The War on Drugs Essay Example for Free

The War on Drugs Essay Despite large amounts of government funding and agencies working together the war on drugs is the most counterproductive measure the United States has launched because its main focus was to stop drug trafficking and criminal activity, but it has done nothing but increase incarceration and large amounts of spending by the U. S. One of the first bills introduced to the United States was the National Prohibition Act in 1920 and also the 18th Amendment. This bill prohibited the manufacture, transportation, and sale of alcohol on a national stage for every day consumption. The only way to get a hold of alcohol at the time was to obtain a prescription from the doctor for medical purposes. This was just another way the government can tax and control the use of alcohol consumption at the time. In 1933 the prohibition act was repealed. Because of the increase of other drug substance abuse outside the abuse of alcohol with the approval of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Department of the Treasury the Federal Bureau of Narcotics was introduced and the adoption of the Uniform State Narcotics Drug Act was established and created. First the war on drugs has been a long and expensive campaign the United States has invested in, to include resources, and manpower. President Johnson was the first president to focus illegal drug use. He be believed half of the crime committed in the U. S. was in drug relation and grow by 90 percent over the next decade. The Johnson Administration was the true beginning on the War of Drugs. President Johnson created the Reorganization Plan of 1968 which merged the Bureau of Narcotics and the Bureau of Drug Abuse to form the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs within the Department of Justice. The belief during this time about drug use was summarized by journalist Max Lerner in his celebrated work America as a Civilization: As a case in point we may take the known fact of the prevalence of reefer and dope addiction in Negro areas. This is essentially explained in terms of poverty, slum living, and broken families, yet it would be easy to show the lack of drug addiction among other ethnic groups where the same conditions apply. (Inciardi The War on Drugs IV, 248) The use of term War on Drug was first used by President Richard Nixon in 1971. President Nixon was also wanting to continue the anti- war precedent set by Johnson. The start of the U. S. to counteract the war, was to implement the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970. When President Nixon and Admistration declared the end the war on drugs it was manly stated for laws and acts that was made from earlier prohibitation act and laws not for the new era of drugs to sweep the United States . The actual term war on drugs was coined when in 1971 Congress of the United States released a report that there was a growing trend among the United States serve members from Vietnam that were addicted to heroin and other control substances. The Bureau of Narcotics was replace with the Drug Enforcement Administration in 1973. As early as 1982, with the intense epic of drug use sweeping the nation the United States increased aid and more involvement, tasking the help of the CIA and military indirection efforts national and international levels. Nixons drug force agencies practice illegal acts to make arrest to meet demands of the public, this put a widely held of the arrested made was of African-American personal. The following two presidents Ford and Carter, kept the tradition of continuing to respond with programs of their predecessors. In 1982, Ronald Regan became President with a radical bias within the War on Drugs received a new revitalization. In a speech delivered soon after taking office, Reagan announced, â€Å"We’re taking down the surrender flag that has flown over so many drug efforts; we’re running up a battle flag. Within his first five years of being president he strengthened drug enforcement. He created mandatory sentencing, forfeiture of cash and real estate. In 1986 Reagan was able to pass the Anti-Drug Abuse Act through Congress. This legislation cost the tax payers a additional $1. 7 million to fund, established 29 mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses. Reagans former Vice-President George H. W. Bush was the next in the oval office. He shared the same political views and background as past presidents. Intensifying narcotics regulation when the First National Drug Control Strategy was issued by the Office of National Drug Control in 1989 and doing nothing to reduce sentencing disparities and racial bias carrying over from the Reagan administration. The following three presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama continued with the trend and maintaining the promise to overcome the epidemic of drugs that will not be tolerated and over come during taking office. There are over one million people every year in the United States incarcerated due to drug law violations. With the increase of the youth involvement of drug violation, this has had a everlasting effect of them to include permanent removal of education opportunities, the ability to vote, obtaining employment become far more difficult because of violations of their youth. Studies show that the War on Drugs has made a permanent underclass of people who have few educational or job opportunities, often as a result of being punished for drug offenses which in turn have resulted from attempts to earn a living in spite of having no education or job opportunities. The drug was is said to have wasted billions of wasted tax dollars and misallocated spending. The government has spent more money on the drug war then it was spent of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan combined. Due to the over whelming account of people being incarnated it has put a financial drain and a puts a stain on the legal and law enforcement resources. Due to prohibition in the United States, criminal organization have found other means of transportation, growing and distribution causing a lost of many lives. Drug cartels are the only organizations that gain profit from prohibition which is regenerated for smuggling, violence and corruption in government networks. The next generation on fighting the war of drugs is coming. The question is to ask are selves to spend are tax payer money on prevention or treatment. The US funded a research study that showed that all of the Governments effects to stop drug trafficking coming into the United States all little to no effect. From the RAND Corporation the study, Sealing the Borders: The Effects of Increased Military Participation in Drug Interdiction, was prepared by seven researchers, mathematicians and economists at the National Defense Research Institute, a branch of the RAND, and was released in 1988. (R. Reuter 1988) There have been similar conclusions conducted by seven on organizations. The RAND corporation has also included that budget money for drug enforcement should be spent on treatment other then prevention. In 2008 a declaration was announced to balance a drug policy to the prevention, research, education and treatment. Many people are in favor of treatment and prevention instead of punishment sue to the high amounts of financing for law enforcement and court cost of the tax payers. In conclusion, the measure the United States have implemented to combat drugs, smuggling and drug abuse have been at best unsuccessful, and at worst counterproducvtive. If the United States truly desires to curb drug abuse, new forward thinking methods such treatment and rehabilitation would have to be implemented.

Impact of stakeholder management in the construction industry

Impact of stakeholder management in the construction industry INTRODUCTION This section of the report covers literature by several authors. A literature review: gives an overview of what has been said in the area of project stakeholders and project success , who the key writers are, what are the prevailing theories and hypotheses, what questions are being asked and what methods and methodologies are appropriate and useful (Emerald, 2010). This chapter seeks to investigate the impact of stakeholder management and its contributions to project success in the construction industry. Using the literature review mind map in Figure 2 below, this report will explore principles and concepts on the subject matter to satisfy its main objectives. Figure 1- Literature review mind map (Author) This literature review will satisfy the following project objectives: To explore the principles of stakeholder management and project success. To assess the benefits and challenges of stakeholder management. To correlate a relationship between stakeholder management and project success. To propose a framework for measuring the impact of stakeholder management on project success thereby assessing its impact on project success. To make recommendations for improved stakeholder management practices. Overview of the UK Construction industry The construction industry in the past 30 years has continued to evolve and expand (PMI 2008) and although changes within the industry are relatively slow (Kagioglou et al 1998), one cannot overlook what the construction industry has contributed to the UK economy (Bennett 2003 p.7). The UK construction industry is the sixth largest industry in the UK in terms of turnover (Adamson and Pollington 2006) and it accounts for 10% of the UKs GDP and employs 1.5 million people (Corporate Watch 2002). Recent studies such as Walker (2007 p.101) has shown that the: Construction process also has a challenging and vital task in defining and implementing the stakeholders requirements. This study considered this to be paramount. This was further asserted by McElroy and Mills (2007 p.758) clearly explaining the importance of stakeholder management. This report would discuss stakeholder management in the next section. Overview of Project Stakeholder A review of various literature and study on project stakeholder begs an explanation as to the origin of the word stakeholder. The word stakeholder was first recorded in text in 1708 according to (Ramirez 1999) from the word stake. Although the definition of a project stakeholder may remain debatable (Walker 2007 p.100), There is no consensus as to a common and widely used definition (McElroy and Mills 2007 p.760). It may be suggested that each author defines stakeholder(s) to suit the aim of individual academic research at that particular time. Below are some definitions of a project stakeholder from various literatures. Vollans (2006 p.50-15) defines a project stakeholder as a: person or organisation with vested interest (positive or negative) in the ultimate outcome of the project. According to Olanda and Landin (2005 p.321) it is: a group of people who have vested interest in the success of a project and the environment within which the project operates. While project management for development organizations (PM4DV) (2009 p.71) suggested that stakeholders are: people who have an interest in the project, whose satisfaction is the most critical element to define the success of a project. Other definitions include the ApmBok (2006 p.159) which defines project stakeholders as: all those who have an interest or role in the project or are impacted by the project. For the purpose of this report an alternative definition would be suggested, this definition would incorporate various definitions as seen above. Project stakeholders are: Group(s) of people /Organisation who have an interest in and who can also impact a project positively or negatively within the project life cycle and whose satisfactions are the most critical element to define the success of a project. (Olanda and Landin 2005; project management for development organizations 2009; Apm Bok 2006; Vollans 2006) Projects are made of different stakeholders with different interest in the project. This study would look at the different types of stakeholder next. Types of stakeholders When considering stakeholders types, it could be suggested that person or organisation is not self sufficient hence the word Globalization came into being projects consist of various stakeholders. This can be seen in studies undertaken by Aaltonen and Sivonen (2009 p.132), where the author suggested that identifying the various stakeholders in a project involves taking into account their wants and requirement. Project stakeholders as identified by Kloppenborg (2009); Aaltonen and Sivonen (2009) are divided into internal and external stakeholders. This can further be subdivided into primary and secondary stakeholders. Identifying both the primary and secondary stakeholders will help the project manager establish the project requirements and expectations, where the expectation is critical to project success (Kloppenborg 2009 p.362). This expectation is divided into three aspects: relationship, communications and lessons learnt. Aaltonen and Sivonen (2009 p.132) defined internal stakeholders as: those who are actively involved in the project implementation and this category of stakeholders usually support the project. The author also inferred that internal stakeholders are also called primary Stakeholders. Examples of primary stakeholders are the project owner, project sponsor and project manager. It could therefore be assumed that Stakeholder Participation specifically by primary stakeholder will increase the chances of success (Unruh 2005 p.413). While the external stakeholders are; members of the project that may affect or be affected by the project Aaltonen and Sivonen (2009 p.132). These are often called secondary stakeholders. Examples of secondary stakeholders are government agencies, suppliers and special interest groups. These classifications will be illustrated in a Figure 3 which shows the level of importance given to primary stakeholders below: Figure 2-Primary and secondary stakeholders (Author) Notwithstanding, neither primary nor secondary stakeholders can stand on its own given todays project environment. A typical example of a primary stakeholder is the project manager who would not be able to proceed if the legislative requirements are not met, this could be in form of risk management system put in place on the construction site. These requirements are set by the government bodies in charge of monitoring and control, they are also known as the secondary stakeholders. Principles of stakeholder management During its years of development, stakeholder management has documented more success than failures in the area of project management (Aaltonen and Sivonen 2009). Due to the diverse nature of this subject matter, stakeholder principle and theories have been sought in national and international policies (Reed 2008). Examples of such success can be seen in research done by Narayan (2007) on Fiji Sugar Corporation; because sugar is the major source of income of Fiji, the presence of many stakeholders in the cooperation is evident but it can also be argued that the effectiveness of the management of all stakeholders present in the cooperation was key to the organisations success. Atkin and Skitmore (2008 p.549) have suggested that project management in the constructions industry has a complex collection of activities required to deliver a construction project. It is therefore conclusive that stakeholder management within the project lifecycle is critical for the success of any construction project. Thus failure of a project manager to manage the concerns of a construction project stakeholder over the years has resulted in a countless number of construction project failures (Atkin and Skitmore 2008; Bourne and Walker, 2005). It must also be noted that stakeholder in the construction industry have the capability to terminate a construction project (Atkin and Skitmore 2008; Lim et al. 2005). A report to the House of Commons by the Committee of Public Accounts (2004) on the issues of Wembley stadium has shown that inadequate planning in the initiation phase of the project lifecycle has lead to stakeholder conflict. Managing stakeholders from the initiation phase of a construction project or any project is essential. Where there is effective stakeholder management, benefits are realised at the end of the project on time, within budget and quality. Due to suggestions made in the previous section by Walker (2007) and McElroy and Mills (2007) that the term stakeholder is difficult to identify, defining stakeholder management will still pose the same difficulty identified by the above authors. Stakeholder Management can be defined as: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦as the continuing development of relationships with stakeholders for the purpose of achieving a successful project outcome (McElroy and Mills 2007 p.760) It could be suggested that for stakeholder management to be successful, it must be strategic; various literatures have suggested a process called the Stakeholder management process; this approach is applicable to both internal and external stakeholder (OGC 2010),the stakeholder process(McElroy and Mills 2007 p.772) are listed below and represented in the figure below: Identification of project success criteria. Identification of Resources Requirement. Identify Stakeholders and level of interest Conduct stakeholder Analysis Develop Strategy for Each Stakeholder identified. Table! : Stakeholder Process Explanation Identification of project success criteria McElroy and Mills (2007) suggested that sponsors success criteria should be in terms of time, cost and performance. Identify Resource Requirement Resource requirement maybe classified as tangible item which could include materials and finance (Burke 2007) and intangible resource such as support and emotions (McElroy and Mills 2007). For a project to be successful it could be suggested that a project manager need access to all this resources both tangible and intangible. Identify Stakeholders and interest Levels To identify project stakeholders McElroy and Mills (2007) have suggested that brainstorming key stakeholders and recording all stakeholders and there level of interest into a stakeholder register. To Conduct Stakeholder Analysis Stakeholder Attitude varies from one person to another. Some maybe in support and some in opposition of the project . Using a stakeholder commitment map the project team will be able perform a more effective assessment of current attitude of each stakeholder during the lifecycle phases. McElroy and Mills (2007) Develop Strategy for each Stakeholder After a stakeholder analysis has been carried out, the project team can build its strategies from the analysis. Such strategies can be the communication plan; this would include all the methods of communication to be used and frequency of the communication between the project team and project stakeholders. Stakeholder Management and Project Lifecycle The body of knowledge in project management (PMBOK) have suggested that: Because projects are unique and involve a certain degree of risk, companies such as the construction industry will generally subdivide their projects into several project phases to provide better management control Stakeholder management could be linked to project lifecycle, according to McManus (2004). Jawahar and Mclaughlin (2004) suggested that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦at any given stage in the project lifecycle certain stakeholders will be more important than other Turner (2007) suggested the following phases; the definition phase where the initial objectives are defined by various stakeholder; the design phase according to Turner (2007) would be the matching the objectives with resources; the execution phase, would involve implementation of the actual work and monitoring and controlling of the project by key stakeholders which also include the project manager and finally the closeout phase involves the commissioning and hand over to key stakeholder. Belout and Gauvreau (2003) suggested that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the effect of the critical factors on success varies as the project cycle stages change This can be seen in Figure used to link criterias for success and lifecycle by Belout and Gauvreau (2003) this is illustrated in the Figure below and can be linked to project success as seen below: Figure! : A Link Between Criterias for Success and Lifecycle PROJECT SUCCESS The word project success is an indefinite word to say the least; this has lead to a set of definitions and perspectives by different professionals and academic in the field of project management. According to McManus (2004), à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦The most successful projects always involve both direct and indirect stakeholders While Yu et al. (2005) suggests that a Project  is a success if its created product adds value to the client, considering the cost to the client at the point of acceptance Ika (2009 p.6) suggested that project success be defined in terms of concepts such as efficiency and effectiveness, Lock (2007 p.5) argues that project success should be defined using the three objectives listed below: Project Completion within the Budget. The project delivered or handed over to customer on time. Good performance, requiring all components of the project to meet the sponsors requirements. Source: Lock (2007, p.5) The author is invariably suggesting that we use the project management triangle seen below in Figure 4 to determine if a project is successful. Figure 3- Success triangle by Lock 2007 (Author) While Lock (2007) and Ika (2009) have presented various ways in which project stakeholders should be defined in the context of project management, Assudani and Kloppenborg (2010) have preferred to summarise their definition of project success in terms project stakeholders. It was suggested that for a project to be successful, it must meet the customers requirements and manage their relationships though effective communication. Accordingly Pinto (2004) went from the Iron triangle suggested by Lock (2007) in Figure 4 and linked it to the benefits gained by the organisation and the project stakeholder(s) at the completion of the project. In a study carried out by Sofia (2003) titled project success in relation with organizational roles and project managers skills and capabilities, the author identified the following in Table 3: Table 1- Project success definition, Source : Sofia (2003) Definition Of Project Success Percentage It meets the target cost, schedule, quality and functionality 88.5% It meet the customers satisfaction 85.9% It creates organisational improvement with the learning from failures and successes (lessons learned) 44.9% It was performed efficiently and effectively 43.6% It succeeds in executing the desired changes because one cannot expect every project to proceed exactly as planned 37.2 Others 7.7% The above table has indicated that studies carried out by Sofia (2003) are in accordance with Lock (2007) and Ika (2009) definitions. This report would define project success as: The satisfaction of stakeholders needs in teams of time, cost, and quality/performance (Lock 2007; Sofia (2003); Ika 2009; Assudani and Kloppenborg 2010; ApmBok 2009). The satisfaction mentioned in the above definition could be suggested to mean the benefit realised at the handover phase of the project. Since projects are unique endeavours (ApmBok 2009), it is right to suggest that satisfying stakeholders requirements using the criterias set aside by the stakeholder should be what success should be measured against. Critical Success factor (CSFs) for construction projects Achieving success is the goal of any project; the construction industry is not different from other industries in achieving success (Yu et al.200). The Apm Bok (2009, p.2) suggested that to satisfy stakeholders, one must have measurable criteria (OGC 2010) to measure success. Since Construction projects have been identified as having issues such as lack of trust, lack of cooperation and ineffective communication which have lead to adversarial relationship among all project stakeholders (Chan et al.2004), partnering with various stakeholders and identifying their view on CSFs using questionnaires (Jing et al. 2010) is important because it gives the project manager a clear view of each stakeholder expectations. Milosevic and Patanakul (2005) suggested that Critical success factors are correlated to a construct of an aggregate measure of  project success According (PMI 2008; Wang and Huang 2009); à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Project success  criteria shall include the golden triangle and key  project stakeholders satisfaction of the  project The following CSFs have been identified from literature and can be employed in the construction industry (Yu et al. 2004; Lock 2007; Hill et al., 2008), these CSFs are listed below: Clear and agreed upon objective. Project requirement must be carefully thought out. Trusting relationship between all members of the project Support from top management Availability of sufficient funds and other resource Technical competence with the project team. Good communication Benefits and Challenges of Stakeholder Management Stakeholder management has both benefits and challenges to construction organisations which are determined by the role played by each stakeholder organisation during the execution of project (Zutshi and Sohal 2002, p.371). The benefits of effective stakeholder management can be linked to an organisation or a countrys financial success (Zutshi and Sohal 2002; Reed et al 2009). Since the construction industry is copious with a sizeable number of stakeholders across the political, social, cultural and economic sector (Moodley et al.2008), identifying those benefits and challenges faced by the construction industry will be a priority for any project manager. Benefits The benefits of stakeholders in the construction industry are explored below thus: Stakeholder Analysis Vollans (2002 p.50-15) suggested that a key benefit of stakeholder management is the principle of analysing stakeholder which simply put is: a technique used to identify and assess the importance of stakeholders Guarded with knowledge gained from analysing various project stakeholders, it could be inferred that the knowledge will be used to make judgement regarding how each stakeholder could help or hinder the project (McElroy and Mills 2007). This early assessment of stakeholders at the planning stage of the project life cycle would identify and improve quality (Vollans 2002) by increasing the level of support from stakeholders and reducing opposition (ApmBok 2009). By identifying each stakeholder and analysing their various interests it could be suggested that this would reduce conflict by resolving issues at an early stage of the project. This analysis must be reviewed throughout the project life cycle phase (ApmBok 2009). Monitoring and Control McElroy and Mills (2007) identified better monitoring and control as a benefit of effective stakeholder management. It is suggested that management of stakeholders with regards to their ever changing interest using project management tools such as change control process and configuration management in conjunction with stakeholder management theories, should enable the project manager manage changes (Zutshi 2004). In the area of cost management, stakeholder management has been able to reduce ambiguity, duplication and waste of resources as a result of conflicts and legal issues (Zutshi 2004; Atkinson 1999) Project Governance Turner (2007) have suggested that Project are governed on behalf of stakeholders which includes owners and contractors The above author also suggested two paradigms of project governance as it relates to organisations. This paradigm suggests that projects are governed on behalf of all stakeholders, which will include both primary and secondary stakeholders. The author suggested that the responsibility of managing this relationship is that of the project manager and project team. This relationship will be managed using the principles of stakeholder management. Challenges In discussing challenges facing stakeholder management in the construction industry the following were identified: Globalization Carson (2002) defined globalisation as: a multidimensional process whereby national resources become more and more internationally mobile while national economies become increasingly interdependent Moodley et al. (2004) in recent studies identified globalisation as a challenge faced by the construction industry and argues that with the ever changing construction industry, recent issues that exists in stakeholder management such as (Communication and Scope Management ) falls within a global context. Since major construction companies in the world including UK construction companies undertake projects in various parts of the world (Steger 2003) and source for materials globally (Moodley et al. 2004), adopting stakeholder management principles and strategies from one region into a new region or culture may lead to failure due to gaps in culture and communication (Tone et al. 2009 p.27). An example of this can be seen in stakeholder management practices adopted during the construction of the Burj Al Arab in Dubai (reference). Effective Knowledge Transfer Some professionals in project management discipline may refer to this as Lessons Leaned. The Ontario health care information (reference) described knowledge transfer as: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦a process of developing, identifying, and disseminating best practices, and planning, producing, disseminating, and applying existing or new research in stakeholder managementà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Senaratne and Sexton (2008) stressed the importance of sharing knowledge within the area of stakeholder management and also noted the role of knowledge in managing change in the construction industry. Egbu (2003) also went further to identify change as the key cause of knowledge production in construction projects. It could be suggested that though knowledge is been transferred in projects through journals in project management and the construction journals, key issues concerning individual project and stakeholder management issues and how this issues are resolved are still kept as confidential documents within various organisations resulting in a gap in the management of stakeholders within the construction sector. Organisational Policy Kamann (2007) suggested that; Organizations usually adapt or adjust their objectives and strategy in order to minimize strategic drift These objective and strategy may impact the project adversely (Aaltonen 2010), the stakeholder defines the scope of the work (ApmBok 2009), if this scope is adjusted or strategy changed as suggested by Kamann (2007) on a regular basis, the ApmBok (2009) has suggested that it would lead to what is known as a Scope Creep. The construction industry is known to be complex and full of different stakeholder with different level of power, the policy of organisation can either help to manage stakeholders more effectively or it may result in difference of option and invariably conflict. 2.7 Relationship between Stakeholder Management and Project Success A survey involving 109 professionals on how best to define project success, shows that 88.5% of respondents agreed that project success should be judged on the basis of cost, schedule, quality, functionality (Sofia 2003), the link between stakeholder management process and success cannot be overemphasised (Bones 2007). McElroy and Mills (2007) illustrated the various stakeholder management processes to project success as seen in the figure!!! below : Project Stakeholder Success Criteria Resources Requirement Stakeholder Identification Stakeholder Analysis Stakeholder Strategy Project Success (Author) Figure!! : The Relationship between Stakeholder Management Project Success While (Wit 1988) suggested that: When measuring project success, one must consider the objectives of all stakeholders throughout the project life cycle and at all levels in the management hierarchy The above author also suggested that: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦it is unlikely that a project can be a complete success for all stakeholders during the entire life of the projectà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ The above statement is reinforced by Aaltonen et al. (2008) when the author proposed critical success factors for stakeholder management in the construction industry. Although the depth of literature linking stakeholder management to project success in the construction industry is minimal, but a general literature into the link between stakeholder management and project success (McElroy and Mills 2007), the (ApmBok 2009; OGC 2010) suggested that to satisfy stakeholders, one must have measurable criteria to measure success.

Performance of Goldman Sachs and Financial Ratio Analysis

Performance of Goldman Sachs and Financial Ratio Analysis Conventionally the Bank performance is evaluated by analysis of the financial ratios. However, despite of quite a few number of ratios being calculated, a sculpt that completely convinces the analysis of requirements and bank operations efficiency evaluation is yet to be developed. Hence for these reason, the financial ratio analysis is balance with unlike eminence evaluations, with characteristics such as organization quality, equity structure, spirited position and others which are incorporated in the concluding assessment. In this piece of work we are going to evaluate overall performance of Goldman Sachs and critically analyse how financial ratios are used to evaluate banks performance. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is a American investment banking and securities organisation which slot in global investment banking, securities, investment management, and erstwhile financial services principally with institutional clients. Goldman Sachs was founded in the year 1869 and its headquarter is at 200 West Street in the Lower Manhattan area of New York City. It has additional offices in major international financial hubs. The Goldman Sachs offers mergers and acquisitions advice, underwriting services, asset management, and prime brokerage to its clientele, which include corporations, governments and individuals. The Goldman Sachs also engages in proprietary trading and private equity deals, and is a primary dealer in the United States Treasury security market (Goldman Sachs Website). Bank Internal Performance Evaluation Strategic planning Goldman Sachs ability to address and tap into important economic and financial trends through roles such as advisor, financier, market maker and asset manager are critical for fulfilling their mission to help spur growth and perform strongly as a firm. Technology Technology is a core part of GS product offering and client experience. GS ability to respond quickly and effectively to address its clients needs with customized systems, products and services helps differentiate the firm. A technological advantage for GS is that they have only one central risk system, which is partially a byproduct of not having done multiple, major acquisitions that often require merging and retrofitting platforms. Personnel development The success of the GSs efforts are measured by how effectively their people act. Over time, effective training and development have enrich their corporate culture and strengthen the values of client service and focus on reputational risk management. Recognition includes compensation, promotion, assignments and mobility opportunities. They have made it clear the link between the behaviour expected of its people and the recognition used to encourage it. This is critically important because it signals broadly the way GS expects its people to behave and conduct business (Goldman Sachs Annual report 2010). Bank External Performance Evaluation Market share GS has frequently performed above the market despite worsening economic conditions. Since the 2008, the company has outpaced the market enough to draw public admiration. With strong profits and expected strong returns, the company has set aside $500M to invest in small businesses. These efforts are a combination to both improve the economy and their public image. Regulatory compliance The Dodd-Frank legislation and new capital and liquidity requirements under Basel 3 are two of the more significant outcomes from the recent focus on enhancing financial stability. Given regulatory implementation is only just beginning, and unclear on how the new rules will ultimately impact the industry. The broad contours of new regulation, however, are clear: improve the safety and soundness of the global financial system, increase the transparency of derivatives markets, limit certain investing activities and reduce the consequences of a failure of a large financial institution. Public confidence Goldman Sachs announced in May 2010 that it formed a Business Standards Committee to reshape its business practices and mend its reputation. Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein said at the time that there is a disconnect between how we view the firm and how the broader public perceives our roles and activities. GSs shareholders, BoDs, clients and customers have supported Mr. Blankfein through all the crisis and this shows their faith in bank (Goldman Sachs Annual report 2010). 4.0 Analyzing Bank Performance with Profit Ratios Goldman Sachs financial performance was better in 2009  than 2010 and Q4 2009 was the best quarter since the recession. 4.1 ROE Return on equity (ROE= net income after taxes/total equity) reveal GS capability to produce profits from shareholders equity (further referred as net assets or assets minus liabilities). In other words, ROE shows how effectively a company uses the shareholders money. As seen in graphical representation above, it is clear that Goldman Sachs is tendering a lower return on shareholders equity as compared to year ended in2009. The ROE of GS for the last year was 18.93% as compared to 10.08% this year. There has a been a significant decrease in the ROE which suggests GS is not utilising shareholders money properly. GS return on equity has declined substantially due to deleverage and is only marginally higher than its current cost of capital. 4.2 ROA Return on assets (ROA = net income after taxes/total assets) is how resourcefully a firm uses its assets. From the formula it is quite obvious that higher the ratio, the company is performing more efficiently and thus is generating more profits. A low ROA with enormous assets designate that the firm is handling its asset at a poor rate. As seen in graphical representation above, it is seen that Goldman Sachs has provided a lower ROA of 0.91% this year over 1.58% last year. There is one key differentiation between ROE and ROA and it is debt. In absence of debt, the shareholders equity is same as total assets of the firm which means that in this case, ROE and ROA are identical. Now if the firm come to a decision to take a loan, ROE exceeds ROA. A elevated ROE does not always guarantee a extraordinary performance of a firm. Incidentally, ROA is then a healthier pointer of the financial performance of a firm. With a high ROA and manageable debt, if ROE is also high it means that the company is generating decent profits using shareholders money. But if ROA is low and there is huge debt carried by the company, even a high ROE can only be a misleading figure. 4.3 Net Interest Margin 4.4 Leverage ratio Debt to Equity Ratio 4.5 Decomposition of ROE DuPont Analysis As revealed in Appendix B, The ROE of a bank is dependent on a various factors and thus change in any one of these factor can affect the rate of return on shareholders equity of the bank. As Net Income is the main source to calculate ROE in conjunction with the shareholders equity in the bank, every alteration in the Income and Expense of the bank openly affects the net income and thus influence the ROE of a bank. The detailed DuPont analysis of Goldman Sachs for year 2010 is presented in Appendix B. The ROE is decomposed as follows wrt dupont identity. Now assuming that changes are made in Income or Expense levels of the Goldman Sachs, its effect will be seen on ROA and ROE. Let us consider a case where the Interest Expense for Goldman Sachs goes down by 10% and there are no changes in its Interest Income, following are the effects on ROA and ROE of the bank. Scenario 1 : -5% change in interest expense Change Values after change Interest Expense -10% 6125.4 Interest Income 0% 12309 Effect on NI 6680.6 39841.6 Effect on ROA +0.07% 0.99% Effect on ROE +0.88% 11.68% A few other situations with amendment in Total Non-interest Income and expenses and their outcome on the ROA ROE of bank are given away in the chart below. Scenario 2 : -5% change in non-interest expense Change Values after change Total Non-interest Income -5% 31975.1 Effect on NI -1682.9 37478.1 Effect on ROA -0.19% 0.73% Effect on ROE -1.46% 8.62% Scenario 3 : +10% change in non-interest expense Change Values after change Total Non-interest Expenses 10% 27962 Effect on NI -2542 3160 Effect on ROA -0.31% 0.27% Effect on ROE -4.44% 3.78% Bank Performance Evaluation Based on Economic Profit 5.1 Risk-Adjusted Return on Capital (RAROC) In risk- adjusted return on capital the capital is allocated for two vital motives: (1) risk management and (2) performance evaluation. In support of risk-management rationale, the banks most favourable capital structure can be establish by allocation of capital to individual business units. This course of action entails assessing the amount of the risk (volatility) each business unit chip in to the total risk of the bank and hence to its overall capital requirements. Now, for performance-evaluation function, RAROC structure allocate capital to business units as part of a procedure for shaping the risk-adjusted rate of return and, eventually, the economic value added of each business unit. The EVA of every and each business unit is its adjusted net income minus the amount of equity capital allocated to the unit times the required return on equity. The purpose is to compute a business units input to shareholder value and so to provide a source for effective capital budgeting and incentive compensation at the business-unit level. RAROC is calculated by dividing risk-adjusted net income by the total amount of economic capital assigned which is dependent on the risk calculation. Risk-adjusted net income is calculated by taking the financial data allotment to the bank and fine-tuning the income statement for expected loss. A further modification is also required to take into account the effects on the net interest margin because the attention is moved from book profitability to economic profitability. Thus RAROC = Risk adjusted income / Allocated Capital RAROC for 2010 of Goldman Sachs therefore comes to 2.24 %. Let us consider some scenarios where the risk adjusted income for Goldman Sachs are changed by {-2%, +2%, -5% +5%}, The effect on its RAROC is represented as below. Change in Risk Adjusted Income 2 % + 2 % 5 % Effect on RAROC 2.20 % 2.29 % 2.13 % Economic Value Added (EVA) EVA (Economic Valued Added) is a present day financial dimension instrument which concludes whether a business is earning greater than its true cost of capital. EVA stands out apart from ROA ROE which are most accepted measures of bank performance. This is because it includes cost of equity capital employed. On the other hand, net banking income and the efficiency ratio, also, do not consider the cost of equity capital employed. Therefore, these ratios possibly will propose a banks performance as healthy but in fact it could be deteriorating its value to its shareholders. EVA is essentially a tool that focuses on maximizing shareholder wealth. EVA = Adjusted earnings Opportunity cost of capital {Net operating Profit after Taxes} {Cost of Equity X Equity Capital } With an aim of creating values, the return on invested capital (ROIC) for a bank must be greater than cost of capital. So, the EVA can be possibly increased in quite a few ways, by: 1) Increasing Net operating Profit after Taxes; 2) Lowering the Cost of Equity and 3) Reducing Equity Capital Conclusion Year on year Goldman Sachs revenues have descended by 11.04% from $51.67bn to $45.97bn. This along with an increase in the cost of goods sold expense has contributed to a reduction in net income from $13.39bn to $8.35bn, a 37.59% decrease. In 2010, Goldman Sachs did not generate a significant amount of cash. Cash Flow from Financing totalled $7.84bn or 17.05% of revenues. In addition the company used 6.16bn for operations while cash used for investing totalled $185m. Goldman results were also dragged down by a $465 million one-time expense to cover a U.K. payroll tax and a $550 million outlay to settle  SEC  charges that it favoured certain clients over others.

Evolutionary Ethics :: Morals Philosophy Philosophical Essays

Evolutionary Ethics ABSTRACT: Michael Ruse has argued that evolutionary ethics discredits the objectivity and foundations of ethics. Ruse must employ dubitable assumptions, however, to reach his conclusion. We can trace these assumptions to G. E. Moore. Also, part of Ruse’s case against the foundations of ethics can support the objectivity and foundations of ethics. Cooperative activity geared toward human flourishing helps point the way to a naturalistic moral realism and not exclusively to ethical skepticism as Ruse supposes. Introduction: Ruse’s Metaethical Assumptions Michael Ruse has argued that evolutionary ethics discredits the objectivity and foundations of ethics (Ruse 1991, Ruse 1993). Ruse must employ dubitable assumptions, however, to reach his conclusion. Also, parts of Ruse’s case against the foundations of ethics can support the objectivity and foundations of ethics. Ruse’s narrow construal of ‘the foundations of ethics’ plays an important role in his arguments against the foundations of ethics. He considers only 3 possible contenders that could serve as foundations for ethics: 1) Moorean non-naturalism, 2) Platonic Forms, and 3) the Divine Command Theory (Ruse 1993: 157). For Ruse, each of the three contenders explains how morality can refer to something "out there"(Ruse 1993: 153, 158). Notice that for Ruse one can only maintain the position of moral realism—the view that at least some moral issues are objective and obtain independently of our moral beliefs—non-naturalistically. His reasoning for this is clear. He points out that Moore’s arguments against the evolutionary ethics of Herbert Spencer turned on the is/ought distinction. According to this distinction, we cannot logically ground ethical statements naturalistically, for one cannot derive ‘ought’ from ‘is’. Mooreâ€℠¢s arguments against ethical naturalism—the view that moral claims/facts/judgments are nothing but a special class of natural claims/facts/judgments—help make Moore’s case in favor of non-naturalism. Plato’s non-natural Forms and the commands of a non-natural divinity would also avoid the difficult task of deriving values from natural, physical facts that ethical naturalism faces. Philosophers (not least of all Ruse) commonly proclaim that Moore’s application of the naturalistic fallacy hinges on the is/ought distinction. For Moore, we cannot derive moral statements from non-moral statements because "‘good’ is indefinable, or, as Prof. Sidgwick says, an ‘unanalysable notion’" (Moore 1903: 17). This would imply of course that any attempt whatsoever to define or analyze a moral term such as ‘good’ in other terms is fallacious. Moore concedes that we can analyze moral words in terms of each other but all reductions of moral terms will ultimately reduce to ‘good’ and ‘bad’.

A Summons to Memphis :: essays research papers

This novel by Peter Taylor opens with James and Mary Tyrone talking. They seem to be a very loving, married couple. James compliments Mary many times about how beautiful she looks. However she seems to be insecure about her looks because she is discontent with her case of rheumatism in her hands which makes it shake all the time. Then they heard their two sons laughing, as they walk out from the dinning room. As Edmund and Jamie enter, their parents question them what they are talking about. Edmund tells the story of Harker and Shaughnessy, which he had heard from the night before. Then afterwards Edmund and Mary leave the scene, and only James and Jamie is having a conversation. They seemed worried about Edmund who is sick with a â€Å"cold,† so they hoped, but in reality they know it’s not just that. They are also worried about Mary, but it is not yet revealed what is wrong with her. James and Jamie then leave to go work out on the hedge as Mary and Edmund begins to talk. They show a loving mother and son bond, they both care a lot about each other’s health. After their talk, Mary went upstairs to rest as Edmund remained in the parlor reading. Continuing to the next scene, James and Jamie comes in from outside for lunch. They must wait a while though because James was still talking to Captain Turner. Jamie seems to imply that his mother is doing something that she has done in the past that wasn’t too good for her, but it doesn’t indicate what it is yet. Then James comes in and also says that something is wrong with her, but does not say what it is. He just say that he that why didn’t she have the strength to keep on, but Mary acts as if she does not know what he is talking about. After lunch, they all follow Mary back into the parlor. Mary is talking about how their home is not really a home, and then the phone rings. It is Dr. Hardy. He has called for Edmund to come up to the office to see him that afternoon. When Edmund and Mary leaves the scene, James and Jamie begins talking about what the Doctor said. Hardy told James that it was sure that Edmund had â€Å"consumption,† and must be sent to a sanatorium, which will cure him in a year.

Culinary Arts Essay

Culinary Arts is a broad field that contains many different specializations. Culinary Arts is something that will never go away, you have to eat everyday to live and lead a healthy life. Food as we know is essential for the growth and maintenance of the human body. Culinary Arts enhances your knowledge of life skills and cooking. Being in the Culinary Arts career field you have to have a specific set of skills to make delicious appetizing meals. For example you have to follow safe food handling procedures, learn the dos and don’ts of food safety and sanitation. see more:why do you want to be a chef Learning the proper knife skills is one of the first things you learn in culinary arts; knowing the proper cutting techniques. Something I didn’t know about Culinary Arts was that a Pastry Chef is the number one culinary careers. Pastry Chefs are skilled in the making of pastries, desserts, breads and other baked goods. I Chose Culinary Arts because I always aspired to be a chef since I was a child. I’ve always wanted to start my own restaurant or little bakery to show off my culinary skills. My FootPath) Culinary Arts started off as a work of apprenticeship, daughters would learn recipes from their mothers, and traditional recipes passed on through oral history. The first academic Culinary Arts program was started back in 1800. The Boston Cooking School was emphatically popular drawing a vast amount of international students. The Boston Cooking School was founded by the Woman’s Educational Association of Boston. They started the school to offer instruction in cooking to those who wished to earn their livelihood as cooks, or who would make practical use of such information in their families or business. One of Boston’s most famous students was Fannie Merrit Farmer; she published the world’s first cookbook in 1896. â€Å"The Boston Cooking School Cookbook† which is still a reference book for students of Culinary Arts today. Ernie Kovacs hosted the first televised cooking show â€Å"Deadline for Dinner† (aka â€Å"Dead Lions for Breakfast† as Ernie liked to call it). The show premiered on Monday, March 20, 1950 at 3 pm for a half-hour. The show aired on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays. (Broad Casting Pioneers) There are millions of people in this world, but what sets individuals apart from one another, it is our personal qualities and characteristics. We come from different backgrounds. However, everyone has one special quality that makes him or, her a unique individual, different from anyone else. For me it’s my passion for cooking. Most people would not consider cooking a quality, but for me it is. Ever since I was a child, watching my grandmother and my great grandmother cook, they are the ones that gave me aspirations to pursue a career as a chef. With the time and effort they put in the kitchen their food is always delicious. I started out at two years old, going to get my grandmother ingredients and her cooking utensils. As she would measure out her ingredients she would let me pour it into what it was she was cooking. I used to stand on a stool just so I could stir the food as it cooked and sometimes when she wasn’t looking I would try to add my own little ingredients. As I got old around four or five that’s when she taught me how to make simple things such as cereal and milk, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and sometimes she would get a little advanced and show me how to make soups, desserts and show me some of her special recipes that she wouldn’t show anyone else. Even though I was to young to make them or remember them I felt special because she shared something special to her that she wouldn’t share with anyone else. I would always be the first person up in the morning climbing on the counters like a little monkey getting the cereal off the top of the refrigerator, and getting a two bowls out of the cupboard just so I could make me and my brother breakfast every morning. I was always there when anyone was cooking in the kitchen; I was very curious, ready to learn something new, and ready to give my assistances to anyone who needed it. My favorite foods to cook till this day is desserts, but anything I could get my hands on to cook I surly would no questions asked. I have a clear vision of my career goals, and after high school I will attend the culinary arts program at the Raleigh-Durham Art Institute. There culinary arts program comprises exactly the skills and tools I need to succeed in becoming a Pastry Chef, and starting my entrepreneurship. Because I am determined and focused, I do not need anything more than the training and education the Art Institutes will provide. I have visited there campus and viewed some of their classes, they have a extraordinary culinary arts program. They focus mainly on cooking; The Art Institute does not waste time on classes that won’t help you excel in life, that’s why I know The Art Institute is the perfect school for me to shine and show off my culinary skills. First, because I know exactly how I want to apply my new skills, I do not need any extraneous courses. The Art Institute program perfectly reflects my own pragmatism and professional sensibility because it is focused and directly related to my goals. Second, I do not want to alter my lifestyle by engaging in a four-year program. I want to incorporate this education into my life seamlessly and smoothly. The Culinary Arts program will allow me to express myself creatively and professionally in the field of my choice. This program offers practical education and training that I can immediately apply to the workplace, preferably as a Pastry-chef in my own restaurant. The Art institute provides a seven-quarter culinary arts program, which prepares their students for various careers in the food industry field. The program includes simulated situations and real-world production applications in the dining lab and in internship environments. The Art Institute focuses on enabling there students to be well-rounded citizens by offering them a few general study classes in the culinary program. The Art Institute has a steep tuition which is 42,570 a year. Apply for financial Aid, and scholarships will cut down the tuition expense. There are also three other fees that include books and digital resources, program fees, and room and board if you plan on living on campus. This all together adds up to a total of 29,410 in addition to the tuition. This is assuming that I would do the four year program in earning my bachelors degree. Even though the expenses are lofty I still aspire to attend The Art Institute. (The Art Institute of Raleigh-Durham) The Art Institute has a career service department that provides assistance in employment, career counseling, and professional development. Their staff helps students and graduates network, cultivate, explore career opportunities, and provides individualized job search assistance. Many students choose to seek part-time employment while they attend school. This employment is an excellent opportunity to make industry contacts while building a portfolio of work. The Art Institute is the all around perfect school, you gain an astounding education, along with individual assistance with finding a job while your attending school, or after you completed the culinary program.

Ethics Game Dilemmas Essay

After completing the ethics games and answering the questions regarding two different dilemma faced by the company G-BioSports, I have compiled this report to present the issues that were brought up in both scenarios. The situations were taken from the point of view of the Associate Director of Operations if the company and the goal was to enforce the company policies, keep the company safe from any lawsuits, act fairly, and come up with the best solution for all parties involved. It is well known that what is legal may or may not be ethical (Trevino, 2011). According to Loyola Marymount University, there is a three-step strategy to resolve ethical problems. Step one is to analyze the consequences, step two analyze the actions, and step three to make a decision. (Loyola, 2009) Mysterious Blogger The ethical dilemma faced by G-BioSports is that one of the employees has been posting blogs regarding company products and safety procedures. However, none of the blog posts were particularl y harmful to the company. This issue is ranked one of the â€Å"ten issues raised by IT capabilities.† The issue is privacy: does information’s availability justify its use? (techrepublic.com, 2006) The subsequent issue involved an anonymous email sent by an IT employee named Jamal Moore. He bypassed company security procedures to illegally access company intranet and track blogging from a home PC, as well as sending an anonymous email to expose the blogger. After further review of all email documents, the next step was to determine what company policies had been undermined by these actions. In regards to the anonymous email sent by Jamal, company policy states that â€Å"email transmissions sent outside of our intranet raise confidentiality concerns.† As well as, â€Å"There is a legitimate concern about the security of external email.† Jamal is therefore breaking the company code of conduct for using company resources on his home computer, as well as bypassing security protocols due to his IT knowledge. Aaron also violated the company’s Confidential Information section of policy which reads, â€Å"Also, employees may not discuss the company’s business, information, or prospects in any chat room, or web log (blog), regardless of whether t hey use their own name or a pseudonym.† These policies show that Aaron’s actions violate the contractual agreement forbidding him to expose company information, even if it is for a non-threatening purpose. Both cases should result in some form of disciplinary action. In order to fairly justify the disciplinary action  performed all parties involved must be identified, ranking them from highest to lowest impact. After analyzing the effects on all people involved, diagnosing and comparing possible solutions to disciplinary measures must be tackled. The final step would be in implementing the best course of action which meets all goals and would best suite our company and its values. It was helpful when reviewing each solution, to choose an ethical perspective or lens to identify the best course of action from a non-personal standpoint. When evaluating the situation, I examined each of the different perspectives of each ethical lens and how our company’s values could be incorporated into each lens. The Rights and Responsibility lens best fit our company’s overall position on ethical issues (Trevino, 2011). Veiled ID The second ethical simulation examines different aspects of diversity and corporate ethical standards. The incident involved a former employee break-in to company premises and assaulting a current employee who was hospitalized. New security measures need to be implemented in order to prevent any future security breaches. The decision was made to create security measures that will require all employees to carry a photo ID badge to grant access into company facilities. Aisha Mullah, a valued employee for many years, has an ethical inquiry about the photo ID system. Aisha practices the Muslim faith and it is a strict religious requirement that her face must be covered at all times, including in photos. The ethical issue at hand is how to develop a security policy that protects the safety of our employees and accommodates anyone with special needs similar to hers. G-BioSports new security measures should improve employee safety as well as create a good work environment for success. The first step in the decision making process is determining the ethical issue or dilemma. In Aisha’s case, the implementation of photo ID’s for security purposes will create a problem due to her religious beliefs. G-BioSports code of ethics guidelines states, Equal Employment Opportunity and Diversity that, â€Å"Promoting diversity within our workforce is important†. It also states â€Å"G-BioSports strictly prohibits discrimination or harassment on the basis of gender, gender identity, race, color, veteran status, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, mental, or physical disability†. After thorough evaluation of all possible ethical perspectives and issues, I believe the  relationship lens is the correct procedure to follow. This lens would tell us that because our relationship with our employees is necessary to maintain a safe, productive, and morally structured environment we need to take special needs of employees in consideration. This employee needs leniency on the security policy in order to maintain her religious views, but the rest of the company would still follow the ID policy. This way the group as a whole will benefit from the security measures and the relationship with the employee with special needs will be satisfied. Any future ethical problems that arise can be handled in a similar way and employees will feel comfortab le presenting issues they are experiencing with management. Personal Relation The ethical issues that were discussed related to my company in that many employees of my company are from different cultural backgrounds, religions, and have different sexual preferences. Discrimination is definitely something that could be a major problem with the group of individuals that work for the company but the accepting policies and procedures allow for everyone to fit in and feel comfortable. There is no need to hide anything about our personal background in order to get the job or to keep your current without being discriminated against. References Loyola Marymount University. (2009). Resolving an ethical dilemma. Retrieved from http://www.lmu.edu/Page27945.aspx Techrepublic.com. (August 15, 2006. 10 ethical issues confronting IT managers. Retrieved from http://www.techrepublic.com/article/10-ethical-issues-confronting-it-managers/6105942 Trevino, L.K. & Nelson, K.A. (2011). Managing business ethics: Straight talk about how to do it right (5th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.