Quotations by King Alfred the Great

Alfred was extraordinary for an early medieval king in several respects. He was a particularly wily military commander, successfully keeping the Danes at bay, and he wisely shored up defenses when the enemies of his kingdom were occupied elsewhere. At a time when England was little more than a collection of warring kingdoms, he established diplomatic relations with his neighbors, including the Welsh, and unified a substantial portion of the heptarchy. He displayed remarkable administrative flair, reorganizing his army, issuing important laws, protecting the weak, and promoting learning. But most unusual of all, he was a gifted scholar. Alfred the Great translated several works from Latin into his own language, Anglo-Saxon, known to us as Old English, and wrote some works of his own. In his translations, he sometimes inserted comments that offer insight not only into the books but into his own mind. Here are some notable quotations from the notable English king, Alfred the Great. I desired to live worthily as long as I lived and to leave after my life, to the men who should come after me, the memory of me in good works. From  Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius Remember what punishments befell us in this world when we ourselves did not cherish learning nor transmit it to other men. From  Pastoral Care by Pope Gregory the Great Therefore he seems to me a very foolish man, and very wretched, who will not increase his understanding while he is in the world, and ever wish and long to reach that endless life where all shall be made clear. From Blooms (aka Anthology) Very often it has come to my mind what men of learning there were formerly throughout England, both in religious and secular orders; and how there were happy times then throughout England; and how the kings, who had authority over this people, obeyed God and his messengers; and how they not only maintained their peace, morality, and authority at home but also extended their territory outside; and how they succeeded both in warfare and in wisdom; and also how eager were the religious orders both in teaching and in learning as well as in all the holy services which it was their duty to perform for God; and how people from abroad sought wisdom and instruction in this country; and how nowadays, if we wished to acquire these things, we would have to seek them outside. From the preface to Pastoral Care When I recalled how knowledge of Latin had previously decayed throughout England, and yet many could still read things written in English, I then began, amidst the various and multifarious afflictions of this kingdom, to translate into English the book which in Latin is called Pastoralis, in English Shepherd-book, sometimes word for word, sometimes sense for sense. From the preface to Pastoral Care For in prosperity a man is often puffed up with pride, whereas tribulations chasten and humble him through suffering and sorrow. In the midst of prosperity the mind is elated, and in prosperity a man forgets himself; in hardship, he is forced to reflect on himself, even though he be unwilling. In prosperity a man often destroys the good he has done; amidst difficulties, he often repairs what he long since did in the way of wickedness. ― Attributed. In recent years, the veracity of Alfreds authorship has been called into question. Did he really translate anything from Latin to Old English? Did he write anything of his own? Check out the arguments in Jonathan Jarretts blog post, Deintellectualising King Alfred.

The Impact Of Fraud Policy On Fraud Prevention Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 13 Words: 3980 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Research paper Did you like this example? The potential impact of fraud and corruption represents a significant risk to the assets of every organization. According to Abiola (2010) Fraud is currently the most expensive category of crime in the world (p.12). Recent corporate accounting and financial scandals have led to increased legal and regulatory requirements, such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (EESA). Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The Impact Of Fraud Policy On Fraud Prevention Finance Essay" essay for you Create order These requirements address internal controls for detecting and deterring fraud. They encourage financial statement auditors to be more aggressive in searching for fraud, and have challenged accountants, corporate governance, and other professionals to conduct fraud risk assessments to mitigate its occurrence. In spite of these regulations, recent events or scandals continue to demonstrate the need for enhanced formal standards and processes of control over risk. The objective of this paper is to assess the role and importance of formal fraud policy in detecting and preventing employee fraud. This study assesses the impact of formal fraud control policies on fraud prevention in public sector organizations. The paper reviews the fraud triangle developed by Donald R. Cressey (1919-1987), and other articles to identify various means employed in perpetrating fraud, and how implantation of formal fraud policies can minimize the incidence of fraud in the various elements of the fraud tri angle. Findings revealed that so many factors contributed to incidence of fraud in public sector organizations amongst which are lack of formal policies on fraud prevention, poor management of fraud policies and procedures; inadequate working conditions; staff staying longer on a particular job, and staff feeling frustrated as a result of poor remunerations. This paper also provides guidelines for public sector organizations desiring to develop fraud prevention policies to minimize the incidence of fraud. Specifically the paper recommends INTRODUCTION Fraud is defined as the intentional misrepresentation, concealment, or omission of the truth for the purpose of deception/manipulation to the financial detriment of an individual or an organization which also includes embezzlement, theft or any attempt to steal or unlawfully obtain, misuse or harm the asset of an organization. (Adeduro, 1998 and, Bostley and Drover 1972) Fraudulent financial reporting can have significant c onsequences for the organization and for public confidence in financial reports. Periodic high profile cases of fraudulent financial reporting raise concerns about the credibility of financial reporting process and call into question the roles of accountants, auditors, regulators, and analysts in financial reporting. According to a report by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission, in 83% of fraudulent financial reporting cases, either the CEO, the CFO, or both, were associated with financial statement fraud. CFOs alone were implicated in 43% of all cases (Beasley, Carcello and Hermanson 2004. P.24). It is therefore important for organizations to design and implement fraud policy to formalize the development of controls that will aid in the detection and prevention of fraud against the organization. A formal fraud policy will go a long way to promote consistent organizational behavior by providing guidelines and assigning responsibility for the developme nt of controls and conduct of investigations (Albrecht, Romney, Cherrington, Paine Roe, 1981 p.145) Formal organizational fraud policy must cover working practices and business ethics culminating in formally documented procedures. The existence of a formal fraud policy statement indicates that the fight against fraud is endorsed, and supported at the most senior level of management within the business. Because Fraud is extremely expensive, the best way to handle fraud is to take measures to prevent fraud from occurring. Fraud prevention can be achieved by creating the right environment in an organization by making the right hiring choices, and disseminating a well-understood code of conduct; and by implementing policies to eliminate opportunities for fraud by installing a good system of internal controls, with physical control of assets, proper authorizations, segregation of duties and proper documentation. (The Commonwealth Fraud Control Guidelines May 2002) For fraud policy to achieve its purpose, the organization should ensure that all employees are aware of a zero-tolerance attitude to breaches of business practices that constitutes fraud. General procedures for the control should normally involve identification and detection, then lastly management. The fraud policy statement should be communicated to all stakeholders of the organization (Albrecht, Albrecht, and Albrecht 2004 P.134). Each organization should therefore analyze their organizational structure and business risks to identify the various avenues for fraud and implement appropriate policies to minimize the incidence of fraud in these areas. DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FACTS Fraud is not an openly visible crime. It can be detected only through red flags that indicate that ethics and honesty have been compromised within the company (Beasley and Carcello 1997 P78). Such red flags can be from the accounting system, lack of segregation of duties and other crucial internal control f eatures, lack of integrity in top management behavior, unusual or extravagant behavior on the part of employees. The development and proper implementation of a formal organizational policy on the above issues will therefore go a long way to minimize the incidence of fraud. The Fraud Triangle Donald R. Cressey (1987) developed a hypothesis that explains the conditions that are generally present when fraud occurs in the form of a triangle. This has become known as the fraud triangle Fraud Triangle As can be seen in the figure above, the fraud triangle has three elements. One leg of the triangle represents perceived opportunity. The second leg is perceived pressure and the final leg denotes perceived rationalization. Perceived Opportunity A perceived opportunity to commit fraud and to avoid being punished is the first element of the fraud triangle. Whether the issue is management override, related to a financial statement fraud, or a breakdown in the internal control environment that allows the accounts officers to abscond with the cash and cheque of a business, the perpetrator first perceives the opportunity to commit the fraud. The perpetrators must believe that they can commit the fraud and not get caught; or if he or she gets caught, nothing serious will happen. According to Cressey, opportunities do not have to be real; they only must be perceived as real by the perpetrator. This implies that when it comes to fraud prevention and deterrence, organizations should direct their efforts toward the design and implementation of fraud policies and internal controls aimed at minimizing opportunity for fraud. It must be emphasized, however, that formalization of fraud policies and internal controls are just one eleme nt of reducing opportunity for fraud. According to Wells, 2001, other integral ways to reduce opportunity include providing adequate training and supervision of personnel; effective monitoring of company management by auditors, audit committees, and boards of directors; proactive antifraud programs; a strong ethical culture; anonymous hotlines; and whistleblower protections. Perceived Pressure The second element of the fraud triangle is perceived pressure. Like perceived opportunity, the pressures do not have to be real, they only have to seem real to the perpetrator. According to the Fraud Triangle Hypothesis, many people in any organizational have some access to cash, cheques, or other assets. However, a perceived pressure causes individuals to avail themselves of the opportunity for fraud presented by an internal control weakness. Pressures usually involves a financial need-such as substantial debt, although non-financial pressures, such as the need to report results better than actual performance, work frustration, the need to meet deadlines and cutoffs, or qualifying for bonuses or even a challenge to beat the system. Fraud pressures can also arise from habits such as living beyond ones means, greed, high debt, poor credit management, family medical bills, investment losses, or childrens educational expenses (Wells, 2001, p.32). This implies that organizations that wish to minimize fraud must also design and implement fraud policies that aim at reducing the perceived pressure to commit fraud. Rationalization The third element of the fraud triangle is rationalization. Perpetrators of fraud must find ways to rationalize their illegal acts as being acceptable and, in the process, rationalize away the dishonesty of their acts (Albrecht, Albrecht, Albrecht 2006 p.78). According to Kranacher, 2010, the typical fraud perpetrator has no criminal history and has been with the victim company for some length of time. Because they generally are not habitual criminals and are in a position of trust, they must develop a rationalization for their actions in order to feel justified in what they are doing (P, 4). Rationalizations may include feeling of job dissatisfaction, lack of recognition for a job well done, low compensation, an attitude of they owe me, Im only borrowing the money, nobody is getting hurt, they would understand if they knew my situation, its for a good purpose, or everyone else is doing it. According to Kranacher, 2010 other common rationalizations are: its for the good of the company, the scheme is only temporary, weve no other option, we are not hurting anyone, its for a good purpose, and so on. Several research papers conclude that perceived pressures, perceived opportunities, and rationalizations are essential to every fraud. Whether the fraud is one that benefits the perpetrators directly, such as employee fraud, or one that benefits the perpetrators organization, such as financial statement fraud, the three elements are always present. According to Albrecht, Albrecht, Albrecht (2006), the three elements of the fraud triangle work together so that if more of one factor is present, less of the other factors need to exist for fraud to occur. This implies that, the greater the perceived opportunity or the more intense the pressure, the less rationalization it takes to motivate someone to commit fraud. Likewise, the more dishonest a perpetrator is, the less opportunity or pressure it takes to motivate fraud. Causes of Fraud To be able to implement appropriate policies to address fraud, it is important to clear understand the specific causes of fraud. once the causes are identified, the organization must focus on designing policies to address all the potential causes of fraud. Without a clear understanding of the underlying causes of fraud, fraud policies may just address the symptoms of fraud instead of the root causes of the problem. Causes of fraud can be categorized into institutional factors and environmental/societal factors. Fraud policies must address both internal institutional factors as well as external environmental causes of fraud. Institutional Factors The institutional factor or causes are those that can be traced to internal environment of the organization which are within the control of the management of the organization. The various causes of fraud will influence the elements in the fraud triangle. A major institutional cause of fraud is poor management. This usually comes in the form of inadequate supervision. Employees with fraudulent tendencies who are not adequately supervised would get the impression that the environment is safe for the perpetration of fraud. Poor management would also manifest in ineffective policies and procedures, which a fraudulent minded operator in the system will capitalize on to commit fraud. This implies that poor management increases the perceived opportunity for fraud. Even where effective fraud policies and procedures are in place, fraud could still occur with sometimes deliberate skipping of these tested policies and procedures because of perceived pressure and rationalization. In addi tion to poor management, a week organizational structure increases opportunity for senior executives to commit fraud. For example, where too much power is allocated to the CEO, the likelihood of perceiving opportunity to commit fraud without being caught is very high. According to a report by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission, in 83% of fraudulent financial reporting cases, either the CEO, the CFO, or both, were associated with financial statement fraud (Beasley, Carcello and Hermanson 2004. P. 24). Thus, management characteristics and the degree of influence that management has in controlling the working environment and the organizations activities can be subtly powerful influences that create the risk of fraud Another major cause of fraud is allowing employees to stay on a particular job for a too long. Usually, the longer one stays on the job, the more proficient he is likely to be. However, an employee who has stayed so long on a particul ar job may be encouraged to think that no one else can uncover their fraud. This factor influences fraud through the second element in the fraud triangle perceived opportunity. Research evidence also suggests that poor salaries and poor conditions of service can also encourage fraud. Employees that are poorly paid are often tempted to fraudulently convert some of the employers monies to their own use in order to meet their personal and social needs. This temptation is stronger on employees who have to deal with cash and near cash instruments because they are easier to steal. This factor is related to the second element of the fraud triangle Perceived Pressure. Frustration could also lead to fraud. Employees who feel that they have been cheated by their employer in terms of remuneration or promotion are more likely to rationalized fraudulent action than those who feel that they have been treated fairly. According to the European Journal of Social Sciences Volume 10, Number 4 (2009), where a staff feels short-changed in terms of promotion and other financial rewards, they become frustrated and such frustration could lead to fraud as such employee would attempt to compensate himself in his own way. This factor is related to the third element of the fraud triangle Perceived Rationalization. Fraud Management In devising fraud policy, the organization should appreciate the main features of fraud. Frauds involve misappropriation of assets and manipulation or distortion of data and most frauds result from basic failure and inadequacies of internal controls. According to fraud reports paper by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (https://www.acfe.com/documents/sample-documents/sample_report.pdf), more than 50% of all frauds are committed by insider usually in collusion with outside third parties, and mostly are discovered by accident or tip offs rather than internal and external auditors. Therefore Management should evolve positive attitudes towards safeguarding the organizations assets and ensuring that staff does not exploit the weakness in internal control. Fraud policies should also stress the cardinal principles of separation of duties to ensure that one person does not originate and complete an assignment or entry. Good fraud policy should emphasize dual control of sen sitive areas such as strong rooms and locks to security documents and account, the need for daily balancing of account and the various precautions that include necessary references for opening of accounts. . . What Constitute Fraud Fraud can occur in a variety of ways and it is important for everyone in our organization to have a good understanding of what constitutes fraud so that they can recognize it and take action to prevent it. What is acceptable in one organization may be seen as fraudulent in another organization. It is therefore impossible to give an exhaustive list of actions and omissions that constitute fraud in all organizations. However, the following list provides examples of the types of conduct that would be included within the definition of fraudulent behavior in most organizations: Dishonestly assisting or enabling the unlawful or unauthorized transfer, use or allocation of the organizations property and assets including moneys and/or funds held by or on trust for the organization. Unlawful or unauthorized disclosure or use of confidential information that is dishonest. Dishonestly obtaining or using property that belongs to the organization. Knowingly making or using forged or falsified documents that is dishonest. Dishonestly using the organizations computers, vehicles, telephones, credit cards, cab vouchers and other property or services. Dishonestly falsifying invoices for goods or services. Dishonestly using purchase or order forms to gain a personal benefit. Receiving or giving kickbacks or secret commissions to or from third parties. Misuse of assets, such as unauthorized personal use of organizational assets including motor vehicle, computers, stationery Failure by staff to adhere to delegations of authority relating to the value of assets or contracts they can sign for Fraudulent financial reporting, including intentional distortion of financial records or supporting documentation Engagement of trade contractors, subcontractors or consultants who have inappropriately close relationships with staff FRAUD POLICY AND FRAUD PREVENTION Given the cost of fraud, prevention is more cost beneficial than attempting to remediate a fraud that has already occurred. According to ACFE, an organization defrauded is unlikely to ever recover its losses, with almost 40% of victims recovering nothing at all. The objective for every organization should therefore be to establish a formal fraud prevention policy covering working practices and business ethics. The most effective deterrent to fraud is a strong perception of detection. A formal fraud policy statement indicates that the fight against fraud is endorsed, and supported at the most senior level within the business. The most effective way to prevent fraud is creating and maintaining appropriate fraud policies to address the three elements in the fraud triangle. In other words, the effective fraud control policies must include procedures that reduce perceived opportunity for fraud, reduce pressure to commit fraud and minimize the motivation for the rationalization of fra ud. The content may vary from business to business but should typically include the following: An outline of the structure of the organization A statement of the agencys attitude and approach to fraud control A summary of the risks identified in the fraud risk assessment Details of the strategies that will address these risks, including Allocation of responsibility for implementing the strategies Details of strategies to ensure compliance with the guidelines, including Strategies for collecting and reporting on fraud and fraud control information. Details of how employees, contractors and members of the public can report fraud against the agency Procedures to assist the police in the investigation and prosecution of suspected fraudsters Recover wrongfully obtained assets from fraudsters POLICIES AIMED AT ELIMINATING PERCEIVED OPPORTUNITIES FOR FRAUD A complaint or tip hotline can help strengthen the perception of detection as calls are monitored a nd acted upon and the results publicized. The appointment of Fraud Control Officer will go a long way to reduce the perceived opportunity for fraud. The existence of a senior officer responsible for fraud send the signal that the fight against fraud is endorsed and supported at the most senior level within the business. It also indicates that actions and procedures are monitored in the organization. The Fraud Control Officer shall be responsible for the implementation and ongoing monitoring of this policy, to coordinate the fraud and corruption risk assessment process, to record and collate fraud and corruption incident reports and to conduct or coordinate the Companys investigations into allegations of fraud and corruption. Targeted post transactional review could also reduce the perceived opportunity for fraud. If employees know that all transactions are subject to review, they are less likely to falsify record than where they believe they can get away with fraud. Strateg ic use of computer systems including effective data mining and real-time transaction assessment to identify suspect fraudulent transactions Ensure that appropriate action is taken if fraudulent conduct is detected. Procedures for use of corporate credit cards. For example corporate credit cardholders must be made to sign cardholder agreement prior to issue of card and Credit cards must be subject to Financial Delegations Policy and acquittal process and original receipts for corporate credit cards must be required for acquittal Appropriate controls for tendering processes, purchasing and contract management; POLICIES AIMED AT ELIMINATING PERCEIVED PRESSURE TO COMMIT FRAUD Pre-employment screening should be carried out by the Company for all new employees. This may include verification of identity, reference checks with recent employers, consideration of any gaps in employment history and the reasons for those gaps and verification of formal qualifications claimed. Transparency in evaluation of contracts and commercial activities. Policies to discourage conflicts of interest in the tender evaluation process Policies to promote an open and ethical culture within the organization which deems unethical behaviour unacceptable and punishable POLICIES AIMED AT ELIMINATING THE MOTIVATION FOR FRAUD RATIONALIZATION. To discourage rationalization of fraud, the policy should incorporate clauses that emphasize investigation and possible prosecution of suspected frauds. Employees should be made aware of the risks of attempting to defraud the organization and the action expected if caught. The strongest deterrent for fraud is the fear of sanctions and punishment when caught. Therefore, fraud policies must clearly spell out prosecution procedures and punishments for various degrees of fraud including fraud attempts According to Kranacher, 2010 a fraud policy statement should make clear that all employees have a responsibility for fraud prevent ion and detection. It is important the statement be actively and regularly promoted throughout the organization to all employees, irrespective of grade, position or length of service. Fraud policy should make it possible for employees to report fraud or corruption concern directly to their manager or supervisor and provide alternative means of raising concerns and suspicions outside the usual channels. There should be procedures to encourage management and staff to report their suspicions while guaranteeing anonymity. The Company should ensure that they have a policy on whether and how allegations of fraud and corrupt conduct should be reported to the police or other law enforcement agency. There should be clear policy on how to prosecute offenders and, where appropriate, and to seek to recover monies and costs through legal means. The outcome of disciplinary proceedings related to any case of fraud may involve the admonition, termination, demotion, fining, or reduction in sen iority of an employee or other internal person. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Trust is an essential component of every organization, but sometimes trust is not enough. Fraud does happen and often when and where it is least expected. When developing a fraud control policy examine all activities of your organization, not just the areas where money is receipted. In contrast, frauds are not representative, routine, or regular. They are the result of an intelligent human being intentionally circumventing controls and hiding his or her tracks New compliance and fraud detection changes can only be successful if they either (1) eliminate the factors that contribute to fraud or (2) help auditors to be more effective in detecting fraud. The fraud triangle provides insight into their effectiveness because it provides a framework for evaluating how these acts reduce or eliminate fraud pressures, opportunities, and rationalizations To provide more than reasonable assurance that financial statement fraud is not being committed, fraud audits rather than GAAS au dits need to be performed. Understanding why and how individuals commit fraud is the key to fraud prevention. Pressure to commit fraud combined with opportunities to do so have led to many financial statement frauds in recent years. Some people are also able to rationalize fraudulent actions by arguing that they will benefit themselves or their companies. To prevent fraud, it is necessary to reduce the pressures and opportunities, but also to hire people of sufficient integrity who will not rationalize fraud. Fraud Control Policy and Management Plan on an ongoing basis, and we will regularly review our internal controls and any instances of fraud and corruption and review the fraud control plan and make adjustments as necessary. The opportunity to commit fraud requires knowledge of our organizations systems, or those of other organizations, combined with the willingness to exploit any weakness in those systems for direct personal benefit or for the benefit of other s. It uses deceit, trickery, sharp practice or sometimes simply a belief that the ends justify the means. We aim to foster an organizational culture which will ensure that the effective prevention of fraud and corruption is an integral part of our operating activities. We will identify and promptly investigate any suspicion of fraudulent or related dishonest activities. When appropriate we will pursue legal remedies available under the law. All our employees are accountable for, and have a role to play in, fraud and corruption control. We encourage a positive culture within our staff to disclose actual or suspected fraudulent. We will investigate all reports thoroughly. Where this is the appropriate course of action, we will protect the anonymity of anyone reporting these activities. Any staff member who suspects that such activity is occurring is to follow the procedures outlined in the Whistleblower Guide.

Group Therapy Proposal For Combat Related Ptsd - 5087 Words

Group Therapy Proposal Soldiers Veterans who Served in OEF/OIF with Combat-Related PTSD Abby Thompson Indiana State University Introduction Over the last decade, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have drastically increased the need for effective mental health services and treatment for U.S. veterans and service members, especially those suffering from Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Nearly 1.5 million American service members have been deployed in Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) since the attack on the Twin Towers in September 2001 (Price, Gros, Strachan, Ruggiero, Acierno, 2013). Approximately 25% of soldiers and wounded warriors returning home from OEF/OIF present with mental illness due to combat-related violence and other trauma exposure (Steinberg Eisner, 2015). According to Price and colleagues (2013), OEF/OIF soldiers and veterans are at greater risk for developing mental illness compared to others who served in past military operations. The current group will be closed and will consist of eight soldiers and/or veterans that served in OEF/OIF with combat-related PTSD. Having fewer members in the group will allow participants to develop and build trusting relationships with the other group members. It will also allow ample opportunity to share their stories in confidentiality and within a safe environment with others that have been through similar experiences. This group will be closed because theShow MoreRelatedThe Use Of Exercise Therapy As A Safe Alternative Treatment Option For Those Suffering With Ptsd Essay1616 Words   |  7 PagesStress Disorder (PTSD) has been a growing problem for combat veterans within the United States Military. More and more military members are returning from combat environments to find they are struggling with the reintegration back to civilian life. While many medial experts and military leaders believe this issue deserves attention, there has not been universal treatment plan implem ented. Many of the current treatment plans focus on the use of pharmaceutical drugs to negate the PTSD symptoms and notRead MoreThe Components of Art Therapy2751 Words   |  12 PagesAccording to Dryden et al. (1992), the concept of art therapy is essentially based in the image and the progression of this method permits the occurrence of a transaction between three critical components of this model. Respectively these components are known as the creator or patient, the artifact, and the therapist. The aims of art therapy align with other processes of therapy whereby; the therapist engages his/her expertise to allow the patient’s unconscious feelings to travel to a conscious stateRead MoreWorld At War, The 20th Century2947 Words   |  12 Pagesis first important to understand what traumatic stress is, and what traumatic stress can cause. A traumatic stressor is defined as a catastrophic stressor that is outside the normal range of usual human experience (Friedman, A Brie f History of the PTSD Diagnosis 2013). Traumatic stressors are very common and sometimes repetitive in warfare due to being involved in or witnessing killing, torture and widespread devastation. In addition to this, the continued threat of death or injury to self or othersRead MoreThe Social Welfare Issue Of The Vietnam War1481 Words   |  6 PagesArticle â€Å"50% of homeless veterans have serious mental illnesses, and 70% have substance or alcohol abuse problems† (Background on Veterans, n.d.). Most Veterans suffer from mental illness such as, post-traumatic stress disorder. This is also known as PTSD, is among only a few mental illnesses that are triggered by a disturbing event. It s a condition that left them with invasive memories, nightmares, loss of concentration, feelings of guilt, irritability and, in some cases, major depression (CromieRead MorePtsd From Spine Surgery : A Research Proposal3497 Words   |  14 Pages PTSD Resulting From Spine Surgery: A Research Proposal Brendan Remus Mercer University School of Medicine 7/31/15 â€Æ' PTSD Resulting From Spine Surgery: A Research Proposal Study Rational Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an interesting disorder because it has an identifiable starting point and a variable progression which can be characterized by spontaneous recovery or worsening symptoms. Although the progression is interesting, I have an interest in the acquisition of the disorder. I

Workshop Rail Museum as a Tourist Destination Term Paper

Essays on Workshop Rail Museum as a Tourist Destination Term Paper The paper "Workshop Rail Museum as a Tourist Destination" is a brilliant example of a term paper on tourism.IntroductionStatistics have revealed that in 2010, Australia earned more than $2.160 billion from New Zealand in terms of tourism earnings. However, the New Zealand market is estimated to be worth $4.157 billion which means that the New Zealand market has a big potential for growth. Australia’s tourism activities in Zealand are managed from Auckland which the official tourism office of Australia (Tourism Queensland, 2010).In 2011, statistics indicate that more than one and half million tourists visited Australia from New Zealand. This figure was up by 2.8 percent as compared to the number of visitors to Australia in 2010 (Tourism Queensland, 2011). The average length of stay per tourist in Australia was 11 days. The total expenditure per visitor per visit was approximately NZD1550. In total, it means that in 2011, the number of tourism earnings from New Zealand tourists was y more than 2 billion (Tourism Queensland, 2011).The Workshop Rail MuseumOverviewThe Workshop Rail Museum was opened in September 2002. It is regarded as a center for innovation and excellence and due to this, the Museum has continued to receive more than 100,000 annually (European Heritage Association, 2012). The exhibitions in the museum comprise of 16 interactive sections which offer the story of the culture and heritage of Queensland rail (European Heritage Association, 2012). The sections also provide a rich history of the positive and negative effects the rail has had on state visitors as well as Queenslanders. In addition to the many attractive sections inside the Workshop Rail Museum, operational QR workshops tours provide visitors with thrilling experience as visitors are guided by QR workers from one section to the other around The Workshops Rail Museum (European Heritage Association, 2012). In order to increase the number of audiences/visitors in The Workshop Rail Mus eum other than train or rail enthusiasts, different programs, exhibits, and activities have been established (Eleanor, 2005).Heritage and cultural offering of The Workshops Rail MuseumThe Workshop Raul Museum offers a rich heritage and cultural experience through its programs such as Day out with Thomas (Queensland Holidays, 2012). The key audience targeted by the museum includes families and rail/train enthusiasts, history lovers to mention a few.A specific segment of the targetThe specific target segments can be explained through the wide range of attractive events and programs offered by The Workshops Rail Museum.ChildrenPrograms such as Toyland express can provide children with a thrilling experience because it is an event that encourages children to interact and explore with simple toys as well as the use of trains in children's literature. Children as young as 2 years up to 10 years can have fascinating experiences through the Toyland express program.

Workplace Learning on Online Communities †Free Samples to Students

Question: Discuss about the Workplace Learning on Online Communities. Answer: Introduction In this report, discussions will be made on how the LinkdIn profile started and about its present growth and projected growth. The different key drivers will also be described who are solely responsible for the success of the popularity of the LinkedIn. The key drivers for the success of the LinkedIn and its popularity will also be discussed. There are many people who have stopped using their LinkedIn accounts primarily due to many reasons that will be eventually discussed in this report. The reasons behind why the people along with some of the businessman have stopped using their LinkedIn profile will be elaborated. Its advantage on our current career stage will be stated along with the mistakes that the people commonly make while developing their profile and also providing some good advice to make the best leverage of the LinkedIn account. History and Background of the LinkedIn The LinkedIn was founded in December 14th 2002 and was launched in May 5, 2003 in California, US by Reif Hoffman. Reif Hoffman was an ex employee of the SocialNet and PayPal. He took an initiative to work on this project and so invited some of his close colleagues from different companies to work with him. Lee Hower, Erick Lee, David Eves, Stephen Beitzel and Allen Blue are some of the co founders of the LinkedIn. This social site is usually used for professional networking. This is designed specifically to the community of the business. LinkedIn is highly superior than many of the social sites and it is proven. In case of the networking sites the profiles are considered to be consistent and accurate. The LinkedIn is preferred to be the term that has the Professional network that can be used without the term of the Social Network. It has a capability for the posting of the job. There is a need to make the job easy by distributing the job openings and then post it as well. The LinkedIn profile is much safe than any other sites. There is actually nothing to hide in this site like the other sites. In this case, it is so because only the things that the people are interested in is showed and none can tag us for the bad pictures and also for the writings on the wall. The application is very easy and can be applied easily that helps the employees to apply for their choice of the jobs without forewarding their resume. The popularity of this site is based on this LinkedIn profile as there are none of the sites like this. This could easily be used by the professional people who are interested to look into new employment positions and also to those people who can make the business profile seen by everyone. This LinkedIn site is rapidly growing and is becoming global day by day. Initially the growth off the LinkedIn was very slow, then in 2010, the growth shifted into a hyper growth by almost 90 million by the end of that year. The company then turns to its 10th anniversary in 203 and hits the members by 225 million and that two in each second is availing this process. Canada, UK, US, India are some of the country that are expected an average hike by 27.99% in the next five years. The people usually make the right connections. The people who are serious will apply here and this engaging networking site can be used to interact and connect to different professional people. The qualifications can easily be described along with its key achievements skills and the examples of the project that helped the different recruiters to read their profile. Those who are interested in posting good content can do it in their profile and make the other people respond to it as well. The format is very standard and familiar and the employers can easily reject the undesired candidates who they feel lacks required educational qualification etc. The only site is the LinkedIn that has the clear resume format and that contains the various essential skill keywords like customer service, teamwork flexibility and many more This helps in the growth of the network, that I regarded as one o the major advantage to know more people who will help them as well as us. There sre many professionals who are like us and can in our career paths and guiding us with advice. Reasons for not using LinkedIn There are often unwanted spams and updates with full of bugs. Many unwanted messages are delivered in the in box section and people can easily make a spam of it. The news feed is also full of spam messages and updates that are pointless. Unwanted connection requests is something that is very common inspite of the fact one unwilling to connect to them the request come over and over again. This is the reason many opt of it and never would like to prefer not to use it ever. There are many complaints from the customers but the help that I provided is often not fast and sometimes negligible. These when resolved will help them to use this site often. There is a suggestion to improve the user interface so that is not anymore difficult for the users to use it. Some often forget to add the profile pictures and the professional identity is exposed to others. Often when there is no picture, the recruiters will try to skip those profiles, the addition o the picture will be helpful in some sort of identification. There is a need for a good profile picture (Van Dijck, 2013). The addition of the random connections and making friends with them is a very common deed that is done by users. The connections should be used in a professional way and not to make a huge gang of friends and there is a need for the LinkedIn officials to take a steep against it. The right key words is very essential and is highly noted by the recruiters so the use of the right key words is very essential for the users. The key words should appear in the specific job positions that will eventually enhance the profile of the users. Many people lie on the profile by adding past experiences which are not true and acquiring a degree that is absolutely fake is often applied by the users. They do not understand the recruiters will sooner or later get to know about their fake identity and certificates (Chiang Suen, 2015). Recommendations In the concept of the invitation, there is a need to make the connections without making the default invitation. The invitation is only sen so that a strong relationship can be built and an invitee in a positive manner will eventually make the people take it in a positive way as the people will remember whom to customize and not in the case of the invitation. Some specific need is there so that the people can build a good relationship that might better pay an attention to their updates and posts that can be put in the section of the comments of the ideas that has a conversation (Kim, 2015). A focus should be made on cultivating a good connection in the network and is considered to be really important. Though professionalism a lot of connections can be made and that will help in leveraging the account so that more connections can be gained and the accounts of the users will also rise (Edwards, 2016). There is a need to post 3-4 posts that are quite relevant to how one spends his day and in the columns of the interests. Tagging a name with a professional person will help them make a good connection in their relationship. The expertise level in the network will help in the image building for the different posts in a good content (Russell, 2013). There is a need to thank the people and this is really very important in endorsing the skills and provide them with good recommendations. Conclusion It can be concluded, that a brief idea about the history and the reasons for the popularity of the LinkedIn site has been elaborately discussed that has a current and projected growth. The three advantages that includes making the right connections, standard format and familiar chances for making the growth in the network is very useful. References Russell, M. A. (2013).Mining the Social Web: Data Mining Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, GitHub, and More. " O'Reilly Media, Inc.". Edwards, T. (2016). The Recruiters LinkedIn Lead Rush: The Quick and Dirty Secrets for any Serious Recruitment and Search Business Owner who wants to attract a Rush of Clients and Candidates with LinkedIn. Kim, L. (2015). Lessons inspired by Game of Thrones for building connections on LinkedIn. Chiang, J. K. H., Suen, H. Y. (2015). Self-presentation and hiring recommendations in online communities: Lessons from LinkedIn.Computers in Human Behavior,48, 516-524. Van Dijck, J. (2013). You have one identity: performing the self on Facebook and LinkedIn.Media, Culture Society,35(2), 199-215. Utz, S. (2016). Is LinkedIn making you more successful? The informational benefits derived from public social media.new media society,18(11), 2685-2702.

Monetary Policy Process

Question: Discuss about the Monetary Policy Process. Answer: Introduction The four asset classes in Table I are Australian shares, Australian Bonds, Cash rate and International stocks. The first asset class is the Australian shares. This consist the companies listed on ASX and the returns are the year on year return on these stocks. The next asset class is the Australian Bonds which are the bonds issued by the Australian Government. The next asset class is the Australian cash rate also called the official cash rate (OCR). This is the Australian base rate. Banks pay this interest rate when they take out a loan with a maturity of 1 day from another bank.(RBA, 2016) The next asset class is the international stocks which are scrips listed on exchanges all over the world other than Australia. Using the data from the table which is the 25-year year on year return on these asset classes Arithmetic mean, Geometric Mean and Standard deviation has been calculated. A spreadsheet has been used to calculate the various measures. The table below summarises the results. Asset class Australian Shares Australian Bonds Cash Rate International Stocks Arithmetic Mean 15.98571429 11.51429 9.257143 14.88571 Geometric Mean 14.38 10.14 8.32 13.14 Standard Deviation 21.4592035 6.855883 4.332224 22.08374 Arithmetic mean of returns is simply the average of returns over a given period of time. While it is a simple and handy tool for calculating average returns the problem arises when there are negative returns in a given year. In that case arithmetic mean doesnt necessarily give the best estimate of a risk-return on an asset. Geometric mean on the other hand is a better estimate of a risk return on an asset. Arithmetic mean would tend to overstate the growth and not give a fair estimate of risk return, it does provide an average performance measure over multiple holding periods. Well-known in statistics, AM is more sensitive to outliers than is GM and as such GM may be preferred in such cases. From the perspective of risk averseness, AM might not be preferred. (Yang, Hung, Zhao, 2013)If we consider an asset with returns of 10%,20% and 6% over three years, the AM would be 12% whereas the GM would be 10.62%. Hence we observe that AM across all asset classes is more than the geometric me an. Standard deviation is the square root of the variance which in turn is the difference between the mean and the actual return. Hence standard deviation is a good tool to measure the volatility of an asset.(New York University, 2013) Generally, a stable asset would have less standard deviation compared to a risky and a volatile asset. AM for Australian shares is roughly 16% while the GM is 14.4% and the standard deviation is 21.45 from the Arithmetic Mean. This would indicate a highly volatile asset. AM for Australian Bonds is 11.5 and the GM is 10.14 and the standard deviation is 6.85 from the mean. This would indicate a relatively stable asset. AM for cash rate is 9.25 and the GM is 8.32 while the deviation is 4.33 indicating that across all assets this is the most stable. AM for international stocks is 15 whereas GM is roughly 13 whereas the SD is 22 indicating that this is the most volatile asset. Construction of A Portfolio Fiscal Vs Monetary Policy Fiscal policy refers to the government policies regarding expenditures and tac levels through which it monitors and controls a nations economy. Summing it up it can be described as the framework for tax rates and government expenditures. Through the means of these the government can change(increase or decrease) aggregate demand and level of economic activity. It can also bring about changes in savings and investment patterns. When the economic growth is slow, government can use the fiscal policy to decrease the tax rate thereby increasing aggregate demand and conversely use it to the opposite effect as well to slow down the pace of strong economic growth and stabilise prices.(Caballero, 2013) On the other hand, Monetary policyis the process through which the monetary authority of a country, generally a central bank controls the supply of money in the economy by its control over interest rates in order to maintain price stability and achieve high economic growth. By controlling the supply of money to the economy the central banks can either induce increased demand or slow up an economy growing at a pace faster than anticipated in order to stop inflationary trends. The three factors that would determine how sensitive a firms earnings are to the business cycle are: Nature of product: The sale of non necessary goods such as show pieces, collectibles will decline whereas that of necessary items such as groceries etc would be stable. Operating leverage: A company having a low ratio of fixed costs to variables costs will be more flexible in adjusting to price cuts as compared to a company with high fixed costs. Debt-equity ratio: A firm having more debt in its capital structure is said to be leveraged. Debt although decreases the WACC(Weighted Average Cost of Capital) and increases profitability when the firm is in high growth phase, but it also increases the burden of fixed expenses. Hence having the leverage of debt in a capital structure is a two edged sword as it makes the firm less sensitive to recessionary trends. Valution of Options The value of a call option in the Black-Scholes model can be written as a function of the five variables: S = Current stock price; in this case 39 K = Strike price of the option; in this case 35 t = Life to expiration of the option; in this case given as 6 months or year r = Riskless interest rate corresponding to the life of the option which is given as 5.3% in the given scenario ^2= Variance in the ln(value) of the underlying asset; in this case given as square of 0.3 Value of call = S N (d1) - K e-rt N(d2) where d1 = ln(S/K) + (r + ^2/2 ) t/ *t^1/2 Note that e-rt is the present value factor and reflects the fact that the exercise price on the call option does not have to be paid until expiration. N(d1) and N(d2) are probabilities, estimated by using a cumulative standardized normal distribution and the values of d1 and d2 obtained for an option.(Damodran, 2005) Using the values on a spreadsheet d1 is obtained as 1.86 and d2 is obtained as 1.66. Using the normal distribution table from the prescribed textbook then N(d1) and N(d2) is obtained as 0.9686 and 0.9515 respectively. Using the formula then value of the call is obtained as $8.83. Similarly, value of put option is given by P=Xe^-rT[1-N(d2)]-S[1-n(d1))] (Damodran, 2005) Putting the values in the formula the put option valuation is arrived at $1.01. Mark to Market Settlements The daily mark-to-market settlements for each contract held by the long position has been calculated and tabulated as follows. The values in the second column obtained by subtracting that days price with the starting price and the total proceeds calculated by multiplying the total quantity with the second column which in this case is 100 ounces. Day profit/loss per ounce Total proceeds 0 1197.9 1 1198.7 0.8 80 2 1194.7 -3.2 -320 3 1247.9 50 5000 4 1239.1 41.2 4120 5 1239.1 41.2 4120 6 1207.9 10 1000 7 1211.1 13.2 1320 8 1226.1 28.2 2820 9 1230.4 32.5 3250 10 1209.5 11.6 1160 Basis is the difference between the spot price and the future price. For example, if the spot price for a ounce of gold is $195 and the future price for delivery after 10 days is $198. In that case the basis is 3 dollars. Suppose the next day the spot price decreases to 193 dollars and the future price for delivery becomes 195. In that case the basis reduces to 3 dollars from 2 dollars. In any hedging strategy there is a risk that the two investments used to offset each other wont move in the same direction. This exposes the investor to a position wherein he/she can make excess gains or losses arising from the fluctuations. This risk is called the basis risk.(Ankirchner, Kratz, Kruse, 2013) For example an investor hedges a two-year bond with purchase of govt bills. The risk that the two wont move in the same direction is always there and forms the foundation for the basis risk. Futures and options are financial contracts and both are examples of derivatives as their value is derived from that of an underlying asset. Future is an example of a financial contract Futures are much similar to forwards but are a more evolved product in the sense that they are flexible and give the option of removing the obligation before the expiry of the contract. Future contracts are widely used by the banks to hedge currency risks.(Meera, 2002) Options are similar financial contracts but the main point wherein they differ from futures is that entering into an option contract gives the buyer of the option right but not the obligation to buy or sell an asset. A call option is for buy, whereas a put option is for sell. Risk Adjusted Return Mesaures Sharpe ratio was a tool developed by William Sharpe and since its inception has become the most widely used measure for evaluating risk adjusted return. It is given by (Return on the Asset-Risk free rate)/Standard deviation.(Pav, 2016) For the given example, Sharpe ratio of the portfolio is calculated as (0.12-0.055)/0.33 which is obtained as 0.19 or in other words for every point of return the investor is carrying 0.19 units of risk. Similarly, the Sharpe ratio for the market using the same method is obtained as 0.1. Hence what Sharpe ratio deduces is that the portfolio is giving more return per unit of risk and hence outperforms the market. Treynor ratio is a tool quite similar to Sharpe ratio in a lot of aspects and again is a widely used measure to evaluate how much return an investor gets per unit of risk. It is given by the formula (Risk premium)/beta. For the given example the risk premium for the portfolio is 6.5% whereas that for the market is 2.5% since the risk free rate is given as 8% and hence the premium is obtained by subtracting this from the average return ion each respective asset. Hence Trey nor ratio for the portfolio is obtained as 0.056 whereas that for the market is obtained as 0.025. Simply put this implies that for every unit of risk the portfolio gives a return of 5,6% whereas the market gives a return of 2.5%. Hence quite alike to the Sharpe ratio Treynor ratio too indicates at a similar result.(Lan, 2012) The Jensens is a risk adjusted performance measure and evaluates the return of a portfolio over and above that as predicted by the CAPM model. It is given by Expected portfolio return-((risk free rate beta(market return-risk free rate))(Gerber Hens, 2009) Hence for the given example the Jensens alpha for the portfolio is obtained as 0.03625. The higher the alpha the better performing it is. That for the market is obviously 0. The information ratio is a variation of the Sharpe ratio and is again used to evaluate from the investors point of view as to how much excess return is generated from the amount of excess risk taken relative to the benchmark. The information ratio measures a portfolios excess return relative to its benchmark tracking error. It answers the question of how much reward a manager generated in relation to the risks he or she took deviating from the benchmark. The information ratio is used for measuring active managers against a passive benchmark.(KIDD, 2011) The information ratio is calculated by dividing the portfolios mean excess return relative to its benchmark by the variability of that excess return. For the given portfolio the information ratio is obtained as 0.5. This can be interpreted as an above average result.(Clement, 2009) The M2 measure also known as the Modigliani Miller risk adjusted performance(RAP) measure is a performance measure for portfolios. It is given by(Rp-Rf)/Beta of the portfolio*benchmark beta+risk free rate.(Scholz Wilkens, 2005) Using the values from the example M2 measure is obtained as 11.58% or 0.1158. References Ankirchner, S., Kratz, P., Kruse, T. (2013). Hedging forward positions: basis risk versus liqquidity costs. Bodie, Kane, Marcus. (2014). Investments. McGraw Hill. Caballero, G. (2013). Effects of Fiscal and Monetary Policy in the Great Recession. Clement, C. (2009). Interpreting the Information Ratio. Damodran, A. (2005). Option Pricing Theory And Models. In A. Damodran, Corporate Finance. New York: Stern. Gerber, A., Hens, T. (2009). Jensens Alpha in the CAPM with Heterogeneous Models Financial Valuation and Risk Management. National Centre of Competence in Research. KIDD, D. (2011).Investment Performance Measurement. Lan, Z. J. (2012). Measuring Risk adjusted return. AAII. Meera, A. K. (2002). Hedging Foreign Exchange Risk with Forwards, Futures,Options and the Gold Dinar: A Comparison Note. New York University. (2013). Standard Deviations. In Stern. New York: New York University. Pav, S. E. (2016). Notes on the Sharpe ratio. RBA. (2016). Cash rate. Retrieved from RBA: https://www.rba.gov.au/statistics/cash-rate/ Scholz, H., Wilkens, M. (2005). A Jigsaw Puzzle of Basic Risk-adjusted Performance Measures. The Journal of Performance Measurement. Yang, C. W., Hung, K., Zhao, Y. (2013). A Comparison of Risk Return Relationship in the Portfolio Selection Models. ISI World Statistics Congress, 3495-4500.