Logic and Paper Essay Example for Free

Logic and Paper Essay Papers written collaboratively will use different warrants and/or different forms of argumentation to support the claim and grounds of a paper as opposed to a paper writing a paper individually. One may suggest that the warrant of a paper is the most difficult element in supporting the claims and grounds of a paper. The warrant is used to connect the claims and grounds of a paper. â€Å"Without a warrant a reader may not reach the same connection or make similar connections between a claim and evidence as a writer† (Morse, 2010). Collaboratively, different warrants will arise in a paper to bring together the validity of the evidence presented. Having more than one perspective in a team paper is key. It allows various facts and statistics to be introduced and considered. â€Å"It eliminates the possibility of errors arising out failures and considers the effect of contributing elements† (Jones, 2010). In addition, a different perspective when writing collaboratively, creativity is embraced. Different ideas come to the forefront, which may not have come to light without different varies being heard. This creativity helps the reader to connect the claim and evidence which is known as the warrants. â€Å"As writers we must guide our readers through our logic and convince them that our interpretation is logical and sound† (Morse, 2010). Lastly, collaboratively, teams can determine when a paper is good enough using various methods. Team members can establish represents that needs to be met and if they are met before starting and ending a paper. On the contrary, writing a paper individually will bring forth only one warrant in a paper because only one perspective is in place. He or she brain storms alone and revises alone. â€Å"Basically, there are just too many people, too many ideas, and too many â€Å"experts† to come to an agreement and achieve a good result. It is simply why we have to constantly be reminded that there is â€Å"no ‘I’ in team† (Mattoon, Marc). When writing collaboratively, one determines whether an argument represents one’s own position by the tone and wording put forth in a paper. The tone is not always easy to figure out. One must determine the audience and look for clues to see how the author feels and the content of the paper. Depending on whether the author wants to sound formal or sarcastic will in turn determine the actual words used in the piece and how the author chooses to put those words together. Word choices, such as the adjectives used to explain something, and comparisons made are also key in determining one’s own position. References Jones, N. (2010,July). Collaboration at Work: A Look at the Pros and Cons. Retrieved from http://www. brighthub. com/office/collaboration/articles/73856. aspx Mattoon, L. (March, 2012). Working in a Team: Advantages and Disadvantages. Retrieved from http://www. job-interview-site. com Morse, S. (2010, June). Writers Handbook. Retrieved from http://www. uci. edu/programs/humcore/student/Writershandbook/ch9_cew_morse. html.

Violence of mass Media Essay Example for Free

Violence of mass Media Essay The research involves the study of possible relationships between violence and mass media. In the study, a sample frame was obtained in order to be tested utilizing four different tests, which validates and determines possible relationships between violence and media, media preferences and age violent behavior occurrence, empathy and gender variations, and time commitment against violence. The research results obtained show increasingly violent behavior among males than females. The commitment time of males manifesting violent behavior is higher as compared to females. Moreover, the preferences of these respondents that manifest such behavioral pattern are noted to generally prefer violent media forms, most prominently, television and movie showing violent acts. Violence of Mass Media: Introductory (MINI ESSAY) Most of the public concern and scientific study of the perceived violent reality of media centers around the effects of viewing televised violence. The effect that many think of first is modeling, when people imitate violent behavior that they see on television. The research on the different effects has been driven by diverse theoretical frameworks for example, studies of behavioral effects have most often been driven by social learning/cognitive theory, and studies of attitudinal effects often draw on behavioral imitation (Wells and Ernest, 1997 p. 227). The following section examines several different effects of media violence in turn and the evidence supporting each of them. Technological advances have dramatically increased the availability of violent entertainment. The introduction of television was critical, particularly in making violent entertainment more available to children. More recently, cable systems, videocassette recorders, and video games have increased exposure (Singer and Singer, 2001 p. 372). (Preiss, 2007 p. 153). The research approaches the study of media violence in this study by looking at the various effects of the violent view of the world presented in media. This study of the perceived reality of media violence focuses on the psychological processes involved and the weight of the evidence supporting the existence of those effects (Wells and Ernest, 1997 p. 229). Later in the study, the research looks at individual differences among those who are attracted to or repelled by media violence and longitudinal studies probing for long-term effects. Next, the study will look at one of the newest areas of concern, violent video games. Finally, the study addresses the question of what may be done to provide balance to this violent perceived reality and thus mitigate the negative effects of media violence. Violence of Mass Media Introduction Although humans have used violence in cautionary tales to teach the lessons of morality in almost every culture and historical era, the teaching has usually been closely tied to the tale. Active discussion of the moral points seems to be necessary for the lesson to â€Å"take. † Thus, many adults and children who watch cautionary violence television programs by themselves may fail to make the desired moral connection. Instead, they learn the lesson of ‘Instrumentality,† the lesson that violence can be used as an effective instrument to get something of value or to compel others to do one’s bidding (Wells and Ernest, 1997 p. 231). Perhaps literature has always been bloody, hut even the fastest and most dedicated reader cannot make it through a printed description of more than a few murders a day by reading Shakespeare, Mickey Spillane, and Norman Mailer. A look at 4 hours of prime-time television, or a couple of rental videotape movies can easily provide several times as many deaths, maiming, rapes, and beatings as could be encountered in the same amount of time spent reading periodicals and books. The amount of violence is not the only factor of importance in the impact of television and movie experience. These moving image media, with their close depictions of what individuals can see and hear, are much more engaging of our sensory attention than is the reading of abstract symbols on paper, which must be translated and reconstructed into an approximation of sensory experience. What the study must now examine is whether the large volume and sensory increase of 20th-Century media violence, especially movies and television, has actually caused people to do more violence than they otherwise may have done. Methodology Sample Frame The sample frame utilized in the study involves 150 respondents from elementary schools as well as daycare centers within the locale of midstream city. Based on the inclusion criteria, the elementary schools recruited possess a private orientation, with religious inclination to Catholicism as the basic moral ground, while the daycare center should be networked with private school. As with the gender division of the sample size, 82 boys and 68 girls from grades 4 and 5, with an average age of 9. 99 (s. d. =0. 74). In terms of the racial criteria of the samples involved, European American comprises 58% while African American is 24%, providing the picture of the community. Data Gathering Procedure In the data gathering procedures, the study utilized a form of four different questionnaires with order counterbalanced. The following details inquired through the questionnaires are the demographic information, which includes gender, age, grade and mother’s education, preferences on forms of media utilization, survey forms of real-life violence through Attitudes Towards Violence Scale: Child Version (ATVC), appraisal of the respondents’ characters towards violence through KID-screen for adolescent violence exposure (KID-SAVE); and lastly, the extent of the sample’s empathy through Children’s empathy questionnaire (CEQ). After which, the researchers obtain the favorite form categorization for television as to sports, fighting, destruction, real people, or no favorites. On the form of internet, the respondents are categorized according to their preferences, such as chat room, instant messages, video games, no favorite internet activities and no access to internet. Review of Related Literature Moat American families bought their first television set during the early to mid-1950s. As more and more homes had television sets and more and more people began to watch on a regular basis, scholars began to study this new phenomenon, and the first studies about television content were published (Head, 1954; Smythe, 1954; cited in Well and Ernest, 1997 p. 262). Moreover, the first congressional hearings about television, focusing particularly on television violence, were convened in 1954. Research on television content and its effects was particularly stimulated by the forces that affected the United States during the late 1960s, notably national turmoil, civil rights and the women’s movement. Two national commissions were appointed to uncover the dynamics of these Forces on society. In essence, the agendas of these commissions set the stage for early and ongoing research on media images. The national turmoil that rocked the country after the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy stimulated concern about violence in society and in the media. The National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence (NCCPV) was appointed to examine violence in society, including violence on television, and commissioned one study to ascertain the amount of violence on television (Gerbner, 1969; cited in Preiss, 2007 p. 162). Continued national unrest, as well as concerns about television’s impact on Americans, further encouraged researchers to pursue this line of study. Financial assistance was also provided by increased government funding for research about television violence inn 1969, even before the report of the NCCPV released. Congress appropriated 1$ million and set up the Surgeon General’s Scientific Advisory Committee on Television and Social Behavior and this committee funded 23 projects, dealing primarily with violence on television and its effects (Gerbner, 1972; Surgeon Generals Scientific Advising Committee, 1972; cited in Wells and Ernest, 1997 p. 232). Although interest in television violence faded somewhat during the 1960s, congressional concern about media violence again increased during the 1990, culminating in the development of ratings for television programs and the V-chip technology. Concern with civil rights, during the late 1960s and early 1970s, contributed to the proliferation of studies on minority images. The Kerner Commission, appointed by President Johnson to investigate racial disturbances in many US. cities, charged this these disturbances could be traced, in part, to the U. S (Preiss, 2007 p. 158). There have been few investigations into the effects of print media violence. The most extensive investigation, 1w the Canadian Royal Commission on Violence in the Communications Industry† in 1977, reported details of the amount of violence in print media but made no contributions to our understanding of what violence-causing effects may stem from reading violent material (Royal Commission, 1977; cited in Preiss, 2007 p. 156). Most likely for reason’ previously discussed—less intensity and less of it—violence in books, newspapers and magazines has been of less concern to citizens. An exception was violence in comic books, which became a political issue in the United States in 1954. At the time, comic books were read avidly by many young boys. Today, they read comic books less and spend more time with television. Despite their name, comic books were largely not funny at all; they were violent and tended to emphasize the violent heroism of characters with whom the children could identify. However, many comic books glorified criminals and their brutality. Congressional hearings were held which, in turn, resulted in the comic hook industry adopting self-censorship of violence in a successful effort to head off passage of laws, which would have imposed government restrictions. The evidence that comic books actually did bring young readers to using violence and committing crimes was drawn from the collective experience of law enforcement officers and psychiatric workers (Berkowitz, 1973; cited in (Wells and Ernest, 1997 p. 233). In one such instance, teen-age boys in Boston doused with gasoline and set on fire a down-and-out, liquor-dazed man they found. There was no apparent motive other than to try out what they had seen on a television program (Singer and Singer, 2001 p. 370). Another example is the batch of imitative suicides that have occurred following television and theater showings of the movie The Deer Hunter, in which a scene occurs showing a man with a pistol playing—and losing—a game of Russian Roulette (Wells and Ernest, 1997 p. 232). According to Huesmann and Taylor (2006), media violence poses an eventual threat to the public social equilibrium significantly through the influence of violence and aggression. According to their study, fictional television and film violence contribute to both a short-term and a long-term increase in aggression and violence in young viewers. According to the research conducted by Browne and Hamilton-Giachritsis (2005), there has been frequent evidence that suggest the linkage of child violent behavioral acts, and the incidence and frequency of violent media exposure. Such media forms induce arousal, thought influence, and emotional deviations, which consequently increases the likelihood of aggression and fearful behavioral patterns, most especially in males (Preiss, 2007 p. 162). The presence of prosocial effects is undeniable. Very few people who enjoy television and movies containing violence feel that they are endangered by it, and appear most willing to take any risks. However, it would be incorrect to conclude that violence needs to be present in entertainment in order to be of interest to people. The television and film industry has merely used violent action as a reliable and inexpensive means of attracting a certain level of viewer interest in otherwise very repetitive stories (Singer and Singer, 2001 p. 368). Thus, â€Å"action† and production values† (which is to say, violent action), is regularly added to scripts to make them more attractive. Nevertheless, research on college students indicates that violence, itself, is not what they are interested in so much as in the quality of action and story associated with the violence (Preiss, 2007 p. 161). Unfortunately, media executives find it difficult to accommodate such interests. The high quality of writing needed to create stories, which can stand on their own without the addition of violence is very costly. There are only a limited number of writers, whose skill is great enough to provide consistently attractive nonviolent stories. Station and network program decision makers generally take what they consider to be the safe path of â€Å"plenty of action and production values† in order to assure that their programs will attract the teen-age and young adult audience members greatly desired by advertisers of consumer products (Wells and Ernest, 1997 p. 233). Berkowitz and his co-researchers have also established that the violence present in abundance in films such as Straw Dogs and Walking Tail especially influences viewers to act violently, for the film violence is presented as the solution to outrages perpetrated by others. Revenge and justification are extremely potent factors in determining whether violence will occur. If an aroused person who has freedom of action then encounters violence on a television screen, the violence may act as a potent cue to draw forth her own violence, to the degree that what is shown on screen resembles and pulls into memory previous occasions on which she used violence (U. S. Senate Committee on Commerce, 1972; cited in Singer and Singer, 2001 p. 368). Tannenbaum and Zillmann (1975; cited in Singer and Singer, 2001 p. 367) demonstrated how arousal may be reshaped, in a very dramatic way. After arousing college males by showing them very sexy pictures, they found that whether the men subsequently tried to accomplish sexual or violent behavior depended on the cues that were presented to them. In other words, a person may be aroused by something sexual, watch a murder on television, and become violent instead of erotic (Singer and Singer, 2001 p. 367). Thus, there is a potential link between sex and subsequent violence that may be activated by television and film violence cues. Findings After calculating the means and standard deviations of the results from KID-SAVE, ATVC and CEQ obtained form the samples, a series of t-tests was applied to scrutinize the gender variations on the Frequency and Impact Total scales of the KID-SAVE, the ATVC Total, and the CEQ Total. Such analysis revealed gender differences on the KID-SAVE Frequency Total scale, t(148) = 2. 71, p0. 01. Boys were reported to be in a higher stakes of violent behaviors, although no significant gender variations were found on the KID-SAVE Impact Total scale. On the other hand, the analysis on boys and girls’ ATVC and CEQ Total scales, t (148) = 2. 62, p0. 05, and t(148) = -3. 72, p0. 01, revealed significant differences; gender differences from these two tests indicate that boys have higher tendencies for violent behaviors, while girls have higher behavioral tendencies for empathy. Indices of multicollinearity were examined and no problems were identified. After which, regression analyses were initiated to determine the probabilities of real-life violence from the data of Total Frequency and Total Impact scales of the KIDSAVE, exposure to the four indicators of media violence (video game, television, movies, and Internet) and the total CEQ score. From the results of obtained, it revealed that individual variations increase the probabilities of negative impact from violent video games. Considering the latter conclusion, 17 girls playing violent games are reported to demonstrate frequent negative behavior. From the said respondents, the manifestation of negative behavior maybe more prominent due to norm violation present (Funk Buchman, 1996a). Considering other media forms presented to the respondents, the results show that movie violence is the most prominent influence. On the other hand, the manifestations of negative behavior have been linked to the increased time commitment and content of movie being watched (Anderson, Huston, Schmitt, Linebarger, Wright, 2001). Time reported may have influenced the failure to find a relationship between television violence exposure and the study variables. Considering the presented categories and gender differences, boys have been reported to devote 5. 6 hours of viewing per week, while girls reported 2. 8 hours weekly. Conclusion In the conclusion of the study, violent behaviors and utilization of mass media showing violent scenes possess a link that induces violent behavioral patterns among viewers. In terms of gender variations, males have been noted to demonstrate violent acts as compared to females. Moreover, males have noted to demonstrate increase time commitment to preferred violent movies, which are also the most preferred media forms, than with females. On the other hand, females are noted to be more emphatic as compared to males. Generally, the research has provided significant relationship between violence and mass media. References Anderson, D. R. , Huston, A. C. , Schmitt, K. L. , Linebarger, D. L. , Wright, J. C. (2001). Early childhood television viewing and adolescentbehavior. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 66 (1, Serial No. 264). Browne , P. D. , Hamilton-Giachritsis , C. (2005, February 19). The influence of violent media on children and adolescents: a public-health approach. The Lancet, 365, 702-710. Funk, J. B. (2004, January). Violence exposure in real-life, video games, television, movies, and the internet: is there desensitization?. Journal of Adolescence, 27, 23–39.

The importance of the Stock Market to the Economy

The importance of the Stock Market to the Economy The stock market is an important part of the economy because it organizes the resources and channels them to useful investments, in order to perform this role it must have proper association with the economy. Capital markets are important elements of a modern market based economic system as they give out the channel for flow of long term financial resources from the savers to the borrowers of capital. Stock prices of oil sector have been considered for the study. It is the most growing and important part of the stock exchange because its prices are deeply affected by the macroeconomic variables. Investor of Pakistan who invests for long term and short run will get benefit from this research. According to most of the past studies which conducted on this topic shows that macroeconomic variables which include interest rate and exchange rate directly impact on the stock prices if any changes take place in them it will directly going to affect the stock price. Macro economic variables are inversely related to the stock price. In markets, investors provide long term funds in exchange for long term financial assets offered by borrowers. The stock exchange is an important part of any country in the sense that it organizes domestic resources and channels them to productive investments. However, for this purpose it must have important association with the economy. Capital markets are main elements of a modern market based economic system as they serve as the channel for flow of long term financial resources from the savers of capital to the borrowers of capital. Efficient capital markets are essential for economic growth. With increasing globalization of economies, the worldwide capital markets are also becoming increasingly incorporated, while such integration is constructive for global economic growth. Hussainey Ngoc (2009) examined the effect of macroeconomic variables on Ghana Stock Exchange. They found that macroeconomic indicators such as lending rates and the inflation rate affect on stock market performance. Their results suggested that macroeconomic indicators should be considered for investors in developing economies. This motivates us to examine the degree to which this conclusion is applicable to another emerging stock market in Viet Nam. Huberman Zhenyu (2005) investigated that market embrace both the new issues by primary market and secondary market. Such securities might be raised in an organized market such as the Stock Exchange. As a marketplace where securities include stocks, bonds and shares are bought and sold openly with relative ease, the stock exchange is very important to the investors. The existence of a stock exchange in a capital market helps to broaden the share possession of a company and evenly distribute the nations wealth by making it possible for people in different locations to own shares in a firm in another location by purchasing the shares, bond stock through the simple mechanism of the stock market. Kandir (2008) investigated the linkage between stock price and macro economic variables for some developing countries in Eastern Asia which examined the impact of macroeconomic risks on the equity market of the Philippines stock exchange. Findings show that financial fluctuations in exchange rate and political changes on owners of Philippine equities cannot be able to explain Philippine stock returns. Mohammad et el. (2009) investigated that Karachi stock exchange is largest and most active stock market in Pakistan, accounting for 65% to 70 % of the value of the country total stock transaction as on October 1, 2004, 663 companies were listed with market capitalization $23.23 billion having listed capital of us $ 6.59 billion. Pakistans industrial exports and foreign investment today are growing at the countrys fastest rate ever. The countrys foreign exchange reserves skyrocketed to $12327.9 million in 2003-04 from $2279.2 million in 1998-99. Similarly, several Pakistani stocks are now traded on international markets. Also, foreign brokerage houses are now being allowed through joint ventures with Pakistani investment bankers to participate in primary as well as secondary markets in Pakistan. The stock exchange is not only crucial but also central to the entire mobilization process. This is because it offers an opportunity for continuous trading in securities. The purpose is to examine the impact of the macroeconomic variables which includes interest and exchange rates on the stock prices of oil sector by using regression analysis. Seven year data of both dependent variable and independent variables has been used to determine the result. The macroeconomic variables would provide more information about the stock return economic activity relationship. This would also consider other firm characteristics in order to obtain a better insight about the return generation process. Chapter two consists of literature review where as chapter three consist of methodology and chapter four consists of results interpretations. Chapter 2: Literature review Roll Ross (1980) suggested that the arbitrage pricing theory is suitable alternative because it agrees perfectly on what appears to be perception behind a capital asset pricing model. The arbitrage pricing theory is based on the linear return and generating process at the first principle which require no utility assumption. It is also not restricted to a single period. This theory is applicable in both multi period and single period cases. Arbitrage pricing theory begins with an assumption based on return generating process. There are two major differences between arbitrage pricing theory and capital asset pricing theory, first arbitrage pricing theory allows more then one generating factors. Secondly arbitrage pricing theory demonstrates that any market equilibrium must be consistent with no arbitrage profit, every equilibrium will be characterized by a linear relationship between each asset expected return and its return response. After determination of the factors in asset returns other than the market returns, the arbitrage pricing theory was introduced in order to determine the association between variables used in the study, arbitrage pricing theory stated the use of variables without the need of pre specification of variables but it did not take too long before the criticisms to appear. One foremost criticism was that, the arbitrage pricing theory can not be able to specify the factors, but just explain them statistically. This inefficiency of the arbitrage pricing theory was established even in the first empirical arbitrage pricing theory study. Ammer (1993) investigated the empirical relation between macro economic variables and stock prices in ten different countries, with a main objective is to find a links between these vaiables. The stock price decomposition is used to find the ways through which negative stock prices is associated with a positive inflation which is because of decrease in dividends and increase in real equity returns. Ammer (1993) observed in the results that generally increase in the rate of macro economic variables are directly linked with decrease in dividends and also decrease in required real equity returns. This favors the corporate tax related theories in which any change in the tax related systems affect on an increase in the rate of inflation this helps the firm in raising their cost of their capital relative to the return that has been earned by investors in the firm. Ammer (1993) investigated that In the United States (US) and the United Kingdom (UK) the suggestion of the arbitrage pricing theory model with a conditionally heteroscedastic economic factor imply that macro economic variables may increased the average amount of capital. Kaul (1995) suggested the impact of changes in monetary policy regimes, expected macro economic variables and there impacts on stock prices. Post war evidence from four countries reveals a direct link between these relations and the central banks operating targets which include money supply, interest rates and exchange rates. Specifically, the post war opposing relation has been found between stock price and in expected macro economic variables are significantly stronger during interest rate regimes. Bonomo Garcia (1997) investigated a version of the conditional capital asset pricing model with respect to a local market portfolio, which provides alternative by the Brazilian stock index during the period of 1976 to 1992. For this purpose they had selected conditional arbitrage pricing theory model by using the difference between the 30 days rate and the overnight rate as a second factor in addition to the market portfolio in order to capture the large inflation risk present during this period. Bonomo Garcia (1997) used conditional capital asset pricing model and arbitrage pricing theory models in the formation of the portfolio that consist of twenty five securities exchanged on the Brazilian market, this played an important role for the appropriate pricing of the portfolios. It has been examined that the unconditional moments of the returns series for the stock market index taken from the IFC Emerging markets data base it shows an average return in US dollars of 21.15% and an average excess return in local currency of 28.82%. For industrialized countries standards, it has been observed that these returns are exceptionally high. According to the fundamental asset pricing models such as the capital asset pricing model or the arbitrage pricing theory considered that, high expected returns getting from the security are linked with high measures of risk with respect to a number of risk factors that are going to affect directly on market portfolio. According to the capital asset pricing model, the expected return getting from the portfolio of assets is because of the covariance of the portfolio return which consists of different securities from exchange with the market portfolio return. It has been examined that the while selecting any market portfolio Two different views can be undertaken: it has been considered that the Brazilian stock market is divided into different segmented and concentrate on local risk factors which consist of macroeconomic variables that help in explaining local returns of the stocks, another way to adopt the perspective is that, international investors diversifying their portfolios worldwide by investing their funds into different market of the world in order to reduce the risk from their portfolio because if they invest in only one market with out diversifying in this way risk is high because if decline in market takes place then the investor will directly going to suffer loss on investment. Bonomo Garcia (1997) examined that they adopt the view according to which the Brazilian stock market is divided and tests a description of the conditional capital asset pricing model with reverence to a limited market portfolio, characterized by the Brazilian stock index in the IFC database. The conditional capital asset pricing model is experienced on a set of size portfolios produced from a total of twenty five securities exchanged on the Brazilian markets. The IFC emerging markets data base of the World Bank provides data on stock prices and other financial variables for both the stock index and individual stocks in a series of rising and newly industrialized countries. The Brazilian stock market is subjected by individual investors. They characterize investors in the market with minute investment knowledge or experience, they speculate in the stock market in the absence of market experience. Stocks are often bought and sold on historical prices and on market news about stock pri ces, resulting in stock market mania. Bonomo Garcia (1997) selected the total list of twenty five common shares which were listed on the brazilian stock exchange from January 1976 to December 1992. To test this model the return on individual securities has been selected, but for the purpose of getting linear result they have limit the number of variables used in this process. Bonomo Garcia (1997) examined the degree of the covariance parameters which is small in absolute value but small in variance of the surplus return. The betas of the second and third portfolios got negative values in the outline followed by their magnitudes, which increases with the capitalization value. This specifies the hight of worth portfolios which offers the best hedge against the risk. It should be seen that, by adding a second factor, all the market portfolio betas becomes lower as compare with others portfolios. Altay (2003) suggested that a range of macroeconomic variables representing the essential indicators of an economy are employed in the factor analysis processes and factor realizations of principal economic phenomena. Arbitrage pricing theory has a serious disadvantage in defining systematic risk factors. In contrast to the Arbitrage pricing theory, the market portfolio as the only risk factor in the capital asset pricing model is clearly defined. Asset prices are supposed to respond to series of macro economic procedures. A number of macroeconomic alteration influence asset prices stronger than others and some do not even influence them at all. One of the most well known Arbitrage pricing theory tests on this topic was implemented and measured by a number of important economic variables to have systematic influence on asset returns. Arbitrage pricing theory is only focused on shaping the number of risk factors that systematically give details about the stock market returns by formulating factor analysis methods. Altay (2003) have chosen five factors from the New York stock exchange and AMEX which depend on the period length and the size of the stock groups under examination. In this paper they put into practice empirical analysis to both German and Turkish stock markets and economic data. It shows that Germany and Turkey are both European countries with dissimilar levels of economic development. There are numerous earlier empirical results of the Arbitrage pricing theory for the German and Turkish Stock Markets. Monthly returns of ninety three assets are put into practice, the principle components analysis method are used in order to test the arbitrage pricing theory. The accomplishment of the maximum likelihood factor analysis method used some macroeconomic variables as possible common risk factors in the analysis. The asset prices are supposed to respond to macroeconomic factors and unexpected changes in macroeconomic factors are estimated to be rewarded in stock markets. The factor structures of the German and Turkish economy are presented by employing the same eight macroeconomic variables and stock market proxies in the principle mechanism and maximum likelihood factor analysis. In each type of analysis of German variables, four factors are extracted while only three variables are derived from Turkish variables, representing dissimilar factor structures of these two economies. Javed Aziz (2005) suggested the development of financial equilibrium asset pricing models which has been the most significant area of research in current financial theory. These models are broadly tested for the development of the market. The strength of the Arbitrage Pricing Theory (APT) model on returns from twenty five aggressively trading stocks in Karachi Stock Exchange using monthly data from January 1997 to December 2003 had been examined. Arbitrage pricing theory suggested that there are a number of sources of risk in the economy that cannot be eliminated. Javed Aziz (2005) considered in relation to economy wide factors such as inflation, interest rate, exchange rate and changes in aggregate output. Instead of calculating a single beta, like the capital asset pricing model, arbitrage pricing theory calculates several betas by estimating the importance of an assets return to changes in each factor. The arbitrage pricing theory assumes that a security return is a linear function. The arbitrage pricing theory thus specified that the risk premium for an asset is connected to the risk premium for each factor and that as the assets sensitivity to each factor increases, its risk premium will increase as well. The arbitrage pricing theory forecast that the prices of all sensitive assets in the economy conformed to the condition of no arbitrage. No arbitrage indicate that an individual investment in a well diversified portfolio could not receive any additional return merely by altering the weights of the assets incorporated in the portfolio, holding equally systematic and unsystematic risk constant. The arbitrage pricing theory stated that there is a set of fundamental sources that influence all stocks returns. The stock return is a linear function of a certain number of economic factors, while these factors are unnoticeable and not significant. In order to test the arbitrage pricing theory empirically, following approach has been used. It can simultaneously calculate approximately the asset sensitivities and unknown factors by examining factor analysis on stock returns. On the other hand, it identifies previous general factors that give details about the pricing in the stock market. Such macroeconomic variables can be those affecting either future cash flows on companies or future risk adjusted discount rates. These selected twenty four stocks are the most active stocks with just about 80% weight of aggregate market capitalization of KSE 100 index companies. In order to analyze the stability of the factors in the arbitrage pricing theory, the period is divided into two sub periods; monthly data had been selected for the purpose of examination. The schedule are reported approximately daily by the news media. The outcome specify that in the whole sample period only two priced factors are found to have exploratory factor analysis approach; in the first sub period none of the factors seems to be priced, and in the second sub period they discovered only one priced factor at the 5% level of significance. The number of priced factors seems to be very low and the consequences of this approach specify considerable instability of the explanatory power of the arbitrage pricing theory. The results of two different testing methods for the arbitrage pricing theory are nearly in the identical manner because in the whole sample period two priced factors are found. This is an encouraging result, which supports the theory. But the number of priced factors seems to be very low and the results of this approach point towards substantial instability of the explanatory power of the arbitrage pricing theory. The arbitrage pricing theory is an alternative for the Capital Asset Pricing Model in this way both shows a relation between assets returns and their covariance with other variables, where as capital asset pricing model focuses on the covariance of the market portfolio return. Huberman and Zhenyu (2005) suggested that the arbitrage pricing theory entails a procedure to identify at least some features of the underlying factor structure. Merely stating that some collection of portfolios (or even a single portfolio) is mean variance efficient relative to the mean variance frontier spanned by the existing assets does not constitute a test of the arbitrage pricing theory, because one can always find a mean variance efficient portfolio. Consequently, as a test of the arbitrage pricing theory it is not sufficient to merely show that a set of factor portfolios satisfies the relation between the return and its covariance with the factors portfolios. Gunsel Cukur (2007) investigated the performance of the Arbitrage Pricing Theory (APT) in London Stock Exchange for the period of 1980-1993 as monthly. The arbitrage pricing theory introduced by CRR (1986) involves identifying the macroeconomic variables which directly impact on stock returns. Thus macroeconomic behavior influence the returns on stocks and utilizing macro variables in the return generating process provided a basis to approximate stock returns. The simplest of theories of pricing a financial asset is by discounting future cash flows. Hence, the following exogenous variables that affect the future cash flows or the risk adjusted discount rate of a company must be measured. The reason is to recognize the macroeconomic forces that influence the stock market. For this purpose seven economic variables are examined. The model is designed in a way to test the two conditions. These conditions are economic conditions such as term structure of interest rate, inflation, money supply, the exchange rate, the risk premium and industry specific conditions, dividend yield and industrial production. Their result suggests that share prices are affected in a different manner than one described in CRR. This can be explained by the idea that other explanatory variable may be at work in UK or the CRR methodology is inadequate. They suggested that, interest rate, inflation and money supply were among the factors that are found to be significant. However, in this case unexpected inflation seems to be insignificant. Humpe Macmillan (2007) investigated the relationship between stock market and a series of different macroeconomic and financial variables through out the stock markets over a range of different time horizons. Presented financial economic theory proposes a number of models that gives a structure for the examination of this association. Arbitrage pricing theory is a one way of linking macroeconomic variables to the stock market where different kind of risk factors which affect market in a different ways can give details about asset returns. The early investigations related to arbitrage pricing theory focused on individual security returns, where as it may also be used in a cumulative stock market structure. In this way any changes in a given macroeconomic variable could be seen as reflecting a change in an underlying systematic risk factor influencing future returns. Many of the past empirical studies based on arbitrage pricing theory that links the state of the macro economy to stock market returns, are characterized by modeling a short run relationship between macroeconomic variables and the stock price in terms of first differences, assuming trend stationary. These papers found a significant relationship between stock market prices and changes in macroeconomic variables. An alternative, but not inconsistent, approach is the discounted cash flow or present value model. This model relates the stock price to future expected cash flows and the future discount rate of these cash flows. All macroeconomic factors that influence future expected cash flows or the discount rate by which these cash flows are discounted should have an influence on the stock price. This showed that long term moving average of earnings predicts dividends and the ratio of this earnings variable to current stock price is powerful in predicting stock returns over several years. The only negative coefficients are found on long term interest rates. Additionally, it has been examined that Europe an stock markets are highly integrated with that of Germany and also found that industrial production, stock prices and short term rates in Germany positively influence returns on other European stock markets (namely France, Italy, Netherlands, Switzerland and the UK). Humpe Macmillan (2007) draw upon theory and existing empirical work as a motivation to select a number of macroeconomic variables that might expect to be strongly related to the real stock price. They make use of these variables, in a co integration model, to compare and contrast the stock markets in the US and Japan. The aim is to examined whether the same model can explain the US and Japanese stock market while yielding consistent factor loadings. This might be highly relevant to private investors, pension funds and governments, as many long term investors base their investment in equities on the assumption that corporate cash flows should grow in line with the economy, given either a constant or slowly moving discount rate. Unanticipated inflation may directly influence real stock prices negatively through unexpected changes in the price level. Inflation uncertainty may also affect the discount rate thus reducing the present value of future corporate cash flows. Tursoy, Gunsel, Rjoub (2008) suggested that the reason of this study is empirically test the arbitrage pricing theory in Istanbul Stock Exchange for the period of February 2001 up to September 2005 on monthly base. The arbitrage pricing theory is a theoretical substitute to the capital asset pricing model which analyzed the strength of the arbitrage pricing theory in the US securities market. They used US macroeconomic variables as proxies for the underlying risk factors driving stock returns. Tursoy, Gunsel, Rjoub (2008) found that several of these macroeconomic variables to be important in explaining expected stock return, particularly in industrial production, changes in risk premium, and twist in the yield curve. Tursoy, Gunsel, Rjoub (2008) analyzed the empirical applicability of the arbitrage pricing theory is to price the Istanbul Stock Market, and to recognize the set of macroeconomic variables which communicate more closely with the stock market factors. There are list macroeconomic variables which were used to price the stock of Istanbul Stock Exchange which formed in eleven portfolios from the industrial sector because it represents the important segment of the traded stocks which consists of 174 out of 259 totally traded stocks. A higher index is reflected in higher values of these three variables, therefore, this indicates greater pressure on the exchange market depending on the nature of the involvement of the respective Central Bank. That is, speculative pressures are either accommodated by a loss of reserves or can be prevented by the monetary authorities through an increase in interest rates. Each portfolio may influence different industry in different manner by macroeconomic variables; a macroeconomic factor may affect one industry positively, but affect the other industry negatively. The regression results specify that there is no significant pricing relation between the stock return and the tested macroeconomic variables. This indicates that other macroeconomic factors affect the stock return in Istanbul Stock exchange or the multifactor arbitrage pricing theory with macroeconomic variables fails to explain the effect in stock market. The consequence found that there is no relationship between the macroeconomic variables and stock market return. Kandir (2008) suggested that by make use of statistical tools like factor analysis, arbitrage pricing theory provide guidance in the use of variables without the requirement of pre specification of variables but it did not take too long before the criticism to appear. One most important criticism was that, arbitrage pricing theory cant be able to properly explain the variables which are used in the study, but just derive them statistically. This insufficiency of the arbitrage pricing theory continues that the result obtained from factor analysis should be primary economic variables, such as gross national product (GNP) or interest rates. Additionally, in this paper they acknowledge that stock prices and stock returns are systematically affected by economic variables. For this purpose they have selected the data from July 1997 to June 2005 in order to analyze there impact. Their findings of suggested that there has been a significant relation between Macroeconomic factors and stock return in the countries examined. Kandir (2008) recommended that the examination of major economic factors that are alternate of the derived factors in the arbitrage pricing theory which is the first to employ specific macroeconomic factors as proxies for undefined variables in the arbitrage pricing theory. Expected dividends of a company can be directly affected because of increase in inflation rate, real production, oil prices and consumption. The new model has an explicit advantage over the arbitrage pricing theory. There is no theoretical framework for the selection of macroeconomic variables. Stock prices are found to share positive long-run relationships with industrial production and consumer price index. Whereas result they obtained has found to have a negative relation with money supply, interest rate and exchange rate. Kazi (2009) identified the significant risk factors for the Australian stock market by applying co integration technique. It is Relevant to previously used variables, which act as a substitute for Australian systematic risk factors. The linear combination of previous variables is found co integrated although not all variables are significant. The bank interest rate, corporate profitability, dividend yield, industrial production and, to a lesser extent, global market influence are significant for the Australian stock market returns in the long-run; while the stock prices are used in each quarter by its own market presentation, interest rate and global stock market arrangements of previous quarter. The sensible implications for both local and overseas investors as all investors now able to direct their investment risks better while considering Australian stocks into their portfolios through monitoring only 4 to 5 factors that are identified here. The relationship between kibor rates and stock prices of oil sector from the viewpoint of asset portfolio allotment is commonly negative. An increase in interest rates raises the necessary rate of return, which in turn inversely affects the value of the asset. Measured as opportunity cost, the nominal interest rate affects investors decision on stock holdings. A rise in the opportunity cost may, however encourage investors to find a substitute shares for other assets. Using co integration technique this paper performs an empirical analysis to identify the significant risk factors for the Australian stock market. In doing so it examines whether or not the selected a previous variables can give details about the return generating and pricing process of the Australian stock market. The results are in conformity with the current finance theory, yet interestingly different on some points. In long run, it is found that the Australian stock market prices are being influenced by only 4 or 5 systematic risk factors. Nguyen (2010) examined the stock price performance of an emerging stock market the Stock Exchange of Thailand, by applying a new equilibrium stock price theory. They have chosen the data for assessment during financial crises. The theory recommend stock market risks and returns are determined by essentials under a linear relationship recognized on the basis of a consistent multi factor model return generating process and the assumptions of perfectly aggressive and frictionless markets. The literature on asset pricing models has taken on original lease of life since the appearance of the Arbitrage Pricing Theory, is substitute theory to the renowned Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM). Being motivating in its own right the arbitrage pricing theory soon concerned a number of main financial economists and researchers which had yielded its several affect on different researches. The methodology for testing the strength of the capital asset pricing model can be functional for testing the weight of arbitrage pricing theory. The two pass test measures are applied in almost every test of the arbitrage pricing theory. The study on certain macroeconomic forces which are going to systematically affect the stock returns of certain stocks. Their result suggests industrial production; changes in a default risk premium, term structure, and unanticipated inflati

The Influence Of Green Groups On The Policy Of The United States :: essays research papers

The Influence of Green Groups on the Policy of the United States Abstract: This research examines the relationship between environmental groups and the policies of the United States. The United States political system has been historically anthropocen-tric, or human centered. Environmental groups have been attempting to change this to a biocentric or ecocentric viewpoint, which includes the rights of animals and the environment. These views are nature centered instead of human centered. This study will answer the question of whether these groups have been effective at altering United States policies. This will be done through the study of views offered by both sides. Also, a survey will be used to determine whether congressmen views are consistent with environmentalist views. It will also present whether policy change has taken place, and if these changes have remained intact through the study of past congressional decisions. Research Problem 1. Research Question Have environmental groups' strategies been successful at altering the policies of the United States? 2. Rational for the Research This research will help environmental groups to identify the effectiveness of their strategies. This is necessary for these groups to effectively alter the policies of the United States, which is one of the largest polluters in the world. If their strategies are ineffective then it will be necessary for them to reassess their methods. Without the use productive methods these groups will not be able to protect the environment. Animals, plants and the entire ecosystem must have the same protection as humans have. An ecocentric viewpoint establishes the right of the environment to have legal standing. This gives people the ability to defend the right of an animal to exist with the same rights as humans. Without this protection, people will be just as negatively affected as the environment. The earth must be thought of as a living organism, if one part is hurt then the whole planet will feel the effects. Unfortunately, business and governments take the stance that the earth is more like a machine. That is, at times if a part is hurt it can be repaired, without it effecting the whole system. Literature Review The literature on environmental groups and their influence and activities is vast. Several themes concerning the groups' influence in changing United States policy exist. The American Psychological Association has done studies on ecocentric and anthropocentric attitudes (Thomas, 1994). Ecocentric values have arisen recently as environmental problems have come to the public's attention. Anthropocentric values have existed much longer. They have become institutionalized into our political and economic system. The movement toward environmental awareness arose in the political activism in the 60's. Although these values have recently been declining according to

Macbeth: A Tragic Hero? Essay -- English Literature Essays

Macbeth: A Tragic Hero? A Tragic Hero is a common figure in many of Shakespeare’s works. A Tragic Hero is usually a figure of royalty, fame or greatness. This person is predominately good, but falls from prominence due to personality flaws that eventually lead to self-destruction. Macbeth’s major flaws are his ambition and impressionability. Due to their flaws, a Tragic Hero’s actions are often atrocious and cause them to battle with their conscience after their desires have been accomplished. These battles with their conscience evoke empathy from the audience. A Shakespearean Tragic Hero will always lose their life in the end of the play as a result of re-establishment of what is good in the play. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the title figure of the play can be seen as the Tragic Hero. There are many factors which contribute to the decline of Macbeth. The three main factors which contribute greatly to Macbeth's degeneration are the prophecies which were told to him by the witches, Lady Macbeth’s influence and ability to manipulate Macbeth's judgment, and finally Macbeth's long time ambition which drove his desire to be king. Macbeth's growing character decays from a noble man to a violent individual. When the play begins, Macbeth’s greatness is already established. Macbeth has already earned the title of Thane of Glamis and will soon become the Thane of Cawdor. The fact that he has these titles demonstrates to the reader that Macbeth is good and an important figu... Macbeth: A Tragic Hero? Essay -- English Literature Essays Macbeth: A Tragic Hero? A Tragic Hero is a common figure in many of Shakespeare’s works. A Tragic Hero is usually a figure of royalty, fame or greatness. This person is predominately good, but falls from prominence due to personality flaws that eventually lead to self-destruction. Macbeth’s major flaws are his ambition and impressionability. Due to their flaws, a Tragic Hero’s actions are often atrocious and cause them to battle with their conscience after their desires have been accomplished. These battles with their conscience evoke empathy from the audience. A Shakespearean Tragic Hero will always lose their life in the end of the play as a result of re-establishment of what is good in the play. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the title figure of the play can be seen as the Tragic Hero. There are many factors which contribute to the decline of Macbeth. The three main factors which contribute greatly to Macbeth's degeneration are the prophecies which were told to him by the witches, Lady Macbeth’s influence and ability to manipulate Macbeth's judgment, and finally Macbeth's long time ambition which drove his desire to be king. Macbeth's growing character decays from a noble man to a violent individual. When the play begins, Macbeth’s greatness is already established. Macbeth has already earned the title of Thane of Glamis and will soon become the Thane of Cawdor. The fact that he has these titles demonstrates to the reader that Macbeth is good and an important figu...

Broadcasting in the UK Essay -- Television TV Antenna Digital Essays P

Broadcasting in the UK Introduction: Broadcasting, the transmission of information by radio or television, is a major factor affecting the television industry today. Broadcasting is currently achieved through analogue, a system that has existed since television began in the 1940’s and 50’s. "Analogue converts sound and pictures into waves, which are then transmitted through the air and picked up by our rooftops or indoor aerials." But, because of rapid technological advances in the modern era, analogue will soon be obsolete, and is presently in the process of being replaced by digital broadcasting, the new form of broadcasting that "turns pictures and sound into computer language, which changes one’s television into a form of computer, so that it can connect to the Internet, take interactive programs, and carry many more channels," all of which cannot be accomplished through analogue. As modern technology grows, the television industry is introduced to major issues, such as low consumer confidence, analogue switch-off difficulties, and the lack of technical skills. And unless these problems are resolved soon, they will lead to the collapse of the television industry. Lack of skills: Concerns associated with employee technical skills is becoming very common in the digital TV industry. The industry fears that its employees may lack the advanced technical knowledge required for the future. Its major concern right now is to find the right people with the right skills to effectively implement future strategies. Digital TV companies must become much more competent, innovative and creative, which means that its employees must be willing to develop themselves and their company in order to sustain the industry. As many are aware, IT skills will be very essential to the well-being of the industry. Because a number of shoppers today are already purchasing products online – and Internet access via digital TV exists, advanced IT skills are definitely required for the future health of the digital TV industry. However, since the demand for specialist IT skills is increasing and the human resources are limited, there exists a shortfall – one that appears to worsen . It has been reported by e-commerce consultancy, Spectrum Strategy, that over 850,000 e-business jobs could be created in Britain by 2003. But unfortunately, due to skills shortages, the digital TV indu... ...emove public confusion. However, ONDigital and SkyDigital have also pursued a common plan. Both companies have negotiated a plan with the UK Parliament to aid their shared issue. But unfortunately for both, Parliament has not yet conducted any of its promised public info campaigns. Conclusion: In conclusion, the future of digital television is unpredictable. Who knows where our high-tech society will end up next? Because technological advances are happening "right before our eyes," the TV industry is forced to "keep up with" modern technology. If this cannot be accomplished effectively, the industry will experience its gradual downfall. The UK government must help the industry "stay on track" and ensure that its products are agreeable to public interest. But in order to do so, Parliament must take a serious stand on the issue and motivate itself to promote public awareness of the benefits of converting to digital TV. If Parliament fails to play an "active" role, results for the television industry will be extremely negative. Not only will this give the industry a "bad" reputation, but it will also cause the Parliament itself to have a long-term negativereputation as well.

Midwestern Art Museum Essay

Background The present paper reviews a case study as written by Lewicky, Saunders and Barry in the text Negotiations titled Midwestern::Contemporary Art, case number 6. Its focus is on a financial crisis that the museum is facing due to a donors failure to pay a five million dollar pledge. The donor was the museums previous president of the board of directors who had a falling out with the museum director over financial matters and felt minimized by the lack support by board members. The museum is in the process of completing a major capital project and faces the near term possibility of bankruptcy if the pledge is not fulfilled. Results Legal counsel for the museum recommends suing to collect the funding but that strategy presents several negative outcomes. First is that there are very few cases where a museum has sued a donor successfully so this is not a tested option and even if they were successful, collecting the amount awarded by the court may prove very difficult. Secondly, it raises the likelihood of creating negative public relations that could adversely affect future contributions. Lastly, some of the board members are opposed to this idea. Another course of action is to enter in to negotiations to secure the funding. The current president of the board must decide on a course of action to obtain the necessary funding and unite the board in a functional manner. Conclusions A renewed focus on the future relationship between this donor and the MCA needs to be forged through skilled negotiations in a way that will benefit everyone involved. The legal route should not be the first course of action for the MCA to obtain the five million dollar pledge. The board should first try to implement a well planned negotiation strategy to include the legal option as the BATNA. Situation. The Midwestern Contemporary Art (MCA) Museum opened in 1976 and is devoted to modern art. In January of 1989 the MCA hired Keith Schmidt as executive director, and due to his extensive experience much was expected of him. That same year a reputable lawyer from the area named Peter Smith was selected as the board president. He had been a board member since 1981 and was an avid collector of contemporary art along with his wife. Together they had acquired the largest art collection of this type in the Great Lakes area. Peter Smith and Keith Schmidt had very different leadership styles and it led to disagreements on how to expand and grow the MCA. These arguments often became personal and led to animosity and mistrust. Most of their arguments had to deal with the speed of MCA’s expansion, which was pushed by Keith Schmidt. Peter Smith was more concerned about the finances and did not trust that Schmidt could operate the museum in the black. Smith presented his concerns about Schmidt to the other board members but they didn’t share the same feelings of mistrust since Mr. Schmidt’s performance had not proven deficient so far. Due to problems between the two men, Peter Smith resigned from the board in December 1991. The Smiths disappeared from the art scene at the end of 1991 and missed all payments on their $5 million pledge to the MCA. This became a problem because the MCA was planning on constructing a new building. The Smiths’ pledge was a significant amount and the new MCA facilities completion depended on their pledge. Also, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) required all non-profit organizations to record pledges as income so the MCA had already accounted for the money. This caused an even more financial hardship on the museum, and in late 1997, MCA found itself in a financial crisis due to high debt resulting from the construction and the Smiths’ unfulfilled pledge. The current board director is Peggy Fischer and she has just finished a meeting with the board to discuss the possibility of suing the Smiths for the five million dollar pledge. Although she is uncomfortable with several aspects of the legal route, she knows the museum may face bankruptcy without the pledge. She must decide if the MCA should try to pursue negotiations with the Smiths or legal action. It is a big decision to make and the boards’ next meeting is in five days. Who is in Charge? Let’s consider the leadership crisis that got them in the situation to start with. First of all, Keith Schmidt as the executive director should be able to answer the board chairman’s questions in a clear and logical manner and should not expect an â€Å"unsigned check† regardless of how he was treated elsewhere. Beyond that, Peter Smith as the board chairman is clearly micromanaging the director and as a result, both men have let the business relationship become personal. If you insist on micro-managing, you have a problem; if you believe you must check on every detail, your style is symptomatic of insecurity or paranoia. Your style is based on a lack of faith and trust in other people. And, it is repressive. It leads to little growth, it discourages any human resource development, and it focuses on problems of detail, and discourages teamwork. If you don’t trust your manager or his judgment, and you are unwilling to allow him to assume any responsibility, you are cheating yourself of the talent you are paying for. As much as you may want to, you can’t build a one-person organization that will succeed in the long run. Micro-managing may work for a while, but in time, it acts as a brake on all progress. In this case, it is stifling the expansion and growth of the MCA. Mr. Smith doesn’t realize that he is working against himself by discouraging new ideas, new art exhibits, new talent and the push to move forward has been imprisoned in the mind of one person. The two men are experiencing a competitive conflict based on different viewpoints or perspectives. I think that they have the same goals; they just disagree on how to go about obtaining them. Also, this organization is experiencing growing pains with the hiring of the director. Consequently, the roles and expectations of the organization’s members should be clarified. This one area of conflict can be the trickiest because when you are in charge, often perspectives different from your own are misunderstood or pushed aside. Managers and leaders must remember that at least some of their employees will likely have different perspectives. In fact, often different perspectives are where creative solutions are developed. There are ways to structurally reduce conflict in an organization. The ost common and effective way is to provide people with a clear definition and understanding of their role, function, and responsibilities in the workplace. This will provide them with a good understanding of the job and tasks they are to perform as an individual and within any teams they are a part of. It also provides information on where they fit within the organization and who they report to, helping to avoid disputes and misunderstandings over authority. Failing to define workplace roles and responsibilities can create tension, miscommunication and inefficiency within your business (Bulleit, 2006). People may be unsure as to what jobs are their own and who they are required to report to. Mistakes and omissions can also occur where people are unsure of what is required of them, therefore creating inefficiencies which cost time and money. If Peter Smith and Keith Schmidt understood this at the beginning of their relationship, much of the dispute would have been avoided. Once you have defined each person’s roles and responsibilities, you can record this in a â€Å"job description†. This can be as formal or informal as you prefer, however it is important to record the key information. Job descriptions provide the opportunity to clearly communicate each individual’s roles and responsibilities and also serve as a way to measure performance. With the role of each individual in the organization defined, you can also create an organization chart. This chart is a tool that helps to define the inter-relationships between the board, the director and staff. It defines reporting structures and lines of authority and responsibility, providing a picture of how the organization functions. It can be very helpful when creating a new position in an organization to have people write their own job description. This gives you insight in how that person views his responsibilities and creates buy-in on their part. People like to be part of decisions that affect their life as opposed to being told what to do. In this situation, the board of directors and its members should define their roles as well as the executive director and the staff since they are all very different. At MCA the roles are different since it is a not-for-profit organization and there are no shareholders to report to. The role of the chairman is to provide vision and outline the goals of the MCA. The role of the director is to develop a plan of how to achieve those goals and the role of the staff is to execute or put the plan in to action. I’m not sure how large the staff is at MCA, but the structural organization should extend beyond Mr. Schmidt. When defining roles and responsibilities in the workplace, you may need to create a list of all of your staff and a list of all of the tasks and roles within your business. You can then assign the roles to each staff member. It is important to remain flexible and be prepared to modify your plan in consultation with your employees. Peter Smith acted poorly when his advice was not followed by the board. It is his inability to â€Å"pass the torch† thinking that only he can win the race to success and that is largely what caused the whole situation. He is willing to â€Å"take his toys and go home† if he doesn’t get it his way. When Peter Smith’s advice was not followed by the board and he resigned he should have either withdrawn his pledge so the MCA could plan accordingly or honored his commitment. The Decision. Peggy Fischer as the current board chairman has some hard decisions. She needs to consider any alternative approaches to collect the unfulfilled pledge as opposed to a direct approach of just calling and demanding the money. She should also consider what alternatives the Smiths may have. For any successful negotiation, there is a significant amount of homework involved. The legal option may not work out since it is largely untested as pointed out by legal counsel. If that doesn’t work, the MCA will be in even deeper financial trouble with no options left with the Smiths. Ms. Fisher should first clearly identify the goal. I think that the goal should be to establish a positive relationship with the Smiths that will secure the five million dollar contribution soon and create a positive relationship that has future benefits. In addition to this goal, a Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement (BATNA) needs to be established. BATNAs are critical to negotiation because you cannot make a wise decision about whether to accept a negotiated agreement unless you know what your alternatives are. Your BATNA is the only standard which can protect you both from accepting terms that are too unfavorable and from rejecting terms it would be in your interest to accept. For example, the Smiths may agree to assist in finding another source of money to make up the pledge. This is not what is expected, but it may be enough to meet the financial needs of the museum. There may be several options to consider in an agreement that would accomplish the goal without strictly adhering to only two possible outcomes. Get the five million now or sue. In the simplest terms, if the proposed agreement is better than your BATNA, then you should accept it. If the agreement is not better than your BATNA, then you should reopen negotiations. (Fisher & Ury 1991). Along with establishing the negotiation desired outcome or goal and the BATNA, you need to determine the bottom line. A bottom line signifies the worst possible outcome that a negotiator might accept. Maybe it would be acceptable to obtain half of the pledged money with the idea that MCA could come up with the rest elsewhere. The bottom line is meant to act as the final barrier where a negotiation will not proceed further. It is a means to defend oneself against the pressure and temptation that is often exerted on a negotiator to conclude an agreement that is self defeating (Lewicki, Saunders & Barry, 2009). Then the next step in this situation requires her to select a negotiation strategy based on the type of relationship MCA wishes to achieve with the Smiths if any. If the importance of the relationship is high and the importance of the outcome is high, then a collaborative style of negotiation is in order. Do they want to re-establish a long term relationship? If not, then a more competitive strategy is more suitable. In this situation the board members seem to be split on their strategy. Some of the board members have made it clear that they have reservations about using the legal course, or competitive strategy, and at least one supports the chief counsels’ recommendations. If the MCA determines that they do not expect to deal with the Smiths ever again and they do not need their goodwill in the long term, then it may be appropriate to â€Å"play hardball†, seeking to win the negotiation while the other person loses out. Similarly, since there is a great deal at stake in the negotiation, it may be appropriate to prepare in detail and legitimate â€Å"gamesmanship† to gain advantage. Anyone who has been involved with large sales negotiations will be familiar with this. Neither of these approaches is usually much good for resolving disputes with people with whom you have an ongoing relationship: If the MCA plays hardball, then this disadvantages the Smiths and may, quite fairly, lead to reprisal later. Similarly, using tricks and manipulation during a negotiation can undermine trust and damage teamwork. Attempting to manipulate the Smiths in a negotiation may backfire. Here, honesty and openness is the best policy. So let’s consider the basic strategies available. The avoiding strategy is obviously not going to work since there is no clear way to obtain the funds elsewhere. The competitive strategy in this situation is comprised of the legal option that is recommended by the chief counsel and supported by at least one board member. The accommodating strategy would also require that MCA finds another source of funding since they are facing a short term crisis. A collaborative strategy is ideal but is difficult given the short time frame. The best alternative method to seek the cooperation of the Smiths and to collect the unfulfilled pledge is to use any existing relationships among the board member’s. If this is not apparent, she may consider hiring a consultant even if it is only for mapping out a strategy. It may be well worth the money because some research needs to be done to determine the network of contacts which exist around the Smiths. I think that involving a third party at least initially is a good idea to break the ice. In order to collect the five million dollar pledge, the MCA clearly needs the help of influential people to ‘open doors’, make reintroductions and even to ‘make the ask’ when appropriate. Someone is needed who will focus on reinforcing collaborations and partnerships and build on those strengths. Now is the time to put the right people in the right position to both grieve the loss of the Smiths relationship and honor their contributions. Since the Smiths were very involved in the community, the involvement of influential people from outside the museum that may be best to use in a networking and personal approach. The negotiator must be able to avoid focusing on the past and skilled at guiding the discussion to a positive view of the future. Pointing fingers or histrionics are clearly inappropriate because they undermine the rational basis of the negotiation and because they bring a manipulative aspect to them (Phillips, 2011). The smiths need to be convinced that the MCA is important to them and the best person to do this is someone that they trust. Not lost in this situation is the fact that the Smiths are facing a significant life changing event; it may cause them to re-evaluate their relationship with MCA. If the Smiths are approached in a positive manner, they may choose to reclaim the part of their life that they invested so much time and money in as a legacy to Peter. Leaving bequests to museums has a long history. The board should be involved in further discussions leading to a decision about whether or not to file a lawsuit and to this end, Peggy Fisher has some negotiations of her own to accomplish with the board members. The style of the negotiation is important because emotions are high due to the critical situation. Keep in mind that for a negotiation to be ‘win-win’, both parties should feel positive about the negotiation once it’s over. There are those on the board who want to sue and those who are in opposition and this has potential to evolve in to a destructive division. Peggy has to unify the board in a way that will maintain good working relationships afterwards and also govern the style of the negotiation. Emotion can be an important subject of discussion because people’s emotional needs must fairly be met. Usually, emotion is best left out of negotiations but Peter Smiths terminal cancer should not be ignored. If emotion is not discussed where it needs to be, then the agreement reached will be unsatisfactory and temporary. I don’t think the museum should sue the Smiths as a first approach to this situation primarily because the relationship between a foundation and its donors is precious. Suing the people paying the bills is not good public relations and this will definitely generate a lot of attention in the community. Even if MCA wins the lawsuit there is still the big question of how to collect. Will they have to hire a collection agency? Is there one that will even take the job? If for some reason the Smiths don’t have the money it is going to be very difficult to collect. Before going any further with this as the debt collection strategy, the MCA needs to look at this from a clear perspective. Have they given the debtor enough time and notice to repay the debt that they owe? It is crucial that they attempt to contact the debtor directly before starting any legal procedures and suing for money owed. When the Smiths missed their payments, did anyone attempt to collect? This may be an issue in court. It is important to find out exactly why the Smiths have not paid because there could be some fairly legitimate reasons for the shortfall. The legal process may not produce results in the timely manner needed in this situation because it may lead to mediation anyway. Mediation is another debt collection strategy that uses mediators instead of going to court so you are back to a negotiating strategy. A mediator is a professional, hired in order to settle a dispute outside of court. They may make it easier for an agreement to be reached, however this must be reached voluntarily between the two parties (Bailey, 2010). There is a better way for the MCA to attempt the collection of the money pledged by the Smiths however, I think that the sue option is a good BATNA and should be used in this manner as part of a well planned negotiation. Having a good BATNA increases your negotiating power and the trick in this situation is determining when to make that option known to the Smiths in order to strengthen your negotiating power. The negotiation should be well thought out and executed properly. Care should be taken that the BATNA is not seen by negotiators as a safety net, but rather as a point of leverage in negotiations and again, determining when to bring it in the negotiations is a key part that a skilled negotiator must determine. In conclusion, the leadership dispute between Peter Smith and Keith Schmidt and the resulting parting of ways on supposedly bad terms should be put to rest. A renewed focus on the future for the Smiths and the MCA needs to be forged through skilled negotiations that will benefit everyone in the very different situation that both parties now face. The legal route should not be the first course of action for the MCA. The board should first try to implement a well planned negotiation strategy to include the legal option as the BATNA. Peggy Fischer has some negotiation work of her own to accomplish with the board members in order to unify everyone and focus all their resources and efforts in accomplishing a collaborative, long term relationship with the Smiths that will benefit everyone.