Tuesday, December 24, 2019

Job Interview Questions and Sample Answers - 1444 Words

Ads Strong Interview Answers www.InterviewSuccessFormula.com The 3 Things You Should Never Say in a Job Interview. Check Them Out! Best Interview Answers www.InterviewAdvisers.com Secrets to Help You to Get Hired in Your Next Job Interview. Start Now! The Best Interview Answer CareerConfidential.com/FreeEbook Answers Top 50 Interview Questions DownLoad Free Ebook Now. See More About job interview questions and answers job interviews interview questions job interview tips Ads How To Speak English DoTellAll.com Learn About How To Speak English. Become A Smarter Savvier Shopper. Automated HotBlock Sample www.qtechcorp.com Prep for AA/ICP/MS with Perchloric ready Fumehood / Microwave Digstion Job interviews are always stressful - even for†¦show more content†¦Best Answers Do you prefer to work independently or on a team? - Best Answers Give some examples of teamwork. - Best Answers More teamwork interview questions. - Best Answers What type of work environment do you prefer? - Best Answers How do you evaluate success? - Best Answers If you know your boss is 100% wrong about something how would you handle it? - Best Answers Describe a difficult work situation / project and how you overcame it. - Best Answers Describe a time when your workload was heavy and how you handled it. - Best Answers More job interview questions about your abilities. - Best Answers More job interview questions about you. - Best Answers Job Interview Questions About the New Job and the Company What interests you about this job? - Best Answers Why do you want this job? - Best Answers What applicable attributes / experience do you have? - Best Answers Are you overqualified for this job? - Best Answers What can you do for this company? - Best Answers Why should we hire you? - Best Answers Why are you the best person for the job? - Best Answers What do you know about this company? - Best Answers Why do you want to work here? - Best Answers What challenges are you looking for in a position? - Best Answers What can you contribute to this company? - Best Answers What do you see yourself doing within the first 30 days on the job? - Best Answers What would you do if you found out the company was doing something illegal? - Best Answers Are youShow MoreRelatedRance Joyce Recruitment And Selection Unit 5 Assignment Essay872 Words   |  4 Pagesï » ¿ Job Interviewing Skills Joyce Rance GB546-1217 – 0203 – 01N Recruitment and Selection January 27, 2015 Professor Vincent Pellettiere Interview Sample I The first interview sample was taken from YouTube (2013), â€Å"Max Employment-Top 10 Job Interview Questions and Answers†. The job candidate in the video was interviewing for a Sales Administration position. The job that I selected from Indeed.com is – Inside Sales/Sales Coordinator, at Minnesota Rubber and Plastics, - Minneapolis HQ (quadionRead MoreSample Questions And Answers1272 Words   |  6 PagesSample Questions and Answers Tell me about yourself †¦. This is tricky not to waffle or give unrelated information. You need to aim to address your capability, commitment and cultural fit, here is a sample answer: ‘Good morning, my name is James Smith.* I am a qualified accountant with six years post qualified experience gained within the pharmaceutical industry. 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By learning different tools and tactics on improving skills and speaking abilities will only help stand out for a company to choose your resume and invite for an interview and possibly start your career. In the jobs search I searched for Operations Manager. With the degree I amRead MoreApplied Business Research and Statistics1261 Words   |  6 Pagesreport the results of the survey. It is very important that questionnaire looks professional, provides clear instructions and is easy to read and organized in a way that it is easy to follow to preserve respondents motivation to fill it out and that questions are organized by topic and that response choices include all the possible responses respondents can make. b) The University of West Virginia is holding an election for student government. There are three candidates running for president. A politicalRead MoreCan People Attitudes On The Legal Status Of Prostitution Be Shaped By Media Representation?1484 Words   |  6 Pages Research Design: Prior to defining the methodology employed for this research, hypothesised answers are set for the research question ‘Can people attitudes on the legal status of prostitution be shaped by media representation?’. The hypothesis to question is posited as ‘an individual with less knowledge on the subject (i.e. prostitution and its legality issues) is probably influenced by media on his or her attitude towards prostitution’. This research intends to adopt an experimental designRead MoreTBLS BK3 WK3 Ch3 Asgn1 V02970 Words   |  4 PagesUMA Mock Interview Appointment 10 points As a UMA student, you are expected to meet with a Mock Interview Specialist to prepare you for your formal interview. During this 45-minute session, you will practice answering questions and gain valuable information on how to professionally present yourself to a potential employer. In order to get credit for this assignment, you MUST schedule your appointment by completing the scheduling form below. If you have already completed a mock interview, still completeRead MoreApplications: Utility Concerns in Choosing an Assessment Method1316 Words   |  6 Pagesmanagement while getting his business degree. They both suggested interviews and a work sample test that would include hands on demonstration of scooping ice cream and serving it. In his estimations, Randy figured it would cost around $100 to interview an applicant and $150 per applicant to perform the work sample test. Professor Higgins informed Randy that the validity of the interview is r = .30 and the validity of the work s ample is r = .50. 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Monday, December 16, 2019

Ethical Audit Report of Tesco Free Essays

1. 0 Introduction According to Mamoria (2010), business ethics is defined as the businessman’s integrity so far as his conduct or behaviour is concerned in all fields of business as well as towards the society and other businesses. Thus, the conduct or behaviour by businessman towards the society or others may have some conflicts and contradictions. We will write a custom essay sample on Ethical Audit Report of Tesco or any similar topic only for you Order Now The intention of this report is to highlight what and why the incidents happened. The incidents include the employment of illegal workers, price fixing, and poor product quality. All these incidents tend to spoil the corporate’ image of the company and also bring harmful effect to the communities and other stakeholders. So, Tesco took action by compensating to the victims, restructured corporate management system for better performances, and provided training programme and learning course for the employee. The ethical theories applicable to Tesco include Ethics of Justice, Ethics of Duty, and Feminist Ethics, which will also be discussed in this report. Related article: How Tesco Communicates With Customers In addition, the organization’s best practices and values such as corporate social responsibility and protecting the environment will also be discussed for the close up of this report. 1. 1 Background of Tesco Tesco, one of the largest retailers in the world started its business in 1919. The Founder, Jack Cohen started a grocery stall in East End of London. He made a profit of ? 1 from sales of ? 4 on his first day. After 5 years, in 1924. Mr. Cohen bought a shipment of tea from Mr. T. E. Stockwell where the â€Å"Tesco† brand first appearance. Tesco expanded its business to petrol station in 1974, and became the UK’s largest independent petrol retailer. It generated a total sales topped ? 1bn and doubled up to ? 2bn in 1982. In order to overtake the UK’s leading grocer in 1990, Tesco made an aggressive marketing campaign to open more stores to gain its businesses. In 2000, Tesco continued to expand its business by product range from clothes to electrical and personal finance products when Tesco. com was launched (www. telegraph. co. uk). For more detail on its corporate background, kindly refer to Appendix I. 2. 0 Ethical Dilemmas Ethics in general and ethics in business are very intimate to one another. Therefore one’s personal ethics cannot be completely separated from one’s business or organizational ethics. If you are a man of principles, then you are more inclined to insist on high moral standards in your business and organizations (Gavai, 2010). No matter how strong the corporate policy and system, ethical dilemmas still exist as everyone is looking for their own interest. Tesco, one of the biggest retailers in worldwide also faces the same problems such as illegal workers, price fixing and poor product quality. . 1 Illegal Workers Tesco was caught for hiring 30 illegal workers who were foreign students at one of its warehouses. These students were from 11 different nationalities; mostly Bangladeshi and Indian origins were alleged for working up to 3? times longer than their allowed working hour in visa permit (www. visabureau. com). They worked as much as 50 hours extra than the allowed ho urs of 20 hours per week. This incident happened after the UK border Agency enforcement team visited their factory on July 2012 in Croydon (www. immigrationmatters. co. uk). The retailer took responsibilities by giving corporation to the investigation as they insisted they did not condone illegal working (www. telegraph. co. uk). Anyhow, employees were considered the victims in this incident as they had not been protected by the company’s employment rules, where they were forced to work for extra hours. They faced big losses such as inability to further education and having a work-life balance. Employer did not protect for employee welfare, they abused employee right to work extra which prompted to product high productivity, maximize the profit margin by saving cost of employee salary. Supplier played a key role in this scenario, as it was the only party to transform information between the employers and the employee while in the process of recruitment. In fact, there was wrong information sending either to the employer or the employee. 2. 2 Price Fixing Tesco was accused in the scandal of the pricing fixing on its dairy products such as cheese and milk. The consumers from the Office of Fair Trading in UK reported that Tesco had charged them an additional of approximately ? 270M between years 2002-2003. The huge amount was accumulated from 3 pence extra for a pint of milk, 15 penny extra for each quarter-pound of butter and the same amount per half-pound of cheese for every single purchased together with another 8 firms were implicated in the collusion (www. dailymail. co. uk). They were caught by breaching the competition act in synchronising the increased price with other competitors for certain dairy products. However, Tesco’s competitors had admitted and OFT had been given discount on the fined amount as they had given cooperation in the investigation. When the corporations did not practice fair competition which comply with the competition law, consumers were the victims because they did not protect in fair trading. This is clearly a strong violation of consumers’ rights (www. savistamagazine. com). Shareholders in the corporations basically earned extra profits in this scenario. Whereas, this practices was not encouraged as they must obey the corporate law which was stated in the Corporate Governance. Government department plays a key role in this embarrass scenario; their intention was to protect the consumers. Their penalty towards the corporations sent a clear signal to them not to violate consumers’ rights. In fact, families in UK suffering big loss of expensed extra for the daily goods in unknowingly. They should be protected under the fair trading policy which ensured them to trade in worthiness. 2. 3 Poor Product Quality Tesco also received a punishment from the Bracknell Magistrate Court for selling 127 outdated foods in the Martins Heron branch on May 2011. The foods included beef-burgers, ham and chocolate cheesecake. This incident happened when a girl fell sick after consuming chargrilled chicken pasta salad. This prompted Bracknell Forest Trading Standards officers to investigate the matter after receiving the complaint. The officers found that the foods had expired for 16 days during a visit to the store (www. getreading. co. uk). Trading Standards officers commented this matter as the â€Å"worst case of out-of- date product† that they had ever seen (www. mirror. co. uk). The irresponsible behavior acted by the management of Tesco was strongly affected to the public health. It also brought suffer to the consumers from physically and mentality. The shareholders were also facing lost when the management was careless in managing the stocks. Besides the above, Tesco was discovered for selling 100 expired food products which included yoghurts, fruit smoothies, soup, gravy, vegetable pakoras, packaged salad, pasta bowls, samosa and bhaji snack packs and guacomole dip. These items were past their sell-by-dated of between 1 to 17 days. The occurrence was engaged by a manager who had 20 years experience but his first time to manage the largest store chain, Tesco Extra. Shoppers had complaint about the poor problems to the Coventry City Council and the trading standards officers had proven the issues after their raids at the branch in Gielgud Way, Walsgrave in November 2009 (www. oventrytelegraph. net) 3. 0 Actions taken to solve these dilemmas According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, dilemmas are situations or problems where a person has to make a difficult choice; an ethical dilemma is a problem where a person has to choose between a moral and an immoral act (smallbusiness. chron. com). Dilemma occurrences in the workpla ce are common and action taken to solve them is very important, whereas theory of ethics can be applied as guidelines which may bring the moral decision. 3. 1 Reinforce in recruitment and management system Tesco was fined for a total of ? 15,000 by UK Border Agency (UKBA) for 23 students, of various nationalities who had breached the visa working terms (www. telegraph. co. uk). UKBA was reflecting UK government’s intention into act which has promised to overwhelm on visa abuse. The 23 individuals were not permitted to enter UK again (www. visabureau. com). The Britain’s biggest supermarket had ensured that the incident in this nature will never happen again. One of the executive had been laid off after the lacklustre performance (www. telegraph. co. uk). Tesco was a founder member of Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI). They searched employee with high standard by applying the ETI base code which included; no exploitation of child labour, working hours not exceeding (20 hours per week for foreign workers) and regular employment is provided (www. tesco. ie). However, the government had carried out a good job by taking serious action against any employers who had breached the visa working terms. After the fined it brought a â€Å"warning† to the competitors and simultaneously as a reminder to them to have good ethical practice while in competition. Nobody is allowed to breach the rules in order to obtain success in competition. In addition, after UKBA taken action against the employer, the rest employees will enjoy the benefits which to work in regularly, fair treated, feel protected and concerned by the government. Employer was ensured that the management system been improved after laid off an employee who made mistake. Employer was informed to put employee’s welfares as priority. 3. 2 Defending the rights Tesco was slapped with the fined of ? 10m for price-fixing of its dairy products by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) in 2011 after seven years of investigation. However, they threatened to fight back by taking legal action against OFT to defend themselves. The company claimed they were â€Å"surprised and dismayed† with the fined and strongly denied with any collusion in changing pricing detail with each other via the dairy processors. Tesco stand at its point vigorously and throughout the court. However, it had urged the government to deprive OFT of its power to investigate and punish firms under the competition act (www. mirror. co. uk). The intention of OFT was to alert the industries that the competition laws was enforced in ensuring the shopper in a fair trade condition. Hence, after the punishments were sent, it was ensure that the competition was maintained under the competition laws. Furthermore, competitors were only able to divulge information to each other via dairy suppliers. Suppliers were also not been honest in this incident. Suppliers did not bear responsibility of providing high quality products with reasonable prices where the consumers are able enjoy the benefits. Thus, suppliers being fined by the OFT were considered reasonable. No matter how the employer wanted to fight back with OFT, they had to pay the fine and settled it in the fastest way where to stop any embarrassing matters to affect their sales figure. At the same time, the costly and time consuming case might affect the expense of both taxpayer and business as well. So the fine paid has benefitted the consumers which bring fairness of their trading. 3. 3 Compensations After Tesco had admitted selling of outdated food, it was fined by the Bracknell Magistate Court for ? 12,000, and ? 15,000 in legal fees and a ? 15 victim surcharge. The Charges were related to 88 types of food which were put on shelves for sales. Tesco had to bear for the penalty as they knew that selling of out-date-food brought harm to the public health (www. tutorcare. o. uk). In order not to repeat their mistake, they were reinforced through staff training at the Bracknell store to ensure all the processes undergone strict quality control and the procedures were complied. Customers are the cause and purpose of every business. A business is supposed to serve them satisfactorily (Gavai, 2010). According to Tesco Corporate responsibility, they were running local s upplier programme for the purpose of getting fresh and quality products. Therefore, the company had to enforce the programme to ensure it was running smoothly and the supplier complied with it. Employers had to bear the responsibility for the incident where there was serious problem in the management. The accused significantly spoiled the corporate image and reputation which cause the sales figure to drop. However, the employers had made a right decision for admitting the mistake and paid compensation. It significantly showed that Tesco was applying the Ethics of Justice. According to Plato (2010), justice is an order and a beauty of the parts of a whole. Justice is effective coordination. It is an effective harmony of the whole. Ethics of justice can be defined as what is right and what is wrong in clear and precision. It was related to the notion of fairness. When a person is been treated unequally or deprived from what he deserved, then he was treated with injustice. Tesco realized that treating someone injustice was an immoral action, so they pledged guilty and paid fined which tend to bring fairness to the consumers as to determine this action on the criterion of rightness, which is one of the concepts in Ethics of Justice as well. Furthermore, Tesco was fined for ? 33,400 for 43 charges of selling 100 out-of-date foods at a hearing in Coventry Magistrates Court and a further of 94 charges after considering their sentenced. However, some shareholders of Tesco were present in court to show their seriousness of this matter and their concern on the case. They pledged guilty on the charges and their managers were laid off and two other employees were being disciplined (www. lacors. gov. uk). Employees had th e responsibility to carry out their job by following the corporate system. Some of the mistakes were not being tolerated and it has brought harm to the public health. The Coventry council was pleased with the results as the sentenced brought a warning to other competitors in the same industry that the government had stand at their point for the communities was appreciated. 4. 0 Best Practices and Values According to Donald, White and Bedner (2010), value is a concept of the desirable, an internalized criterion or standard of evaluation a person possesses. Such concepts and standards are relatively few and determine or guide an individual’s evaluation of many objects encountered in everyday life. Values are tinged with moral flavour involving an individual’s judgement of what is good, right or desirable. Tesco has practiced several communities’ works as a return to the society and tried to deliver values to them. Corporate social responsibility is in the interest of business because, by contributing to social change, it can create a better environment for its own transactions, thereby developing business while being socially responsibly (Rendtorff and Dahl, 2009). 4. 1 Communities Works Tesco plays a vital role in the local communities by supporting them actively without preconditions. They wanted to have a good relationship with the communities in which they operated. The fundamental condition that Tesco can provide to the communities is providing good quality, affordable foods and goods, and offering job to the unemployment. Besides that, they are listening and responding to the local communities for their needs and values, carrying out the issues that matter to them positively, and improve the local area by providing lasting contributions. They regularly set up a new store in the area where the retailers or businesses had been neglected. Tesco also launched a Regeneration Partnership Programs in UK where Tesco was proud as this prompted to providing job opportunities to the long term unemployment. In May 2012, they had their first launched store under the regeneration program in Hungary at Debrecen. Hiring 100 unemployed and providing 42 with courses organized by Regional Labour Centre helped them to readjust in their routine of daily work. Tesco also gathered the local communities in a centre point for them to interact. In Turkey, Tesco Kipa Family Club offered Cooking class, Dancing class, chess and learning English Class to their 60,000 members. In addition, Tesco had over 100 schools of Extended Class in South Korea to let the customers and families to attend Arts and English Class. Presently, Tesco had over 750 communities champion working into the communities which communicated with the communities effectively. They were organizing activities such as Healthy Eating to the primary school and local school children, charity event by collection or bag packing, and also asking the staff and customers to join the events like Race for Life (www. tescoplc. com). Without doubt, values to the communities such as responsibility, accountability, concern and unity had contributed absolutely by Tesco. â€Å"Value† so understood is a very broad category. It includes all sorts of things, from personal desire like health or a sense of humor to social ideals like wealth or liberty (Weston, 2010). They are responsible to the communities by giving them quality product in affordable prices. In addition, they were giving values of accountability by organizing learning class for the communities to gain their knowledge and interests. Tesco is also concerned about the communities of the unemployment, giving priority to the unemployed for job opportunities which also gave them better future and better life. Unity of the communities is very important in local area, Tesco provided a platform for the communities to communicate, interact and work together. They looked forward that every business and store were valued by the communities as they were trying hard to give interest to the communities. Tesco contributed a lot of times and fund to the community works. This demonstrates the application of Ethics of Duty. According to Kant (2010), a duty is obligatory and one has to do his duty regardless of any situation. Most of the time duty implies an action that one is expected to do as a part of society which may be neither for self-satisfaction nor for immediate happiness. Tesco knew what their prime duty to the communities was. Having a good thought is not enough but must in action. An action with potential concern showed their responsibility to the communities. 4. 2 Protecting Environment Protecting the environment is one of the important missions set by Tesco. The only way to deal with it was reducing the impact on the environment, including water and energy usage. All the suppliers have to follow the program with Tesco by reducing carbon footprint on the product and manage the water usage in all the store chain. The mission to be achieved is to become a zero-carbon business by 2050. Achieving a mission is not only in planning but practice. Tesco has converted over 100 stores to natural refrigeration across the corporate. The project in Kenya for the Lake Naivasha water stewardship helped to reduce water pollution and raised the water levels, replace transportation from lorries to rail transport which saved 15,000 tonnes of CO2e per year. Tesco had also collaborated with Unilever to create awareness amongst customers of sustainable product choices; more than 10,000 customers were advised to reduce their water footprint in Turkey. Tesco practiced by reducing in packaging and minimizing waste in their dairy operation which helped to reduce the impact on the environment. Reducing waste was the priority plan for Tesco. They used a market-leading store ordering system which helped to predict what each store chain will sell, this minimized waste of food accurately before it reached their customers. The programmes of minimizing the store’s operational waste started running since 2009 throughout the world’s store chain. They did not send any wastage from the UK store to the landfill. If the wasted were unable to recycle then it will be converted into other sources of energy. In China, cardboard and wasted oil in the stores had been fully recycled. In Poland, in order to increase the rate of recycling, they have conducted an audit of waste segregation in stores. In Malaysia, they encouraged the employees to recycle by launching a weekly league table to record who recycled the most. In US, they sent their waste food to the food bank for those who needed to reduce the wastage. And lastly in Slovakia, they donated the waste food the Hunter’s association for feeding animals. The materials used for product packing were the lightest weight and sustainable and also gave opportunities for recycling. Since 2007, Tesco have reduced the packaging of own-brand product more than 15% in UK, which included cutting glass usage by 420 tonnes annually when producing their own label Champagne. They also changed traditional packaging of toys to new packaging reduction technique that brought 15% reduction. In UK, Tesco also has commitments with WRAP’s Courtauld 2 (Waste and Resource Action Programme) to reduce the packaging waste by 2012. The commitments included the reduction of weight, recycled content of grocery packaging to be increased, rates of recycling to be increased, and carbon impact to be lowered by 10%, reduction of 4% for the UK household food and drink, and reduction of 5% for the products and packaging waste in the supply chains (www. tescoplc. com). Caring for the environment brings value of duty, love, hope, and comfort. Tesco has carried out their duty towards the society by committing on wastage reduction. All the resources taken from the earth and environment were fully utilized and the balances were recycled. This duty is belonging to everyone; therefore Tesco has taken it into priority. Tesco also showed the values of love. In terms of loving the earth, loving the environment, and loving each others in the world by saving the resources such as water. Human being is unable to live without water. Tesco knew the seriousness so they ran several programmes on reducing the usage of water. Tesco is giving Hope to the society as well, saving resources in order to prevent resources shortage, and climate changing. Value of hope is generating with these practices to the people. Living in harmony and secure which may concern for the next generation as well. With the clean environment, the values of comfort arise and the people can feel that they are living in a peaceful world. This is the main objective achieved by Tesco. A comfort lifestyle may bring positive thinking to the people, staying with tolerance and forgiveness. Tesco has significantly practiced ethical theory of right for the programme. According to William Sbaw (2010), a right is an entitlement to act or have other acts in a certain way. Everyone has a right in doing certain action and simultaneously expecting others not to deprive its right. However, others also possess a right to disagree to the action, but they cannot dismiss it. Tesco promoted the protecting environment programme and has prompted to let the communities knew that they had the right to live harmony. Right and Duty are correlated as that our prime duty is to protect the rights of people (Gavai, 2010). Tesco has the duty of giving fairness to the society and the communities have the right to enjoy the fair treatment. 5. Conclusion Business ethics is important for a corporate because it brings significant benefits and advantages. Corporation with good business ethics prompt to have good image and reputation in the market, which assist to create market awareness and promote sales easily. Furthermore, a corporation best practice such as corporate social responsibility is also very crucial which to protect the employees and communities’ welfare, c orporation may enjoy benefits for itself also because a good corporate social responsibility may create loyalty of an employee. A loyal and committted employee will stay with the corporation constantly and increase productivity, which can reduce labour turnover as well. Whereas, Tesco, as one of the biggest retailers in the world, which cover business internationally (refer Appendix II for International business Chart), they realize the importance of these and working hard to practice good ethical behavior, create value for the communities and providing moral decision to settle the ethical dilemma to ensure the stakeholder and communities can enjoy the benefits. How to cite Ethical Audit Report of Tesco, Essay examples

Sunday, December 8, 2019

Physical Anthropology-Free-Samples for Students-Myassignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about the Anatomical changes that are required for the transition to Bipedalism. Answer: Bipedalism is the process where it explains the characteristics of modern human beings that have gone through the process of evolution over the years. It tries to identify the evidence of the process in the fossil that helps to determine the pressure that the human beings have faced that has forced them to attain the process of evolution. There can be number of factors that have an effect on the process of evolution of human being. These factors are being analyzed by bipedalism (White et al., 2015). Bipedalism refers to movement, amongst various numbers of species there are very few who can walk on two legs. There are some specific breeds who practice this process which is which is known as facultative bipedalism. There are times when octopus walks on their hands or practice bipedalism which is temporary in nature. In this process they put their six legs over their head and walk on rest of the two. They use this process in order to camouflage themselves (Barrett Maidment, 2017). Habitual bipedalism which is also known as obligate bipedalism is a rare characteristics means of transportation. There are very few species that are present at the current time who practice habitual bipedalism. The species that practice habitual bipedalism includes human beings and kangaroos. This species show characteristics where the species have used bipedalism but still they retain the arboreal behavior. Around thousands of years of ago there was a massive change in the climatic condition of earth where there was a massive drop in temperature. During this period there was a massive reduction in sea level, which resulted in change of sea level. There was a scarcity of water which resulted in reduction of forest which dried up soon therefore there was a growth of wood land and plain territory (Dunbar et al., 2014). Extensive study has drawn a conclusion that the ancestors of human beings used to live in a habitat which was made up of wood. The study have also showed that there were some early bipedal features which were retained by human beings such as long arms which were used by our ancestors to climb trees while living in the woodland. The DNA evidence shows the proof that the human beings and the apes share the same DNA characteristics. This understanding has and will help in the future in the process of study of the evolution in the human beings (Granatosky, Tripp Schmitt, 2016). Behavioral changes might accompany these physical changes Though bipedalism is not considered to be the best or the most effective structure for the position of form of running as well as walking but it does carry a numerous positive options, which can contribute immensely towards walking. It is still not very clear from the study why our ancestors went through and evolution and why they adopted bipedalism form of walking (Zeininger, Shapiro Raichlen, 2017). Hypothesis shows that the bipedalism can carry the food and other items to a longer distance which is the freeing of forelimbs for foraging, tool use, or protection; moving more energy-efficiently than other forms of primate quadrupedalism; and the development of long distance running (Ingham et al., 2017). Bipedalism can easily cool their body temperature which is known as thermoregulation. Despite a lack of consensus about the origins of bipedalism, many if not most of these proposed hypotheses are not mutually exclusive. Some combination of different selection pressures may have been responsible for driving bipedal evolution (Langdon, 2016). The physical changes that occurs due to the transition from Quadrupedalism to Bipedalism. Feet In this transition of bipedalism, the human feet have large and enlarged feet. The feet being large help to bear the amount of weight of the human body. The feet of the human helps to act as a platform in supporting the entire body weight .The humans now have proper toes and feet which are smaller than their bipedal ancestors. This includes a non-opposablehallux, which is relocated in line with the other toes (Machnicki et al., 2016). When the non-human hominids walk upright, the weight of the heel is transmitted to the foot and then along the outside of the foot and finally it is reached to the big toe. Limbs There is an increase in the length of the leg when there was a change from quadrupedalism to bipedalism and there has been a revolution and it has been seen that the leg muscles is functioned in upright gait. In humans the "push" for walking comes from the leg muscles which are acting at the ankle. The longer the leg, which allows the usage of the leg and the muscle of the limb have natural swing while walking. The result of which is that the human forelimb are not needed for the locomotion and it is used for holding or carrying or manipulating objects with great precision (Osborn,2013). The apes which used to exist many years ago could stand on the hind limbs but they cannot be do it for a longer period of time. The femurs are not adapted for the bipedalism.The apes have the vertical femurs but the humans have the femurs are angled in the medium position from the hip to the knee. The knees are held closer together and under the bodys center of gravity. Skull The human skull is that portion of the body which is balanced and it has a vertebral coloumn.The foramen magnum which is said to be inferiorly located under the skull. This helps the human body to stand upright; this puts the whole weight of the head behind the spinal cord. The human face helps in the maintaining of the occipital condyles (Pontzer, 2017). The muscles of the human forehead, helps the human in their expression. The size of the brain is also significant and helps to increase the brain size. The transition took place around 2.4 million years where modern level of the brain size could not be attained till 500000 years. The anatomy in human shows that the brains are quite larger than that of the normal size(Pontzer, Raichlen Rodman, 2014). Spinal Column It is important to maintain the balance in between two legs.The vertebral or the spinal columns of the human is bend in the forward or the lumbar region or a backward bend in the thoracic (upper) region. The lumbar spine helps the body to be straight and it requires that the more the muscular effort for bipedal animals. The human body leans forward and they use less muscular efforts, so as to stand or walk straight and upright. Thus it is the work of both the lumbar and the thoracic curves which brings the curves of the body to the center of gravity directly over the feet. The body of the humans is inclined in such a way the body erection is significantly smaller so that it can conserve the energy Pelvis Today in the quadruped, the center of the gravity in humans is located near the torso. Thus it is near to the center of which the pelvis is located. When the human being is walking then it gravity shifts from one side of the pelvis to the other side. The biepedalism needs special adaption and the gluteal muscle is different in bipedal human and quad apes. Today the humans have very large hips and which have larger pelvic joints (Tardieu, Hasegawa Haeusler, 2017) References Barrett, P. M., Maidment, S. C. (2017). The evolution of ornithischian quadrupedality.Journal of Iberian Geology, 1-15. Dunbar, R. I. M., Lehmann, J., Korstjens, A. J., Gowlett, J. A. J. (2014). The road to modern humans: time budgets, fission-fusion sociality, kinship and the division of labour in hominin evolution.Lucy to language: The benchmark papers, 333-355. Granatosky, M. C., Tripp, C. H., Schmitt, D. (2016). Gait kinetics of above-and below-branch quadrupedal locomotion in lemurid primates.Journal of Experimental Biology,219(1), 53-63. Ingham, S. J. M., de Carvalho, R. T., Abdalla, R. J., Fu, F. H., Lovejoy, C. O. (2017). Bony Morphology: Comparative Anatomy and its Importance for the Anterior Cruciate Ligament.Operative Techniques in Orthopaedics. Langdon, J. H. (2016). Case Study 9. Reading the Bones (1): Recognizing Bipedalism. InThe Science of Human Evolution(pp. 67-73). Springer International Publishing. Machnicki, A. L., Spurlock, L. B., Strier, K. B., Reno, P. L., Lovejoy, C. O. (2016). First steps of bipedality in hominids: evidence from the atelid and proconsulid pelvis.PeerJ,4, e1521. Osborn, M. L. (2013).The Shoulder suspension of bipedal humans and the head suspension of quadrupedal cats: a reconstruction of macroevolutionary changes of complex systems based on natural experiments, comparative anatomy, and biomechanical analyses of extant organisms(Doctoral dissertation). Pontzer, H. (2017). Economy and Endurance in Human Evolution.Current Biology,27(12), R613-R621. Pontzer, H., Raichlen, D. A., Rodman, P. S. (2014). Bipedal and quadrupedal locomotion in chimpanzees.Journal of human evolution,66, 64-82. Tardieu, C., Hasegawa, K., Haeusler, M. (2017). How Did the Pelvis and Vertebral Column Become a Functional Unit during the Transition from Occasional to Permanent Bipedalism?.The Anatomical Record,300(5), 912-931. White, T. D., Lovejoy, C. O., Asfaw, B., Carlson, J. P., Suwa, G. (2015). Neither chimpanzee nor human, Ardipithecus reveals the surprising ancestry of both.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,112(16), 4877-4884. Zeininger, A., Shapiro, L. J., Raichlen, D. A. (2017). Ontogenetic changes in limb postures and their impact on effective limb length in baboons (Papio cynocephalus).American Journal of Physical Anthropology,163(2), 231-241.

Saturday, November 30, 2019

The persistent myth of high expatriate failure rates by Harzing

‘The persistent myth of high expatriate failure rates’ by Harzing (1995) is a very influential article, in both academic and professional environments. People refer to it in many reasons. Starting the discussion with identifying the problem mentioned there, we are going to dwell upon the reasons why scholars and business people use this article as the basis for their research and practice.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on ‘The persistent myth of high expatriate failure rates’ by Harzing specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The main idea of the article is to explain the ways how expatriates may be successful, why multinational companies fail and what should be done in order to reduce the risky rate connected with working abroad. Dwelling upon the importance of the article, it should be pointed to the great research conducted by the author. Starting the discussion with the Buckley and Brookeâ⠂¬â„¢s (1992) statement about the rate of expatriate failure in developed and developing countries, the author gets to the discussion of the references used in the article. This gives an opportunity to understand what specific ideas pushed the authors on the data they refer to. The discussion of the references with the particular statements in the original text is a great analysis of the possible failures. Harzing (1995) used such references as Desatnick and Bennett (1978) or Holmes and Piker (1980) to understand where Buckley and Brooke’s (1992) took the numbers they used in their article. Further reading of the article and closer consideration of the references used by the authors has created a great work which has been comprised in the article. Harzing (1995) does not just review the articles devoted to the high risk rate of expatriates, he tries to understand why the research in the sphere are so numerous and why they still remain up to date. The inability of the authors to consider the reason for the problem and to find an appropriate decision makes scholars and researchers refer to the issue. Harzing (1995) tried to do all possible to find out the truth and to stop research in the field. Having considered many articles which have been devoted to the issue, Harzing (1995) also tried to find the connection between those article. Harzing (1995) reviewed many papers devoted to the empirical research about the mentioned theme. It should be said that much attention was paid to such references as Tung’s discussions, Brewster’s (1991) explanation and Mendenhall and Oddou (1988) research.Advertising Looking for essay on communications media? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Finally, trying to underline the importance of the article and the reasons why many scholars and business people refer to it is in the way how the data is presented. The author does not only provide the review of the article, the connection is shown which can be used for creating the cause and effect points. The final benefit of this article is the scheme which shows the dependency of the research articles and the way how and why these articles are connected. The author created a sort of a problem-tree which has created a chronological order for the research and the way how the data is connected. Therefore, having considered in detail the references used in the articles, the reasons for the numerous research on the problem may be find out. The research is so numerous not because the issue is too difficult, most of the authors just reviewed the articles of their colleagues trying to point at the problem without conducting original research for searching for the ways out. Reference List Brewster, C. (1991). The management of expatriates in multicultural corporations. Uppsala: Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. Buckley, P.J. Brooke, M. Z. (1992). International business studies. Oxford: Blackwell. De satnick, R. A., Bennett, M. L. (1978). Human resource management in the multinational countries. New York: Nichols. Harzing, A. (1995). The persistent myth of high expatriate failure rates. Human Resource Management, 6, 457-475. Holmes, W., Piker, F. K. (1980). Expatriate failure: Prevention rather than cure. Personnel Management, 12, 30-33.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on ‘The persistent myth of high expatriate failure rates’ by Harzing specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Mendenhall, M., Oddou, G. (1988). The overseas assignment: A practical look. Business Horizons, 78-84. This essay on ‘The persistent myth of high expatriate failure rates’ by Harzing was written and submitted by user Amber K. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

How Does Seperation Shape Personality †Psychology Essay

How Does Seperation Shape Personality – Psychology Essay Free Online Research Papers How Does Seperation Shape Personality Psychology Essay One of my earliest memories is being taken to a new child minder at the age of about four by my dad. It was a big kitchen with lots of children. My dad wanted to leave me there, and I would not let him go. The child minder’s daughter took me upstairs to her room, to show me her make up, and I remember thinking, I must go back downstairs, because my dad will leave me here. When I got back downstairs, he was gone. I still have a clear picture in my head of having a tantrum in the middle of the kitchen with everyone looking at me, and writing this, I can still feel the trauma of being left there. Being separated from my parents since the age of about 2 has been a familiar experience for me. In this essay, I will explore to see how these experiences have affected my relationship with my parents, particularly my mother. I will look at my experiences in relation to Attachment Theory and speculate whether I fit into any of the attachment models, and whether our experiences of being separated from one another have shaped our relationship. My parents came to England from Turkey in the early 1970’s, and I was born in 1975 in Turkey. My dad was in England when I was born, and didn’t see me until I was eight months old. Until then, I was cared for by my mother, and her family. When I was eight months we returned back to England. As we don’t have any other family here, we have always been a very close nit family, and I spent all my time with my parents. When I was two, my mum and I went back to Turkey, and I was left there with her family again for six months, and I formed close emotional bonds with my grandmother and my aunt, who were my main caregivers. When my mum returned six months later to collect me, she describes me as being distant from her. Although I did go to her, I was reluctant to stay with her, and wanted to go back to my aunt, who I had also started referring to as ‘Mum’, but due to the strong emotional bond I initially had with my mum, meant that the relationship went bac k to being as close as it was before I had been separated from her. However, a couple more separations up until the age of six meant that the anxiety caused as a result of these separations became a familiar feeling for me, and growing up, I was clingy, and fearful of strange environments and people. I’m not sure which of the separations was most significant, but the one I remember most clearly happened when I was five. My brother, who was nearly one at the time, and I were taken to Turkey, where we were separated from my parents for a whole year. My memories from that year are very clear, but the overriding feeling was one of deep discontentment. It always felt like something was missing, and when my family talk of that time, I am always remembered as being quiet and never really happy. As I was growing up, I have always been aware of anxious feelings of being away from my parents, especially my mum. Due to their work commitments, we were never able to take family holidays together, so often my brother and I would go on holiday to Turkey without my parents. It would always take a week before I would settle into being there, and would feel quite tearful whenever I spoke to my mum on the phone. Likewise, when my parents went on holiday, and I would stay behind in England similar feelings would arise. I had, and still do to an extent have a tendency to be slightly clingy, and at times of distress, will almost always go home to my parents for comfort. After we returned from Turkey when I was almost seven, I really hated being away from my mother. I wanted to stay with her all time, and I felt unsafe when I wasn’t with her. I was always quite fearful, and I can still remember the sense of loss I felt when I wasn’t with her. I am still remembered by friends of my parents as being the well behaved little girl, who never left her mum’s side, but in hindsight, I do wonder now if that was linked to fear of being away from her. I can remember times when my mum had to work, so my brother and I would either have to go to a play scheme or to the child minders after school, and I do recall feeling afraid. When we went to play scheme after school, I would have been about nine or ten, so my brother would have been about five, I would never let him play too far away from me, as I was afraid something would happen to him, and I was often afraid of one of us being kidnapped by strangers. I would never be able to relax, or just enjoy being with other children. Looking at Bowlby’s models, at this stage I think I would have fitted into the Anxious resistant attachment, whereby the individual is always prone to separation anxiety and tends to be cling and anxious about exploring the world. Maybe if the separations had not been so consiste nt, or for such long periods of time, then maybe the closeness of our relationship would have prevented me from being so fearful of being apart from my mother. But the fact that most of the separations were quite traumatic incidents for me, I think may have contributed to my fears. There are however contradictory incidents which make me question the model’s relevance to me. At the age of eight, I went on holiday to Turkey on my own. My parents took me to the airport here, and I was picked up by my grandparents at the other end. I don’t remember being scared or fearful, or anxious about being separated from my mum at all. This also makes me think about the way I am as an adult. Although I am extremely close to my parents, and could to an extent resonate with the anxious resistant model when I was younger, it doesn’t resonate with me as I am now. Looking at the Adult Attachment Interview, I can relate to classification SST B. Even when I was younger, I still was able to form close secure attachments, especially with my teachers at school and I was very attached to my aunt when I was in Turkey. As an adult I have been fairly independent, and at times have had to fight my parents for independence. Although this could be linked to model anxious avoidant attachment, where the individual may attempt to become self sufficient, I don’t believe this is the case. Holmes (1996) however states that we autonomy is possible on the basis of an inner secure world, as believes that we can go it alone as long as we are sure that we can return to attachment and intimacy as needed, He states that we can be intimate if we feel autonomous enough not to fear engulfment and know that separation does not mean that our loved ones will be lost forever, which makes more sense to me. There is one major incident in my adult life however, where I did revisit feelings of separation and abandonment. When I was nineteen I got together with someone who was mixed race. I always knew my parents would disapprove of this relationship, being Turkish, they didn’t approve of my having boyfriends let alone non-Turkish ones. A year after of being together, I told them about my boyfriend, Paul and how I felt about him. Their reaction was not so different from how I expected it to be. They insisted that I split up with him, and there were threats of disowning me. Up until then I had generally been a ‘good, well behaved’ daughter, and would generally do as I was told. This time however, I wouldn’t. My relationship with Paul had been quite up and down, but something was keeping me there, and even during the most difficult times with Paul, where there was no real relationship to save, I was still hanging on, and fighting my parents. Paul was adopted and a lready had issues of rejection which I was well aware of, and I felt a strong sense of responsibility to not let him down. My parents didn’t carry out their threat to disown me until three years later when I moved in with Paul. By then I had got used to the arguments. They would tell me I had to split up with him, or they would disown me, and I would refuse, eventually they would back down, for a while and then it would start again. They always said they would never accept the relationship. Things changed when I moved in with him. This time they were very serious about disowning me, although they did say that they would try and accept the relationship if I just didn’t move in with him, which was what I had been wanting all along anyway. However it was too little too late, and so I moved in with Paul. He had just bought a new flat and we were decorating it together. I will never forget the phone conversation I had with my mum, where she told me they no longer had a daug hter†¦.. I didn’t cry initially, I was very calm on the phone. I quietly walked downstairs. Paul opened his arms and told me he was there for me. At least I was making someone happy. Until then Paul and I had been arguing because he had felt that I wasn’t doing enough to fight for him. He had wanted me to disown my parents for him. Well now they had disowned me. The separation lasted a few months. Paul and I always got on well when I was having problems with my parents, so I became quite attached to him during those times. It felt very wrong in this situation. I hadn’t done anything wrong, yet I was being punished, and was expected to be understanding towards everyone’s needs. But no one seemed understanding towards mine. No one was hearing my voice, yet I was being blamed for everything. Eventually my parents started talking to me again. They still weren’t openly accepting, and were refusing to meet him, but they had stopped telling me to split up with him. I was always trying to be there for Paul as well, and thought that by not giving him up, no matter how much suffering I went through, or no matter what he did, I could show him that I wasn’t going to abandon him. I was also afraid that Paul was going to leave me, as he had affairs whilst we were together, and whenever I tried to leave him because of these he would beg and plead me not to leave him. And the one time he wanted to leave me, I wouldn’t let him. I felt I had put in too much effort for him to leave me. I did eventually leave him, not because of my parents, or because I found out about another affair. My parents did actually accept the relationship after five and a half years! We got engaged, and as soon as that happened, something in me changed. Maybe the challenge was over! I don’t know. 6 months after I first had that feeling I met someone else. He had walked into my life and he promised me a fairytale! The fairytale never happened. I’m struggling with relating all this to my childhood experiences, and applying it all to attachment theory. I know these were all hugely significant times in my life, and I can see certain patterns and consistencies in these situations. When I chose to write about my separation in relation to attachment theory, I envisaged a particular outcome. I assumed I would be Anxious Insecure Avoidant. I now think I’m secure. Although I have brought up the subject of my separation from my parents and subsequent problems in my relationships in my therapy sessions, it was never really explored in a psychoanalytic way therefore I am uncertain as to how I have moved from one model to another, or if they apply to me at all. I was unsure how to write this essay, as I wasn’t writing about attachment from a clinical perspective, and have found it difficult to apply the theory to my own experiences. However, what I did want to do was to speculate how my separation from my parents would have affected my personality development. And having re read this paper, I do feel like I have brought up certain issues as though I was in a therapeutic session. I guess if this was a therapy session, it would be over to the therapist now†¦..! 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Friday, November 22, 2019

Linearbandkeramik Culture - The First Farmers of Europe

Linearbandkeramik Culture - The First Farmers of Europe The Linearbandkeramik Culture (also called Bandkeramik or Linear Pottery Ceramic Culture or simply abbreviated LBK) is what German archaeologist F. Klopfleisch called the first true farming communities in central Europe, dated between about 5400 and 4900 BC. Thus, LBK is considered the first Neolithic culture in the European continent. The word Linearbandkeramik refers to the distinctive banded decoration found on pottery vessels on sites spread throughout central Europe, from south-western Ukraine and Moldova in the east to the Paris Basin in the west. In general, LBK pottery consists of fairly simple bowl forms, made of local clay tempered with organic material, and decorated with curved and rectilinear lines incised in bands. The LBK people are considered the importers of agricultural products and methods, moving the first domesticated animals and plants from the Near East and Central Asia into Europe. Lifestyles of the LBK The very earliest LBK sites have loads of pottery sherds with limited evidence of agriculture or stock-breeding. Later LBK sites are characterized by longhouses with rectangular plans, incised pottery, and a blade technology for chipped stone tools. The tools include raw material of high-quality flints including a distinctive chocolate flint from southern Poland, Rijkholt flint from the Netherlands and traded obsidian. Domesticated crops used by the LBK culture include emmer and einkorn wheat, crab apple, peas, lentils, flax, linseed, poppies,  and barley. Domestic animals include cattle, sheep and goats, and occasionally a pig or two. The LBK lived in small villages along streams or waterways characterized by large longhouses, buildings used for keeping livestock, sheltering people and providing workspace. The rectangular longhouses were between 7 and 45 meters long and between 5 and 7 meters wide. They were built of massive timber posts chinked with wattle and daub mortar. LBK cemeteries are found a short distance away from the villages, and, in general, are marked by single flexed burials accompanied by grave goods. However, mass burials are known at some sites, and some cemeteries are located within communities. Chronology of the LBK The earliest LBK sites are found in the Starcevo-Koros culture of the Hungarian plain, around 5700 BC. From there, the early LBK spreads separately east, north and west. The LBK reached the Rhine and Neckar valleys of Germany about 5500 BC. The people spread into Alsace and the Rhineland by 5300 BC. By the mid-5th millennium BC, La Hoguette Mesolithic hunter-gatherers and LBK immigrants shared the region and, eventually, only LBK was left. Linearbandkeramik and Violence There seems to be considerable evidence that relationships between the Mesolithic hunter-gatherers in Europe and the LBK migrants were not entirely peaceful. Evidence for violence exists at many LBK village sites. Massacres of whole villages and portions of villages appear to be in evidence at sites such as Talheim, Schletz-Asparn, Herxheim, and Vaihingen. Mutilated remains suggesting cannibalism have been noted at Eilsleben and Ober-Hogern. The westernmost area appears to have the most evidence for violence, with about one-third of the burials showing evidence of traumatic injuries. Further, there is a fairly high number of LBK villages that evidence some kind of fortification efforts: an enclosing wall, a variety of ditch forms, complex gates. Whether this resulted from direct competition between local hunter-gatherers and competing LBK groups is under investigation; this kind of evidence can only be partly helpful. However, the presence of violence on Neolithic sites in Europe is under some amount of debate. Some scholars have dismissed the notions of violence, arguing that the burials and the traumatic injuries are evidence of ritual behaviors​, not inter-group warfare. Some stable isotope studies have noted that some mass burials are of non-local people; some evidence of slavery has also been noted. Diffusion of Ideas or People? One of the central debates among scholars about the LBK is whether the people were migrant farmers from the Near East or local hunter-gatherers who adopted the new techniques. Agriculture, animal and plant domestication both, originated in the Near East and Anatolia. The earliest farmers were the Natufians and Pre-Pottery Neolithic groups. Were the LBK people direct descendants of the Natufians or were they others who were taught about the agriculture? Genetic studies suggest that the LBK were genetically separate from the Mesolithic people, arguing for a migration of the LBK people into Europe, at least originally. LBK Sites The earliest LBK sites are located in the modern Balkan states about 5700 BC. Over the next few centuries, the sites are found in Austria, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, and eastern France. France: Berry-au-Bac, Merzbachtal, Cuiry-les-ChaudardesBelgium: Blicquy, VerlaineGermany: Meindling, Schwanfeld, Vaihingen, Talheim, Flomborn, Aiterhofen, Dillingen, HerxheimUkraine: Buh-DniestrianRussia: Rakushechnyi YarNetherlands: Swifterbant, Brandwijk-Kerkhof

Thursday, November 21, 2019

ACCT202 - DVHA - Accounting II Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

ACCT202 - DVHA - Accounting II - Essay Example This means that the buttons are stitched onto the right half and the buttonholes are on the left. There could be two or three buttons, which factor has an interesting role to play as I shall show later. Purely as a matter of interest, the item of male clothing that has the maximum number of manufacturing operations done on it is the coat, twenty-seven separate operations (www.stitchworld.net). The best way to put on a coat is to have an assistant standing behind you holding the coat at the level of your neck. He clasps both shoulders of the coat, one in each hand. Using his right hand, he opens up the front half of the right side, so that the armhole is clearly visible and positioned slightly below your right hand. After you slide your right arm fully into the right sleeve, he opens up the left half with the buttonhole slightly above your left arm, so that you have to reach upwards to slide your left arm into the sleeve. I will stop here, as all subsequent actions are the same as those carried out by you without an assistant. When you have to put on your coat by yourself, the best method is to start by laying the coat on its back on a bed. With your left hand, hold the collar facing you (the right collar when worn) between your thumb and the other four fingers and slide your right arm into the sleeve, gathering the coat as you stand up. Bring your bunched left fist up to touch your right cheek, fold your right arm so that you can use the fingers on your right hand to replace the left. Now move your fist backwards towards the center of your neck. This will help you to locate the left armhole with your free left hand. Slide your left arm in. The most widely used method is when you have just a coat and nothing else. Again, with your left hand, hold the collar facing you between your thumb and the other four fingers, but at the spot directly above the center of the armhole. The armhole should be visible to you at a

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Economic History of Europe Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Economic History of Europe - Essay Example However, in the late 13 century the economy started to decline due to land shortages, overpopulation and depleted soils for food production and other agricultural activities. Conversely, the vast famine of the 1315-17 contributed immensely to the decline in economic growth and development resulting in stoppage of population growth. Agriculture also shrank further; profits declined as prices reduced in 1348 due to the Black Death outbreak in which almost half of the population of England was killed, thus plaguing the gains the economy had achieved further. England faced similar economic challenges just like the rest of Europe that were characterized by rapid inflation as a result of loss of real wages and an increase in New World golds. To understand further the how stagnant the economy of England was during the pre-industrial revolution era, the Malthusian theory of income determination cannot be ignored. In England, during the pre-industrial era, which was between 1200 -1640, living standards were dictated by the population (Nicholas and Steckel, 1991). According to Malthusian, decrease in population led to the increase in the per capita income in England. Malthusian also stated that the tradeoff between mortality rate and fertility rate determined the income in the pre-industrial economy. The model shows how the economy of England was, thus stagnant by the following assumptions developed by Malthusian (Galor and Wepl, 1999). The birth rate, mortality rate and the living standards among the ancient people were the three assumptions that Malthusian used to explain why the economy was stagnant. Birth rate increased the population in England, which in return led to the decrease in the living standards among the people (Galor and Weil, 1999). On the other hand, the death rate that resulted in the decrease in population, led to the increase and improvement in the living standards among the people in England. The three assumptions, which are also referred to

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Cosmetic Surgery Essay Example for Free

Cosmetic Surgery Essay Cosmetic surgery is not solving the problem at route. The problem is the perception that the mind has on what is important. All cosmetic surgery is doing is changing the appearance but not the mental state. Someone who has such a mental disposition to these illnesses will have their offending extremity changed, but they will ultimately always find something they are not happy with. Instead of cosmetic surgery, these people should be offered psychological help. Cosmetic surgery only masks the inner problem. Only in some cases, does it help individuals. Candidates seeking plastic surgery should be routinely screened for mental health problems because of the risk to health, botched surgery, and the need for nobler causes rather than vanity. Plastic, reconstructive, and cosmetic surgery refer to a variety of operations performed in order to repair or restore body parts to look normal, or to change a body part to look better (Espejo 21). They all share common techniques and approaches but have their differences. Plastic surgery is known to repair a body after disfiguring accidents or severe burns such as car accidents or house fires (22). Reconstruction surgery is performed to improve function such as to correct birth defects, infections, or illnesses like breast cancer or tumors (22). It is most likely to be performed in a hospital and be covered by insurance unlike cosmetic surgery where it is not covered by insurance and is done in a surgeon’s office. Cosmetic surgery procedures are performed in order to enhance a person’s appearance to please them (22). It is practice by a variety of doctors from different medical fields. Examples of popular cosmetic surgeries are, Abdominoplasty: reshaping and firming of the abdomen, breast augmentations: increasing breast size, and Rhinoplasty: reshaping of the nose. All three of these procedures are used to reshape, repair, lift, or tuck certain areas of the body or face. Mental health screenings should be mandatory because of possible psychiatric disorders, risk for suicide, and an unstable mental health status. Researchers have discovered that â€Å"22% of all deaths were associated with suicide, psychological disorders, and/or drug and alcohol abuse† (Espejo 76). Breast implants have led to the tripled suicide rates in women and is higher for women forty-five and older (75). Due to possible psychiatric disorders increased screening and monitoring need to take place. Counseling could be in order too because drug and alcohol dependence is usually in use for women (76). Screening the mental health status of a candidate for mood or body image disorders would assure that they are psychiatrically stable and would clear them for surgery. In addition to mental health screenings, observing office behavior of a potential client may caution the surgeon to reconsider them. Under an hour long consultation should take place, which could be a fraud of who they really are by just trying to impress the surgeon to receive the plastic surgery. Therefore, patients who behave differently around a nurse need to be noted and risky behavior such as appointment changes, outside appointments, and only wanting to speak with the surgeon (77). All surgeries, including plastic, reconstruction, or cosmetic surgery, involve risks. General surgical risks are infections, bleeding, reactions to anesthesia, and scarring (Alagna 31). Reactions to anesthesia can result in brain, nerve, or eye damage, a stroke, heart attack, or death (31). All three forms of these surgeries can leave appalling scars on the body, varying in color and taking longer than normal to fade. If scars remain visible further surgery can be done to correct the scar or steroids can be used (33). Plastic surgery risks include the general risks as well as others. These risks include pneumonia, pain, anemia, fat embolisms, rejection of skin grafts, and numbness (31-32). There are risks of fatal surgeries that can occur by having heart difficulties, reacting to medications, and flu like symptoms (33). More in depth common procedure risks are known to follow after procedures such as breast augmentation and liposuction. Breast augmentation is a common surgery in women to increase the size of their breasts. Liposuction is a technique of removing excess fat from under the skin by suction. In 1992 the FDA banned silicone implants from breast augmentation because â€Å"they could lead to health problems† and â€Å"will need them removed within ten years† (Petersen). This ban was due to rupturing implants and the potential to cause disease. Rupturing and leaking is not the only threat of breast augmentation because they could be uneven, cause pain, scar or capsule, or swell (Alagna 36). All of these risks can lead to multiple surgeries and thousands of dollars. Liposuction is one of the most common killers in plastic surgery by deaths resulting 1 in 5,000 (38). Blood clots and heart failure are the main causes of death. These surgical procedures can result in complications ranging from an unattractive or unnatural final result, to scarring or even death. The general population of all women wants the Hollywood look for a bargain deal. They always believe that the horror stories they hear on television will never happen to them but botched plastic surgery can happen to anyone if the right precautions are not taken. Unfortunately precautions are not taken because there are horror stories of botched surgeries. Due to liposuction going wrong, many deaths have occurred because of cardiac arrest, too much tumescent fluid, and blood clots (Alagna 50). One woman named Sandra Ciuffreda shared her horror story about having about five gallons of fat removed. Once out of surgery she had become fragile and discovered she was left with a very noticeable scar (51). Other stories have been shared by women who have had cosmetic surgery gone wrong. An eighteen year old named Julia had undergone two nose jobs with scars left behind and has had her lips redone three different times (52). Another woman named Ellen Ross also encountered botched cosmetic surgery. It began with her just wanting thinner thighs but then was manipulated into thinking she needed her breasts done as well. Ross experienced terrifying results saying, â€Å"I had lumps next to my breasts† (53). In order to correct this surgeon’s mistake she had to undergo eight separate surgeries due to infections and scars and was put back thousands of dollars (52). A graph displays where only XXIII percent of patients come back for more surgery and only XXXVIII percent have multiple procedures done at once nationwide (Tevlin). This can conclude that the surgery was either bad or unneeded. In order to avoid these horror stories, research plastic surgery, have a thorough consultation to be informed about how to stay safe and request for a second, and ask the plastic surgeon about his or her experience and medical training. There is more to experiencing plastic surgery than just for vanity. It can be utilized for more noble causes such as birth defects, disfiguring injuries, reconstruction, and health benefits. Children with birth defects such as cleft palate or ear deformities can benefit from a â€Å"healthy dose† of plastic surgery procedure to correct their defect (Oshaba). Most cleft palates are repaired through specialized plastic surgery techniques, improving the child’s ability to eat, speak, hear and breathe, and to restore a more normal appearance and function. They will be able to grow up feeling more normal due to plastic surgery. Plastic surgery procedures are considered for reconstruction of deformities or from trauma from an accident or illness. Patients who have been in a car wreck can have reconstruction surgery to fix the damaged parts with parts from someone else (Espejo 22). Reconstructive plastic surgery is also accepted in cases where illness such as cancer have women seeking reconstructive breast surgery or to relieve back pain if painfully too large. It can benefit your health if you are overweight. Many people have suffered from obesity and then lost enormous amounts of weight leaving them the need to repair their body or have trouble losing weight. Dr. Jerome Muhumuza a medical doctor says, â€Å"†¦cosmetic surgery can help save your life or at least reduce the risk of health complications† (Oshaba). A gastric bypass is one of the recommended surgeries for those who are overweight or just liposuction in general (Oshaba). A gastric bypass is a surgical operation that involves reducing the size of the stomach and reconnecting the smaller stomach to bypass the first portion of the small intestine so as to restrict food intake and reduce caloric absorption in cases of severe obesity. All surgeries previously mentioned are ways to improve one’s health. Plastic surgery can also encourage and promote a strong, positive self-image with people with clinically proven depression (Weintraub). Even a small change on the outside can create an extraordinary change on the inside, allowing an individuals self-confidence to flourish. Therefore, there is a connection between mood, self-esteem and depression. Plastic surgery can be very beneficial by not only enhancing self-esteem, but curing depression. By just treating someone with Botox a change can occur within them (Weintraub). Surgery, whether it is plastic, reconstruction, or cosmetic has its pros and cons. It can lead to a lot of problems in the future that could affect you physically and mentally, and it has become a doorway to beauty for some people. Many have succumbed to the risks; therefore proper research and preparation are necessary for the surgery. There have been many people that have gone through it and feel worse after and keep striving for perfection but end up becoming a statistic. In some cases, cosmetic surgery does help individuals. Procedures like skin grafts on burn victims, or the correcting of an abnormal feature on the human body. These procedures help people feel more normal. This is how cosmetic surgery was first used. Then people started to use cosmetic surgery, not to look merely normal, but to look perfect. This type of surgery is not healthy and that is why mental health screenings should be mandatory due to health risks, botched surgeries, and the need for nobler causes.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

The Big Sleep Movie and Novel :: Movie Film comparison compare contrast

The Big Sleep Movie and Novel On first inspection of Raymond Chandler's novel, The Big Sleep, the reader discovers that the story unravels quickly through the narrative voice of Philip Marlowe, the detective hired by the Sternwood family of Los Angeles to solve a mystery for them. The mystery concerns the General Sternwood's young daughter, and a one Mr. A. G. Geiger. Upon digging for the answer to this puzzle placed before Marlowe for a mere fee of $25 dollars a day plus expenses, Marlowe soon finds layers upon layers of mystifying events tangled in the already mysterious web of lies and deception concerning the Sternwood family, especially the two young daughters. When reading the novel, it is hard to imagine the story without a narrator at all. It certainly seems essential for the story's make-up to have this witty, sarcastic voice present to describe the sequence of events. Yet, there is a version of Chandler's novel that does not have an audible storyteller, and that version is the 1946 movie directed by Howard Hawks. Hawks' version of The Big Sleep is known to be one of the best examples of the film genre-film noir. "Film noir (literally 'black film,' from French critics who noticed how dark and black the looks and themes were of these films) is a style of American films which evolved in the 1940s." (The Internet Movie Database LTD). Film noir typically contains melancholy, and not so moral themes. Another characteristic of film noir is just because the main character has the title hero, that does not mean that he will always be alive at the end of the book, or that the hero is always "good." Marlowe in The Big Sleep is a prime example of this concept. In the novel it is questionable how lawfully moral he actually is, concerning the situation of turning Carmen into the police for killing Sean Regan. This aspect of Marlowe's character added yet another difficult task of formatting The Big Sleep to the big screen-the question of how the audience (media) might react to such a personality trait was now placed before the writing staff (IE production codes). The Big Sleep Movie and Novel :: Movie Film comparison compare contrast The Big Sleep Movie and Novel On first inspection of Raymond Chandler's novel, The Big Sleep, the reader discovers that the story unravels quickly through the narrative voice of Philip Marlowe, the detective hired by the Sternwood family of Los Angeles to solve a mystery for them. The mystery concerns the General Sternwood's young daughter, and a one Mr. A. G. Geiger. Upon digging for the answer to this puzzle placed before Marlowe for a mere fee of $25 dollars a day plus expenses, Marlowe soon finds layers upon layers of mystifying events tangled in the already mysterious web of lies and deception concerning the Sternwood family, especially the two young daughters. When reading the novel, it is hard to imagine the story without a narrator at all. It certainly seems essential for the story's make-up to have this witty, sarcastic voice present to describe the sequence of events. Yet, there is a version of Chandler's novel that does not have an audible storyteller, and that version is the 1946 movie directed by Howard Hawks. Hawks' version of The Big Sleep is known to be one of the best examples of the film genre-film noir. "Film noir (literally 'black film,' from French critics who noticed how dark and black the looks and themes were of these films) is a style of American films which evolved in the 1940s." (The Internet Movie Database LTD). Film noir typically contains melancholy, and not so moral themes. Another characteristic of film noir is just because the main character has the title hero, that does not mean that he will always be alive at the end of the book, or that the hero is always "good." Marlowe in The Big Sleep is a prime example of this concept. In the novel it is questionable how lawfully moral he actually is, concerning the situation of turning Carmen into the police for killing Sean Regan. This aspect of Marlowe's character added yet another difficult task of formatting The Big Sleep to the big screen-the question of how the audience (media) might react to such a personality trait was now placed before the writing staff (IE production codes).

Monday, November 11, 2019

King Louis Xiv of France

Absolute monarchs had a significant impact on European history and the way their nation lives today. Absolute monarchs had control over political, social and religious aspects of their nation’s life. Absolute monarch had a positive and negative effect on society and European history. From 1550 to 1800 was a time known as the Age of Absolute Monarchs. The Age of Absolute Monarchs was a period of European history when monarch had total control over laws and the power of their nation.Some well know absolute monarchs during this time period are Phillip II, Maria Theresa, King John, and Peter the Grate. An absolute monarch is a king or queen who has total control over all aspects of society. Another absolute monarch is Louis XIV. Louis XIV was born on September 5, 1638 in Saint-Germain-en-Laye. He stated to ruling at only age 13 and was also engaged in the Franco-Spanish war. When he was 22 he got married to Maria-Theresa which helped him become the most powerful monarch in Europe. During the first 20 years of Louis XIV ruling he make many contributions and achievements. Some contributions he made is that he helped build up Frances military and invaded the Spanish Netherlands . He also helped promote art such as , music, architecture, painting, and sculpture. and managed to reduce Frances taxes. Louis XIV also help stabilized France by building up its power. Louis XIV also had some negatives effects on France. One negative impact he had on France is that he lead France into debt.He also demanded that the nation convert to catholic or else he would leave France. A positive effect is that Louis the Great had was that he reduced France’s taxes and had a major impact on the arts. Absolute monarchs had a significant impact on European society. Their total control over their nation allowed them to make positive and negative choices that effect the way their nation lives today. The paragraphs above show how Louis XIV contributed to European history.

Saturday, November 9, 2019

AT&T Case Study Essay

1. Introduction In this report we will identify business risk that AT&T experienced due to their divestiture in 1982. We will conduct our analysis based on financial concepts, and finally recommend necessary actions that should have been conducted when the company formulated its financial policy in 1983. 2. AT&T Background AT&T was founded in 1876 by Alexander Graham Bell. Prior to the divestiture AT&T had been a force to be reckoned with for over a century within the telephone service industry. Before the divestiture the company served over 80% of the US telecommunications users. The sale of these services took place at their 22 local subsidiaries. AT&T was the largest enterprise in the world with total assets of $137.8 billion and revenue of $58.1 billion. Given the size of the company they had hired a total of 1,060,378 workers. With a total number of 3,055,495 shareholders, where 95.3% held less than 600 shares each. Ever since 1885 AT&T had continued to pay its dividend to the shareholders, they never lowered the payment. The divestiture that AT&T experienced was a result of an agreement of the Justice Department’s antitrust suit against the company in 1982, which required a major rearrangement of AT&T’s capital structure. The agreement lead to several changes in the structure of the company, and one major change that had a significant impact on the company was how they managed their distribution channels. Prior to the divestiture they sold their services through their 22 local telephone subsidiaries, the company would now be spun off into seven independent regional corporations; NYNEX, (N.Y. Telephone and New England Telephone), Bell Atlantic (N.J. Bell, Bell of Pennsylvania, Diamond State Telephone and four Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Companies), Bell South (South Central Bell and Southern Bell), Ameritech (Indiana Bell, Michigan Bell, Illinois Bell, Wisconsin Bell and Ohio Bell), U.S. West (Mountain Bell, Pacific Northwest Bell and Northwestern Bell), Southwestern Bell (Southwestern Bell) and Pacific Telesis (Pacific Telephone, Nevada Bell). 3. Historical Financial Policy AT&T’s overall financial policy, including target debt ratio and interest coverage, was designed to maintain an AAA bond rating, which allowed them to reduce borrowing cost and in addition make sure that funds were available in periods of severe financial dislocation. The dividend policy was relatively conservative for a utility with a target payout ratio of 60% and an actual payout of 58-67%. Their low payout ratio was determined by AT&T’s large capital requirements and the desire to provide some protection for maintaining the stability of dividends. Stockholders reinvested approximately one third of the dividends. Due to the increased competition and the volatile regulatory climate, AT&T returned to a more conservative financial policy. Between late 1970 and 1980 the managers were reluctant to issue more equity through sales of stocks because the company’s market value was below its book value per share. However, the financial history shows that AT&T allowed in vestors to purchase new stocks using their current dividends at 95% of current market price. 4. Principal Problem AT&T’s principal problem was not the need to raise funds to finance investments, but whether the debt and equity ratios were appropriate for the â€Å"new† AT&T. This needs to correspond with the company’s financial and strategic goals, and be adapted to the market and uncertainties that the company is facing. AT&T’s strategic goal has been to please the potential stockholders categorized as widows and orphans. Widows and orphans are used to describe stocks with a relatively high degree of safety and a stable dividend income. Due to changes in the market and uncertainties that the company was facing, their strategic goals needed to be changed. The change  was however not reflected in their balance sheet. We will further discuss what led to this situation, and give a recommendation on the changes that should have been made prior to the divestiture in 1984. 5. Pre Divestiture Business Risk As a consequence of the governments intervention, the AT&T lawsuit settlement, as well as the shift in the telecommunication industry, it was clear that AT&Ts local telecommunication business was slowly moving away from a monopoly franchise environment. It was moving towards a more competitive environment characterized with more consumer choice and greater competition. Companies such as IBM saw the divestiture of AT&T as an opportunity to provide new telecommunication equipment and services, which would allow them to gain a higher market share. AT&T’s stock had up till then been regarded as a stable utility-type stock because of its steady growth and consistent dividend yield. However, AT&T should have kept in mind that they would not have as much market control in the future as they did prior the divestiture, much due to the intensifying competition and regulatory environment changes. Firstly, the antitrust lawsuit followed by a sudden divestiture could cause uncertainties to wards the company’s future and might change the shareholders perception of AT&T in an unfortunate way. Second, the seven new corporations would be highly independent, and therefore a major rearrangement of the capital structure would be vital. It is likely that every corporation would differ in terms of e.g. management style and financial performance. These changes could mean that AT&Ts reputation of being a safe and profitable investment could shift to become more volatile and riskier for its shareholders. Finally, AT&T had relied for a long time on their old and out-dated patents, which included old machinery, equipment and plants in order to create profit. As more and more competitors emerged with new technologies and services, AT&T needed to keep up with all changes in the market. As a result of the divestiture the R&D was reduced at Bell Laboratories and the development-part was eventually intergraded into the Western Electric division. After these changes many concerns arose relating to the future profitability of Western Electric (WE). Firstly, they were concerned that WE might not be able to attain marketing and product development skills that were vital in operating in the  newly competitive markets. The main reason for this is that the workforce was used to working in a captive market, where competitors were almost non-existent. Secondly, WE’s manufacturing labor force had become unionized at the same time, as their plants were old. This meant that WE would have to invest in R&D to make sure that their competitors did not exceed them. Their unionized workforce would lead to a considerable increase in salary and WE would have to follow the regulations that were set by the labor union. As a consequence these factors would most likely affect both the firm’s market share and eventually the stock price in a negative way. 6. Analysis and Recommendation 6.1 The New Capital Structure Spin-offs often provide a unique setting to assess various capital structures, because one observes the initial capital structure of a mature firm. In a spin-off, a subsidiary is fully divested from a parent and becomes a stand-alone entity. Before this happens, the subsidiary is not able to issue new equity, and is dependent on the parent to finance its capital investments. When the divestiture has occurred, the firm’s assets are divided between the subsidiaries followed by a new capital structure of the independent firms. The total outstanding debt would be assumed divided between the seven regional operating companies, hence the sharply reduced total debt that is projected in the 1984 balance sheet. There is also reason to believe that AT&T chose to reduce $725 million of their total outstanding debt in 1982, which lead to the reduction in the debt ratio the same year. When looking at the projected balance sheet one can see that the total debt would be stable at the sum of $9.3 billion from 1983 to 1988, which equals a decrease of $37.8 billon from 1982. However, due to tax deduction the cost of issuing new debt is lower than using equity. This would mean that AT&T should issue new debt in order to create a balance when financing the investment in R&D, and rather use more of the company’s equity to set up an account with emergency funds that will function as a safety net given the unpredictable times ahead. 6.2 The New Distribution Policy When establishing a distribution policy, one size does not fit all. Some  firms produce a lot of cash but have limited investment opportunities. This applies for firms in profitable and mature industries where few opportunities for growth exist. Such firms typically distribute a large percentage of their cash to shareholders, thereby attracting investment clienteles that prefer high dividends. AT&T was in such an industry, but after the removal of the monopoly, the market became more volatile. During periods of market volatility, there are investment opportunities if you know where to look. In such markets the firms generally distribute little or no cash but enjoy rising earnings and stock prices, and thereby attracting investors who prefer capital gains. AT&T should have adapted to the changes in the market, which required more financial flexibility and a stronger balance sheet. A ‘strong’ balance sheet should consist of liabilities that are considerably outweighed by assets. If a company is having problems, the balance sheet (together with the cash flow statement) will tell you whether it can stand the strain. 6.2.1 Dividend Pay-out As mentioned above, AT&T has had a steady increase in dividends payout until the announcement of the divestiture in 1982. The company decided to reevaluate the amount of dividends and keep it steady at $5.40 per share. AT&T had been a market leader in this industry for a long time, yet their equipment and patents were old, as they had not invested in R&D development. In order for AT&T to have a stronger balance sheet and become more financial flexible in the face of the divestiture, AT&T should have cut their dividend payout much earlier. The company might have been afraid to cut the dividend since this often gives a signaling effect that the firm does not expect high earnings in the future. However, given that AT&T was forced into this divestiture, changes had to be made. An alternative measure could therefore have been to make a change in the dividend policy. This could be seen as a risky move, yet if communicated in an appropriate and thoughtful way the shareholders might understa nd that this was necessary for the company’s future growth. Another supporting factor is that approximately one third of the dividends payout were reinvested by AT&Ts stockholders, which shows that the current dividend payout was not very essential to some of the shareholders. 6.2.2 Repurchase of Stock The firm should also have repurchased stock some years after the dividend cut, to bolster the share price. Repurchase have a tax advantage over dividends as a way to distribute income to stockholders. Repurchase provides cash to stockholders who want cash while allowing those who do not need current cash. Moreover, repurchase announcements are viewed as positive signals by investors because the repurchase is often motivated by management’s belief that the firms shares are undervalued. Finally, repurchases is a effective way to produce large-scale changes in capital structures. 6.3 New Investment Plan The company should at the same time start looking for new possibilities and investments in order to overcome these volatile times. An alternative could have been to invest in R&D e.g. by acquiring a small company with the knowledge and expertise that were required in order to compete and be sustainable in the industry. By doing so they would expand their workforce with people who had more knowledge about the newer technology and therefore been better equipped when facing the challenges ahead. Not only would this allow AT&T to gain more human capital, but they would also gain newer equipment. It is also said that more good investments will most likely lead to a lower dividend payout, which supports our recommendation of changing the dividend policy. 6.4 Maintaining a Top-Level Credit Rating AT&T’s overall financial policy, including target debt ratio and interest coverage, was designed to maintain an AAA bond rating, which allowed them to reduce borrowing cost and in addition make sure that funds were available in periods of severe financial dislocation. As mentioned earlier AT&T worked hard to maintain the AAA rating, both through debt ratio and interest coverage. Although it should be noted that AT&T’s debt ratio of 43% was close to fall under the AA ratings. This would have resulted in an increase in average interest cost of 0.7% equal an expenditure of $335.3 million in borrowing cost. Based on this one can conclude that this was a wise decision given the circumstances, and the company should therefore keep their focus on this in the future. A top-level credit ranking will not only give AT&T better conditions when issuing new debt, but also allow them to emerge as a more attractive investment to current and potential new shareholders. Conclusion Due to the antitrust lawsuit and the shift in the telecommunication industry, AT&T needed to adjust their financial and organizational strategy in order to adapt to the changing environment. The main purpose of this report has been to identify the risk involved with the divestiture, and find ways to face the challenges ahead. The report recommends a new capital structure policy, where AT&T should issue new debt for further investments rather than using equity. For the distribution policy, dividends should be cut and thereafter consider repurchasing stocks. Furthermore, the company should invest in a R&D through an acquisition of a small high-technology firm that will enable them to gain knowledge and be more innovative. Finally, AT&T should seek to maintain a top-level credit rating to reduce borrowing costs, to assure better conditions when issuing debt and last but not least to be a preferred firm for investors.