Legal, social, and economics of Business Essay Example for Free

Legal, social, and economics of Business Essay The scenario in question gives us the portfolio of a person that likes to do things around the home and has come up with an idea that might benefit his/her home and perhaps other homes globally. Another version of this idea already exists on the market but the person believes his invention might further simplify and make the â€Å"appliance† more user friendly and safer. This person does not have available funds for the project and would therefore have to look to an outsider to complete the task at hand. The inventor has researched the market of the other â€Å"appliance† and found that it has an annual growth of 2%. He believes this invention could increase that growth because he thinks this invention might be used in many other â€Å"appliances† making the product quite versatile and therefore appealing to a wide range of markets. For the person to be able to make a wise decision about how to make his project a reality we look at three types of business, the sole proprietorship, general partnership and corporation, while considering the advantages and disadvantages. After looking thoroughly at these types of businesses, we try to make an informed decision in which type to recommend for the project, keeping in mind all the aspects of the persons â€Å"limitations†. These three types of businesses all have their advantages and disadvantages and based on those we determine that general partnership would be the smartest way to proceed, as the persons â€Å"limitations† minimize the chances of the two other options succeeding. Let us start by looking at closely at the three business types in question regarding the scenario. Sole proprietorship, a business owned and operated by one person. Advantages: He would be in full control, and accountable to no one but himself. In the case listed this could be good because he could manage his time between his business and the home equally, on the other hand it might also bring difficulties both to the home and business as one might suffer from the other. Managing a business by oneself must be a difficult task. It is easily achievable. The startup of a sole proprietorship would be easy, but does success come from ease? There must be some risks and difficulties involved. Less money to be raised for starting up the business. As written in the scenario, the subject does not have access to large funds, therefore this could be a less financially upsetting way to start. Disadvantages: He would be liable for all the debts of the business personally, there is no limit to his liability. Putting his family’s financial security at risk might not seem a good idea and hardly appealing to his spouse, but taking a considerable amount of risk would be necessary. He might find it difficult to attain funding. Being an individual with low â€Å"net worth† banks and other loan facilities might not want to take the chance of lending the money for the project. General partnership, two or more persons whom share monetary responsibilities. Advantages: Growth possibilities. As described in the scenario the idea could be usable with several â€Å"appliances† making the project likely to have considerable growth potential in time. Easier to attain funding. If two or more individuals take up partnership it is more likely to be appealing to monetary facilities to fund the project because two individuals are worth more than just one. Both partners are taxed as individuals. Only one level of taxation. Partners are taxed according to their partnership agreement and have full control over how their income is allocated in accordance to their interests as long as there is economic reason. Disadvantages: One person may be liable for all debts. If for example a person would only be letting someone use their name in the partnership agreement, that same person, even if he or she could prove never to have had anything to do with the business itself, could be liable. It is therefore extremely important to have a good, detailed partnership agreement that covers all aspects of the partnership. Conveyance of ownership can be arduous. If for example one of the partners died, the partnership would go to his next of kin or whomever is his or her heir. This could be a problem if that person is not interested in the partnership or for any other reason is unable to uphold the partnership agreement. Corporation, a business where owners have separate status from the business itself and are only financially liable at part. Advantages: The owners are only liable for the funds they bring into the business. There is an exception from this rule, if the incorporation of the company was not â€Å"up to par†, an owner can be held liable. The business is not reliant on the owners to continue. The board members can easily agree on â€Å"pushing† an owner out of the corporation, which can be become a reality in this particular scenario if the inventor or initial owner of the corporation does not have a â€Å"bulletproof† agreement and/or patent of the product of the corporation. If an owner dies or by any other means cannot uphold his status in the corporation it does not affect the corporation itself. Disadvantages: Costly startup. As written before, the subject is not a person of great means. Starting a corporation could be extremely difficult for this person. Rules and regulations. There are different rules and regulations in accordance with where the corporation is incorporated, for the subject it might be a wise decision to incorporate in another state than where he lives, which in turn could make the spouse unhappy for it would obviously make the home life difficult and/or resolve in them having to move the whole family to a new place. The owner as well as the business are taxed separately, making the income double taxed. â€Å"First, a corporation pays income taxes on company profits. Then stockholders pay taxes on their income (in form of dividends) returned by their investments.†( Ebert, R. J., Griffin,R. W. (2011), page 48) To make an informed decision regarding the type of business that best fits the person’s interests, abilities and the product, the first step for the person could be to have the idea assessed. There are several businesses that offer that kind of services and for this particular scenario it might be the best thing to do. From reading the scenario it is apparent that the persons spouse is insecure about the whole affair and by having the idea or invention assessed the inventor could get an experienced professional in this field to assess the product regarding manufacturing possibilities, consumer needs, legal aspects and distribution, before he jumps in â€Å"at the deep end† and puts his family’s financial security at risk. Having done that, based on the assessment, he could make an informed decision regarding the business type best suitable. After reading the scenario and studying the business types it would be likely that the best type in this case would be General partnership. That recommendation is based on the fact that the person is low on funding options and taking in consideration the families security, sole proprietorship seems too risky because the person would have to create large debts in the beginning to just produce the product, that is, if any type of monetary company would want to risk lending to the person in the first place. Also by opting for sole proprietorship, all obligations of the business would fall on the person, making the venture potentially minimize family time. Even though sole proprietorship could result in great personal success and money if all went as planned, the initial risk would be too great, especially when taken into consideration the fact that the person has little or no managerial skills. By choosing general partnership, the person could, after having the invention assessed, and perhaps patented the â€Å"appliance†, make detailed business plan that could be presented to one or more potential business partners with access to large funds and /or good credit, being careful in choosing someone who can bring to the table something that compensates his shortcomings, like his lack of managerial skills. General partnership also divides the risk, making the project more appealing to the persons spouse. By creating a â€Å"bulletproof† detailed partnership agreement it minimizes the risk of all factors of the disadvantages in general partnership. Choosing the corporation type at this time would not be wise because it requires large funds and could prove too large an undertaking for the person at this point. That however does not mean things cannot change in time.

Of Mice and Men :: essays research papers

During the era of the Great Depression in the 1930’s, many people lost their jobs and became very lonely. This was around the time when John Steinbeck released his famous book about these â€Å"bindle stiffs†. The book was called, Of Mice and Men. Loneliness is one of the major themes of this novel. Several of the characters in the book are alone. In this novel, John Steinbeck shows how being alone affects different characters. Each is affected in a different way. Throughout the novel, the theme of loneliness is mostly expressed in the important characters of Candy, Curley’s wife and Crooks. Candy, the ranch handyman, lost his hand in an accident and worries about his future on the ranch. He fears that his age is making him useless and unwanted. Candy's age and handicap also contribute to his loneliness. Many of the men reject Candy because of these things and he fears that he will eventually come to the same end as his old dog. Candy is crushed by Lennie and George's dream to get their own piece of land and "live off the fatta the lan'". This dream lifted Candy's spirit and only set him up for a bigger disappointment. This made Candy not only a victim of loneliness, but also of disillusionment. He also feels the burden of loneliness and shows it by his relationship with his sheep dog. The dog, being described as â€Å"ancient†, â€Å"stinky†, and â€Å"half-blind†, had been in Candy’s life and his companion for a very long time and Candy had grown attached to it. He said he, "had him since he was a pup" and he used to &quo t;herd sheep with him." Once the other farmhands had finally gotten fed up with it and stated that the dog needed to be put out of its misery Candy was extremely reluctant to turn it over and let him go. After hearing the shot ring outside, all Candy could do was turn his face towards a wall and not look around. Certainly Candy found this dog to be a loyal companion of his and he had developed a strong relationship with it over the years, which helped him cope with his loneliness on the ranch. Whenever one is taking a deeper look at Of Mice and Men one will probably get a sense of how depressing the ranch really is. These are just a few examples of how different characters dealt with their loneliness. Of Mice and Men :: essays research papers During the era of the Great Depression in the 1930’s, many people lost their jobs and became very lonely. This was around the time when John Steinbeck released his famous book about these â€Å"bindle stiffs†. The book was called, Of Mice and Men. Loneliness is one of the major themes of this novel. Several of the characters in the book are alone. In this novel, John Steinbeck shows how being alone affects different characters. Each is affected in a different way. Throughout the novel, the theme of loneliness is mostly expressed in the important characters of Candy, Curley’s wife and Crooks. Candy, the ranch handyman, lost his hand in an accident and worries about his future on the ranch. He fears that his age is making him useless and unwanted. Candy's age and handicap also contribute to his loneliness. Many of the men reject Candy because of these things and he fears that he will eventually come to the same end as his old dog. Candy is crushed by Lennie and George's dream to get their own piece of land and "live off the fatta the lan'". This dream lifted Candy's spirit and only set him up for a bigger disappointment. This made Candy not only a victim of loneliness, but also of disillusionment. He also feels the burden of loneliness and shows it by his relationship with his sheep dog. The dog, being described as â€Å"ancient†, â€Å"stinky†, and â€Å"half-blind†, had been in Candy’s life and his companion for a very long time and Candy had grown attached to it. He said he, "had him since he was a pup" and he used to &quo t;herd sheep with him." Once the other farmhands had finally gotten fed up with it and stated that the dog needed to be put out of its misery Candy was extremely reluctant to turn it over and let him go. After hearing the shot ring outside, all Candy could do was turn his face towards a wall and not look around. Certainly Candy found this dog to be a loyal companion of his and he had developed a strong relationship with it over the years, which helped him cope with his loneliness on the ranch. Whenever one is taking a deeper look at Of Mice and Men one will probably get a sense of how depressing the ranch really is. These are just a few examples of how different characters dealt with their loneliness.

Health Write Up Alcohol Essay

Alcohol is one of the most abused drugs in America. It is easily accessible, cheap, and perfectly legal to buy and consume. The way alcohol works is that it enters your bloodstream and moves into the biological membranes in your body. Up to 20% of alcohol consumed is absorbed through your stomach lining and 75% is absorbed in your upper intestine directly into the blood stream. Absorption rate is increased if you mix with carbonation, it is decreased with food, and if you drink higher concentration of alcohol (ie 80 proof or higher) absorption is also slower. The amount of alcohol absorbed along with factors of weight, body fat, sex, and in some cases race all depends on your blood alcohol concentration (or BAC). This is the ratio of alcohol absorbed to the rate of your metabolism. Alcohol is only metabolized through the liver, and cannot be speed up with the use of exercise, drinking coffee, eating certain food, or taking a cold shower. Alcohol has a generally negative impact on health. Chronic use of alcohol will have the user develop sever cirrhosis (scarring of the liver), higher blood pressure, various cancers, and major cognitive impairments, memory loss, including dementia. The constant abuse of alcohol or alcohol dependence will cause people to live shorter lives and they will have withdrawal symptoms when they don’t have a drink for periods of a time. However, there is help very readily available for those who are seeking a change in their drinking habits with many programs of all types.

Corporate Governance Essay

ABSTRACT This paper examines whether the remuneration of the Chief Executive Officer position in Hong Kong public firms is affected by board composition, given the influence of family control on the boards of many Hong Kong companies. It is hypothesized that I) in family-controlled boards, Chief Executive Officers receiver higher compensation and II) Chief Executive Officers in family-controlled boards serve as Chief Executive Officer positions longer. In family-controlled boards, corporate governance is of very high importance as the independent non-executive directors can exert less influence over the board, compared to non-family-controlled boards (â€Å"dispersed boards†). Keywords: Board composition, Remuneration, Corporate Governance. 1.INTRODUCTION The economic turmoil in Asia in 1997 has led to a wider recognition of the importance of corporate governance. In line with global trends towards higher standards of corporate governance, the duties and liabilities of the directors of the listed companies have therefore become more stringent. It follows that many corporate governance mechanisms designed to monitor board members may be less effective for family-owned and family-controlled firms. However, to attract outside investors, family-owned and family-controlled firms tend to encourage greater independence and monitoring from the board. For the purposes of the study, family-owned and family-controlled are used interchangeably. The reason is that actual family ownership is difficult to ascertain due to various shareholdings and special purpose vehicles that are used, and cannot be deduced from annual reports. Thus, in this study we classify family-control and family-ownership when the board is made of a majority of related family members as a â€Å"family-controlled board†. When it is not, we classify it as a â€Å"dispersed board†. In practice, there are instances where the family owns the majority of a company but comprise of a minority of the board, and it is possible that the family is able to exert influence via other avenues, however, this study will not be examining such. Family-owned firms are common throughout Asia. Studies show that, family-owned firms hold more than 20 percent of the equity of listed companies in Asia, and more than 60 percent of the listed companies have connections with family-owned groups (Bebchuk & Fried, 2006). Family-owned businesses represent the predominant form of listed companies in Hong Kong (Standard & Poor’s, 2002). Such family ownership structure implies the strong influence of dominant shareholders and provides limited voice for minority shareholders. Compared to the Anglo-American environment, where ownership blocks are less concentrated but institutional investors are more prevalent, in Hong Kong, there is less of a culture for non-executive directors or minority shareholder activists to challenge. Variations in ownership structure may lead to differences in the nature of agency conflicts, the roles of directors may vary in accordance to the ownership structure. For family-owned firms, Shleifer and Vishny (1997) argue that the primary agency conflict is between a family owner and non-family owners. Meanwhile, for widely held firms, Berle and Means (1932), and, Jensen and Meckling (1976) argue that the primary agency conflict is between executives and shareholders. As a consequence, tying remuneration to performance of executives may prove the most efficient way to mitigate this agency conflict. To date, a vast of literatures published in recent years show the growing recognition of influences of family-owned firms and executive remuneration on corporate governance. Many studies have tended to focus on the use of remuneration contracts to align interests of executives with owners in family-owned firms. The rise in executive remuneration in recent years has been the subject of public criticism, which further intensified corporate governance scandals. Therefore, the question whether a correlation exists between remuneration and family-control in board composition at Hong Kong-listed companies. 2.OBJECTIVES In 1994, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited introduced rules that require listed firms to disclose the remuneration of directors. Before 2004, there was no requirement to disclose the names and remuneration of directors (Cheng & Firth, 2005). The Disclosure of Financial Information rule under Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited’s Listing Rules was amended on 31 March 2004 to require full disclosure, on an individual and named basis, of directors’ fees and any other reimbursement or emolument payable to a director. In addition, Hong Kong Financial Reporting Standard 2 requires listed firms to disclose directors’ share-based remuneration. The Code on Corporate Governance Practices forms part of the Listing Rules and came into effect on 1 January 2005. According to the Code on Corporate Governance Practices, Hong Kong’s listed firms should be overseen by an effective board, which should assume responsibility for the leadership and control of the listed firm, and the members of which should be collectively responsible for promoting the success of the firm by directing and supervising its affairs. Directors should make decisions objectively in the best interests of the firm. In regards of remuneration policy for firms’ directors, the Code on Corporate Governance Practices requires the disclosure of information related to the firm’s directors’ remuneration policy and other remuneration-related matters. There should be a formal and transparent procedure for setting policy on executive directors’ remuneration. The Chief Executive Officer, a director in the board of company, will hence have his/her full remuneration disclosed. It is recommended that remuneration should be set at a level sufficient to attract and retain directors of the caliber required to run the company successfully, but companies should avoid paying more than is necessary. However, it is argued that many corporate governance mechanisms designed to monitor board members may be less effective for family-owned firms. However, to attract outside investors, family-owned firms tend to encourage greater independence and monitoring from the board. In Hong Kong, there are quite a number of listed companies have a high concentration of family ownership. It is common for the top executives of family-owned firms in Hong Kong to be family members. The rise of remuneration of family executives in family-owned firms has been the subject of public criticism. Recognizing this, the purpose of this research is to find out whether there is any relationship between family-board-control of firms and remuneration of Chief Executive Officers. To summarize, this study revolves around the following major objectives. †¢ To test whether there are significant differences in Chief Executive Officers’ remuneration for family-controlled and non-family-controlled firms (specifically firms with family-controlled boards and firms without family-controlled boards); †¢ To find out whether â€Å"Family Chief Executive Offices† (cases where the Chief Executive Officer are family members of the family-controlled boards) are awarded excessive compensation, compromising standards of corporate governance; †¢ To examine the tenure of Chief Executive Officers for family-controlled firms vs non-family-controlled firms, given that there may be differences in the board’s ongoing approval and demand of the results delivered by the Chief Executive Office; and †¢ To test whether there are significant differences in corporate governance structure of family-controlled and non-family-controlled firms. 3.LITERATURES REVIEW, HYPOTHESIS DEVELOPMENT 3.1 Agency theory It is commonly acknowledged that ownership structure, the basis of corporate governance, is important to the overall performance of firms. While there are a large number of literatures discussing ownership structure, agency theory is frequently cited as a foundation. In modern corporations, the separation of ownership and control leads to agency conflicts that can be alleviated through various corporate governance mechanisms (Fama and Jensen, 1983). As one such mechanism, compensation schemes are designed to provide incentives that align the behavior of agents to act on behalf of principles (Jensen and Meckling, 1976). This relationship between executive compensation and firm performance has received considerable attention from the general public and academics. One of the issues in the field of management is the impact of family influence (Mishra et. al., 2001; McConaughy et. al., 1998) and corporate governance on the value of a firm (Khatri et al., 2001; Kwak, 2003; Black et al., 2003). There are various studies in diverse areas like accounting, economics, finance, law and management have been conducted to study such impact (Mishra et al., 2001; Kwak, 2003; Blacket al., 2003; Andersen and Reeb, 2003). These studies have resulted in interesting and useful observations. According to Alchian and Demsetz (1972), the principal agent problem comes from hidden action due to asymmetric information. The essence of a firm is that, it permits people to work as a team. It is the cooperation of a team that leads to a firm’s output. Thus, the agency problem inevitably arises in corporate governance. According to Jensen and Meckling (1976), agent problem arises from the conflict of interests between shareholders as the principals and the executives as the agents. Consequently, residual control rights fall into the hands of management instead of the residual cash flow claimants. As a result, the sum of monitoring expenditures be incurred by the principal, bonding expenditures incurred by the agent, and the value of the lost residual borne by the principal are included as the cost of agency. In general, when ownership of a firm becomes more dispersed, the agency problem will be deteriorated due to the inability of the relatively small shareholders to monitor the behavior of management. The monitoring of managers by shareholders is also weakened by free-rider problem. To mitigate the problem of agency, Ang (2000) and Denis and Sarin (1999) suggested the shareholding of management to be increased in order to make the executive a significant claimant. An inverse correlation exists between the dispersed ownership and firm performance (Berle and Means, 1932), because executives’ interests do not coincide with the interest of shareholders so that corporate resources are not used for the maximization of shareholders’ wealth. This view has been supported by many scholars. Shleifer and Vishny (1986), McConnell and Servaes (1990), and Zingales (1995) found a strong positive relationship between ownership concentration and corporate performance. In transitional economies, Xu and Wang (1999) and Chen (2001) found a positive relationship between actual firm performance and ownership concentration for a sample of listed Chinese companies. 3.2Ownership Structure It is common in Hong Kong, that ownership structure is characterized by single dominant owners (Chau & Leung, 2006). A report of the Corporate Governance Working Group of the Hong Kong Society of Accountants in 1995 indicated that a high concentration on family-controlled listed firms is highly entrepreneurial and opportunistic in their business strategies, however, the report also indicate that these firms with single dominant owners lack resources and corporate culture to maintain strong internal corporate control. The 2001 Review on Corporate Governance by the Hong Kong Standing Committee for Corporate Law Reform, as well as a report from Standard & Poor’s, indicated that family ownership structures present particular challenges. Theoretically, there is a major puzzle regarding the role of family in large firms (Bertrand & Schoar, 2006; Villalonga & Amit, 2006). In family-controlled firms, threatening factors may negatively influence the firms’ value (Demstez, 1983; Demstez and Lehn, 1985). Table 1 as below lists positive and negative factors affecting the relationship between family control and firm value. It shows that there is still difference of opinion among researchers on this topic of importance. 3.3â€Å"Family† Chief Executive Officers In this study, whether a person belonging to the family acts as a Chief Executive Officer is taken into account. We classify family-control and family-ownership when the board is made of a majority of related family members (â€Å"family-controlled board†). When it is not, we classify it as a â€Å"dispersed board†. Family Chief Executive Officers have substantial stockholdings of 5 percent or more (Daily & Dollinger, 1993), with such given bargaining power, can be expected to influence the size and structure of their remuneration packages to their own benefit. Thus, for the purposes of this study, Chief Executive Officers with stockholdings of less than 5 percent are not counted as â€Å"Family Chief Executive Officers†. There are differing opinions on whether such Family Chief Executive Officers have higher or lower remunerations at such family-controlled firms. Some believe that such Family Chief Executive Officers are receiving above-average compensation due to the family-controlled board, as well as their strong ability to influence remuneration committee. Oh the other hand, others take the opposite view and see that Family Chief Executive Officers should be receiving below-average compensation. There is several reasons for this expectation. First of all, both anecdotal (Applegate, 1994; Kets de Vries, 1993) and empirical (Allen & Pamian, 1982; Gomez-Mejia et al., 2001; Schulze et al., 2001) evidence suggest that incumbents with family ties to owners enjoy high employment security. As argued by Beehr (1997), the Family Chief Executive Officer inherently plays two overlapping and interdependent roles: a work role as steward of the company, and a non-work role as fulfillment of family obligations. In reciprocity for this role duality, the Family Chief Executive Officer is rewarded with a relatively assured job (Allen & Pamian, 1982; Kets de Vries, 1993; Gomez-Mejia et al., 2001). Moreover, some literatures suggested that evaluators are more likely to make positive performance attributions to employees when there are emotional ties between monitoring and those being judged (Cardy & Dobbins, 1993). It is expected that in family-controlled firms, board members in their role as monitors may be less inclined to attribute disappointing results to the Family Chief Executive Officer, giving the benefit of the doubt to the incumbent when interpreting ambiguous performance data. Agency theory suggests that there are inherent conflicts between shareholders and executives. Applying agency theory’s logic, the above scenario suggests that in family-controlled firms, risk adverse agents would trade higher job security for lower earnings if they are related to principals. Family Chief Executive Officers mitigate usual agency costs because of their aligned interests with the owners (Anderson & Reeb, 2003). The information asymmetry problem in agency relationships may also be reduced given the close ties between Family Chief Executive Officers and the owners. Since they hold high ownership stakes, Family Chief Executive Officers have sufficient incentives to place family welfare ahead of personal interests, thus may perform better than firms with non-family Chief Executive Officers. Barney (2001) suggested that appointing family members as Chief Executive Officers may be beneficial. Tradition, loyalty, and bonding relationships determine how resources are deployed in family firms. Family Chief Executive Officers build common interests and identities (Habbershon & Williams, 1999) and play a dual role by being both owners and executives (Chang, 2003; Yiu, Bruton, & Lu, 2005). Through social relationships with managers and employees, Family Chief Executive Officers may help to obtain intangible resources such as goal congruence, trust, and social interactions, providing valuable, unique, and hard-to-imitate competitive advantage (Chu, 2011; Liu et al., 2011; Luo & Chung, 2005). The Code on Corporate Governance Practices recommends remuneration committee to seek advice from the Chief Executive Officer on the matter of directors’ remuneration. Executives in firms controlled by a large shareholder receive more compensation for performance, than executives in firms lacking a controlling owner (Gomez-Mejia et al., 1987). Mehran (1995) examined the relationship between executive remuneration, ownership structure and firm performance. The results indicate that firms, which have more outside directors, have a higher percentage of executive remuneration in equity-based form. Moreover, the percentage of equity-based remuneration is inversely related to the outside directors’ equity ownership, i.e., the executive’s equity-based remuneration rose if the outside directors’ owned less of the company, and vice-versa. Next, Mehran (1995) turned to firm performance, and its relationship to executive remuneration and ownership structure. He used Tobin’s Q and return on assets as measures of firm performance. He found firm performance to be positively related to the percentage of executive remuneration that is equity-based. However, Mehran (1995) no relationship between firm performance and ownership structure. He concluded that the results support the notion that executive remuneration should be tied to firm performance. There is a vast amount of literature on turnover of the Chief Executive Officer position (Furtado and Karan, 1990; Kesner and Sebora, 1994; Finkelstein and Hambrick, 1996; Pitcher et al., 2000). However, according to Finkelstein and Hambrick (1996), the relationship between remuneration and turnover has not been subjected to rigorous empirical examination, even given the emphasis on retention as a justification for high remuneration of Chief Executive Officer. The following hypotheses are framed: Hypothesis 1: In family-controlled boards, Chief Executive Officers receive higher compensation. Hypothesis 2: Chief Executive Officers in family-controlled boards serve as Chief Executive Officer positions longer. 3.4Board Composition The role of the board is expected to represent shareholders, provide strategic guidance to and effective oversight of management, foster a culture of good governance, and promote a safe and healthy working environment within the company. In accordance to Hong Kong Stock Exchange Listing Rule 3.10, the board of directors is required to have at least three independent non-executive directors. The presence of â€Å"truly† independent non-executive directors in the corporate governance regime is seen as one way of mitigating agency problem associated with concentrated family ownership. In family-owned firms, given the influence of family control on the remuneration and performance relationships exists, where the majority of shares are in the hands of family members, under this circumstance, the executive and risk-bearer functions are merged and more of the wealth consequences of the executives’ decisions are internalized. In other words, there is less separation of ownership and control and thus lowering agency costs, which in turn leads to less cost for monitoring by outside directors. Therefore, firms closely controlled and managed by family members are expected to use lower proportion of outside directors compared with firms with disperse ownership. In widely held firms, with ownership dispersed among many investors, investors are often small and poorly informed to exercise even the control rights they actually have. Moreover, the free-rider problem faced by individual investors makes them uninterested in expending effort to learn about the firms they have financed, or even to participate in the governance (Shleifer and Vishny, 1997). As a result, the larger degree of separation of ownership and control in widely held firms leads to greater conflicts. The use of outside directors by widely held firms is expected to be more. 3.5Remuneration Committee In 1999, remuneration committees were uncommon in Hong Kong, with only few firms reporting their existence (Cheng & Firth, 2005). Since 2006, Hong Kong Stock Exchange proposes a rule to require issuers to set up a remuneration committee, with the committee chairman and a majority of the members being Independent Non-executive Directors. In family-owned firms, the positions of the Chief Executive Officer are usually held by family members, who can influence the level of remuneration paid to directors. The Code on Corporate Governance Practices recommends remuneration committee to seek advice from the Chief Executive Officer on the matter of directors’ remuneration. The Code on Corporate Governance Practices recommends that the majority of remuneration committee members be Independent Non-executive Directors. The presence of Independent Non-executive Directors on the remuneration committee is supposed to be used as monitoring mechanism that prevents excessive remuneration for executive directors (Basu et al., 2007), including that of the Chief Executive Officer. The role of independent non-executive directors and large institutional shareholders becomes crucial to curtailing the possible self-serving behavior of top managers (HKSA, 2001). Studies of firms in other countries show conflicting results on the relationship between remuneration and remuneration committee. Some findings show that remuneration committees tend to reduce remuneration, whereas others report the opposite (Conyon & Peck, 1998; Ezzamel & Watson, 1998). However, in practice it is highly likely that the Chief Executive Officer has some influence over the compensation decision (Murphy, 1999). An important question relating to the composition of remuneration committee concerns the ideal combination of outsiders and insiders. Insiders may face distorted incentives due to their lack of independence from the Family Chief Executive Officer (Bushman et al., 2004). 3.6 Components of Remuneration The basic components of remuneration of Chief Executive Officer are similar, however, the relative level and weights on the components differ (Abowd and Kaplan, 1999, and Bryan et al., 2006). Generally, remuneration of Chief Executive Officer can be divided into four basic parts: a base salary, an annual bonus which is tied to some accounting measure of company performance, stock options, and long-term incentive plans, such as restricted stock plans and multi-year accounting-based performance plans. †¢ Base salary: is the fixed part of remuneration of Chief Executive Officer, causing risk-averse executives to prefer an increase in base salary rather than an increase in bonuses. Most components of remuneration are specified relative to base salary. †¢ Bonus: in addition to the base salary, most companies offer their executives an annual bonus plan based on a single year’s performance. The purpose of such bonuses, as well as options, is to align the incentives of the Chief Executive Officer with that of the shareholders. †¢ Stock options: are contracts, which give the owner the right to buy shares at a pre-specified exercise price. Stock options reward stock price appreciation, not total shareholder return, which includes dividends. In this study, stock options are excluded, as full details of such information would not be retrievable from annual reports. †¢ Other forms of compensation: restricted stock to be received by executives, it is restricted in the sense that shares are forfeited under certain conditions, which usually have to do with the longevity of employment. Many companies also have long-term incentive plans in addition to the bonus plans, which are based on annual performance. Top executives routinely participate in supplemental executive retirement plans in addition to the company-wide retirement plans. Most executives have some sort of severance arrangement. Finally, executives often receive benefits in the form of free use of company cars, housing, etc. Based on the various conceptual and empirical evidences presented above, this study aims to understand whether the remuneration of a Family Chief Executive Officer is influenced by the board composition, i.e. whether it is family-controlled or not. This ties into the original Hypothesis 1, thus, the further hypotheses is framed as follows: Hypothesis 3: The higher the proportion of independent non-executive members on the board of directors at family-board-controlled firms, the lower the Chief Executive Officer remuneration.

Quotes From the Movie Borat

Quotes From the Movie Borat The 2006 film Borat, starring Sasha Baron Cohen, is a comedy about a fictional man from Kazakhstan who comes to America and finds it very different than he expected. Its full title is Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.   The Backstory of Borat: Controversy and Criticism The film is a style known as mockumentary (think Spinal Tap), and many of the Americans who Borat interviewed were supposedly unaware he was an actor and not a real Kazakh journalist. (A few were none too pleased with how they were portrayed in the film, and claimed that they were duped into participating.) The film and its highly crude humor made it extremely controversial even before it was released in theaters, and Borat was banned in many Arab countries. Nonetheless, Cohen won a Golden Globe for his performance, and the movie was a critical and box office success. Here are some weird and wild quotes from this unusual movie. Be warned that theyre definitely not for a family audience and may be offensive to some readers. Borats Conversations With Others Mike Jared: Im, er... recently retired...Borat: You are a retard? Azamat: [arguing with Borat] Whats in California?Borat: [making it up] Pearl Harbor is there. So is Texas. Borat: Your dog is a loser... you are upset?Dog Show Contestant: No, no. I dont get upset. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.Borat: You will put him in a sack in the river? Borat  [To Veteran Feminists of America, on being questioned whether women should be educated] Is it not a problem that the woman have a smaller brain than a man? The government scientist Dr. Yamuka has proved it is  size  of  squirrel. More From the Mouth of Borat You let  women in cinemas here? In my  country, we have a pen outside for the animals and  womens.I bring iPod back from America and I get my  neighbor  iPod mini... because it is for girls!I can hit a gypsy with a rock from 15 meters away if chained... ten if not.I say this because  I had a very bad gypsy attack... they stole my wife, plow... and they touch my horse in a very bad way... he got very depressed.In my country, we say to let a woman drive a car is like to let a monkey fly a plane, very dangerous yes.Kazakhstan is the greatest country in the world; all other countries are run by little girls.Kazakhstan is number one exporter of potassium; other Central Asian countries have inferior potassium.I arrived in Americas airport with  clothings, US dollars, and a jar of gypsy tears to protect me from AIDS.Democracy is different in America. For  example,  women can vote but  horse  can not!Please, you come see my film. If it not  success, I will  be execu te.

Transition Questions on SAT Writing Tips and Examples

Transition Questions on SAT Writing Tips and Examples SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips In writing, transitions are important because they help establish logical connections between ideas. On the SAT Writing and Languge section, questions about transitions are a major component of the test. In this article, I will thoroughly explain the types of transition questions on the SAT and provide detailed advice on how to correctly answer these questions. Importance of Transition Questions Based on our analysis, transition questions are the most common type of questions on the SAT Writing section. You can expect about 5-7 transition questions on the SAT. Therefore, in order to reach your target score, it’s essential to understand how to correctly answer SAT transition questions. What Are SAT Transition Questions? There are two major types of transition questions. The first type will ask you to select the transition word that best completes a sentence. Examples of transition words include â€Å"moreover,† â€Å"therefore,† and â€Å"nevertheless.† The other type of transition question will ask you to select the phrase or sentence that most logically connects to or follows another part of the passage. Type #1: Transitional Words Selecting the right transitional word or phrase to complete a sentence requires you to understand how different transitional words are used. For the most part, transitional word questions on the SAT cover three basic transitional relationships: addition, contrast, and causation. Addition: words like â€Å"furthermore† or â€Å"moreover† that continue or elaborate on a thought. Contrast: words like â€Å"despite† or â€Å"although† that introduce conflicting ideas. Causation: words like â€Å"since† or â€Å"because† that indicate a causal relationship. Here are some example sentences. Pay attention to how the transition words make sense in context. Addition: Making a Murderer is a riveting documentary. Also, it sheds light on the criminal justice system. Contrast: Chris is an extremely popular singer. However, his voice isn’t very good. Causation: Because the weather is warm, I’m wearing shorts today. Not every transition word falls into one of these categories, but thinking of transitions in these terms can help you correctly answer transition questions. Most of the transition word questions will ask you to connect two sentences using a transition word. Here’s a basic example of this type of question. Jeremy never studies. Also, he gets perfect grades on his exams. A. NO CHANGE B. Likewise, C. However, D. Therefore, Because you wouldn’t expect somebody who never studies to get perfect grades, we need to use a contrast word. Answer choice C is the only one that makes sense in context. Key Transition Words These are the most common transition words divided by type. Familiarize yourself with the words on this list and their corresponding transition types. Addition Contrast Causation Also However Thus Moreover On the other hand As such In fact Nonetheless Therefore Furthermore Nevertheless Consequently In addition Still As a result Similarly Instead Indeed Despite this In conclusion Meanwhile In other words Finally Next Likewise Then For example How to Approach Transition Word Questions Here's a step-by-step guide to help you correctly answer transition word questions. #1: Read Until the End of the Sentence This advice goes for all SAT Writing questions. To ensure that you properly understand the context and are able to correctly determine the right transition word to use, you need to read the entire sentence to effectively determine the relationship between the sentences. #2: Cross Out the Underlined Word Next, cross out the underlined word. Otherwise, if you don’t immediately recognize an obvious error, you may be biased in favor of the original phrasing. #3: Determine Which Word You Would Use Decide which transition word you would use to connect the sentences. You may find that exact word or a synonym in the answer choices. #4: Identify the Type of Relationship Determine whether the sentences have an addition, contrast, or causation relationship. In rare cases, they may have a different relationship. If you’re not sure, think about whether you would connect the sentences with and (addition), but (contrast), or so/because (causation). #5 Narrow Down Your Choices Once you know what you’re looking for, eliminate the choices that don’t make sense or aren’t grammatical. #6: Plug In Your Answer When you think you have selected the right answer, plug it into the original sentence to make sure the transition is logical. Follow the steps to SAT success! SAT Examples Use the steps to answer the following SAT transition word questions. First, we need to get rid of â€Å"also† and determine the relationship between the two sentences. The first sentence is talking about one benefit of greek yogurt compared to conventional yogurt. The next sentence lists another benefit of Greek yogurt; therefore, we can determine that we should use an addition transition word. â€Å"Also† is a perfect transition between these two sentences. The correct answer is A. However, let’s look at the other choices to make sure. Answer choice B could only be correct if the second sentence provided an explanation of the first. Answer choice C could only be correct if the two sentences had a causation relationship. The second sentence would have to be a result of the first sentence. Answer choice D is wrong because that transition could only be used if the second sentence provided an example of the first sentence. Let's try another SAT example of a transition word question: Again, let’s remove the transition â€Å"For instance† and determine the relationship between the two sentences. The first sentence states that advocates of organic food believe that organic is healthier, but that’s not supported by scientific evidence. The second sentence cites a review that analyzed 50 years of studies in which researchers found no evidence that organic crops were more nutritious than conventionally grown crops. The second sentence provides an example that supports the claim made in the first sentence. Therefore, we need a transition that introduces an example. Answer choice B indicates a contrast relationship and answer choices C and D indicate addition. The only answer choice that effectively introduces an example is answer choice A. Steven Depolo/Flickr Want to learn more about the SAT but tired of reading blog articles? Then you'll love our free, SAT prep livestreams. Designed and led by PrepScholar SAT experts, these live video events are a great resource for students and parents looking to learn more about the SAT and SAT prep. Click on the button below to register for one of our livestreams today! Type #2: Transitional Phrases and Sentences The other type of transition question asks you to select the phrase or sentence that will most logically connect to the information in the passage. These questions will normally be phrased like this: Which choice most effectively sets up the information that follows? Which choice most effectively sets up the information given at the end of the sentence? Which choice provides the most logical introduction to the sentence? Which choice most logically follows from the previous sentence? Basically, these questions are going to be asking you to select the choice that sets up information or logically follows previous sentences. Step-By-Step Approach to Transitional Phrases Questions These are general steps because the specific steps you take will be dependent on the exact question that is being asked. #1: Pay Attention to What the Question is Asking Make sure you’re answering the right question. Some questions may ask which choice sets up the information in the rest of the passage. Meanwhile, some questions may ask which choice sets up the information in the next sentence. You want to ensure that you don’t make a mistake because you misunderstood what thequestion was asking. #2: Read What’s Necessary to Answer the Question If the question asks you which choice logically follows from the previous sentence, you need to read the sentence in question and the previous sentence. If the question asks which choice sets up the information in the rest of the passage, you need to at least skim the rest of the passage before answering the question. Furthermore, it may be helpful to skip the question and come back to it after you've answered the questions on the rest of the passage. #3: Keep in Mind Types of Transitional Relationships Even though most of these questions don’t involve transitional words, it can be helpful to determine if there’s a clear contrasting, addition, or causal relationship. #4: Summarize the Information That Is Being Referenced in the Question Read and summarize the sentence or paragraph the question is asking about. For example, if the question asks which choice sets up the information that follows in the next paragraph, read the next paragraph and briefly summarize the information. Taking this step will allow you to more easily determine which answer choice sets up the information. #5: Narrow Down the Choices Eliminate answer choices that don’t logically set up the information or follow the previous sentence. The correct answer choice should make the sentences in question logically connect. $6: Plug in the Choice You Think Works Best After you’ve eliminated the choices you think are wrong, plug in the answer you’ve selected to make sure that it makes sense in context. Real SAT Examples Follow the steps I gave you to answer these SAT questions. The question is asking for the sentence that sets up the information revealed in the final two sentences of the paragraph, starting with â€Å"a 1994 survey.† After reading the final two sentences, we can determine that the information demonstrates that colleges haven’t supported the study of philosophy or shown that they care about philosophy. We need to find a sentence that logically connects to this information. Answer choice A has nothing to do with the information. There is no mention of jobs or job offers for philosophy students in those sentences. Answer choice B contradicts the information because philosophy departments were eliminated. Answer choice C has nothing to do with the information that follows. The information has nothing to do with students resisting majoring in philosophy. Answer choice D seems to be correct because it sets up the facts that a low percentage of colleges required philosophy and that 400 philosophy departments were eliminated. After plugging in answer choice D into the paragraph, everything makes sense in context. The previous sentence mentions the usefulness of philosophy, which sets up the contrast indicated by â€Å"However† in answer choice D. The rest of the sentence starting with â€Å"colleges† sets up the facts that are revealed in the following two sentences. The correct answer is D. Try one more example. The question is asking us to select the most logical introductory clause to the sentence. The correct answer should logically follow the previous sentence and connect to the rest of the sentence. The first sentence states that the food on rail lines was terrible. Because the sentence in the question is a sentence fragment (corrected in #14), you should read the following sentence,too. We need a clause that connects that bad quality of rail food with Harvey’s decision to open a restaurant to serve rail customers. The clause in the original sentence has nothing to do with the food quality or Harvey’s decision to open a restaurant. Similarly, answer choice B introduces unrelated information. Answer choice C seems to work perfectly when we plug it into the sentence. If we select answer choice D, there would be no introduction to the sentence and it would be less strongly connected to the previous sentence. The correct answer is C. Review: Key Strategies for Transition Questions Here are the important strategies to use when you encounter a transition question on the SAT. #1: Consider the Type of Transitional Relationship For all transition questions, think about how the sentences are related. Knowing the relationship between the sentences in question are key to determining how to transition between them. #2: Read the Question Carefully For questions that are written out, make sure you understand what the question is asking. Also, read enough of the passage to understand the context and answer the question. #3: Use Multiple Choice to Your Advantage For transition word questions, if two answers are synonyms, neither is correct. Eliminate obvious wrong answers. #4: Plug in the Answer You Think Is Best Check your answer by plugging in the choice you think is best. The transition should make sense in context. What's Next? Now that you've mastered a critical component of SAT Writing, make sure you know the most important grammar rules on the SAT. If you want to learn about a potentially challenging type of SAT Writing question, you should check out my article on SAT idioms. Finally, learn the secret to getting a perfect SAT score. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points? Check out our best-in-class online SAT prep program. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your SAT score by 160 points or more. Our program is entirely online, and it customizes what you study to your strengths and weaknesses. If you liked this Writing and grammar lesson, you'll love our program.Along with more detailed lessons, you'll get thousands ofpractice problems organized by individual skills so you learn most effectively. We'll also give you a step-by-step program to follow so you'll never be confused about what to study next. Check out our 5-day free trial:

Critical Infrastructure Identification Research Paper

Critical Infrastructure Identification - Research Paper Example The infrastructures that are most critical to protect in New York City (NYC) are the transport infrastructure (including the major bridges and highways), the medical infrastructure, the communication infrastructure, the fire and safety infrastructure, the power, water and other utilities infrastructure, prisons, high occupancy buildings, national monuments and schools. These are essential in any defense or natural disaster mitigation operations and the necessary steps should be taken to ensure that they are protected from terrorist attacks. The increasing threat of international terrorism has resulted in a renewal of the federal government’s interest in issues related to infrastructure. The focus has changed from the adequacy of infrastructure to the protection of infrastructure. One of the problems seems to relate to the identification of critical infrastructure. This has been very important especially in the NYC area which was the scene of the most devastating terrorist atta ck on September 11, 2001. The act defines critical infrastructure as â€Å"systems and assets, whether physical or virtual, so vital to the United States that the incapacity or destruction of such systems and assets would have a debilitating impact on security, national economic security, national public health or safety, or any combination of those matters† (Moteff and Parfomak, 2004) Description and Analysis of Best Practice Used In Critical Infrastructure Identification The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has drafted a list of key assets. No real basis was established to determine what is key and so the departments’ listings are often somewhat different. An assets criticality depends on the assets operational or business value and is also a function of both time and situation. The value of the critical infrastructure in New York City (NYC) relates to the key operations military and otherwise that depend on these assets and how these dependencies change over ti me. It also depends on the sensitivity of the City’s operations and services to the loss of the asset. That means if the asset is affected by any natural disasters or other acts of terrorism, the maximum time for which it can be out of use before it results in serious implications for the normal operations of the City. It also depends on whether asset restoration or other backup measures can occur within the time allocated as the asset’s maximum allowable down time. These critical assets will include assets that require special protection because of their potential for destruction and or the value that they provide for the City. They may include symbols and icons that represent the heritage of the nation. The concept surrounding their identification is a means by which the government can place emphasis on high priority assets in its critical infrastructure protection program. All the federal departments and agencies have been given the task of identifying their critica l infrastructure. The heads of these departments and agencies report to the Secretary on an annual basis on their efforts to identify; prioritize and coordinate the protection of critical infrastructure and key resources in their respective sectors (DHS, 2008). The DHS and sector-specific agencies collaborate with the private sector which owns and operates most