as well as the initiatives of government in promoting business within the c ountry. However, political and economic issues still remain as significant threats to the company. In May 2010, TCT India Managing Director Mark Hopkins, has tendered his resignation with the intention to return home in his hometown in Vermont. As an expatriate executive, Hopkins was able to oversee operations that lead to a steady growth in market share and profitability of TCT in India. This eventually triggered a replacement search for the Indian operations where six qualified employees were short listed to replace Mark Hopkins. They are Tom Wallace, a long-term executive of TCT in their US operations who has high technical skills but is expected to retire within the next four and a half years and is part of division that is expected to eliminate his position in the next six months; Brett Harrison, a high potential employee with good evaluations, exposure to operations, and experience and is well acquainted with Indias geography, politics, customs and outlooks; Atasi Das, a n ative of India who has good qualifications in terms of adaptiveness for being single and is quite ambitious and energetic because of her young age and background in international management; Ravi Desai, a young and experienced native of India who is experienced in Asian culture and is perceived to hold an executive position in the Indian operation; Jalan Bukit Seng, a Singaporean who has limited international operations background and who is not that familiar with US culture but has a high potential and intelligence in terms of leaning various languages; and Saumitra Chakraborty, the assistant of the resigning manager who is competent in terms of operational matters and excellent in customer relationship but lacks leadership experience despite of a strong network of contacts among private and government officials in India. In-Depth Analysis of Issues According to John Daniels, Lee Radebaugh and Daniel Sullivan, multi-national enterprises or MNEs face challenges in terms of sta ffing the right personnel that can adapt to various circumstances facing the various frameworks of a global business in terms of dealing with the economic, environmental, cultural and political factors in the foreign countries that they are operating their business from this mean that MNEs are subject to major adjustments that requires flexibility in operating their own company and must consider factors that are commonly different from how they are operating in their home country. The degree of centralization is usually influenced by the pressures of global integration or the standardization based on how a company can be competitive and the pressures of local responsiveness wherein the company must be able to meet expectations of the country they are operating in order to operate smoothly and profitably (Daniels, Radebaugh, and Sullivan, 2011). Because of this, control is needed and properly planned in order to provide tools for the MNE to operate in a foreign company where organiza tional culture or the set of values and norms that is shared among employees and locals exist among its employees and the public where it is operating (Daniels, Radebaugh, and Sullivan, 2011). Because managerial functions facilitate the control and coordination of activities within and among departments and direct the acquisition of, investment in, and control of resources to improve the organizations ability to create value (Jones, 2004), HRM must be critical in the selection of appropriate individuals whom they think would be able to meet job expectations in as far as international operations is concerned. It is also the responsibility of HRM to define the organizational role or the set of task-related behaviors required of a person by his or her position an organization so as to fulfill their functions in providing the most qualified individuals for certain positions, most importantly, in a faraway subsidiary in a foreign country. Human resource management or HRM for a glob al company is very important in as far as the provision of support to the company in terms of meeting its strategy by staffing the right person in the right job, in the right place, at the right time, and for the right salary (Daniels, Radebaugh, and Sullivan, 2011) through various means depending on the framework that the company is using in as far as corporate policies and strategies are concerned. HRM may consider whether the company is ethnocentric, polycentric, or geocentric in terms of choosing executives and employees that may either be locals, citizens of the countries in which they are working, or expatriates (Daniels, Radebaugh, and Sullivan, 2011). HRM must also look into the concepts of career choices if one decides to hire or appoint employees in crucial positions such as that of executives. As defined, a career is a sequence of positions occupied by a person during the course of a lifetime while the importance of career planning is important because the consequences of career success or failure are closely linked to an individuals self-concept and identity, as well as with career and life satisfaction (Cascio, 2005). HRM must also look on the views of career developments among individuals in terms of how they are focusing on themselves in terms of their career objectives, how the organization focus on individuals during entry, mid-career, and late career, as well as how this will contribute towards the maintenance and growth of the organization in terms of staffing the most competent person for this purpose (Cascio, 2005). Among the choices for the replacement of Mark Hopkins is the long-term executive of TCT Tom Wallace, who presently have the highest technical experience among the short listed employees. However, Wallace is expected to retire in the next four and a half years with a position expected to be eliminated after six months. Because the selection for an expatriate position considers the candidates technical competence, adaptivenes s, and leadership ability (Daniels, Radebaugh, and Sullivan, 2011), Tom Wallace would have an edge in terms of his experience in the technical and sales aspect of the job, experience in managing a plan of similar size, expression of interest in a foreign assignment, and adaptability because he already have grown children in the United States. However, it can be noted that Wallace and his wife might have difficulty in adapting with language because they only know how to speak English, as well as the possibility of having the possibility of resentment by local employees at TCT India. Additional cost in terms of teaching Wallace and his wife with the local language, additional trainings related to foreign operations, and additional motivational compensations may have to be considered if TCT appoints Wallace as Managing Director for TCT India. Brett Harrison, on the other hand, has high potential with good evaluations, exposure to operations, and experience. He is also well acquainte d with Indias geography, politics, customs and outlooks that are posed to move up to upper management. However, he may not view the Managing Director position as a promotion management and may have problems in terms of adaptiveness because of the present status of his family for having teenage children and a career-oriented wife who may not be able to relocate. Consequently, additional costs may be incurred in terms of motivational compensation and benefits as well as logistical expenses that would include the relocation of Harrisons family and settling them in India. Atasi Das, on the other hand, is a native of India who has good qualifications in terms of adaptiveness for being single and is quite ambitious and energetic because of her young age and background in international management. Her experience in both staff and line positions would help her adjust to the operations of TCT India. However, this offers a logistical and career management transition for the HRM of TCT Indi a given that she needs to be trained in terms of advancement of work-related responsibilities from being a mere staff and line employee to being promoted as a Managing Director in India. Similarly, Ravi Desai, is a young and experienced native of India who is experienced in Asian culture and is perceived to hold an executive position in the Indian operation who happens to be an Assistant Managing Director in a larger Asian operation of TCT. He speaks both English and Hindi fluently. However, he has a large family with four children and needs to be trained and offered with high motivational compensation and benefits as part of his promotional assignment. TCT needs to offer him with advanced work with local management in order to have a smooth transition and be able to establish coherence among the existing employees in TCT India. As for the case of Jalan Bukit Seng, who is a Singaporean with limited international operations background, is not that familiar with the US culture b ut has a high potential and intelligence in terms of leaning various languages. He has a high advantage in terms of the required technical skills and would be able to adapt because of his intelligence in terms of the ability of know various language easily. However, TCT needs to invest for his orientation and language training as well as spend travel exposures to other similar operations to compensate for his lack of international operations background. Finally, Saumitra Chaka may have the required technical and adaptive factors as a Managing Director being the assistant of the resigning manager who is competent in terms of operational matters and excellent in customer relationship. However, Chaka lacks leadership experience despite of a strong network of contacts among private and government officials in India. He has a good performance evaluation as Assistant Managing Director in TCT India with no problems in terms of language proficiency. However, his age and experience would entail the provision of staff assistance from headquarters, as well as the provision of technical training and development in order to compensate for such lack of experience. Conclusion and Recommendations Based on the critical analysis of the issues of this case, it can be recommended that Ravi Desai would have the highest qualifications required for the job in terms of technical competence, adaptiveness, and leadership skills because of her age, experiences, and proficiency as a native of India. These factors would give him an edge among the other short listed employees given his familiarity with the operations as an Assistant Managing Director of a larger subsidiary where he has learned the technical knowledge needed for the job and the leadership skills needed for being a member of the management team of the company. Because he is a native of India who knows both English and Hindi fluently, he would be able to meet the requirements in cases where the company may appoint an expatriate or local as a mixture of the polycentric and geocentric frameworks (Daniels, Radebaugh, and Sullivan, 2011) in appointing people for certain positions in a company. Because appointing locals than expatriates would be advantageous because locals better understand local operations with lesser compensation, organizations may also show to the foreign country their relevance in terms of demonstrating the availability of opportunities for local citizens, showing of consideration for local interests, and with lesser investments as compared to relocating expatriates to the foreign country of operations (Daniels, Radebaugh, and Sullivan, 2011). As an alternative, TCT India can also appoint Saumitra Chaka for being the current Assistant Managing Director of TCT India but would need to allocate additional budget in terms of the provision of staff assistance from headquarters, as well as the provision of technical training and development in order to compensate for his lack of ex perience. If this would not be possible, a third resort is to appoint Jalan Bukit Seng, because of his technical skills and ability to adapt to both culture and language at TCT India. However, the opportunity cost for this option is to invest for his needed orientation and language training as well as travel exposures to other similar operations to compensate for his lack of international operations background. Reflections A global manager is not far different from being a manager of a local domestic or multi-domestic firm where the similarities related to management functions are present. This can be related to the technical and leadership skills needed for a manager in as far as how such management functions of planning, hiring, training, directing, and evaluating is concerned. However, the only difference is the ability of the manager to adapt to the economic, political and economic environments of the foreign country where he or she is managing. More so, the crucial rol e in terms of human resource management is relevant in as far as achieving the organizations strategies is involved. HRM must be able to know the relevance of career transitions for both the individual and the company. More so, HRM must be successful in terms of choosing the most qualified and competent individual to fill important executive positions for the company. If managers would not have the necessary skills in terms of technical knowledge of both production and business management, then the effectiveness of such position would not translate to the general objectives and directions of the company. Finally, if a manager would not have the ability to adapt to the culture and attitudes of local employees in order to perform his leadership skills, then the operations of a company would not be as successful as intended. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Organizational Design And HRM: Tel Comm Tek" essay for you Create order