Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Philosophy Final Essay Example for Free

Philosophy Final Essay Question One   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In Plato’s work The Apology Socrates is on trial for three distinct things: Firstly, Socrates fell out of favor with the government (who were constantly berated for being ignorant by Socrates in a fashion) and so the sought to eradicate him by accusing him of not paying favors to the gods for whom the citizenry worshipped.   Secondly, Socrates was on trial for impiety.   Lastly, Socrates was on trial and sentenced to death for corruption of the young.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Socrates attempted to defend himself in front of the Senate by using his famous Socratic method as revealed in Plato’s pages of The Apology.   He bantered and lead the court officials around in a dialogue fashion, asking questions in order so that they would have to answer them themselves and thus prove Socrates’ point in a question answer dialogue.   The dialectic art of arriving at the was the system Socrates used.   In this regard he would arrive at the answer by questioning the belief of engaged speakers in a philosophic circle, or in this case, in a courtroom hearing. Although this idea of philosophy may come across as non-confrontational,             Socrates used this method to verbally jab at the speaker until they themselves found fault in their philosophy, and through a system of negative or positive responses came to recognize the truth: Thus, Socrates sought to find justice for himself by only asking questions, leaving the answers up to the officials.   This type of philosophy has been likened to a cross examination present in today’s court rooms, where the person under oath is asked a series of questions that are both destructive and humiliating, until they are forced to acknowledge the truth, much like the arguments around Socrates. The aim of such confrontational questioning was always about finding the ultimate truth, but in this court case it seems that Socrates failed because the case eventually lead to his demise. Socrates believed that this truth seeking was the main goal of philosophy, and philosophical discussions, and he believed that everyone involved with the account was in pursuit of this goal as well:   It was this optimism that lead to his downfall in a way. Socrates could be considered a martyr.   It was his stand against the government at the time which lead to the eventual destruction of the Thirty Tyrants, but when democracy came back into place, they then chastised Socrates because of his pull with the younger crowd.   The definition of a martyr is a person who dies for a cause.   Socrates’ cause was for truth and wisdom; that is what he taught the crowd which followed him about the city (and which attracted the disfavor of the democracy who felt Socrates had too much power and sway over the citizenry and feared an uprising) and in the end, those were the causes for which he died. In The Apology Plato writes of a scene where Crito offers Socrates the opportunity to escape from prison, but Socrates forbids it stating that it would go against democracy for which he stood and it would be a deceitful act which is the opposite of truth, for which he based his philosophy.   Thus, Socrates is offered with a form of escape which he denies, thereby choosing death willingly for his beliefs, the true definition of a martyr.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Socrates willingly or rather knowingly accepts his fate as governed by the ones whose democracy he upheld and it was through this act that Socrates was able to demonstrate philosophy in action. Question Two As to the existence of god, Descartes deems that this should be accounted for next to discovering what knowledge is. Descartes explanation of God and existence required an innate sense of the presence of God. He began by thinking that the cause of any idea is as real as the substance of said idea. Since his idea of a Supreme Being or god infinite, therefore the cause of this idea of infinity must also be never-ending and according to his belief, only the real god is boundless. Thus, the cause for the existence of god cannot be human beings because we are not infinite and we are mortal. There must be a cause of this Supreme Being’s existence which is outside the human race. Based on Meditation III, Descartes expressed â€Å"my idea of god cannot be either adventitious or factitious (since I could neither experience god directly nor discover the concept of perfection in myself), so it must be innately provided by god. Therefore, god exists.† It was Rene Descartes who delivered a â€Å"first systematic account of the mind/body relationship† (Descartes 1). Descartes’ dualism theory states that â€Å"mind is a nonphysical substance† (Descartes 1). Further, he differentiated mind from brain. He attributed consciousness and self-awareness to the mind while intelligence is contained in the brain. Descartes used his Meditations on First Philosophy to make certain what he is in doubt before regarding the existence of the mind and body. Because of this, he was able to take a hint that mind and body are two different things. He advocated that the â€Å"mind† is used for thinking, thus, it is immaterial and can exist even without the body. This immaterial and non-physical content of the mind then he called as the â€Å"soul.† And therefore, the mind is a substance distinct from the body, a substance whose essence is thought (Descartes 12). Based on this perspective, Cartesian dualism became a stronghold of future theories. It champions the idea of the â€Å"immaterial† mind and the â€Å"material† body. Even if these are two different entities, they interact to create actions and events reversibly involving mental and physical activities. Despite many non-European supporters of Cartesian dualism, this gave rise to the â€Å"problem of interactionism† wherein it averts the impossibility of interaction between an immaterial and material entity, the mind and body respectively. To defend these criticisms of Cartesian dualism, Descartes formulated an explanation through the pineal gland theory. This gland is located in the center of the brain between the left and right hemisphere, from which the â€Å"immaterial† mind and the â€Å"material† body purportedly interacts. However, this has remained a theory up to this time since Descartes failed to defend such idea of the causal interaction of the mind and body through the pineal gland. Question Three Kant’s deontology ethics involves the belief of actions being immoral despite the outcome.   Kant did not put faith in the consequences of people’s actions but the actions themselves; thus leaving the effect of a scenario out of the equation of morality.   This ethical stance was part of Kant’s philosophy and he believed that the absolutism of deontology was the correct course of action despite circumstances. For Mill on the other hand, his theory of utilitarianism was in stark contrast to Kant’s theory of deontology.   Utilitarianism speaks toward the action of a person directly results the outcome.   Thus, the truth is always the correct path in Kant’s philosophy while the outcome of a lie being the pathway to truth or justice is the course of Mill’s philosophy. In a situation where Kant and Mill were able to converse, there would be several issues on which they would agree, as well as many on which they would fervently argue. With Mill’s dedication to the understanding of natural sciences/economy, and his studies into the harm theory as it applies to humanity, he would be at odds with the strong religious conviction of Kant.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   For Kant, the existence of God was the principle motivating factor of his studies. His work dealt with the â€Å"constructing an adequate theoretical argument for the existence of God†. (Rossi) His early work was founded on, rather than the proof of God as a being to be worshipped, the idea that God was fundamentally provable through mathematics. Kant will argue that the concept of God properly functions only as a â€Å"regulative† — i.e., limiting —   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   principle in causal accounts of the spatio-temporal order of the world. Kants critical philosophy thus undercuts what rationalist metaphysics had offered as proofs for the   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   existence of God. On the other hand, the critical philosophy does more than simply dismantle the conceptual scaffolding on which previous philosophical accounts of the concept of God had been constructed. (Rossi) To this end, Kant spent his life in study of the pursuit of finding God in science and mathematics that man had developed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   John Stuart Mill, on the other hand, felt that the harm principle was the ruling factors of world existence. John Stuart Mill’s argues in On Liberty that the use of the harm theory, or harm principle is that a state of government must ensure the quality of liberty just so long as the actions committed in the cause of liberty are not detrimental to the activists.   That is to say that the government may interfere in order to prevent harm.   The following paper will discuss Mill’s harm principle and its application to government in regards to restrictions and controls.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Mill argues for the doctrine of liberty.   Mill means to define the role of a person in society and as such the limited amount of coercion consistent in society that should affect that individual, â€Å"No society in which these liberties are not, on the whole, respected, is free, whatever may be its form of government; and none is completely free in which they do exist absolute and unqualified† (Mill).   Mill is stating that although these qualities are liberty come at a cost in no society would they be considered free because of the forms of government in which the world adheres. Question Four Nietzsche restricts the presence of God in his equation by saying that the concepts of good and evil have changed with the progression of history and that these two paradigms of human behavior and secular code will continue to evolve toward the demands of a changing society. Nietzsche, therefore, makes the argument that morals are constructs of the times in which we will and have evolved much as human beings have over the ages, but that this is not necessarily a good thing because it is meant as a manner of preventing others from having control over us. This is because people inherently wish to exercise power over others and morals are a way of leveling things off so that the strongest members of society do not dominate, as Nietzsche emphasizes, The pathos of nobility and distance, as mentioned, the lasting and domineering feeling, †¦something total and complete, of a higher ruling nature in relation to a lower nature, to an beneath—that is the origin of the opposition between good and bad. (The right of the master to give names extends so far that we could permit ourselves to grasp the origin of language itself as an expression of the power of the rulers: they say that is such and such, seal every object and event with a sound and, in so doing, take possession of it.) (Nietzsche) In the Genealogy of Morals, Friedrich Nietzsche presents his idea about the morality of human beings and why it is flawed: Nietzsche begins by discounting many of society’s assumptions on how they function in life, as he believes that we tend to view things as having inherent meanings But all purposes, all uses, are only signs that a will to power has become master over something †¦with less power and has stamped on it its own meaning of some function, and the entire history of a thing, an organ, a practice can by this process be seen as a continuing chain of signs of constantly new interpretations and adjustments, whose causes need not be connected to each other—they rather follow and take over from each other under merely contingent circumstances. (Nietzsche) Nietzsche uses punishment as an example in this case, as human beings tend to believe that punishment is an action that happens to a person as a result of that person doing something that he or she deserves to be punished, although counter to this Nietzsche also states that suffering is meaningless and therefore, punishment may also with Nietzche’s own philosophy be meaningless. He would argue that punishment is completely separate from this, however, as punishment is very often used as a way of showing off one’s power or in some cases, as an act of cruelty. This suggests that the punishment does not always fit the crime, as the clichà © is written, so those two things should not necessarily be associated with each other. It cannot be understood how these two things are the same thing, so it is necessary to keep them separate. Nietzsche then continues this argument to show how morality has arrived at the point that it is at right now. Nietzsche argues that all of existence, especially in human beings, is a struggle between different wills for the feeling of power. This means that society wishes to have some sort of control over their own lives and also over the lives of others. This is why competition and the nature of this in man is so prevalent in society, Rather, that occurs for the first time with the collapse of aristocratic value judgments, when this entire contrast between egoistic and unegoistic pressed itself ever more strongly into human awareness—it is, to use my own words, the instinct of the herd which, through this contrast, finally gets its word (and its words). And even so, it took a long time until this instinct in the masses became ruler, with the result that moral evaluation got downright hung up and bogged down on this opposition (as is the case, for example, in modern Europe: today the prejudice that takes moralistic, unegoistic, dà ©sintà ©ressà © [disinterested] as equally valuable ideas already governs, with the force of a fixed idea and a disease of the brain). (Nietzsche) It is all a competition to achieve this power, even if there is no physical reward for winning these competitions. Nietzsche shows the constant changing of the ideologies of good and bad by stating that in past generations, the concept of good was defined by the strongest people in society. In barbaric times, anything that the stronger members of society did was defined as good, while the weaker members of society were seen as bad. This is not something that we would agree upon today, but members of these past societies would not agree with the way we do things either. Therefore, Nietzsche believes that to give anything an absolute interpretation does not work because as the times change, so will this interpretation. It is wills which define this, so as wills change, so will the apparent truth. If it is truly desirable to have free will, therefore, a person must not believe in any absolutes, but rather view the world as a constantly changing place and let our wills define the things that are occurring around and in society. This includes looking at things from as many different perspectives as possible in order to decide contingently upon personal perspectives which viewpoint a person wishes to make. This can also be applied to morality as, since nothing is absolute, morals are constantly changing as well. Morality is not something that was passed down from God to human beings, but is rather something that has evolved and changed since the beginning of time and will continue to do so. The only thing that has not change in human beings is that they inherently have the desire to achieve more power over their fellow human beings, because of the existence of free wills. This means that the present morality that human beings possess has been born due to hatred for those things that are stronger in the presence of society. Nietzsche argues that a person will have fear of things that could possibly have power over them, so a person must have developed this moral code in order to protect themselves from the stronger members of society. Nietzsche believes that a person must embrace these animalistic instincts because a person is currently hurting themselves by repressing them. Work Cited Cooper, J.M.   Plato Complete Works.   Hackett Publishing Company.   1997. Descartes, Rene. n.d. â€Å"Meditations on First Philosophy.† 10 March 2008 http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl302/texts/descartes/meditations/meditations.html Mill, John Stuart.   Utilitarianism.   Online.   10 March 2008:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://ethics.sandiego.edu/utilitarianism.html Nietzsche, F.   Genealogy of Morals.   Online.   10 March 2008.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://books.google.com/books?id=OwGPCsLiBlwCdq=nietzsche+genealogy+of+mor  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   lspg=PP1ots=rTBJrGtorHsig=vLolmBFHWUdXa7z8_CxzfIlj18Ahl=enprev=h  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   tp://www.google.com/search?hl=enclient=firefox-arls=org.mozilla:en  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   US:officialhs=ymYpwst=1sa=Xoi=spellresnum=0ct=resultcd=1q=Nietz  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   che+genealogy+of+moralsspell=1oi=printct=titlecad=one-book-with-thumbnail Rossi, Phillip. â€Å"Kant’s Philosophy of religion†. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. June  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2004. 10 March 2008. URL: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/kant-religion/

Monday, January 20, 2020

A Letter to College Freshmen Students :: essays research papers

As a new freshman entering this Community College, you will be discovering and experiencing many new things about the world in which you live and yourself. The jump from high school to college can be a very scary but exciting experience. I have some valuable advice for you on how to make this transition smoother and an enjoyable experience rather than a scary and lonely one. My number one piece of advice is for you to enter this experience with an open mind. If you come into this new situation with a good outlook and a positive attitude, your experience will be a lot more rewarding. Now that you are on your own and have very limited restrictions, it can be easy to slip into bad habits that could get you into trouble. Here you do not have a parent to tell you when to go to bed, or when to study, or not to go out, or not to party, or to remind you to go to class. It is all up to you and your self-control. You must have great self-discipline and a motivated attitude in order to succeed. You have to want to be here and make the best of your experience. This one being your first year in college, you may have trouble concentrating while you study. Some techniques that can help your concentration are being selective, relaxing, and over learning. Being selective means to make choices about what is most important to learn. When you are studying, you should be able to know what may or may not be on the test, your notes for the week can be helpful. In addition, pay attention to charts, tables, and illustrations that you think may appear on the test. Relaxing is a good technique to use because when you are relaxed you are able to absorb more information. One way to relax is to use a breathing technique (inhale, count from one to ten, and exhale, and count from one to ten, and so on). Over learning can help you fight mental vagueness. When you are struggling in a class, it is best for you to learn more than you need to know about the subject. You can use these techniques every time you are studying or when you cannot concentrate. A Letter to College Freshmen Students :: essays research papers As a new freshman entering this Community College, you will be discovering and experiencing many new things about the world in which you live and yourself. The jump from high school to college can be a very scary but exciting experience. I have some valuable advice for you on how to make this transition smoother and an enjoyable experience rather than a scary and lonely one. My number one piece of advice is for you to enter this experience with an open mind. If you come into this new situation with a good outlook and a positive attitude, your experience will be a lot more rewarding. Now that you are on your own and have very limited restrictions, it can be easy to slip into bad habits that could get you into trouble. Here you do not have a parent to tell you when to go to bed, or when to study, or not to go out, or not to party, or to remind you to go to class. It is all up to you and your self-control. You must have great self-discipline and a motivated attitude in order to succeed. You have to want to be here and make the best of your experience. This one being your first year in college, you may have trouble concentrating while you study. Some techniques that can help your concentration are being selective, relaxing, and over learning. Being selective means to make choices about what is most important to learn. When you are studying, you should be able to know what may or may not be on the test, your notes for the week can be helpful. In addition, pay attention to charts, tables, and illustrations that you think may appear on the test. Relaxing is a good technique to use because when you are relaxed you are able to absorb more information. One way to relax is to use a breathing technique (inhale, count from one to ten, and exhale, and count from one to ten, and so on). Over learning can help you fight mental vagueness. When you are struggling in a class, it is best for you to learn more than you need to know about the subject. You can use these techniques every time you are studying or when you cannot concentrate.

Sunday, January 12, 2020

Organizational Conflict Essay

Often when we come across the word conflict, we usually think of more than a simple disagreement. We think of individuals or groups in sharp disagreement over issues, ideas, or interests. This results in an emotional disturbance between the involved parties, with stress developing & undesirable behaviors being exhibited. [1] The present diverse workforce characterized by organizational change, competition, and complex communications are drawing attention to interpersonal conflicts among workers. 2] Organizational change for example, alters the status quo and requires members of an organization to work together in new ways and under new rules. Competition compounds issues of power and escalates conflicts of personalities and behavior. The complexities of communication make it more difficult for culturally, economically and socially diverse workers to resolve the issues and problems they encounter on the job. While conflict is inevitable in groups and organizations due to the complexity and interdependence of organizational life, theorists have differed about whether it is harmful or beneficial to organizations. Early organizational theorists suggested that conflict is detrimental to Organizational functioning (Pondy, 1967; Brow, 1983) and focused much of their attention on the causes and resolution of conflict (Schimidt & Kochan, 1972; Brett, 1984). More recently, researchers have theorized that conflict is beneficial under some circumstances (Tjosvold, 1991; Van de Vliert & De Dreu, 1994). [3] Thus, this paper attempts to present the losses and benefits from conflicts in organizations. I. CONFLICT IN GROUPS AND ORGANIZATIONS A. Definition Generally, conflict is defined as a contest of opposing forces or power. 4] it is a perceived difference between a two or more parties that results in mutual opposition. [5] Looking at conflict in the context of groups, there is what we call an Intergroup Conflict, which can be defined as the behavior that occurs among organizational groups when participants identify with one group and perceive that other groups may block their group’s goal achievement or expectations. [6] Intergroup conflict with in organizations can occur in both horizontal & vertical directions. A. 1 Horizontal Conflict. This type of conflict occurs among groups or departments at the same level in the hierarchy, such as between line & staff. 7] This is commonly observed between Production & Quality Control Departments, Sales & Finance Departments, or R&D & Marketing Departments. A. 2 Vertical Conflict. This arises over issues of control, power, goals, and wages and benefits. [8] A typical source of vertical conflict is between head quarters executives and regional plants or franchises. Status and power differences among groups are often greater for vertical conflict. Part of the reason vertical conflict occurs is to equalize power differences; for example, u nions try to give workers more power over wages or working conditions. [9] B. The Nature of Conflict Conflict as related to competition is illustrated by the following figure: The illustration shows how conflict and competition are related. Competition occurs when groups strive for the same goal, have little or no antagonism toward one another, and behave according to rules and procedures. In conflict, on the other hand, one group’s goals jeopardize the others; there is open antagonism among the groups; and few rules and procedures regulate behavior. When this happens, the goals become extremely important, the antagonism increases, rules and procedures are violated, and conflict occurs. 10] C. Causes of Conflict A number of factors contribute to conflict. Several of the most important causes are discussed below. C. 1 Task Interdependence. Task interdependence refers to the dependence of one unit on another for materials, resources, or information. [11] Two types of task interdependence are particularly prone to conflict. One is sequential interdependenc e, in which one individual or work unit is heavily dependent on another. For example, waiters generally are more reliant on cooks than the reverse because waiters must depend on cooks to furnish good meals in timely manner. Line and staff conflicts often arise because staff members frequently are dependent upon the line to implement their ideas. The second form of task interdependence is reciprocal interdependence, in which individuals or work units are mutually interdependent. For instance, purchasing agents want engineers to provide detailed generic specifications so that they can negotiate lower costs from suppliers. At the same time, engineers need to obtain materials of the proper quality on a timely basis, so they may find it more convenient to specify a brand name. 12] Generally, as interdependence increases, the potential for conflict increases. [13] Sequential & reciprocal interdependence require employees to spend time coordinating and sharing information. Employees must communicate frequently, and differences in goals or attitudes will surface. Conflict is especially likely to occur when agreement is not reached about the coordination of services to each other. Greater interderdependence mean s departments often exert pressure for a fast response because departmental work has to wait on other departments. C. 2 Scarce Resources. Another major source of conflict involves competition between groups for what members perceive as limited resources. [14] Possibilities for conflict expand when there are limited resources, such as office space, equipment, training, human resources, operating funds, and pay allocations. In their desire to achieve goals, groups want to increase their resources. This becomes another cause for conflict in groups. C. 3 Goal Incompatibility. Goal incompatibility is probably the greatest cause of intergroup conflict in organizations. The overall goals of an organization are broken down into operative goals that guide each department. The accomplishment of operative goals by one department may block goal accomplishment by other departments and hence, cause conflict. [15] Out of necessity, organization members frequently pursue goals that are somewhat different from one another, setting the stage for potential conflicts. [16] For example, sales personnel may find it easier to battle the competition by promising very quick deliveries, while people in manufacturing may find that small production runs on short notice interfere with their cost cutting efforts. C. 4 Communication Failures. Breakdown in communication due to distortions or lack of communication often lead to conflicts. [17] Conflict in an organization is an indication of the most basic communication failure. Failure to talk with someone. Failure to notify someone of something before it becomes public. Failure to involve someone in a problem-solving process. [18] C. 5 Individual Differences. Differences in personality, experience, and values make frequent conflicts likely. [19] Functional specialization requires people with specific education, skills, attitudes, and time horizons. When an individual who have ability and aptitude in marketing joins the marketing department. Eventually, that individual will be influenced by departmental norms and values, attitudes, and standards of behavior, differ across departments, which is often a source of horizontal conflicts. Cultural differences can be particularly acute in the case of mergers or acquisitions. Employees in the acquired company may have completely different work styles and attitudes, and a â€Å"we against them† attitude can develop. [20] C. 6 Poorly Designed Reward System.

Saturday, January 4, 2020

Corporate Governance From The Failure Of Lehman Brothers Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 8 Words: 2382 Downloads: 8 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Narrative essay Did you like this example? Lehman Brothers one of the big financial services company was founded during the year 1850 filed its bankruptcy protection during September 2008. Numerous reasons caused this financial investment firm to cripple through the financial turmoil. The court ordered an external examiner to conduct an investigation by giving out ten requirements to guide him through his investigation about the issues of litigation and any breaches of law that might have occurred. Mr Anton R. Valukas the chairman of Jenner Block has taken up the task of investigation and conducted 100s of interviews and searched through the companys files and documents about a year costing $38 million. Mr. Valukas generated 2200 pages of document about his findings of investigation. This article discusses about the learnings in regards to corporate governance from the failure of Lehman Brothers and the scenario of Australia in comparison with America considering the regulations by regulatory authoriti es and relevant legislation controlling the financial services sector. Corporate governance learnings: The document by examiner raises the flaws in the corporate governance those have to be reviewed to avoid such collapses in future. The major findings of investigation as per the examiner which are relevant to problems addressing the corporate governance are Risk Management and relevant disclosures by management to the board and issues of relevant internal controls. Deficiencies in stress testing scenarios. The need for disclosures to board of directors. Remuneration of top executives tied to short-term performance. Those listed out findings are further discussed in brief about surrounding issues by comparing what happened and the suggestions to avoid the occurrence of these problems in future. Risk Management and relevant disclosures by management to the board and issues of relevant internal controls: The risk models used by LBHI had number of assumptions resulting to inaccurate results, but still the major reason being the usage of information within the organisation had flaws. The board and the management of Lehman Brothers started to adopt the high risk taking business strategies. The understanding of the risks involved in financial instruments like collateralised debts, sub-prime lending, and derivatives was insufficient and lack of appropriate control procedures to lessen those risks. The board had not asked a question to management about the risk handling strategies and the models used to calculate the risk even thought one of the primary principles being overseeing the risk management system for investment firms. The boards supervision of issues relating to risk has to be strengthened. The usage of risk model which is dynamic with respect to market changes addresses the current scenario better than using a old static model with limitations. The board should have a combination of directors with different skills which are ne eded for that particular firm. One of the directors with technical knowledge of risk related issues would have helped to identify the red flags much earlier allowing them to take appropriate actions to overcome the problem. The lack of systematic procedures to communicate potentially significant business risks through effective channels weighs down to the issue of corporate governance. The board of directors should clearly establish the accountability and responsibilities right through the organisation. The lack of internal controls which can raise red flags to management while dealing transactions which lead to exceeding the risk limits of organisation helps in avoiding those transactions. The management and officers have taken very risky decisions based on their intent and pas experience about how it might result rather than analysing the situation based on the quantitative facts. Therefore the practice of every significant transaction with supporting documents which incl udes fact based analysis has be prepared and approved by relevant authority. Lack of timely action: The management and board along with the government thought the effect of crisis is short term and therefore LBHI went on to acquire risky investments increasing their risk appetite without actually calculating their capacity based on the relevant facts. Later they realised effects and took actions to bring down the leverage ratio, but due to lack of liquid assets and anticipation of losses in getting rid of illiquid assets further troubled. Deficiencies in stress testing scenarios: LBHI always used the testing scenarios in deciding whether to practise a particular transaction was value the risk it carries. They also used its risk management system to promote the firms capabilities to credit rating agencies, potential investors and regulating government bodies. The scenarios used had lot of assumptions which biased the actual calculations from the reality. They excluded inc luding the effects of financial instruments like commercial real estate investments, leveraged loans, and private equity instruments leaving a big gap in analysing the risks posed by these securities. Therefore they ended up acquiring very risky options which created significant problems. Later when they included all those instruments the risk well exceeded the risk appetite of LBHI forcing them to reduce the leverage but that was too late to construct the damages caused. Gathering more information about the wide range of risk measures, different perspectives of similar risks helps in more effective measurement and effective communication across the organisation from board to managers leaves in better situation. Lehman Brothers had good rules and self governing rules in place but when it came to following those rules in business decisions the management failed to do so. For example, the management exceeded the single transaction limit policy to favour the handling of large deals. Instead of just keeping the rules and policies to books and constitution of a firm, having internal controls which do not allow overriding these rules avoids the problem. The need for disclosures to board of directors: The disclosure by the management of the impacts of transactions and strategies both in terms of positive as well as negative consequences to the board helps them to take the better decisions due to the available information. The lack of information about the negative effects and the way the risk model is calculated disabled the directors from good business decisions. If the management would have provided the board with all the relevant disclosures have raised red flags about the situation forcing to act quicker to recover the situation by reducing the overall risk taken by firm. Therefore the board of directors should have access to the timely, relevant and accurate information. Proper foresight and forecasts by senior management should be practised. I t can also be done by including CRO to occupy the position on the board and reviewing the risks management issues during meetings gives a good guidance. The combination of competence of board of directors has to be addressed since the right combination helps discussing about different views in analysing the different situations. Remuneration of top executives tied to short-term performance: Many firms practice the method of calculating the remuneration of top executives based on their performance which is obtained from their financial statements, therefore tying down to short-term performance rather than long-term goals. This method of practicing is discouraging those who act favouring long-term sustainability of firm and provides incentive to accept those strategies which boosts the revenues in short-term but they might cause serious risks later. Therefore the calculation should also consider the risk factor and should encourage the long-term perspective. The CROs pay usua lly is not tied with their performance, the provision of tying CROs remuneration in relation to their performance also provides an incentive to act in favour of building a robust risk methods. Comparison of American situation to Australia: The major distinction of Australian situation was the financial markets were in good shape with good governance of ASIC and APRA the two regulating authorities of Australia. The Australian economy had a robust growth, very stable financial system, lesser unemployment rate and a little inflation rate. There is no issue of too big to fail and Australia doesnt have financial institutions as big as LBHI. The sub-prime market in Australia accounted for less than 1% of financial instruments unlike the England, U.S mortgage industry and many other countries. The rate of arrears for loans was lesser in Australian case on comparison with American which is mainly due to the features of the loans offered. The Australian market did not offered risky loan structures like offering lower introductory interest rates for a period of time. The intense competition in banking sector in U.S caused offering high-risk loans and lower price. Major Australian financial services sector maintained potential strength in balance sheets and stayed away from smaller amount viable financial disinterested parties. The Australian legislative system allows the lender to acquire the loan repayments not only through proceeding of sale of collateral but also other personal if the given collateral alone was not sufficient, therefore providing a stronger inducement to repay the loan. The lower unemployment rate also facilitated the Australian economy unlike the huge layoffs of American scenario. The laws in Australia in relation to insolvency trading, liquidation are very stringent. As per the corporations law if the director trades during insolvency is considered as breach of directors duties, if any directors found guilty in breach of directors du ties are held responsible for the losses therefore it prompts to appoint administrator. The administrator takes charge of the entire firm where he analyses and negotiates with creditors about the possibilities and director is not entitled to any role unlike American case where director still runs the company. The failure in corporate governance and risk management, weakness in regulatory frameworks caused the collapse of Lehman Brothers. ASIC (Australian Securities and Investment Commission): The objective of ASIC is to endeavour to preserve, facilitate and improve the performance of the financial system and the entities operating within that system. ASIC also promotes the confidence in investors and consumers by information transparency in securities offered. All the financial service providers must possess a licence from ASIC therefore enabling ASIC to monitor the activities. The working standards and employing competent staff for responsible roles forms a usual guide lines under ASIC. ASIC works based on corporations law and ASIC act for corporate governance and the conduct of the companies with respect to the share holders and beneficiaries. There is no off balance sheet vehicles or short-term loans provided in the Australian regulatory framework. Therefore any changes or deviation from AASB has to state properly by giving out the reasons for non-compliance and the method used with adequate disclosures. Directors breach of fiduciary duties and as long as they are not protected by business judgement rule the directors are subjected to forgo the losses incurred. The business judgement rule protection in Delaware courts was very broadly protecting directors with the need for stronger evidence. In Australian case it doesnt protect as well as it was with Delaware courts law. Regulations need to be considered by ASIC in light of the collapse of the financial institution Lehman Brothers. The usage of Repo 105 transaction and any other off balance sheet vehicles are to be disclosed with clear description of the methods used. Any such accounting gimmicks are to be prohibited in first place. The flaws in the accounting framework regarding ahs to be addressed to resolve the way of calculating and the relevant disclosures has to be clearly stated. As the corporations law has described the role of directors similarly the description of role of senior management officers and their responsibilities puts some pressure on their duty to deliver. The requirement to communicate all the facts to the board must be held as one of the duties. Need to formulate rules concerning the corporate governance issues in respect to both management and directors duties have to be reviewed. APRA (Australian Prudential Regulations Authority): The role of APRA is to protect depositors, superannuation fund members and insurance policy holders but not the share holders. The role of APRA is to promote robust risk management and prudent be haviour. The Australia had thought about Basel committee during 2004 on banking regulation is working to set up shock absorbers into capital frameworks. When the board doesnt understand the high risk products and how to mitigate the effects it is advised to not to invest on those products. The good governance is important for any organisation. The calculation of risk appetite was flawed in the LBHIs case leaving gap for institutions to develop their own. But in APRAs case the regulations has generally avoided certain short comings but development of quantitative methods. The local regulating bodies like APRA worked towards improving the market condition. A few initiatives are to reduce the complexity of products, transparency of securities offered, enhancing the role of credit rating agencies. Certain issues to be addressed by regulators included based on the Lehman Brothers collapse are: The capital requirements for investment firms has to be reviewed, there should be a regulations towards controlling the leverage ratios. The whole banking system is based on mitigating the risk and gaining the profits appropriate to risk, since risk is the critical issue for investment firms that should be managed by distributing the risk. Regulators should impose restrictions on high-risk business strategies by imposing a cap on total allowed risk at any time. The financial firms have to get the approval from regulators about the risk model usage and adaptive stress testing scenarios. The prudential regulator APRA making proposals on remuneration emphasising on financial stability and long-term growth. All the entitys personnel involved in decision making which affects the share holders are included in remuneration plan. Legislative provisions: So for the global financial crisis has not provided much changes to the Australian legislation. The Australian corporate governance and other regulatory bodies have well handled the global financial crisis w ith less impact on the economy. Conclusion: The Too Big To Fail financial services firm Lehman Brothers collapse has focussed the flaws in corporate governance, risk management strategies, and effects of age old off balance vehicles i.e., the accounting standards are learnings for the future. Many regulations and law reforms are developed from the problems the world faced as they form like Sarbanes-Oxley act which caused the formulation of internal controls as a standard. Therefore this collapse also comes out with well regulated rules and robust methods to handle the stress and limitations on risk taking are necessary. The part of law which governs the issues discussed in this article is corporations act 2001. Other regulatory frameworks which require review are prudential regulation, Accounting standards, corporate governance issues. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Corporate Governance From The Failure Of Lehman Brothers Finance Essay" essay for you Create order