Art work

Sherlock Homes and I are at the local coffee shop discussing the recent case of the kidnapping of Nancy Philips and how this event is ever so tragic. At this moment Sherlock Is approached by a woman. The woman looks younger, in her late twenties I would say, she had light brown silky hair & she was tall and a very fit woman at that. She had beautiful big green sad eyes and a big black overcoat on with a slouched posture. The young woman had her hair drooped over the side and pinned back out of her face.She stood over us for quite some time, then pursued into tears, Sherlock then went to the next table got a chair and offered her to sit down and explain the problem. The woman then said is a low voice, â€Å"My name is Georgia Nicole Philips, I am 31 and my daughter has been kidnapped† I could almost see Sherlock brain working when then he knew she was talking about poor old Nancy Philips which to to be her daughter. â€Å"You are indeed the mother of Nancy Philips? † sai d Sherlock in a questioning tone. Indeed I am, and I am so happy I found you here today, I have eared many wonderful things about you and your success In solving cases. I really hope you can help me figure out this ample mystery and hopefully find my daughter† At this moment Georgia reached in her handbag and whipped her eyes with a handkerchief then quickly stored It away as If she was embarrassed. â€Å"l see you have taken the metro here, you have recently been smoking you also have degrees In law? † â€Å"How did you know! She replied I observed the metro ticket sticking out the side of your left coat pocket that looks airily new; I also noticed your yellow stained fingers/fingernails & you have several key chains from the School of Law which most likely means you practiced law.

Tragic Flaw

and The Flaw By Phanit Asavanamaung 10B Stories are told in many styles, through different medias; all which are to entertain or educate its audience. Christopher Booker, the author of the book ‘The Seven Basic Plots', introduces the idea of the seven basics categories of any story told. The seven basic archetypes are Over Coming the Monster, Rags to Riches, The Quest, Voyage and Return, Comedy, Rebirth and Tragedy. Tragedy as one of the seven archetypes, are found in any type of stories; from the most recent published novel to the almost forgotten ancient myths of the earth.Tragedy is mostly used to describe when there is a death in the story, but which the term ‘tragedy’ can also be used to describe when the character has fallen into a lower state. It is better defined when there is a downfall of the main character in the story. In all the stories which are categorized under tragedy, has one thing in common. It is that those characters have a tragic flaw; that in fluences the character to their downfall. The tragic flaw for each character is different. It is influenced by many factors, such as family and the environment they are exposed to.These influences lead to the death of the eternal love of Romeo and Juliet, or even the life of a school girl, Alaska; in Looking for Alaska. The tragic flaw of a character is influenced by many factors, leading to the character’s downfall. The tragic flaw could be observed when there is a decision to be made, and the wrong choice is taken. The decision took, is influenced by the characters experience and also the condition that they are in. The experience of the character is from their past, about their families and their environment. This could result a tragic flaw to the character by making a scar to the character mentally.If the character was poorly treated in their childhood, or have experienced a traumatic event; this could cause a flaw in the character. At times, when the condition of the cha racter is at its worst, the tragic flaw will influence the character’s decision, and which will eventually lead to the downfall of themselves. There are many type of tragic flaws and which a character may develop more than one flaw. By having more flaws, the character will be likely to be influenced by more events, which will make the character to become more vulnerable, in the tragic state.These flaws could be found since the early myth of Jason, on a quest to find the Golden Fleece, which it also ended up in tragedy. The flaws that are most common are from being treated badly as a child or from being blinded with love. Romeo and Juliet, the famous story of the two ‘star crossed lovers’ of the rivalry between the two families, ending up in tragedy. The reason behind the downfall of the couple is not from the conflict between their families, but it is actually their flaw. According to Chrisxbales papers, it describes the relationship of the two as, ‘are not in love, but in lust’.There are many flaws between the two characters, combination of immaturity and stubbornness. It could be observed that the two characters rushes into things, such as the first encounter of the two. Romeo says,  Ã¢â‚¬Å"If I profane with my unworthiest hand / This holy shrine, the gentle sin is this: / My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand / To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss. † (1. 5. 92-95) The statement shows proof of how at first encounter, Romeo decides to ask Juliet for a kiss, even without knowing each other. This is an evidence of immaturity.Also the two, decides to ignore the advice given from Friar Lawrence, and which they have ended up paying the ultimate price. They also ignore the most obvious of which their relationship is not going to be well, with their family conflict. The main flaw of the Romeo and Juliet is that they are both blinded with love, making them stubborn and immature. The series of events were influen ced by the flaw of the two characters, making them ending up in tragedy. Not only could that tragic flaw be observed in classic stories, but also in modern literature.An example of modern literature would be, Looking for Alaska by John Green. The story is about the life of Miles Halter after he moved to the Culver Creek School. He then narrates of the experience of being with his friends, telling the tragic ending of Alaska Young. Alaska Young was no ordinary school girl, she is the girl who pulls out pranks on everyone and which does all the bad things she is able to do. Once while the group of friends were off smoking, Alaska has stated that,† You guys smoke because it’s fun, but I smoke to die. † This introduces the first flaw of the character.She does not love or care about herself, therefore she will make choices which are bad for herself. Later on, it was then told that Alaska Young has a sad past. In her childhood, she has experienced the death of her mothe r, and which she was blamed by her father of killing her mother. That has created a scar in Alaska, and which she kept on blaming herself on everything that went wrong and that she was failing everyone. She was then found, dead in a car crash attempting to suicide; blaming herself on forgetting her mother’s anniversary.These were the tragic flaw of the character and which it all started by being mistreated in her childhood. The flaw has taken over the character and influenced her daily act. By not being conscious about what is the best choice for the people around and themselves, they would end up with a problem. By not solving the problem properly, other problem will appear. This will continue, until it has reached its worst such as death or the right decision is made. In conclusion, tragedy always ends up with the downfall of the character, which is caused by their tragic flaw.It could be seen through the examples of Romeo and Juliet, and the downfall of Alaska, in Looking for Alaska, that it all started from people around them. Families and friends are most influential on what they will grow up to be like. It is where their future and their fate are decided. By being mistreated or taught to behave badly towards others, it can cause a flaw. The flaw will be hidden in the person, until the time when the person is at a traumatic or panicking state.Each person has a different flaw, and which they may result on developing more than one flaw. As explained, these flaws will influence each person to make a wrong choice. As once stated by Mahatma Ghandi, â€Å"Nobody can hurt me without my permission. † Referring that no one can hurt you, unless you hurt yourself. The quote supports the flaw of the character that it is their own fault that lead to their downfall. In order to reduce the risks of the impact of the flaw of each person, it is important that they are conscious about the decision they are making.This could make the person to be able to think and choose the better choice for themselves and the people around them. Works Cited Green, John. Looking for Alaska: A Novel. New York: Dutton Children's, 2005. Print. â€Å"Quotes About Hurt. † (337 Quotes). N. p. , n. d. Web. 02 Mar. 2013. ;http://www. goodreads. com/quotes/tag/hurt;. â€Å"Romeo and Juliet's Tragic Flaws. † Romeo and Juliet S Tragic Flaws. N. p. , n. d. Web. 02 Mar. 2013. ;

Head Ski Case Essay

1. The best indicators to assess whether Head Ski had the competitive advantage in the ski industry would be to look at profit ratios and compare them to competitors, which will allow us to assess whether Head Ski has above average profits. The best ratios to look at are: return on assets, return on sales as compared to other ski companies that sell high-priced skies, and return on equity, combined with numbers that show how much Head Ski is financed by debt. Looking at net margin as compared to competitors would also be useful. If they have the highest net margin as compared to competitors, than they have the most competitive advantage. 2. Head Ski successfully matched customers demand for high quality metal ski for which consumers were willing to pay premium (as reflected by industry trends), with Head Ski capacity to create differentiation by producing ski with superior features and quality. The skies were sold primarily by experienced specialty retailer in the ski specialty shops, which reflected growing customer preference to buy skies in ski specialty shops. Head ski used differentiation strategy by using strategy focused on superior product quality, and focusing on exceptional service, and prestigious high-quality image. Head Ski created a new metal ski almost 5 years before the introduction of next competitive product, by deploying its superior R&D and creating skies that were radically different in design than anything before. Head skies had unique product features (durable and long lasting, reliable: did not break, and unique performance (turning, tracking, traversing), which were superior to other products and for which customers were willing to pay more, costly to imitate (Head ski introduced several considerable upgrades to the product line over the years and did not hesitate to recall defective product), and organized to be exploited (VRIO). Despite the difficulty of organizing complex ski manufacturing process, Head ski developed many processes from scratch, bettered them, and deployed manufacturing cost efficiencies when possible (laminating press). It implemented effective compensation reward system that consisted ofraises based on seniority, merit reviews and profit sharing plan. As a result, attempts to unionize Head ski plant have been consistently rejected. Quality in service: Head ski was known for exceptional service thorough its ski dealer organizations and regarded them be the most valuable asset. 85% of Head skis were sold through carefully chosen high quality ski specialty shops, where sales staff was highly knowledgeable. Dealers were expected to service Head skies, and for more comprehensive repairs, skies were sent back to the Head ski factory, where skies were repaired under 3 weeks. This level of after-sale service was superior to competition, unique to Head ski, customers valued it, and were willing to pay more for it. It was organized to be exploited but not very costly to imitate, as others could set up similar service (VRO). Shaping perceptions through marketing(Superior to competition): 85% of Head skies were sold through carefully chosen high quality ski shops, with experienced and knowledgeable sales staff, as part of marketing strategy. This strategy helped to shape the perceptions of Head ski being superior in quality and the choice ski for knowledgeable and experienced skiers. This reflected customer needs as ski sales through specialty outlets stores grew faster than through other stores. In addition, Head ski established itself as an important factor in ski racing world, as â€Å"one third of top ten places on all ski racing events were on Head skies), thus adding legitimacy to the product and adding to the value of its brand. Moreover, customers were able to test the product before purchasing it, by renting skies. Ski rental strategy was the most effective way to introduce new customers to the â€Å"ease if Head ski†. This integrated soft-sale approach that relied on word of mouth marketing was unique to Head ski, valuable to the customer, costly to imitate as it required integration of complex relationships, and well organized to be exploited (VRIO). 3. The uniqueness of Head ski has a sustainable competitive advantage can be sustained. Head Ski understands its customers requirements and preferences and creates a unique product that customers value and are willing to pay more for. Sources of Head Ski competitive advantage are sustainable, hard to replicate, and hard and costly to imitate. Head ski had a long history of culture focused on quality and attention to detail that grew out if its entrepreneurial history. It is difficult to imitate such distinctive, integrated strategy that involves â€Å"service, dealer relations, product quality, style, advertising†. Attempts to imitate Head ski strategy would likely fail because of the difficulty of replicating every aspect of the strategy, followed by integrating them in the right way.

Greek Culture vs Roman Culture

Greek Culture VS. Roman Culture Gabraille Driscol American InterContinental University HUMA215-1204D Ms. Cheryl Lemus Abstract Many people are unaware of just how alike the Romans and the Greeks are. They have many of the same cultures because they adapted them from each other. From modern art to the gods and goddesses. Everything that the Greek have the Romans also has. Yes there are a few changes that have been extracted throughout the two but they are similar to each other in many ways. Roman gods are known as the same thing that Greek gods are. But they have different names for them.The Roman culture is very un strict and focus of the greater good of the gods and mankind. These are just some of the few things that are focused with the Greeks and the Romans. The Greece culture was one just like what the â€Å"New World† went through. Their period was made up of Polis better known as city states. Their society was broken up between free people and slaves. The free people kep t the slaves. The slaves worked without pay many time and did hard labor such as the slaves of the 20th century. Many slaves lived with their master, but were over work and almost never paid.As their society evolved so did the people. They changed from free people to free men. They were divided between Citizens and Metics. If you were a citizen than both of your parents were from the Greece decent. Metics were foreign people that came over to Athens from other places to learn a craft. Many of them were forced to serve in the military. Metics also had to pay taxes and would never be considered a citizen. Women had no rights in the Greece culture any foreign affairs they were involved in was because of their husbands or a man they were involved with.When it came to their government many citizens were thought to serve on the government after taking part in the military. The Greek agriculture system was called orders, they had three orders. They were Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. Parthe non is an order of Doric the temple of Athena Parthenos (â€Å"Virgin†), Greek goddess of wisdom, on the Acropolis in Athens. The Parthenon was built in the 5th century BC, and despite the enormous damage it has sustained over the centuries, it still communicates the ideals of order and harmony for which Greek architecture is known.Ironic order is The Temple of Apollo at Didyma – The Greeks built the Temple of Apollo at Didyma, Turkey (about 300 BC). The design of the temple was known as dipteral, a term that refers to the two sets of columns surrounding the interior section. These columns surrounded a small chamber that housed the statue of Apollo. With Ionic columns reaching 19. 5 m (64 ft. ) high, these ruins suggest the former grandeur of the ancient temple. The territory of Greece is mountainous, and as a result, ancient Greece consisted of many smaller regions each with its own dialect, cultural peculiarities, and identity.Regionalism and regional conflicts was a prominent feature of ancient Greece. Cities tended to be located in valleys between mountains, or on coastal plains, and dominated a certain area around them. The Roman culture was very much like the Greek culture because much of it was adopted from the Greek. Much of the roman culture is still in our world today. They built bridges and sewers which we still use today. They help to develop wells and other sources to get water. The roman ideas were much of the ideas that are still used in today economy.They created the death games and gladiators which we still use today. Much of our culture was adapted from the Romans. They came up with many things that the U. S. has to thank them for. Roman theater came from the Greek as well but more developed. They came up with many adlibs and improv that Shakespeare used and many new sitcoms use today. The roman a d Greek gods and goddesses share many of the same attributes but have different names. The roman government was run by priests who we re mentors between both men and gods.They maintained the good will and support for Rome. Lastly the roman philosophers were the Greek philosophers. References N. S. Gill, Roman Culture: An introduction to the culture of Rome, especially the Roman Republic. (2012). Retrieved on November 2012, Retrieved from http://ancienthistory. about. com/od/culture/tp/061511-Roman-Culture. htm Ancient Greece, (2012) Retrieved on November 2012, retrieved from http://www. ancientgreece. com/s/Culture/ Ancient Greece, 21 October 2012 Retrieved on November 2012, retrieved from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Ancient_Greece

Living Religions Essay

Learning about other religions has caused me to question my own religiosity. It reminds me of when I was a lot younger, when I would make an appraisal of myself based on my observations of other people. I used to gauge myself by what I saw in others. Today, reading about Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, and other religions has affected me the same way. To be frank, I was caught rather off guard by their experiences. It’s ironic that we need to read about other religions and how their followers practice their faith, in order for us to stop awhile and take a closer look at how we practice our own religion. The knowledge about other religious practices prompted me to compare them with the practices of my own religion. One of the five pillars of Islam, for instance, the daily prayers, which requires Muslims to make time to pray five times a day wherever they are, (Fisher. 2005. Islam) has made me realize how seldom I pray in a day. I was brought up by my parents to pray every night before going to bed, and that’s it. Now I wonder if I’m not doing enough praying, or whether my own religion is merely less demanding. Another is the hajj, a pilgrimage to their holy sanctuary, the Ka’bah, which was supposed to have been built by Abraham with the help of his son, Ishmael. (Fisher. 2005. Islam) I bet that going to such a pilgrimage even once in one’s lifetime costs a lot of money – but the fact that Muslims are doing all they can to save for it speaks a lot about their piousness. In the case of Judaism, reading about the holocaust which killed around six million Jews during World War II simply overwhelmed me. (Fisher. 2005. Judaism) I can’t seem to get over the fact that a simple church membership got that many people killed. And yet the Jews remained steadfast in their faith. Confronted with such naked cruelty, I could not help asking myself the inevitable question: What would have I done if my parents were killed in that holocaust? Would I have remained a Jew in spite of it? Faith, I know, would still matter in the end. The foregoing observations about other religions have not diminished my faith in my own. If at all, it strengthened me. I have come to realize that faith in God conquers all. References Fisher, M. P. (2006). Islam. Living Religions, Sixth Edition (pp. 362-416). Prentice-Hall. Fisher, M. P. (2006). Judaism. Living Religions, Sixth Edition (pp. 226-283). Prentice-Hall.

Strategic Planning at Chronicle Gazette Term Paper

Strategic Planning at Chronicle Gazette - Term Paper Example planning will help the organisations in meeting varying situations; their managers can be able to assess external threats to developing strategies (Bashir Ahmad Fida, 482). Strategic planning helps in developing feasible strategies as per interlinking operational policies and resources. Current consulting report predict the potential environmental changes like economic, business, political, governmental, social aspects. The report develops strategies according to the threats that The Chronicle Gazette is facing. New set of strategies are developed for Susan and her team to meet the unstable business environment in the newspaper industry (Colley 256). Economic crisis affected print media industry as they reported reducing revenues and number of publication. The U.S. based newspaper industry is facing the challenge from the magazines. Daily publishing newspapers are facing constant downfall rates. During the year 2011, newspaper market of the US reported with 1,392 dailies. However, the market was reported with almost 1700 dailies during the year 1985 (Stateofthemedia). Newspaper industry is facing another problem as the advertisement is reducing. From the table, it is observed that the print media advertisement reduced in a continuous manner during the last 10 years. In the year 2003, it reported as $44941 and in 2012 as $19943. On the contrary, online or digital media advertising increased a lot. Online advertising reported as $1216 in the year 2003 and it increased to $3375 in the year 2012 (Stateofthemedia.org). USA based newspaper market share is controlled by the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. These two organisations are also facing the threats of the global economic recessions. New York Times reported daily circulation of 1,379,806 and weekend circulation reported with 1,321,207 in the year 2014. Revenue rate of the newspaper reported as US$37.33M or 22% during the year 2013, whereas, revenue reported as US$30M in the year 2012. However, the

Marketing Communication (IMC) - create Marketing communication plan Essay

Marketing Communication (IMC) - create Marketing communication plan for the charity of your choice - Essay Example The UNICEF has several programs being implemented in the United Kingdom. These programs touch the areas: childcare and breastfeeding, education, communities, and interaction with the government on changing particular laws and policies that are deemed detrimental to a child’s rights. This Marketing Communications Plan will zoom in UNICEF’s program called ‘Communities’, an effort that aims to interact with various organizations that involve children and the youth to develop a new award scheme called Child Friendly Communities. UNICEF has defined the characteristics of a child-friendly community, which includes general knowledge, understanding and upholding f children’s rights and an equal regard for children with ethnic background, origin and orientation. These communities must have active programs that engage the youth and give high regard to their opinion and contribution. II. DISCUSSION 1. SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS (PESTEL) There are four basic rights of a child, namely: The right to survival – life, health, nationality, nutrition and name The right to development – education, leisure, care and recreation The right for protection – from exploitation, abuse, neglect The right to participation – to expression, information, thought and religion (Child Rights 2011) However, most, if not all rights are not being observed in many parts of the world. In UK alone, studies show that there are 3.8M children considered to be living in poverty (Poor children in England as young as five hide their needs from parents to protect them from the impact of poverty, new report reveals 2011). In 2005, approximately 1.4 billion people across the globe are living in extreme poverty, and every day, around 16,000 children die from causes that are hunger related (Global Hunger 2011) The alarming figure has caused non government organizations to unite and build The Campaign to End Child Poverty, a nonprofit organization working to end child poverty in the UK. Their aim is to drive the government to improve benefits and tax credits for children, and improve housing programs as well. Though the targeted campaigns have ended in 2010, each and every organization that formed the campaign is still actively pursuing their own advocacies towards upholding of human rights for children (End Child Poverty 2011). The United Kingdom upholds several laws on children welfare and protection, particularly on their rights to education, medicine, employment and the justice system. The UK government is also an active participant in global efforts to standardize human rights laws for children, including the United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child, United Nations Declaration of the Rights of the Child, among others (Children’s Rights: United Kingdom, England and Wales 2011). There are also specific programs for healthcare, not only for children but also for mothers, education and labor. In short, UK is one of th e nations that actively push for the observance of children’s rights. In terms of Economy, UK is considered to be the sixth largest in the world as on 2010, according to nominal GDP. It employs free trade among other members of the European Union (EU) and is known to be one of the countries at the forefront of technological advances (UK Economy: The British

Modern and Postmodern Architecture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Modern and Postmodern Architecture - Essay Example In the recorded source of modern architecture, it includes the architects who designed the structures, artistic swiftness, the technology and elements that formed the new framework possible. Modern architecture started in the western and northern counties (e.g. United States and Europe) and from there it spread to the rest of the world. As compared to conspicuous early modern designs are prolific and amply adorned structures in Glasgow, Scotland, by Charles Rennie Mackintosh; having great creativity for a city of the future by Italian visionary Antonio Sant'Elia; and houses with stream-like spaces and projecting roofs by the American pioneer of modernism, Frank Lloyd Wright. A significant trend of constructions that arrived subsequently compromise the glossy villas of Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier; daring new factories in Germany by Peter Behrens and Walter Gropius; and steel and glass very tall buildings designed by German-born architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (Fleming et al , n.d.; Ghirardo, 2006; Musgrove, 1987). Modern architects opposed the system of the architecture of the 19th century, because they experienced being lent too great from the past. They perceived this structure either tyrannically confined to former styles or displeased quaint and eclectic. When 20th century started they felt it was needed to create an architectural design that showed the vigor or soul of the new generation that would exceed the elements, techniques, styles and technologies of earlier system. This consolidating goal did not mean that the structural creations should resemble in appearance, nor architects would merge with other issues (Ghirardo, 2006; Musgrove, 1987). Basically the aesthetics (artistic values) of modern architects disagreed fundamentally so some of them, enchanted by the influential devices evolved towards the end of 19th century, pursue to plan a framework that would convoyed the luxuriousness and energy of an engine. Their artistic values commemorated duties in all forms of designs and artworks from household furnishings, bridges, and towering structures to a ponderous ocean liners and new flying machines. No matter how, others perceived a machine-like gracefulness unnecessary to the system. They considered a structure that showed, not just the reasonableness of the engines, but the obscure powers of human emotions and spirits (Ghirardo, 2006; Musgrove, 1987). Modern architects opposed their discernment of historical traditions, while some deserted other documents recorded. Though not all, there are still a few who improved the past inventions to modernize their creations. Italian architect Antonio Sant'Elia reverberatingly refused the old system in his Futurist Manifesto of 1914 (Futurism). To more futuristic approach, he called the attention of each generation to be more creative in constructing new buildings using glass, steel, and concrete materials. The new styles of his countryman Giuseppe Terragni, attributed distinctly to the former designs. Terragni's Casa del Fascio (Fascist Party Headquarters, 1932-1936) in Como, Italy, had an interior hall for open gathering inspired by the courtyards of Italian Renaissance palaces, and windows were patterned to ancient

Motivation and Leadership Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Motivation and Leadership - Assignment Example It is therefore essential to motivate these employees regardless of their stay period in the organization. This is necessary in building a positive image of the company in the eyes of the workers and the society at large which can enhance smooth renewal of their contract when the need arises. Use of temporary workers There are times when temporary workers prove to be valuable to an organization and certain times when it is inappropriate to use them. It is appropriate to use them when the company needs to reduce its operational costs. This is because permanent workers require things such as security and many benefits in order to sustain them. This is justified from the case study where the Boeing Company has reduced its dependence on permanent staff through making of new hires abroad. Another time when the use of temporary workers is appropriate is when one is working on short-term projects, this is necessary for it enables those people who are experts in a certain area to handle situ ations that they are best suited in. This is evident form the case of Microsoft that says that its contingent employees fluctuate depending on the project that they are working on. They also note that temporary workers are experts in what they do and they complete projects within a short period of time. It is appropriate to use temporary employees on companies that work in cyclical industries. This is because they offer a range of various services. The services can be provided by temporary employees who have a wide range of various skills and hence can fit in that nature of the industry. This is evident from the case study where it states that temps are appealing to those companies in cyclical industries. On the other hand, there exists various times that are deemed to be inappropriate to use temporary employees. It is inappropriate to use them in order to maintain permanent employees when it comes to layoffs. This is a strategy that was used by Boeing Company. It is also inappropri ate to use them when one wants to build a company reputation. This is because temporary workers who come and go cannot be able to build a good image. A program for employee motivation The program that will be put in place to motivate the temporary employees will be the temporary workers incentive and welfare program. This is a program that will oversee that the situation of the workplace employees is improved and they are given incentives to motivate them. It comprises of the element of incentives and welfare. The incentives will be in terms of providing good pay, benefits such as health while the welfare is concerned with good working environment and responsibility. The program will also oversee that the temporary workers are given a conducive working environment similar to the permanent employees. It will also entail informing the employees effectively concerning the organization and also integrating them to the organization. This in turn creates social ties among workers which wi ll motivate them. Reducing supervision and allowing them to work autonomously gives them confidence and responsibility to oversee that they give effective results. This program is justified for it goes hand in hand with Herzberg’s two factor theory that of hygiene and motivational factors. Hygiene factors are those they contribute to dissatisfaction if they lack in the organization

The Story of the Last Hippie Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Story of the Last Hippie - Essay Example The paper will cover elements of Greg's condition and how it has influenced his lifestyle and how it may affect his future. It will cover the neurology and psychology of Greg's memory loss and how it comes to be that Oliver Sacks classes him as such an important case. The Story of the Last Hippie â€Å"The Last Hippie† refers to a man known by the name Greg F., who participated in many of the things associated with the 1960s, including the use of drugs to achieve higher consciousness and political activism. In this way, Greg can be said to have been a typical 1960s teenager, experimenting with counter culture and many things that had been unavailable or undesirable to previous generations. Oliver Sacks suggests that Greg enjoyed the music of the 1960s, attending concerts by the Grateful Dead and other such typical musical bands at the time. It was during this phase that Greg became interested in religion, and decided to attend a Hare Krishna temple and eventually became a member of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. It was here that some of Greg's neurological symptoms became evident, although the members of the temple interpreted these as signs that Greg was a particularly holy member of the congregation, dedicated to meditation and Krishna. Greg was defined by those at the temple for his lack of 'worldly concern' and his freedom from desire, both physically and materially. These are two important things to the Hare Krishna community and many of those who are involved in the work of the temple strive for many years to achieve this state. In the case of Greg, he began to develop these traits almost immediately after joining. He also became known for his 'transcendent smile', something which was reminiscent of the very holiest people within the Hare Krishna community. After being a member of the temple for some time, Greg became revered and admired. Greg even began to go blind, and his eventual total blindness was seen by the community as further evidence of his holiness and his full and true participation in the community and its ways. Whilst the Hare Krishna community was in full admiration of this Buddha-like character, there were those who were wary and even concerned for Greg's health. His parents had been watching h is progress within the International Society for Krishna Consciousness and noticed the differences in their son. Whilst they were pleased that their son had stopped using drugs to achieve higher states of consciousness, and pleased that he seemed to have found his place in the world, they were concerned that his state was evidence of something more sinister. They were also concerned that all communication from the New Orleans temple had stopped, and they were no longer in continuous contact with their son. His eventual blindness was the straw that broke the camel's back, and they decided to contact the health authorities and Oliver Sacks to see if there was anything lurking behind the 'transcendent smile' that their son had adopted permanently. They were right in their concern, as it turned out that Greg had a massive brain tumour which had resulted in all the symptoms that the Hare Krishna community mistook for holiness. Greg's Disorder & Future After this intervention from Greg's parents, it is

The bicycle Thieves Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The bicycle Thieves - Essay Example It should be clarified that the movement began not to highlight the economic decline that followed World War II but because of it. The film-making industry suffered in particular – by the conversion of studios in to military and refugee camps, the lack of equipment and the unreliability of the electrical supply. This lead to the production of films shot strictly on location, capturing the war-ravaged sights of post-war Italy – and focusing on a more honest portrayal of real lives and real people. Neo-realist filmmakers believed that cinema had moral repercussions and should thus be manipulated carefully to draw attention towards some truths. ‘The Bicycle Thieves’, in keeping with traditional neo-realist films casts non-professional actors in lead roles. Indeed, the protagonist of the movie, Antonio Ricci, was played by Lamberto Maggiorani, a worker himself. The character Antonia Ricci is shown to have been unemployed for almost two years at the start of the film before he is offered a job – the sole requirement of which is the possession of a bicycle. Despite knowing that he does not own one, Ricci takes up the job of putting up movies posters around town. His wife, Maria, pawns linen bed-sheets that were a part of her dowry in exchange for money to buy a bicycle. On their way home, his wife stops at an old building, claiming to meet someone. However, Antonio discovers that Maria is actually there to give money to a clairvoyant who predicted that he would get a job soon. Ricci mocks her and tells her off for being superstitious. The next day, as Antonio sets out for work, a young man steals his bicycle while his back is turned and takes off with it. Antonio pursues him frenetically until he loses track of him. He goes to the police to enlist their help but discovers that there is not much they can do. In despair, Antonio takes to walking the streets and scouting marketplaces with his son, Bruno, and his friends in search of his bicycle. Their search leads them to many places and to falsely accusing a man of possessing the stolen bicycle. However, after vainly attempting to find it, they give up. At this point, Antonio decides to treat his son to dinner at a restaurant. The scene that follows is pivotal to the theme of the movie. While Antonio and Bruno are enjoying their meal, Bruno keeps turning around to look at another seemingly wealthier family dining at a table nearby. He exchanges glances with a boy his own age seated at this table. Antonio notices this, and exclaims with frustration ‘To eat like that, you’d have to earn at least a million a month.’ Antonio and Bruno, in the throes of their despair, go to see the clairvoyant that Antonio had mocked earlier on. It is interesting to note that when faced with the prospect of poverty, Ricci turns to the same superstitions he derided his wife for believing in while when at the start of the film, shortly after the acquisition of his bi cycle and a job, he believes them to be associated with irrationality and thus baseless. The clairvoyant gives Ricci vague and unhelpful advice, telling him that he would either find his bicycle today o not at all. Dismayed, Bruno and Antonio leave the building. Soon after, however, they spot the thief who had stolen his bicycle. They chase him down, but are surrounded by hostile neighbors. Bruno discreetly slips away to find a policeman while Antonio accuses the thief of having

Developing Marketing Capability Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Developing Marketing Capability - Essay Example What are their approaches, challenges, needs and ambitions to structure a marketing function The aim is to identify the relationship between marketing and organization performance, which is to assert marketing as a significant business function. Objectives Challenges faced by organizing in measuring marketing performance. To organize a marketing function in order to bring competitive advantage and true organizational success. To align marketing function with organizational goals, structure, capabilities and resources. This is to bring competitive advantage and success for the organization. Organizational Challenges in measuring Marketing Performance In an objective to improve marketing performance, organizations first have to measure marketing performance (Richardson, 2012). Without assessing or measuring performance organizations cannot get on with the improvement of capability, skill or performance. There are certain major challenges which organizations face in measuring marketing performance (Shaw & Pont, 2003). Likewise there are challenges to measure intangible customer value, loyalty or marketing outcome which inevitably leads organizations to incomplete assessment. Similarly, by setting numerical data as performance measures bring incomplete information on assessment (Gronholdt & Martensen, 2006). Relatively big financial data feeds like return on investment, balance sheet, or profit or loss statements do not provide the real sketch of marketing, which eventually give distractive information. Moreover more operational activity of marketing does not mean it is performing well as if the marketers are found busy does not mean that there work is productive or based on outcomes (profits or revenues). Intensive marketing does not allocate productive marketing, and hence cannot be taken as a performance measure (Shaw & Pont, 2003). To access marketing performance organizations have to find a purposive method, in which first thing is to set a right performance m etrics. For measuring marketing performance there are different metrics which can reflect the operational and functional performance of marketing (Gronholdt & Martensen, 2006). In the most adaptive metrics used in critical evaluation of marketing performance are activity based metrics. This may include metrics of numerical counting and control and in-depth reporting to scan the intrinsic performance of the function (Raab, 2009). The most adaptive metrics include rate of customer acquisition, customer engagement, events successes, popularity of labels, and competitive brand reception respectively. There are certain limitations behind such metrics as they all are intangible but to a great extend provide the explicit information of how the marketing functioning is performing (Gronholdt & Martensen, 2006). Similarly, a well reported system is itself a performance scanner for marketing. When organizations demand performance assessment, it means they have well organized and well establish ed reporting systems (DCI, 2004). Such systems are obligatory, obligatory in terms of intensive reporting, periodic reporting and reporting with respect to each marketing activity. With time to time reporting, the whole picture comes out on front giving a projection of marketing delays, inefficiencies or unproductiveness (DCI, 2004). Organizations which imply MPM (marketing performa

Drunk driving Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Drunk driving - Research Paper Example Alcohol has been around for millennia. In fact the first recorded use of alcohol can be found in the Middle East thousands of years ago. Some of the problems relating to alcohol abuse involve direct physical injury. You are more likely to fall down the stairs or walk into traffic if you have been drinking. Alcohol affects peoples’ motor skills and makes it more difficult for them to coordinate their actions. Also, depending on what sort of person you are, you might be inclined to get into fights with people. Alcohol is usually consumed in bars with other drinkers and these places are not always safe; many alcoholics lose control of their senses and are easily provoked. They might smash a bar stool on your head, for example, which could cause a serious head injury. Alcohol is famous for reducing inhibitions and judgement capacity—and this should be known in advance. Another important thing to do in advance of a night of drinking is to choose someone to be your â€Å"des ignated driver.† This is a person who will stay sober and look after you—if you were to drive while drinking serious problem might occur. All of this facts about alcohol make it clear that driving when drinking is a bad idea. However, they do not quite make clear how devastating the impact of such crimes are. We need to do everything we can deter people from getting behind the wheel while driving. We need to have much better detection and we need to have much more severe penalties. Only that will deter drunk drivers. The policies in place are a lot better than the old ones. The human body can be examined for alcohol use. The pupils of the eyes are dilated when under the influence and people have red faces and eyes. There are a variety of tests police perform including standing on one leg, counting backwards, and so on. Different quantities of alcohol in the blood will have different affects on different people. At a

Logistics Technologies Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Logistics Technologies - Research Paper Example Military logistics is critical in the battlefield for the army to accomplish their strategies. The success of any military operation depends on the organization of its logistics, which acts as the backbone in any military operation. During the 1812 War and during World War II involving the Third Reich’s Sixth army, â€Å"the enemies severed their logistical capabilities on their march to Moscow, making them vulnerable and easy prey for the Russians who laid in wait† (De Rosario et al, 2009). The armies ran out of water, food, ammunitions and fuel, with the Russian winter making the situation much worse. Due to the great distances involved, there was no communication among the various commanders on the ground and from their command base, thwarting any efforts of coordinated operation. Consequently, in the spring season, â€Å"the armies could not adequately resupply their diminishing stocks and greatly lowered their resistance against a much stronger advancing Russian U ranus forces† (De Rosario et al, 2009). There was communication breakdown as the entire army network was broken; generally, the failure was because of poor logistics planning in establishing the relationship between intelligence in the war, operations needed and the logistical issues that facilitate communication. Military operations are solely dependent on the logistics laid down to support the operation. It follows that to enhance reliability and effectiveness in military operations, integrating technology in the logistic process is a critical aspect to consider in any military related logistic process. Logistics is critical to the functioning and success of any army operation. Any change in the operation strategies has to affect how such changes have to be supported. Technology is currently the single most important aspect in ensuring smooth army operations and great support, leading to

The irrational side of change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The irrational side of change - Essay Example employees, capability building, role modeling by the managers that enable the employees realize the new change of character in their seniors and reinforcement of different mechanisms within the organization. Human nature is usually the major determinant of the level of success in implementing change in an organization. Human nature can hinder the successful implementation of change through the application of the four conditions explained in achieving success. In telling a compelling story, it is likely that not all employees will be impressed it. It is evident that a story that motivates one person will not have the same motivation on another employee. It is important that the employees get to narrate their own change story rather than the leaders being the ones to do so because the employees will be more committed to the result. In role modeling, the executives often believe that they are the core determinants of change in the organization without realizing that they too need to change (Price & Lawson, P. 15, 2003). To realize change it is important that various structures, processes, and systems are reinforced which can be achieved by rewarding the employees on the achievements unexpectedly. This will have a great impact on the organization’s performance because the impression is likely to last in them (Priestland & Hanig, p.113, 2005). Capability building is usually important in implementing change among the employees because what employees feel, belief and think will significantly drive their behavior. Skill building is important in implementing change but the employees should be allowed to practice what they learn and that barriers that hinder employees from practicing new skills should be

University of Chichester Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6750 words

University of Chichester - Coursework Example Britain had been traditionally proud of her universities with good reasons. For centuries now British higher educational institutions had been applauded from every quarter and now with the changed outlook after the globalisation, and the need for higher education in the best universities of the world, the same universities, which were exalted portals of a great educational system, have changed with the time and have become education providers and the institutions that train tomorrow's business leaders. A study of one of the thus altered universities of United Kingdom, Chichester, is the topic of this brief research. The current study will go through the reasons why international students prefer this university, and what are the marketing strategies that the university offers etc. The study will have a closer look at the preferential decision psychology of the international students and the reasons behind such compulsions. As the number of international students keeps growing every ye ar, it becomes imperative to know their reactions, preferences, choice compulsions, and their assimilation capabilities with another culture and the satisfaction level. With the government laying stress on using the educational institutions that are now being treated as already made national investments, it is important for the universities to offer sought after courses with adequate academic back-up and run like well-managed business organisations. Universities today are functioning like any other business houses with impressive competition by other universities who would like to make it to the forefront. Hence, this study attains importance in the light of the above, because it is necessary to know why the international students, who are today treated as customers of the service providing universities, are interested in coming to Chichester more than most of the universities. It is also significant to understand what service Chichester provides that might not be offered by other universities and thus, the study is pertinent and important. METHODOLOGY Methodology of this study depends on primary research in the form of semi-structured questionnaires with connected informal questions that could be asked along with primary questions. There exists a sensible questionnaire with pertinent set of questions and these questions were presented for the student reactions. A group of 200 students was picked up and it had 92 males and 108 female students belonging to cross sections of courses. Out of them, seven had disabilities and three learning disorders. They are effectively managed and helped by the disability provider section and have no complaints owing to their situation. They came from all parts of European Union, including even the newest members of EU. Twelve of them are here on exchange programmes and will return to their mother universities after one year and they are highly enthusiastic about their Chichester experience and showed an obvious reluctance to leave the university. It looked as though the exchange students had only po sitive points about the university and were pleased by everything they saw and experienced. Even though research had no connection with sexual orientation, four students mentioned that they belonged to the homosexual crowd and have not countered any bias or prejudice either from the university or from the fellow students. They have their own choices of entertaining places, clubs, eateries and they seem to be very comfortable in and out of

Sun and earth Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Sun and earth - Assignment Example The theory was supported across the world from Greeks and further through mathematical astronomy by Aryabhata (Indian); by Muslim astronomers, Persian scientist and astronomer Biruni and through various publications across the world. It has given a new paradigm to the world of astronomy and hence paved the way to our present thoughts about the solar systems and other galaxies which were discovered due the formulation of heliocentric theory (Encyclopedia Britannica). On the other hand, geocentric model provided the earlier view that the Earth is in the center while, the Sun, the stars and other planets revolve around it. The stars are spinning about the pole and those which are close to the equator are rising and setting each day. The theory laid the fundamental view that Earth is rock-solid and stationary. The pioneer of this theory was Aristotle but with the advent of early modern era and after the 16th century, geocentric views were replaced by heliocentric theory (Lawson,

Compare and contrast Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 9

Compare and contrast - Essay Example For the third paragraph, it talks about the comparison and contrast of the form. The form is the description of what can be seen in the painting such as the color, geometric forms, lines, contrast of dark and light colors. It talks more on the appearance of whatever that can be seen within the artwork. For the last paragraph, it talks about the feeling of the writer about the paintings. The painting entitled â€Å"The Last Supper† was originally painted in the 15th century by Leonardo da Vinci during the Renaissance period. It is a piece of artwork painted directly on a wall in Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan with a measurement of 450 by 870 centimeters or 15 feet by 29 feet. Leonardo da Vinci painted the mural on a dry wall which means that it is not a true fresco. He sealed the stone wall with a layer of pitch, gesso and mastic then paint onto the sealing layer with tempera or in a permanent fast-drying painting medium consisting of colored pigment mixed with a water-soluble binder medium. In the year 1518 to 1594, Jacobo Tintoretto painted his own version of â€Å"The Last Supper† in San Giorgo Maggiore, Venice. He painted on oil on canvass with a measurement of 12 feet by 18 feet, 8 inches. The paintings painted by da Vinci and Tintoretto are a group of people in a room particularly Jesus Christ and his twelve disciples. In Tintoretto’s painting there are other people that can be seen such as the servers and many flying images on the both sides of the top but in da Vinci’s painting only the portraits of Jesus and his disciples or apostles. Both of the paintings portray the reaction shown by each apostle when Jesus said that one of them would betray him. The effect of his words leads them to a visible response. All of the twelve apostles have different reactions to the news, with different levels of anger and shock. In da Vinci’s painting, he grouped the apostles into four groups of three united by their posture and gesture, with Jesus in

Sensory Perceptions Essay Example for Free

Sensory Perceptions Essay Provide at least three (3) reasons for believing in the accuracy or inaccuracy of sensory information. our senses are the connection between the world and our mind. a lot of philosophers defined our senses as the window of the soul. every senses in our brain work hand to hand and build a combined picture of where we are , who we are, and what is going on in our environment, our thinking and sensing are hardly connected and we rely on accurate observations. KirbyGoodpaster,2007,p54-55). the most tree reasons for believing in the accuracy of sensory information are: a. Touch When we touch something hot, our feeling sense automatically send messages to our brain inform the brain that there is same thing wrong or same thing will cause same kind of pain to the body as result we remove our hand (or other part of the body) before we get burned, or before the pain get worst. b. Smell our sense of smell can distinguish when there is danger. or example, When we smell smoke automatically there is a fire, or least something smoldering as result there is a danger to us, , so we can easily trust the accuracy of that sensory information. c. sight The data given by our sense of sight most of the time gives an accurate data regarding the world around us. for instant, If we see two persons talking, there is no hesitancy about them actually talking. also If we see the sun during the morning, we all know it is not a cloudy morning. (Kemp, Hollywood, Hort, 2009). 2. Identify and describe at least three (3) factors contributing to the accuracy of sensory data. here are many things that can cause an effect to the accuracy of sensory data. the first and the most important one is food. our brain like other body part needs energy in order to work properly as result allow our senses to function well. eating right food with Enough protein and vitamins especially starches will make our brain function properly. without the good nutrition our brain wi ll lacks energy as result will effect our sensory data. the second factor is drugs, it has a major affect to our sensory accuracy. there are many kinds of drugs like narcotics or pain medication can easily affect the function of our brain. he big problem is this kind of medicine will cause body reaction time. also same kind of drug can cause hallucination as result it will cause a serious and log term troubles. Finally, sleep play a big role to contribute on the accuracy of the sensors. we spend a third of our lives doing it. From this sentence we can easy see the importance of sleep to our body is like a reset or refresh to the body include the accuracy sensor and make them ready for the next day. (Girodo, 1999) (KirbyGoodpaster,2007,p69-75). 3. Discuss the roles of ? nature? and ? nurture? with regard to the interpretation and evaluation of sensory data. rom many cultures humans are all so alike, we all have almost the same DNA, and we share almost the same behaviors. However, we are influenced by our family DNA , and by the kind of culture that surrounds us. different   aspect of nurture and nature have affected as result make what kind of personality that I have know. Nature contain the characteristic that are inherited or hereditary from my dynasty, one thing that nature has impacted me is from my mood. according to my mamas story, my mood as an enfant was very calm. this characteris tic keep on as I grow until now I react in very calm way. nd I try to avoid problems as much as I can. an another example of influence of nature is the way that I learn. we I was young I was label as slow learner, I had many problems of memorization skills. this characteristic was due to an inherited from my family.

Organisation and Behaviour Essay Example for Free

Organisation and Behaviour Essay Organizational structure can be described as the framework in which an organization operates. There are three main types of organizational structure: functional, divisional and matrix structure. A functional structure is set up so that each portion of the organization is grouped according to its purpose. In this type of organization, for example, there may be a marketing department, a sales department and a production department. The functional structure works very well for small businesses in which each department can rely on the talent and knowledge of its workers and support itself. However, one of the drawbacks to a functional structure is that the coordination and communication between departments can be restricted by the organizational boundaries of having the various departments working separately. A divisional structure typically is used in larger companies that operate in a wide geographic area or that have separate smaller organizations within the umbrella group to cover different types of products or market areas. For example, the now-defunct Tecumseh Products Company was organized divisionallywith a small engine division, a compressor division, a parts division and divisions for each geographic area to handle specific needs. The benefit of this structure is that requirements can be met rapidly and more specifically; however, communication is inhibited because employees in different divisions are not working together. Divisional structure is costly because of its size and scope. Small businesses can use a divisional structure on a smaller scale, having different offices in different parts of the city, for example, or assigning different sales teams to handle different geographic areas. A matrix structure is a hybrid of divisional and functional structure. Typically used in large multinational companies, the matrix structure allows for the benefits of functional and divisional structures to exist in one organization. This can create power struggles because most areas of the company will have a dual managementa functional manager and a product or divisional manager working at the same level and covering some of the same managerial territory. Organizational structure is closely related to culture. Culture refers to the deep-seated beliefs, values and norms that represent the unique character of an organization and also the shared goals and visions for the people in the organization. Organizational structure and culture are difficult to separate as they are intertwined and dependent on each other. Arguably, Greenscape operates a matrix structure. Organizational structure can be described as the framework in which an organization operates. How its tasks are delegated and its leadership structure i.e. its lines of authority and communication. ‘Organization structure determines how information flows between different levels of management and employees. How roles, power and duties are delegated controlled and coordinated.† The structure an organization chooses is dependent on its objectives and the strategy employed to achieve them. Pre-globalization most organizations had a centralized structure where the power was concentrated at the top. With globalization we has seen a shift in many organizations to a more decentralized structure where decision making is more participative and decision making is power is shared and more autonomy is given to divisions and departments. The motivation of the individuals goals and aspirations, needs met in one, and not the organization: what drives us in life and in business in partic ular, managerial tasks to recognize the individual motivations and management tools are linked to organizational goals with individual can move resources to achieve organizational goals. Lawler (1981) argue that the factors determining the balance motivation the efforts and expectations concerning performance relationship and the perceived attractiveness of reward. These factors are simply related links to each other, where each link is irrelevant. If an employee receives a job, which is calculated as a challenge to your skills, and be able to complete this task successfully with very nice rewarded, so trying to maximize the performance. If, however, the challenges we face are too big or too small, it will not sufficiently able to feel, or to solve the problem for the reward is not attractive enough, and it will not be effective enough. Youll be motivated and do not feel the job is important it is not going to make an effort to get the best out of the employee. Leadership is the backbone for the success of an organization. Normally there are four types of leadership styles, which are Autocratic, Participative, Delegative and Free Reign. These leadership styles have different effectiveness in different circumstances. Differences and similarities between the leadership styles of Max Worthy and Brenda Hogan We can argue that Max Worthy was operating in a free reign/autocratic leadership styles where everyone had to mind its own business. Brenda Hogan was a manager using a participative management approach. The participative approach will promote integrity, great observation skills and high emotional intelligence. It also promotes openness to effective communication. Hogan wanted to involve everyone in taking part at the formulation of decisions that affected them. She created the environment for the staff to learn from each other and acquire new skills, especially managerial. In contrast, Max Worthy dictated what needed to be done to staff from a distant office. Employees became accustomed to his practices and were reluctant to adopt the new approach from Hogan. Hogan leadership style can inspire her entire team to achieve excellence by example. Her hard work and caring nature set an example for all her coworkers. Management takes place within a structured organisational setting with prescribed roles. It is directed towards the achievement of aims and objectives through influencing the efforts of others. Below is a discussion of three well known management theories. Classical management theory: It puts emphasis on structure and prescriptive what is good for firms. One of the advantages of the classical management structure is a clear organizational structure with distinct management levels. Each management group has its own objectives and responsibilities as there is division of labour. Projects are broken down into smaller tasks that are easy to complete and employees responsibilities are clearly defined. This approach allows workers to specialize in one specific area and leads to increased productivity. Employees are motivated by monetary rewards (‘a fair day pay for a fair day work’). The leadership style is autocratic. Managers direct the employees and all decisions are made at the top level and communicated down. This is the case for the management style adopted by Max Worthy. Human Relations Theories: Classical theorists were concerned with structure and mechanics of organizations. But human relation theorists were concerned with the human factors at work. This was undoubtedly the management style adopted by Brenda Hogan. The human relations theory focus is on motivation, group motivation and effective leadership. At the heart of this theory is the relationship between employer and employee. According to the Human relation theory peoples needs are decisive factors in achieving an organisations objectives. Individuals cannot be treated in isolation, but function with group members. Contingency Theories From the late 1950s, a new approach to organisation theory was developed which became known as contingency theory. According to this theory, there is no one best way to structure an organisation. When deciding on how it should be structured, how it should be organized and how it should be managed, an organisation will face a range of choices. Successful organisations adopt appropriate structures in response to a number of variables, or contingencies, which influence both the needs of the organisation and how it works. Theorists in favour of the contingency approach recommend a diagnosis of people/ task/ technology/environment then suggest the development of appropriate solutions (e.g. Pugh).

Quarterly Earnings Forecasting Decisions by Family Firms

Quarterly Earnings Forecasting Decisions by Family Firms Quarterly Earnings Forecasting Decisions by Family Firms and the Market Reaction to Them Abstract We study the disclosure incentives for family firms by examining the characteristics of their quarterly earnings forecasts and analysts and investors responses to them. Forecasts offered before the fiscal quarter-end (guidance) by SP 500 family firms are generally more specific and timely than those offered by SP 500 non-family firms, particularly when they convey bad news or confirm analysts current expectations. Further, family firm guidance elicits a stronger response from both analysts and investors. While many of these differences largely disappear when the forecasts are offered after the quarter-end but before the earnings announcement itself (preannouncements), family firm preannouncements still tend to be more specific when they contain bad news. These more specific preannouncements also generate a significantly stronger response from analysts. Overall, our results suggest that large, visible family firms use manager-generated earnings forecasts to create a more transparent i nformation environment, and that these forecasts are likely to be most useful in reducing information asymmetry and agency costs when they are issued as guidance. Key Words: Management earnings forecasts, family firms, preannouncements, earnings warnings. Data Availability: Data are available from the sources listed in the text. Introduction. Family firms are generally defined as companies that are significantly influenced by founding family members or their descendants, through large shareholdings and/or operational control.[1] Anderson and Reeb (2003a, 2003b) report that family members hold approximately 18% of the equity of the family firms in the SP 500, on average, and control 45% of the CEO positions. In addition, family members often hold seats on the board of directors or are part of upper-level management in these firms (â€Å"Family Inc.†, Business Week, November 10, 2003). The structure inherent in these family firms gives rise to different agency problems than those in firms with much greater separation of ownership and control. Specifically, the family firm structure significantly limits the agency problems that arise from the separation of ownership and control (often referred to as Type I agency problems) while exacerbating those that arise in the conflict between controlling and non-controlling shareholders (often referred to as Type II agency problems, see Ali et al. 2007, Chen et al. 2007, Wang 2006 and Anderson and Reeb 2003a). It is well known that the second type of agency problem can be partially mitigated by frequent and transparent disclosure. However, it is also possible that reputational concerns may arise from the long-term nature of family members investment in their firm, mitigating this problem and reducing the need for more frequent and transparent disclosure (Wang 2006). The purpose of this paper is to add to our understanding of these competing incentives for differential disclosure by examining the characteristics of quarterly earnings forecasts issued by the management of family firms and the response of sell-side analysts and investors to them. Recent accounting research that examines mandatory financial disclosures by family firms suggests that reputational concerns alone may not be sufficient: Characteristics of family firms mandatory financial reports are consistent with their being used to mitigate the agency problem between controlling and non-controlling shareholders. More specifically, Ali et al. (2007) and Wang (2006) show that large family firms offer higher quality financial reports as evidenced by lower discretionary accruals, greater ability of earnings to predict cash flows and larger earnings response coefficients. In addition, Ali et al. (2007) find that family firms in the SP 500 are more likely to voluntarily issue earnings forec asts during periods of earnings declines. However, they also find that family firms are less forthcoming in their disclosures about corporate governance. In a paper that was written concurrently with ours, Chen et al. (2007) study the frequency of voluntary disclosures (earnings and non-earnings forecasts and conference calls) from a larger sample of firms that includes the SP 500, SP MidCap 400 and SP SmallCap 600 in the five years before the enactment of Regulation Fair Disclosure (Reg FD). They also find that family firms are more likely to issue bad-news earnings warnings but overall make fewer forward-looking disclosures than non-family firms, and conclude that their results are consistent with family owners having a longer investment horizon and better monitoring of management, characteristics that obviate the need for greater disclosure. This paper contributes to the growing literature on the disclosures of family firms by studying one of the most informative and common types of voluntary financial disclosures—the companys own forecasts of its quarterly earnings per share—and sell-side analysts and investors responses to them. More specifically, we examine the characteristics of these disclosures (forecast specificity, surprise and accuracy), and the impact they have on important market indicators—professional analysts earnings estimates and stock prices. Thus, our analysis is designed to provide additional evidence on the relation between ownership structure and the quality of the firms information environment and, in particular, complements the existing empirical evidence on the characteristics and informativenesss of mandatory financial disclosures made by family and non-family firms (Ali et al. 2007 and Wang 2006). As noted above, we focus on a particular type of voluntary disclosure, managements forecasts of quarterly earnings per share, and do so for two reasons. First, prior research indicates that these forecasts are highly value-relevant—and more value-relevant than management forecasts of annual earnings per share (Pownall et al. 1993, Baginski and Hassell 1997). As a result, we believe that the quarterly forecasts are particularly well-suited for examining the different incentives family and non-family firms face in their attempts to control Type I and II agency problems, respectively. For example, higher quality forecasting by family firms (in terms of their forecasts being more specific, timely and accurate) is consistent with such firms creating a more transparent information environment and reducing a potentially severe Type II agency problem. Second, we are able to use a non-stock-price measure of the news in these management forecasts in our empirical work, which allows us t o more effectively analyze the markets perception of the differential information content in the forecasts made by family and non-family firms.[2] We also separate our sample of forecasts into guidance (i.e., forecasts made prior to the end of the quarter) and preannouncements (i.e., forecasts made after the quarter ends but before earnings are released). We do this because the forecast horizon associated with preannouncements is very short, sometimes a matter of two or three weeks, and because much of the uncertainty regarding the forthcoming earnings number is resolved by the fiscal quarter end for most, if not all, firms, regardless of whether or not they are controlled by a family. Thus, the Type II agency problem in family firms, if it dominates the Type I agency problem, is more likely to be mitigated through the provision of guidance than preannouncements. This leads us to hypothesize that the characteristics of guidance, but not preannouncements, are systematically related t o family-firm status, and that analysts and investors will react differently to the guidance, but not to preannouncements, issued by family firms, holding all else constant.[3] We test our hypotheses on the quarterly earnings forecasts made between 1998 and 2006 by the family and non-family firms in the SP 500 index, as identified by Business Week (November 10, 2003) and contained in the First Call Company Issued Guidance (CIG) database. There are two aspects of our sample that should be highlighted. First, our sample firms are among the largest, most stable and most visible in the U.S. As a result, our results may not generalize to smaller, less visible family firms such as those included in Chen et al.s (2007) sample. Second, our sample period spans the implementation of Reg FD. Thus, we provide evidence that complements the pre-Reg-FD evidence in Chen et al. (2007) and the limited post-Reg-FD evidence in Ali et al. (2007). The results of our empirical tests generally indicate that the guidance provided by family firms is of higher quality than that provided by non-family firms. In particular, after controlling for other influencing factors, we find that the family firms in our sample provide significantly more specific guidance (in terms of forecast form and narrowness of forecast range) than non-family firms, especially when conveying bad news or offering confirmatory guidance. We also find that family firms use guidance to make smaller average adjustments to the markets estimate of the upcoming quarterly earnings than non-family firms, especially when conveying bad news. This is consistent with their being more timely in offering corrections to analysts estimates. More importantly, we find some evidence of a stronger and quicker response by analysts (as measured by the number of subsequent earnings estimate revisions and the speed with which they occur) to the guidance issued by family firms, and str ong evidence of a significantly greater investor response (as measured by announcement-period abnormal stock returns) to the guidance issued by family firms. These findings, taken together, indicate that guidance is more informative and more useful to the market when it is issued by a family firm. They are also consistent with family firms using guidance to create a more transparent information environment, which therefore, complements the finding of higher quality financial reporting by family firms in Ali et al (2007) and Wang (2006). Consistent with our expectations, we find little evidence of differences in the characteristics of preannouncements issued by family and non-family firms, although there is some (weak) evidence of family-firm preannouncements being more specific when they contain bad news.[4] Also consistent with our expectations, we find no evidence of a differential stock price response to preannouncements made by family and non-family firms, although we do find that analysts response more strongly to family-firm preannouncements, especially when they contain bad news. These results, when considered with the guidance results discussed above, suggest that family firms produce higher quality earnings forecasts than non-family firms, particularly when they are offered as guidance or contain bad news, and that their guidance is more informative and useful to investors and analysts. Thus, our paper provides evidence of family firms using management-generated earnings forecasts to create a more transpare nt information environment. Our paper contributes to two bodies of research: the growing literature on disclosures by family firms, as noted before, and the established literature on management forecasts. While our paper is most closely related to Ali et al. (2007), Chen et al. (2007) and Wang (2006), who examine the mandatory financial disclosures of family firms and the frequency of their voluntary disclosures, we also complement Anderson et al.s (2006) analysis of other dimensions of disclosure transparency. Anderson et al. (2006) find that family firms are significantly more opaque than non-family firms as measured by a summary statistic that captures the effects of trading volume, the bid-ask spread, analyst following and analyst forecast errors. Taken together, the evidence in Anderson et al. (2006) and our paper suggest that certain types of transparent disclosures appear to be better suited than others to mitigating the agency problem that arises between controlling and non-controlling owners. The literature on management forecasts is more mature and, as a result, guides much of the structure for our analysis. Consequently, we follow prior work by Ajinkya and Gift (1984), Baginski and Hassell (1990, 1997), Bamber and Cheon (1998), Baginski et al. (2002, 2004), Ajinkya et al. (2005) and others, in designing our tests. In a recent paper, Hirst et al. (2007) provide a review of this literature and propose a framework for continued research in this area. They observe that choices concerning the characteristics of management earnings forecasts are not yet well understood and suggest that additional work addressing this issue is needed. Our contribution to the literature on management forecasts is to analyze the differential impact of Type I and Type II agency problems on the characteristics of management earnings forecasts provided by family and non-family firms, including the time of their release, as well as the market and analyst reactions to them. Thus, we add to the initia l evidence on the underlying reasons for providing management forecasts in different forms and with different specificity—and on their impact of the stock prices of family and non-family firms. Finally, our results on confirmatory guidance support and extend the results in Clement et al. (2003). The rest of the paper is organized as follows. In Section 2, we review of the relevant literature and develop hypotheses. In Section 3, we describe our sample and data, and in Section 4, we present the empirical tests. We offer concluding remarks in Section 5. 2. Literature Review and Hypothesis Development Family firms are defined in the academic literature as firms in which founders or their descendants exercise control either because they are significant shareholders or because they are part of top management or the board of directors. Not only are family firms common in Europe and Asia (see, for example, LaPorta et al. 1999, Claessens et al, 2000, Gomez-Mejia et al. 2001 and Faccio and Lang 2002), they comprise approximately one-third of the SP 500 in the U.S. (Anderson and Reeb 2003a).[5] Further, family members ownership stakes are significant: Anderson and Reeb (2003a) report that in the SP 500, family members hold, on average, 18% of the voting shares in their companies. A large literature on family firms has recently developed in accounting and finance, much of it focused on the differences in agency problems that arise in family and non-family firms.[6] Of particular interest to us are the agency problems arising from (1) the separation of ownership and control, and (2) the conflict between controlling and non-controlling shareholders.[7] The papers that examine these conflicts generally argue that (1), referred to as the â€Å"Type I† agency problem in Ali et al. (2007), is less important for family firms because of the unusually close alignment of owners and management in those firms when compared to non-family firms (e.g., Ali et al. 2007, Chen et al. 2007, Wang (2006).[8] They also argue that the tight linkage between some owners and control in family firms exacerbates (2), referred to as the â€Å"Type II† agency problem in Ali et al. (2007), in which family members transfer wealth to themselves to the detriment of other sharehol ders. As is well known, such agency problems can be partially mitigated by frequent and transparent disclosure, suggesting that family firms are more likely to offer a variety of mandatory and voluntary disclosures whose implications are clearer to market participants.[9] In contrast, Wang (2006) suggests that family firms may not face a more severe Type II agency problem if the long-term nature of their investment is well understood by the market. In essence, he argues that long-term investors are less likely to exploit agency problems for short-term gain—thus, family firms may not need to resort to greater frequency or transparency of disclosures. Ali et al. (2007) and Wang (2006) empirically test these competing predictions by comparing aspects of the accounting disclosures made by family and non-family firms. Both find that earnings quality is higher for family firms, especially when a founder CEO is in place. Thus, both provide some evidence consistent with family firms mitigating their Type II agency problems—or responding to the demands of the users of financial statements—with higher quality disclosures. More specifically, Ali et al. (2007) document lower discretionary accruals and greater earnings persistence for SP 500 family firms compared to SP 500 non-family firms. In addition, they find that the association between earnings and stock returns is higher for the family firms. Similarly, Wang (2006) finds that SP 500 founding family firms have lower abnormal accruals, greater earnings informativeness and less persistence in transitory loss components in earnings. He extends this analysis by considering th e effect of the percentage of common stock owned by family members on the magnitude of the Type II agency problem. Interestingly, he finds that the relation is nonlinear: When founding family ownership is above (approximately) 60%, the quality of the earnings reported by non-family firms exceeds that of family firms. Ali et al. (2007) also provide some evidence inconsistent with family firms mitigating their more severe Type II agency problem through the use of disclosures: They observe that family firms are less forthcoming about their corporate governance practices and that when they employ a dual class share structure, earnings quality is lower relative to when they do not have such a structure. Another method for testing whether family firms mitigate the potentially more severe Type II agency costs—or respond to financial statement users demand for high quality accounting information—through greater frequency and transparency of disclosures is to examine the issuance of management earnings forecasts by family and non-family firms. Complicating this is the litigation argument proposed by Skinner (1994) and Kasznik and Lev (1995) which suggests that the use of earnings warnings will vary positively with the litigation risk that the firm faces, and inversely with the severity of the firms Type I agency problem (Ali et al. 2007). However, since the Type II agency problem is expected to be more severe and the Type I agency problem less severe in family firms (Ali et al. 2007), family firms would be expected to provide management forecasts to mitigate both types of agency problems, holding litigation risk constant. The relative severity of the Type II agency problem further suggests that family firms earnings forecasts will be of higher quality (i.e., more specific, timely and accurate), and that market participants (e.g., sell-side analysts and investors) will respond more strongly to them. Ali et al. (2007) provide initial evidence in favor of this hypothesis when they observe that family firms are more likely to provide earnings warnings (i.e., guidance that warns of a forthcoming earnings decline) than non-family firms. In a more recent paper, however, Chen et al. (2007) provide evidence that family firms make fewer voluntary disclosures than non-family firms. They collect ownership and founding family information from several sources to identify family firms in the SP 1500 and find that family firms are (1) 8.1% less likely to provide management forecasts of all kinds (i.e., annual and quarterly earnings, revenues, cash flows, etc.), and (2) less likely to hold conference calls as well. They also find, however, that family firms are more likely than non-family firms to issue bad-news earnings warnings. Chen et al. (2007) conclude that these results, when considered collectively, indicate that family firms owners prefer less disclosure because of their long investmen t horizon and effective monitoring of managers, but that their concern with reducing litigation costs results in an increased likelihood of bad news earnings warnings. In this paper, we hope to add to our understanding of the relative importance of the competing incentives studied in previous work by examining (1) the characteristics of management forecasts of quarterly earnings per share (both guidance, which is offered prior to the end of the quarter, and preannouncements, which are offered after quarter-end but before the actual earnings announcement) of family and non-family firms, and (2) the response of sell-side analysts and investors to those forecasts. In particular, we hope to add to our understanding of the disclosure choices of family firms by determining whether their own earnings forecasts are more specific, timely and accurate, consistent with family firms providing higher quality disclosures—and whether those forecasts are viewed as being of higher quality by market participants as measured by their response to the disclosure. We also separate our forecasts into guidance and preannouncements under the assumption that any fami ly-firm effect will be more likely to be observed in guidance because of the longer horizon over which the forecasts can be made. More specifically, in the case of preannouncements, there is a very short forecast horizon (e.g., a few weeks beyond the end of the quarter) and so we do not expect large differences in timeliness of the preannouncements between family and non-family firms. Further, because much of the uncertainty about the earnings numbers is resolved by quarter-end, differences in the specificity of preannouncements between family and non-family firms, if any, are likely to be small. Finally, motives to provide preannouncements are likely to be dominated by the litigation argument proposed by Skinner (1994) and Kasznik and Lev (1995).[10] If this is the case, differences in characteristics of voluntary earnings forecasts, and in market participants responses to them, are likely to be concentrated in guidance. As in prior research, we recognize that because of competing forces, whether the guidance of family firms is of higher quality is an empirical question. Thus, our formal hypotheses regarding guidance are non-directional, as in Chen et al. (2007) and Wang (2006): H1: The specificity, timeliness and content of earnings guidance is systematically related to whether the firm is classified as a family firm. H2: Sell-side analysts and investors responses to earnings guidance is systematically related to whether the issuing firm is classified as a family firm. 3. Sample and Data. Our sample is comprised of 4,130 management quarterly earnings guidance announcements issued between 1998 and 2006 by the family and non-family firms in the SP 500 as identified by Business Week in its November 10, 2003, issue. Business Week defines a family firm as â€Å"†¦any company where founders or descendants continue to hold positions in top management, on the board, or among the companys shareholders.† To identify family firms, Business Week relies on the methodology developed by Anderson and Reeb (2003a, 2003b) as well as their advice and the help of Spencer Stuart as they â€Å"†¦examined regulatory filings, company Web sites and corporate histories† to ensure significant family involvement in the company. (For details, see â€Å"Defining Family,† Business Week, November 10, 2003, p. 111.) Before proceeding, we want to highlight certain aspects of our sample. First, because the Business Week classification pertains to only SP 500 firms, the fi rms in our sample are among the largest, most stable and most profitable companies in the U.S. As a result, our findings might not extend to mid- or small-cap companies. Second, our reliance on the Business Week classification means that we do not form a new sample of family and non-family firms each year. However, as Ali et al. (2007) note, family firm status is sticky, and thus misclassifications due to changing firm status will most likely bias against our finding significant results. Third, Business Weeks classification scheme is designed to identify firms that are controlled by a family without relying on a single proxy for control, such as ownership share. As a result, it captures features of family firms, beyond simply having large blockholders, that are likely to exacerbate Type II agency problems. Fourth, by using Business Weeks classification, which is based on the â€Å"standard† developed by Anderson and Reeb, our results are more easily compared to many prior res ults. Finally, while we recognize that Business Week might not accurately classify every firm, both types of classification errors (i.e., misclassifying firms without significant family control as family firms, and misclassifying firms with significant family control as non-family firms) limit our ability to detect differences in the forecasts of family and non-family firms and therefore bias against our finding significant results. We form our sample by first gathering all forecasts of quarter-ahead earnings made between 1998 and 2006 by the SP 500 as of June 2003 from the First Call Company Issued Guidance (CIG) database. We lose 1,994 of the original 7,694 observations because of unavailability of (1) necessary Compustat and CRSP data, (2) actual earnings per share and other analyst forecast data from First Call, and (3) observations with multiple actual earnings per share numbers. After deleting stale forecasts (those made before the prior quarters earnings announcement date), we retain all â€Å"guidance† observations (forecasts made at the same time as or after the prior earnings announcement and at or before the quarter end, N = 4,332). We trim the sample to mitigate the effect of outliers as follows. First, we eliminate the top and bottom one-half percent of the management forecast errors in each sample, the top and bottom one-half percent of the forecast surprises in each sample, the top and bott om one-half percent of the three-day cumulative abnormal returns in each sample and finally, the top and bottom one-half percent of return volatility ratios in each sample—and retain the union of the remaining observations. (These variables are defined in the Appendix and will be discussed in detail later.) We then eliminate 62 firm quarter observations whose stock price is less than $5 as of the beginning of the quarter. This results in a final sample of 4,130 guidance announcements. One-hundred-and-forty six of the 177 family firms identified by Business Week (82.5%) provide guidance during our sample period as compared to 240 of the 323 non-family firms in the SP 500 (74.3%). [11] Before turning to the empirical analysis, we note for the reader that the management guidance we gather from the CIG database is not split-adjusted whereas the analysts estimates and reported earnings per share in the main First Call file are (further, they are rounded to the nearest penny). An I/B/E/S unadjusted data file is available but unfortunately, we would lose a significant number of observations if we were to use it. Consequently, to keep the sample size as large as possible and still allow for comparability, we split-adjust the management guidance from the CIG file using the split-adjustment procedures used for the analysts estimates and reported earnings per share in the First Call file.[12] 4. Empirical Analysis. 4.1. Univariate Analysis. We present descriptive statistics for the guidance announcements, firm-specific characteristics and variables relating to analysts and stock returns in Table 1. We also include the results of two-sample t-tests and Wilcoxon signed rank sum tests for each variable. As noted before, we provide a list of variables and their definitions in the Appendix. We begin with forecast characteristic metrics designed to help us understand the differences, if any, in the specificity, timeliness, frequency and content of the earnings forecasts offered by the management of family and non-family firms. We present descriptive statistics first for the form of the forecast (an indicator of specificity) as measured by Forecast Form. As is well known, forecasts in the CIG database take one of several forms, which we code in the following manner: If the forecast is a specific earnings per share number (a point forecast), it is coded as 4; if it is a range of possible earnings per share numbers (a range forecast), it is coded as 3; if it consists of a one-sided directional forecast (either a maximum or minimum forthcoming earnings per share number), it is coded as 2; and if it contains no quantitative information (a qualitative forecast), it is coded as 1.[13] Note that our coding scheme is designed so that a higher value of Forecast Form indicates a mo re specific forecast. To further examine forecast specificity, we focus next on Forecast Width for range forecasts, which measures the difference between the maximum and minimum earnings per share figures offered in the forecast. (A narrower width indicates a more specific forecast.) In later tests, we include point forecasts as forecasts with a width of zero. To examine forecast timeliness, we use Forecast Horizon which is the number of calendar days from the management forecast date until the end of the quarter. More days in the forecast horizon indicate more timely forecasts. Finally, we form Annual Frequency and Quarterly Frequency variables, which measure the number of annual and quarterly management forecasts for each of our sample firms in the CIG database from 1994 through 2006, scaled by the total number of possible forecasting years (for Annual Frequency) or quarters (for Quarterly Frequency) to date. The descriptive statistics and statistical tests for Forecast Form provide initial evidence consistent with family firms issuing significantly more specific guidance than non-family firms. In particular, Forecast Form has slightly higher numerical values, on average, for family firms (p = .028, using the Wilcoxon test).[14] To further explore the potential differences, we examine the frequency distributions of the forms that guidance takes, as presented in Figure 1. As is obvious from the figure, range forecasts are by far the most common form of guidance for both family and non-family firms, making up nearly two-thirds of all guidance in our sample. Further, both family and non-family firms offer approximately 89% of their guidance as point or range forecasts. However, family firms offer relatively more of the more specific point forecasts (28% versus 23% for non-family firms) and relatively fewer of the less specific range forecasts (61% versus 66% for non-family firms).[15] Conver sely, guidance in the form of qualitative statements or minimum/maximum earnings per share numbers is unusual in our sample, regardless of the type of firm examined. The small number of qualitative forecasts in our First Call sample is inconsistent with Hutton et al. (2003) and Miller (2002), who find a substantially larger number of such forecasts when hand-collecting their samples than are included in the First Call database. (Anilowski et al. 2006 also suggest that First Call is more likely to include quantitative forecasts than qualitative ones.) This suggests that our sample is most likely incomplete and most representative when only quantitative forecasts are considered. For these reasons and because many tests require that we restrict attention to point and range forecasts, we will generally focus our discussion on point and range forecasts only. As just noted, range forecasts are the most common type of guidance in our sample. While it is clear from Figure 1 that non-family firms issue more range forecasts as guidance than family firms, Table 1 indicates that those issued by family firms are significantly narrower, as measured by Forecast Width (p = .000 for both the Wilcoxon and the two-sample t tests). This finding, when considered with the preliminary evidence of greater usage of point forecasts by family firms, suggests that guidance issued by family firms is generally more specific than that issued by non-family firms, consistent with H1. The next two forecast c Quarterly Earnings Forecasting Decisions by Family Firms Quarterly Earnings Forecasting Decisions by Family Firms Quarterly Earnings Forecasting Decisions by Family Firms and the Market Reaction to Them Abstract We study the disclosure incentives for family firms by examining the characteristics of their quarterly earnings forecasts and analysts and investors responses to them. Forecasts offered before the fiscal quarter-end (guidance) by SP 500 family firms are generally more specific and timely than those offered by SP 500 non-family firms, particularly when they convey bad news or confirm analysts current expectations. Further, family firm guidance elicits a stronger response from both analysts and investors. While many of these differences largely disappear when the forecasts are offered after the quarter-end but before the earnings announcement itself (preannouncements), family firm preannouncements still tend to be more specific when they contain bad news. These more specific preannouncements also generate a significantly stronger response from analysts. Overall, our results suggest that large, visible family firms use manager-generated earnings forecasts to create a more transparent i nformation environment, and that these forecasts are likely to be most useful in reducing information asymmetry and agency costs when they are issued as guidance. Key Words: Management earnings forecasts, family firms, preannouncements, earnings warnings. Data Availability: Data are available from the sources listed in the text. Introduction. Family firms are generally defined as companies that are significantly influenced by founding family members or their descendants, through large shareholdings and/or operational control.[1] Anderson and Reeb (2003a, 2003b) report that family members hold approximately 18% of the equity of the family firms in the SP 500, on average, and control 45% of the CEO positions. In addition, family members often hold seats on the board of directors or are part of upper-level management in these firms (â€Å"Family Inc.†, Business Week, November 10, 2003). The structure inherent in these family firms gives rise to different agency problems than those in firms with much greater separation of ownership and control. Specifically, the family firm structure significantly limits the agency problems that arise from the separation of ownership and control (often referred to as Type I agency problems) while exacerbating those that arise in the conflict between controlling and non-controlling shareholders (often referred to as Type II agency problems, see Ali et al. 2007, Chen et al. 2007, Wang 2006 and Anderson and Reeb 2003a). It is well known that the second type of agency problem can be partially mitigated by frequent and transparent disclosure. However, it is also possible that reputational concerns may arise from the long-term nature of family members investment in their firm, mitigating this problem and reducing the need for more frequent and transparent disclosure (Wang 2006). The purpose of this paper is to add to our understanding of these competing incentives for differential disclosure by examining the characteristics of quarterly earnings forecasts issued by the management of family firms and the response of sell-side analysts and investors to them. Recent accounting research that examines mandatory financial disclosures by family firms suggests that reputational concerns alone may not be sufficient: Characteristics of family firms mandatory financial reports are consistent with their being used to mitigate the agency problem between controlling and non-controlling shareholders. More specifically, Ali et al. (2007) and Wang (2006) show that large family firms offer higher quality financial reports as evidenced by lower discretionary accruals, greater ability of earnings to predict cash flows and larger earnings response coefficients. In addition, Ali et al. (2007) find that family firms in the SP 500 are more likely to voluntarily issue earnings forec asts during periods of earnings declines. However, they also find that family firms are less forthcoming in their disclosures about corporate governance. In a paper that was written concurrently with ours, Chen et al. (2007) study the frequency of voluntary disclosures (earnings and non-earnings forecasts and conference calls) from a larger sample of firms that includes the SP 500, SP MidCap 400 and SP SmallCap 600 in the five years before the enactment of Regulation Fair Disclosure (Reg FD). They also find that family firms are more likely to issue bad-news earnings warnings but overall make fewer forward-looking disclosures than non-family firms, and conclude that their results are consistent with family owners having a longer investment horizon and better monitoring of management, characteristics that obviate the need for greater disclosure. This paper contributes to the growing literature on the disclosures of family firms by studying one of the most informative and common types of voluntary financial disclosures—the companys own forecasts of its quarterly earnings per share—and sell-side analysts and investors responses to them. More specifically, we examine the characteristics of these disclosures (forecast specificity, surprise and accuracy), and the impact they have on important market indicators—professional analysts earnings estimates and stock prices. Thus, our analysis is designed to provide additional evidence on the relation between ownership structure and the quality of the firms information environment and, in particular, complements the existing empirical evidence on the characteristics and informativenesss of mandatory financial disclosures made by family and non-family firms (Ali et al. 2007 and Wang 2006). As noted above, we focus on a particular type of voluntary disclosure, managements forecasts of quarterly earnings per share, and do so for two reasons. First, prior research indicates that these forecasts are highly value-relevant—and more value-relevant than management forecasts of annual earnings per share (Pownall et al. 1993, Baginski and Hassell 1997). As a result, we believe that the quarterly forecasts are particularly well-suited for examining the different incentives family and non-family firms face in their attempts to control Type I and II agency problems, respectively. For example, higher quality forecasting by family firms (in terms of their forecasts being more specific, timely and accurate) is consistent with such firms creating a more transparent information environment and reducing a potentially severe Type II agency problem. Second, we are able to use a non-stock-price measure of the news in these management forecasts in our empirical work, which allows us t o more effectively analyze the markets perception of the differential information content in the forecasts made by family and non-family firms.[2] We also separate our sample of forecasts into guidance (i.e., forecasts made prior to the end of the quarter) and preannouncements (i.e., forecasts made after the quarter ends but before earnings are released). We do this because the forecast horizon associated with preannouncements is very short, sometimes a matter of two or three weeks, and because much of the uncertainty regarding the forthcoming earnings number is resolved by the fiscal quarter end for most, if not all, firms, regardless of whether or not they are controlled by a family. Thus, the Type II agency problem in family firms, if it dominates the Type I agency problem, is more likely to be mitigated through the provision of guidance than preannouncements. This leads us to hypothesize that the characteristics of guidance, but not preannouncements, are systematically related t o family-firm status, and that analysts and investors will react differently to the guidance, but not to preannouncements, issued by family firms, holding all else constant.[3] We test our hypotheses on the quarterly earnings forecasts made between 1998 and 2006 by the family and non-family firms in the SP 500 index, as identified by Business Week (November 10, 2003) and contained in the First Call Company Issued Guidance (CIG) database. There are two aspects of our sample that should be highlighted. First, our sample firms are among the largest, most stable and most visible in the U.S. As a result, our results may not generalize to smaller, less visible family firms such as those included in Chen et al.s (2007) sample. Second, our sample period spans the implementation of Reg FD. Thus, we provide evidence that complements the pre-Reg-FD evidence in Chen et al. (2007) and the limited post-Reg-FD evidence in Ali et al. (2007). The results of our empirical tests generally indicate that the guidance provided by family firms is of higher quality than that provided by non-family firms. In particular, after controlling for other influencing factors, we find that the family firms in our sample provide significantly more specific guidance (in terms of forecast form and narrowness of forecast range) than non-family firms, especially when conveying bad news or offering confirmatory guidance. We also find that family firms use guidance to make smaller average adjustments to the markets estimate of the upcoming quarterly earnings than non-family firms, especially when conveying bad news. This is consistent with their being more timely in offering corrections to analysts estimates. More importantly, we find some evidence of a stronger and quicker response by analysts (as measured by the number of subsequent earnings estimate revisions and the speed with which they occur) to the guidance issued by family firms, and str ong evidence of a significantly greater investor response (as measured by announcement-period abnormal stock returns) to the guidance issued by family firms. These findings, taken together, indicate that guidance is more informative and more useful to the market when it is issued by a family firm. They are also consistent with family firms using guidance to create a more transparent information environment, which therefore, complements the finding of higher quality financial reporting by family firms in Ali et al (2007) and Wang (2006). Consistent with our expectations, we find little evidence of differences in the characteristics of preannouncements issued by family and non-family firms, although there is some (weak) evidence of family-firm preannouncements being more specific when they contain bad news.[4] Also consistent with our expectations, we find no evidence of a differential stock price response to preannouncements made by family and non-family firms, although we do find that analysts response more strongly to family-firm preannouncements, especially when they contain bad news. These results, when considered with the guidance results discussed above, suggest that family firms produce higher quality earnings forecasts than non-family firms, particularly when they are offered as guidance or contain bad news, and that their guidance is more informative and useful to investors and analysts. Thus, our paper provides evidence of family firms using management-generated earnings forecasts to create a more transpare nt information environment. Our paper contributes to two bodies of research: the growing literature on disclosures by family firms, as noted before, and the established literature on management forecasts. While our paper is most closely related to Ali et al. (2007), Chen et al. (2007) and Wang (2006), who examine the mandatory financial disclosures of family firms and the frequency of their voluntary disclosures, we also complement Anderson et al.s (2006) analysis of other dimensions of disclosure transparency. Anderson et al. (2006) find that family firms are significantly more opaque than non-family firms as measured by a summary statistic that captures the effects of trading volume, the bid-ask spread, analyst following and analyst forecast errors. Taken together, the evidence in Anderson et al. (2006) and our paper suggest that certain types of transparent disclosures appear to be better suited than others to mitigating the agency problem that arises between controlling and non-controlling owners. The literature on management forecasts is more mature and, as a result, guides much of the structure for our analysis. Consequently, we follow prior work by Ajinkya and Gift (1984), Baginski and Hassell (1990, 1997), Bamber and Cheon (1998), Baginski et al. (2002, 2004), Ajinkya et al. (2005) and others, in designing our tests. In a recent paper, Hirst et al. (2007) provide a review of this literature and propose a framework for continued research in this area. They observe that choices concerning the characteristics of management earnings forecasts are not yet well understood and suggest that additional work addressing this issue is needed. Our contribution to the literature on management forecasts is to analyze the differential impact of Type I and Type II agency problems on the characteristics of management earnings forecasts provided by family and non-family firms, including the time of their release, as well as the market and analyst reactions to them. Thus, we add to the initia l evidence on the underlying reasons for providing management forecasts in different forms and with different specificity—and on their impact of the stock prices of family and non-family firms. Finally, our results on confirmatory guidance support and extend the results in Clement et al. (2003). The rest of the paper is organized as follows. In Section 2, we review of the relevant literature and develop hypotheses. In Section 3, we describe our sample and data, and in Section 4, we present the empirical tests. We offer concluding remarks in Section 5. 2. Literature Review and Hypothesis Development Family firms are defined in the academic literature as firms in which founders or their descendants exercise control either because they are significant shareholders or because they are part of top management or the board of directors. Not only are family firms common in Europe and Asia (see, for example, LaPorta et al. 1999, Claessens et al, 2000, Gomez-Mejia et al. 2001 and Faccio and Lang 2002), they comprise approximately one-third of the SP 500 in the U.S. (Anderson and Reeb 2003a).[5] Further, family members ownership stakes are significant: Anderson and Reeb (2003a) report that in the SP 500, family members hold, on average, 18% of the voting shares in their companies. A large literature on family firms has recently developed in accounting and finance, much of it focused on the differences in agency problems that arise in family and non-family firms.[6] Of particular interest to us are the agency problems arising from (1) the separation of ownership and control, and (2) the conflict between controlling and non-controlling shareholders.[7] The papers that examine these conflicts generally argue that (1), referred to as the â€Å"Type I† agency problem in Ali et al. (2007), is less important for family firms because of the unusually close alignment of owners and management in those firms when compared to non-family firms (e.g., Ali et al. 2007, Chen et al. 2007, Wang (2006).[8] They also argue that the tight linkage between some owners and control in family firms exacerbates (2), referred to as the â€Å"Type II† agency problem in Ali et al. (2007), in which family members transfer wealth to themselves to the detriment of other sharehol ders. As is well known, such agency problems can be partially mitigated by frequent and transparent disclosure, suggesting that family firms are more likely to offer a variety of mandatory and voluntary disclosures whose implications are clearer to market participants.[9] In contrast, Wang (2006) suggests that family firms may not face a more severe Type II agency problem if the long-term nature of their investment is well understood by the market. In essence, he argues that long-term investors are less likely to exploit agency problems for short-term gain—thus, family firms may not need to resort to greater frequency or transparency of disclosures. Ali et al. (2007) and Wang (2006) empirically test these competing predictions by comparing aspects of the accounting disclosures made by family and non-family firms. Both find that earnings quality is higher for family firms, especially when a founder CEO is in place. Thus, both provide some evidence consistent with family firms mitigating their Type II agency problems—or responding to the demands of the users of financial statements—with higher quality disclosures. More specifically, Ali et al. (2007) document lower discretionary accruals and greater earnings persistence for SP 500 family firms compared to SP 500 non-family firms. In addition, they find that the association between earnings and stock returns is higher for the family firms. Similarly, Wang (2006) finds that SP 500 founding family firms have lower abnormal accruals, greater earnings informativeness and less persistence in transitory loss components in earnings. He extends this analysis by considering th e effect of the percentage of common stock owned by family members on the magnitude of the Type II agency problem. Interestingly, he finds that the relation is nonlinear: When founding family ownership is above (approximately) 60%, the quality of the earnings reported by non-family firms exceeds that of family firms. Ali et al. (2007) also provide some evidence inconsistent with family firms mitigating their more severe Type II agency problem through the use of disclosures: They observe that family firms are less forthcoming about their corporate governance practices and that when they employ a dual class share structure, earnings quality is lower relative to when they do not have such a structure. Another method for testing whether family firms mitigate the potentially more severe Type II agency costs—or respond to financial statement users demand for high quality accounting information—through greater frequency and transparency of disclosures is to examine the issuance of management earnings forecasts by family and non-family firms. Complicating this is the litigation argument proposed by Skinner (1994) and Kasznik and Lev (1995) which suggests that the use of earnings warnings will vary positively with the litigation risk that the firm faces, and inversely with the severity of the firms Type I agency problem (Ali et al. 2007). However, since the Type II agency problem is expected to be more severe and the Type I agency problem less severe in family firms (Ali et al. 2007), family firms would be expected to provide management forecasts to mitigate both types of agency problems, holding litigation risk constant. The relative severity of the Type II agency problem further suggests that family firms earnings forecasts will be of higher quality (i.e., more specific, timely and accurate), and that market participants (e.g., sell-side analysts and investors) will respond more strongly to them. Ali et al. (2007) provide initial evidence in favor of this hypothesis when they observe that family firms are more likely to provide earnings warnings (i.e., guidance that warns of a forthcoming earnings decline) than non-family firms. In a more recent paper, however, Chen et al. (2007) provide evidence that family firms make fewer voluntary disclosures than non-family firms. They collect ownership and founding family information from several sources to identify family firms in the SP 1500 and find that family firms are (1) 8.1% less likely to provide management forecasts of all kinds (i.e., annual and quarterly earnings, revenues, cash flows, etc.), and (2) less likely to hold conference calls as well. They also find, however, that family firms are more likely than non-family firms to issue bad-news earnings warnings. Chen et al. (2007) conclude that these results, when considered collectively, indicate that family firms owners prefer less disclosure because of their long investmen t horizon and effective monitoring of managers, but that their concern with reducing litigation costs results in an increased likelihood of bad news earnings warnings. In this paper, we hope to add to our understanding of the relative importance of the competing incentives studied in previous work by examining (1) the characteristics of management forecasts of quarterly earnings per share (both guidance, which is offered prior to the end of the quarter, and preannouncements, which are offered after quarter-end but before the actual earnings announcement) of family and non-family firms, and (2) the response of sell-side analysts and investors to those forecasts. In particular, we hope to add to our understanding of the disclosure choices of family firms by determining whether their own earnings forecasts are more specific, timely and accurate, consistent with family firms providing higher quality disclosures—and whether those forecasts are viewed as being of higher quality by market participants as measured by their response to the disclosure. We also separate our forecasts into guidance and preannouncements under the assumption that any fami ly-firm effect will be more likely to be observed in guidance because of the longer horizon over which the forecasts can be made. More specifically, in the case of preannouncements, there is a very short forecast horizon (e.g., a few weeks beyond the end of the quarter) and so we do not expect large differences in timeliness of the preannouncements between family and non-family firms. Further, because much of the uncertainty about the earnings numbers is resolved by quarter-end, differences in the specificity of preannouncements between family and non-family firms, if any, are likely to be small. Finally, motives to provide preannouncements are likely to be dominated by the litigation argument proposed by Skinner (1994) and Kasznik and Lev (1995).[10] If this is the case, differences in characteristics of voluntary earnings forecasts, and in market participants responses to them, are likely to be concentrated in guidance. As in prior research, we recognize that because of competing forces, whether the guidance of family firms is of higher quality is an empirical question. Thus, our formal hypotheses regarding guidance are non-directional, as in Chen et al. (2007) and Wang (2006): H1: The specificity, timeliness and content of earnings guidance is systematically related to whether the firm is classified as a family firm. H2: Sell-side analysts and investors responses to earnings guidance is systematically related to whether the issuing firm is classified as a family firm. 3. Sample and Data. Our sample is comprised of 4,130 management quarterly earnings guidance announcements issued between 1998 and 2006 by the family and non-family firms in the SP 500 as identified by Business Week in its November 10, 2003, issue. Business Week defines a family firm as â€Å"†¦any company where founders or descendants continue to hold positions in top management, on the board, or among the companys shareholders.† To identify family firms, Business Week relies on the methodology developed by Anderson and Reeb (2003a, 2003b) as well as their advice and the help of Spencer Stuart as they â€Å"†¦examined regulatory filings, company Web sites and corporate histories† to ensure significant family involvement in the company. (For details, see â€Å"Defining Family,† Business Week, November 10, 2003, p. 111.) Before proceeding, we want to highlight certain aspects of our sample. First, because the Business Week classification pertains to only SP 500 firms, the fi rms in our sample are among the largest, most stable and most profitable companies in the U.S. As a result, our findings might not extend to mid- or small-cap companies. Second, our reliance on the Business Week classification means that we do not form a new sample of family and non-family firms each year. However, as Ali et al. (2007) note, family firm status is sticky, and thus misclassifications due to changing firm status will most likely bias against our finding significant results. Third, Business Weeks classification scheme is designed to identify firms that are controlled by a family without relying on a single proxy for control, such as ownership share. As a result, it captures features of family firms, beyond simply having large blockholders, that are likely to exacerbate Type II agency problems. Fourth, by using Business Weeks classification, which is based on the â€Å"standard† developed by Anderson and Reeb, our results are more easily compared to many prior res ults. Finally, while we recognize that Business Week might not accurately classify every firm, both types of classification errors (i.e., misclassifying firms without significant family control as family firms, and misclassifying firms with significant family control as non-family firms) limit our ability to detect differences in the forecasts of family and non-family firms and therefore bias against our finding significant results. We form our sample by first gathering all forecasts of quarter-ahead earnings made between 1998 and 2006 by the SP 500 as of June 2003 from the First Call Company Issued Guidance (CIG) database. We lose 1,994 of the original 7,694 observations because of unavailability of (1) necessary Compustat and CRSP data, (2) actual earnings per share and other analyst forecast data from First Call, and (3) observations with multiple actual earnings per share numbers. After deleting stale forecasts (those made before the prior quarters earnings announcement date), we retain all â€Å"guidance† observations (forecasts made at the same time as or after the prior earnings announcement and at or before the quarter end, N = 4,332). We trim the sample to mitigate the effect of outliers as follows. First, we eliminate the top and bottom one-half percent of the management forecast errors in each sample, the top and bottom one-half percent of the forecast surprises in each sample, the top and bott om one-half percent of the three-day cumulative abnormal returns in each sample and finally, the top and bottom one-half percent of return volatility ratios in each sample—and retain the union of the remaining observations. (These variables are defined in the Appendix and will be discussed in detail later.) We then eliminate 62 firm quarter observations whose stock price is less than $5 as of the beginning of the quarter. This results in a final sample of 4,130 guidance announcements. One-hundred-and-forty six of the 177 family firms identified by Business Week (82.5%) provide guidance during our sample period as compared to 240 of the 323 non-family firms in the SP 500 (74.3%). [11] Before turning to the empirical analysis, we note for the reader that the management guidance we gather from the CIG database is not split-adjusted whereas the analysts estimates and reported earnings per share in the main First Call file are (further, they are rounded to the nearest penny). An I/B/E/S unadjusted data file is available but unfortunately, we would lose a significant number of observations if we were to use it. Consequently, to keep the sample size as large as possible and still allow for comparability, we split-adjust the management guidance from the CIG file using the split-adjustment procedures used for the analysts estimates and reported earnings per share in the First Call file.[12] 4. Empirical Analysis. 4.1. Univariate Analysis. We present descriptive statistics for the guidance announcements, firm-specific characteristics and variables relating to analysts and stock returns in Table 1. We also include the results of two-sample t-tests and Wilcoxon signed rank sum tests for each variable. As noted before, we provide a list of variables and their definitions in the Appendix. We begin with forecast characteristic metrics designed to help us understand the differences, if any, in the specificity, timeliness, frequency and content of the earnings forecasts offered by the management of family and non-family firms. We present descriptive statistics first for the form of the forecast (an indicator of specificity) as measured by Forecast Form. As is well known, forecasts in the CIG database take one of several forms, which we code in the following manner: If the forecast is a specific earnings per share number (a point forecast), it is coded as 4; if it is a range of possible earnings per share numbers (a range forecast), it is coded as 3; if it consists of a one-sided directional forecast (either a maximum or minimum forthcoming earnings per share number), it is coded as 2; and if it contains no quantitative information (a qualitative forecast), it is coded as 1.[13] Note that our coding scheme is designed so that a higher value of Forecast Form indicates a mo re specific forecast. To further examine forecast specificity, we focus next on Forecast Width for range forecasts, which measures the difference between the maximum and minimum earnings per share figures offered in the forecast. (A narrower width indicates a more specific forecast.) In later tests, we include point forecasts as forecasts with a width of zero. To examine forecast timeliness, we use Forecast Horizon which is the number of calendar days from the management forecast date until the end of the quarter. More days in the forecast horizon indicate more timely forecasts. Finally, we form Annual Frequency and Quarterly Frequency variables, which measure the number of annual and quarterly management forecasts for each of our sample firms in the CIG database from 1994 through 2006, scaled by the total number of possible forecasting years (for Annual Frequency) or quarters (for Quarterly Frequency) to date. The descriptive statistics and statistical tests for Forecast Form provide initial evidence consistent with family firms issuing significantly more specific guidance than non-family firms. In particular, Forecast Form has slightly higher numerical values, on average, for family firms (p = .028, using the Wilcoxon test).[14] To further explore the potential differences, we examine the frequency distributions of the forms that guidance takes, as presented in Figure 1. As is obvious from the figure, range forecasts are by far the most common form of guidance for both family and non-family firms, making up nearly two-thirds of all guidance in our sample. Further, both family and non-family firms offer approximately 89% of their guidance as point or range forecasts. However, family firms offer relatively more of the more specific point forecasts (28% versus 23% for non-family firms) and relatively fewer of the less specific range forecasts (61% versus 66% for non-family firms).[15] Conver sely, guidance in the form of qualitative statements or minimum/maximum earnings per share numbers is unusual in our sample, regardless of the type of firm examined. The small number of qualitative forecasts in our First Call sample is inconsistent with Hutton et al. (2003) and Miller (2002), who find a substantially larger number of such forecasts when hand-collecting their samples than are included in the First Call database. (Anilowski et al. 2006 also suggest that First Call is more likely to include quantitative forecasts than qualitative ones.) This suggests that our sample is most likely incomplete and most representative when only quantitative forecasts are considered. For these reasons and because many tests require that we restrict attention to point and range forecasts, we will generally focus our discussion on point and range forecasts only. As just noted, range forecasts are the most common type of guidance in our sample. While it is clear from Figure 1 that non-family firms issue more range forecasts as guidance than family firms, Table 1 indicates that those issued by family firms are significantly narrower, as measured by Forecast Width (p = .000 for both the Wilcoxon and the two-sample t tests). This finding, when considered with the preliminary evidence of greater usage of point forecasts by family firms, suggests that guidance issued by family firms is generally more specific than that issued by non-family firms, consistent with H1. The next two forecast c