Case Analysis of Currency Risk Management Study

Analysis of Currency Risk Management - Case Study Example The organization has two key branches; the Study Abroad College branch, and the High School Travel branch. Archer-Lock is the controller and also the treasurer of the college branch. Tabaczynski manages the finances of the high school division. The college division sends students to worldwide universities for the semester duration activities. Also, the high school division sends students and teachers for trips lasting between one and four weeks (Mihir, Vincent & Anders 1)). The currency hedging measures protect the revenue and profitability of AIFS, from the negative effects of currency exchange rates. This is achieved through the currency forward contracts, in addition to other currency options. The organization hedged its predicted expenses duration for the next two year duration. The main financial challenge that AIFS experienced entailed, implementing the hedge before the full sales cycle and adequate determination of the required foreign currency. There are several basic hedging approaches for handling the foreign currency exchange rates. The techniques are; currency options, forward contracts, currency accounts and loans, and spot trading. All organizations that operate in the international market must analyze the effects of exchange rates changes, on their operations. This will result in determination of the most effective technique for minimizing the foreign exchange fluctuations (Mihir, Vincent & Anders 3). Currency accounts are the most basic hedging technique. The bank accounts are opened in foreign currencies. This is most suitable for organizations with continuous inflow and outflow of cash in foreign currencies. Currency involves borrowing money using a foreign currency. The loan will be serviced in future, through the same currency. Spot trading involves key foreign currencies transactions. Spot transactions are generally applied in

Role of Social Media in Higher Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Role of Social Media in Higher Education - Essay Example Social media also contains design applications that establish virtual social spaces encouraging interaction, in that way enhancing the appeal of the technology. There has been increased use of social media in higher education and this literature review gives an in-depth analysis of various scientific investigations. In this age where online sites including Facebook, Twitter, Live Journal, Instant Messenger, campus blogs and Web Shots, students in higher institutions of learning are using online sites as the major medium of communication. As anticipated, this medium of communication presents students with ethical decisions on acceptable behavior, self-disclosure, and social propriety. Owing to the fact that the extensive use of social media sites has posted numerous problems for students and administrators, the book seeks to give professional guidance to policymakers and higher education professionals. Online Social Networking on Campus: Understanding what matters in student culture is a certified guide for student affairs administrators and higher education facilities that carefully analyze the use of social media sites and their use to develop relations in the institutions and outside the institutions. More importantly, the book looks into how college students use social media sites to explore and establish their identities. The findings in this book are got from surveys, interviews, and data from focus groups. Furthermore, the text gives an ethnographic perspective on social networking that helps information technology administrators, student affairs administrators and members of the faculty get a better understanding of the use of college media among college students. Students in higher institutions of learning communicate using social media sites more than face-to-face communication.  

Interview Essay about Dance Essay Example for Free

Interview Essay about Dance Essay Joseph is 56 years old, and is the second to youngest of seven children, six of them being girls. Having only sisters, and six of them at that, Joseph found himself surrounded by more dancing than he may have wished for as a young boy. Growing up, the main musical Joseph remembers seeing in theaters was The Sound of Music, starring Julie Andrews that came out in 1965. Paying only a couple of dollars for a ticket, he remembers watching Andrews dance around in the mountains singing the title song, â€Å"The Sound of Music. † This song should ring a bell for it is ranked tenth in the American’s Film Institute’s list of 100 Greatest Songs in Movie History. Having many sisters much older than himself, meant that Joseph’s background in dance was a little before his time. While his generation was more Rock N’ Roll and informal dancing, he was more familiarized with the Jitterbug before he knew how to properly head-bang. One of his favorite memories revolving around dance is when his sisters all got together and taught each other the Jitterbug. The Strand, and other such dances. Innocently watching from the sidelines, his sisters insisted on him joining in. â€Å"My sisters practically raised me since my parents were older and working hard to make a living, so I believe dancing was a way for my sisters to just relax and let go from reality, and they always wanted me to experience that with them.† Growing up, dancing was never a huge aspect of Joseph’s life. He never had proper training, and he never really cared to. In his world, the only time one needed to showcase adequate dance skills was at school dances and family affairs such as weddings. Though, in high school, Joseph was always more focused on perfecting his footwork at the pitcher’s mound than his footwork on the dance floor. He grew up in a smaller more conservative town, where gender roles still hung high in influencing the social norms of their community. Joseph, however, was not completely brain-washed by these ideals, for he grew up as a child in the 60s, where he learned to have love and peace for all, despite what his parents and elders may have believed at the time. In fact, he was part of the stage crew for his high school production one year, which did give him an inside look at the world of the arts. Being from a large Irish-Catholic family, his relatives were always dancing when they all got together. As one of the younger kids and having a somewhat shy demeanor, Joseph always watched how much fun they were having and admired how free and joyous they appeared. Of course, his aunts and uncles had the help of alcohol to make them loose, but it was also the fact that everyone knew the same dances. It was the closes thing to a real-life choreographed scene that one could witness. â€Å"I could not tell what exact dances they were doing, but I just remember there were a lot. Although they are were very similar and seemed to be more like swing dancing than anything else. Over the years, I have learned some of them, but not all. It is a shame that my generation seems to be one of the last to value and perform and real dance style, and not just grinding and twerking like Miley Cyrus.† For Joseph, his dance style did not catch up to the times until he was out of the house and the disco craze began. In 1977, the movie Saturday Night Fever came out, starring John Travolta. This movie was a huge reason why disco became as big as it did in 1978-1980. Though disco had already been an underground phenomenon since 1970. The movie just made it more openly popular amongst white middle-class heterosexuals. â€Å"Now, for me personally, I was never into the music or went to disco clubs and danced like John Travolta. Though, it was hard not to know the main moves, and it was the first time in my life that I really noticed dance being so influential in society.† Not only did disco bring about new fashion and style trends, but also socially it accomplished amazing feats. For the first time, minorities such as Gays, Latinos, and African-Americans were able to be a part of the cultural movement. In fact, in many ways, they were part of it since the very beginning. The first New York City disco clubs were very gay-friendly, and they often became a safe place for gays to relax and enjoy themselves for who they are, free from worries. These clubs included David Manusco’s The Loft, The Gallery, and The Paradise Garage. The Latinos loved the new disco partner dancing, because in their culture two is better than one when it comes to dance. As for African-Americans, the single Soul Makossa by Manu Dibango starting playing in the city clubs in 1973 and that started the next generation of Motown soul. The blending of these three subcultures really allowed for disco to grow and expand, and take on different lives in different light, depending on w ho you were and where you went. As for Joseph and other white baby boomers, their generation was yearning for their own identity and a sense of freedom. Most baby boomers only missed the sixties and its long hair, Woodstock, peace-loving ways by merely a decade. Thus, envious of not being able to partake in such a revolution in society, the youth of the 70s needed their own way of fighting the man – whether that be large scale or simply rebelling against their elders. Disco became the perfect way to unite both the baby boomers and the hippies, due to the air of sophistication that defined disco. Disco was so different from the flower-child era, which was exactly was the baby boomers were looking for; their own identity. Everyone enjoyed this new age because dressing up and going to fancy clubs meant an escape from reality and the ability to go from being a nobody by day, to someone of importance by night. This idea is essentially the plot of Saturday Night Fever, where Travolta has a blue-collar day job, but also happens to be a disco king. Middle-class America was simply enchanted by this movement. It allowed for a sense of equality between both social classes and races, and an overall social movement. Disco became so big that it quickly spread to Europe and parts of Asia. At the time, Disco was futuristic and fun. Clubs were lit up colorfully, and were home to the latest and greatest technology available at the time. Even if you were not on dancing, simply being at these places was an experience on its own. The loud music, and strong dance beat can easily be compared to today’s raves and clubs. Growing up in the 2000s, it appears that like disco, dancing is less pertained to a certain culture, but rather internationally. With the media sources and technology today, nothing is within the boundaries of a nation. Cultures around the world look especially to America’s youth to define their own youth’s identity. In charge of the social movements are celebrities and musicians. Dances come and go such as the dougie, jerking, and now twerking. On a larger scale however, there is a huge international phenomenon taking place within the last couple of years especially, and that is with rave music festivals. My older brother has attended Ultra Music Festival in Miami Florida three times now, and recently went the campout-style Firefly Festival. These festivals can be compared to Woodstock in that they are outdoors in fields and the atmosphere there is a crowd of teenagers and young adults together for the love of music and a good time. Though, the music itself is much more related to that of the disco era, for it is house/techno music made for the sole purpose of making people dance and to make individuals have an outer body experience – mostly with the aid of drugs and alcohol. There is a reason why people spend hundreds of dollars to attend these festivals, though it is opposite of why Joseph and his generation spent so much money going to disco clubs. In today’s world, the younger generation finds they are growing up faster and faster, constantly surrounded by sophistication and the burdens of adulthood. A music festival provides a more primitive, relaxing, and raw experience. Instead of being part of society, festivals are meant to be a break from just that. They provide today’s youth with the ability to act childish and be outdoors with other people, instead of cooped up indoors with their technology. Personally, I have never attended one of these music festivals, and yet I still feel like I am part of that culture in a sense. Although, I did attend an indoor Tiesto Concert and the Liacourus Center and experienced on a smaller scale what such a performance is like live. Like Joseph who never really went to disco clubs, he still felt immersed in the era. For me, I believe it is due to how involved my generation is with social medias. There is Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and so much more that allows anyone anywhere to listen to the music and dress the fashions of one who attends these festivals. Often times, what young women of my generation wear out to college party is of the same style that you would see at these festivals, and the same techno house music is blasting through the walls. It is very possible to feel like a part of something even if you are not, simply due to its overwhelming influence on your world. Just like how Joseph may have dressed the part and new the music that would be played at discos such as â€Å"Stayin’ Alive† by the Bee Gees or â€Å"Dancing Queen† by ABBA. The closest experience I have ever had with knowing multiple dances is from attending Bar and Bat Mitzvahs and Sweet Sixteens. At these events we would do the Cotton Eye Joe, the Macarana, the Electric Slide, and more. It was one of the few times that everyone was on the dance floor, not matter the person’s age. There was definitely something special and unique about everyone knowing a certain dance and performing it together. It brought the room together and they were all dances that anyone of any age or dance level could accomplish easily. Often times, I saw these dances as ice breakers, because once those were over the only other dancing left to do for my generation was grinding. To call grinding a dance style is difficult, but none-the-less it is the dancing my generation is best at and most familiar with. No matter the time period or the style, dancing will always be a huge part of our culture. Dance being directly linked to music allows for genres to come and go with time. The first movies were a way to document dance, and even create new ones, such as â€Å"The Continental† in the film The Gay Divorcee. Then the musicals came and the song and dance numbers took on their own new life and told stories through the arts. And now Youtube and other social media outlets are broadcasting music videos and dancing of all types and genres. With each generation the styles change, sometimes more drastically than others, but as time goes on dance seems to become bigger and bigger with technology and a new sense of a worldwide culture. Joseph Donohue may be my father who grew in a suburb in New Jersey like myself, but our dance histories are completely different, and yet somewhat alike. I took classes, while he was taught through observation and his sisters. His generation’s dance legacy was disco, while mine is grinding and twerking. However, we both seemed to take to the sidelines when it came to partaking in these cultural evolutions. Both the 80s disco music and the house techno music of rave music festival that feature artists such as Avicii and Tiesto are meant for dancing and focus on a powerful beat to make people want to move. Works Cited â€Å"Disco Lifestyle.† Standford University. Richard Powers, 2010. Web. 6 Oct. 2013. . Disco Music. Bernard Lopez, 18 Dec. 2012. Web. 6 Oct. 2013. . †¨Early, Gerald. â€Å"Jazz and the African American Literary Tradition.† Freedom’s Story, TeacherServe ©. National Humanities Center. 6. Oct. 2013. Disco Now Disco Then. Greg Wilson. Greg Wilson, 1 May 2013. Web. 6 Oct. 2013. . Garofalo, Reebee. Disco. Britannica Academic Encyclopedia. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 1-2. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Web. 6 Oct. 2013. . View as multi-pages

Shipping companies listed on New Yorks Stock Exchange

Shipping companies listed on New Yorks Stock Exchange This study was based on 21 shipping companies listed in New York Stock Exchange, over the period of 2005 to 2009. On the table below the selected shipping companies are shown. Shipping Companies listed in the New York Stock Exchange DIANA SHIPPING INC NAVIOS MARITIME HOLDINGS INC 3 SAFE BULKERS INC 4 GENCO SHIPPING TRADING LIMITED 5 TEEKAY CORPORATION 6 TSAKOS ENERGY NAVIGATION LIMITED 7 EXCEL MARITIME CARRIERS LTD 8 DANAOS CORPORATION 9 AEGEAN MARINE PETROLEUM NETWORK INCORPORATION 10 FRONTLINE LIMITED 11 SEACOR HOLDINGS INCORPORATED 12 NORDIC TANKERS 13 GLOBAL SHIP LEASE INCORPORATION 14 GENERAL MARITIME CORPORATION 15 SEASPAN CORPORATION 16 SHIP FINANCE INTERNATIONAL LIMITED 17 KIRBY CORPORATION 18 OVERSEAS SHIPHOLDING GROUP, INC 19 DHT MARITIME INCORPORATION 20 INTERNATIONAL SHIPHOLDING CORPORATION 21 TIDEWATER INC This paper seeks to examine the relationship among three corporate governance mechanisms (board composition, chief executive status and audit committee) and some firm performance measures (return on investment capital, return on equity, Return on Assets and Current Ratio). Also, the essay examines the relationship among these three corporate governance mechanisms and the operating performance (Net Sales to Operating Cost) of the corporations. Part 1 Corporate Governance Corporate governance is the set of processes, customs, policies, laws, and institutions affecting the way a corporation (or company) is directed, administered or controlled with the objective to enhance shareholders wealth. Corporate governance also includes the relationships among the stakeholders involved and the goals by which the corporation is governed. It is supposed that better corporate governance leads to better corporate performance by preventing the expropriation of controlling shareholders and ensuring better decision-making. Corporate governance is a priority along with financial indicators when evaluating investment decisions according to investors. The majority of them are prepared to pay a premium for companies having high governance standards. On the opposite, there are also bad forms of corporate governance that lead corporations to problems. Good corporate governance is considered to be a fundamental necessity to run a firm successfully. Moreover corporate governance is a process which can ensure growth for a firm and the economy in general. Most of the selected shipping companies are foreign private issuers established in Marshal or Bermuda islands. The minority of the selected companies are U.S corporations. Consequently most of them are not required to comply with the corporate governance practices followed by U.S. companies following the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) listing standards. However, they are required to state any significant differences between their corporate governance practices and the practices required by the NYSE according to Section 303.A.11 of the NYSE Listed Company Manual.  Furthermore almost every chosen shipping company adopts NYSE required practices, such as having a majority of independent directors, establishing audit and compensation and nominating committees as well as adopting a Code of Ethics.   NYSE requires companies to adopt and disclose corporate governance guidelines.   The guidelines should address to the director qualification standards, the director responsibilities, the director access to management and independent advisers, the director compensation, the director orientation and continuing education, management succession as well as an annual performance evaluation. However,   most of the shipping companies trade in NYSE are not obliged to comply with these rules due to that they are foreign private issuers as well as most of them are offshore. For these companies there is no obligation of complying with any corporate governance guidelines or code of ethics. Shareholders can be informed via the annual reports and Code of Ethics, both of which have been publicly filed by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission available on the companies web-sites. Corporate governance guidelines and shipping companies intend to publish an overview of the Companys gu iding principles which focuses on social issues. This Code cannot cover every applicable law or provide answers to all questions that may arise but it can set out general principles about an organization belief on matters such as mission, quality, conflicts of interest, internal reporting, privacy or the environment. Furthermore, it may define proper procedures to determine whether a violation of the code of ethics has occurred. Code of ethics and corporate social responsibility is a neglected issue in the shipping industry. Traditionally there is no reason for the shipping companies to invest in advertising or in any other activity that could improve their image. Consequently the main goal of the management of a shipping company is to attract as many as possible new clients. Any characteristic that can improve the reputation of the company is not a priority for the managers of a shipping company. Many years have passed and shipping companies were not obliged to follow some rules of social responsibilities. Fortunately, the last decade various regulations have been imposed to the operation of a shipping company, although the control mechanisms were not always efficient. Board of Directors An important aspect that influences the corporate governance is the board of directors. The board of directors plays an important role to the company operation. It oversees top management and is entrusted with the responsibility of monitoring and supervising the company resources and operation. Moreover, it undertakes the obligation of appointing a qualified person as the Chief Executive Officer and other management staff. Therefore, the board is seen as a team of individuals with fiduciary responsibilities of leading and directing a firm, with the primary objective of protecting the shareholders interests with high sense of integrity and commitment to the firm. The role of the Board is significant in designing efficient corporate monitoring and ratification mechanisms. With respect to reducing agency costs at the Board level, Boards of directors have three key decision rights: (1) Monitoring (2) Ratification (3) Reward and punishment rights. They may even remove top managers from their positions and sanction them for their decisions. NYSE rules require the size of the board of directors not to be smaller than three members. As it can be observed by the survey the size of the board of directors of the sample is between five and seven members. Although there are some shipping companies that have more than seven members in the board and some others that have less than five members. It can be concluded that the majority of the board members in the board of directors are outside directors (member of a company board of directors who is not an employee or stakeholder in the company). The role of independent directors on the board of directors is to effectively monitor and control firm activities in reducing opportunistic managerial behaviors and expropriation of firm resources. The majority of the board members are outsiders for most of the companies; some of them use relatives as well as acquaintances as board members. This indicates a tendency for the shipping companies to be governed by a closed team of people. In accordance to NYSE rules the board should have audit, compensation, and nominating committees made up entirely by outside directors. Almost all of them are consisted by the three obligatory committees opposed to the majority of the selected shipping companies that do not have the obligation to comply with the NYSE rules. The role of these committees is significant; they are assigned to evaluate the board The role of the Audit Committee The purpose of the Audit Committee is to: Monitor the integrity of the firm financial statements. Monitor the qualifications, independence and performance of the company independent auditors. Monitor the performance of the company internal audit function. The audit committee ensures that the books of the company are not fake and that shareholders are properly informed of the financial status of the firm. In this essay it is made an effort to examine the importance of the audit committee in shipping companies listed in the New York Stock Exchange. NYSE requires from a listed U.S. company to have an audit committee with a minimum of three members. But it is permitted by Rule 10A-3 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that audit committees of foreign companies can have less than three independent members in the audit committee. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Status The Chief Executive Officer position and the whole management team is an important position to hold in a corporation. They are responsible for Operating the firm in an effective way. Preparing the annual operating plans and budgets. Establishing an effective system of internal control. In this essay it is examined the role of the Chief executive officer (CEO) in the shipping companies. There are two types of leadership structure i.e. combined leadership structure and separated structure. Combined leadership structure happens when the CEO is also the chairman of the board. On the other hand separated leadership structure takes place when the Chairman of the board is a different person from the CEO. Many studies identifying the implications of CEO duality exist. It is thought that the operating performance may be improved as a result of less debate among the CEO and chairman and/or other directors. From the sample of the shipping companies that it was taken a significant tendency cannot be provided. In some of the shipping companies the CEO is also the chairman of the board while in others is not. Part 2 Methodology The aim of this research is to figure out if the corporate governance mechanisms have an effect on firm performance. Therefore, the measurement of firm performance is primarily comprised of two factors: operating and financial performance. The data used for this research were extracted from the audited financial statements of 21 shipping companies listed in the New York Stock Exchange. The survey covers the time period through 2005 2009. The sample consists of the annual observations for the board size of every company, for the CEO status and for the size of the audit committee of every shipping company. The aim of the research is to find if these corporate governance mechanisms influence the operating and financial performance ratios. Consequently regression models have been constructed in order to prove the association between the corporation governance in operating and financial performance. Microsoft Excel and the statistical package Eviews were used so as to collect the data run the appropriate regressions and identify the results. Moreover except from the companies annual reports a lot of information was extracted through the Thomson Database. In the end panel data methodology was adopted because it combined time series and cross sectional data. The method of analysis is that of multiple regressions and the method of estimation is Ordinary Least Squares (OLS). By running the appropriate regressions via Eviews and by using Return on equity and the profit margin as the dependent variables, the results were considered inadequate. Consequently it was considered integral to proceed to further research. That is why the below financial ratios were used as dependent variables. For the financial performance: Return on equity ratio: Profitability ratio, it can indicate the management effectiveness Return on assets ratio: Profitability ratio, it can also indicate the management effectiveness Return on investment capital ratio: Profitability ratio, it can also indicate the management effectiveness Current ratio: liquidity  ratio Finally in order to measure the operating performance: The above formulas contributed on calculating the ratios of the shipping companies for the time period of 2005 2009. Moreover, many independent variables were used to define the most accurate and specifically those that would give some results. Consequently as independent variables are defined the above: Out_Board = the proportion of the independent directors over the total directors. CEO = if the same person occupies the post of the chairman of the board and the Chief executive is defined by valuing with zero, otherwise value with one. Audcom1 = the proportion of the audit committee. In the end in order to run the regression, the economic models should be defined. For the return on equity: For the return on assets For the return on investment capital For the current ratio So as to measure the operating performance of the shipping companies the above economic model was used. Furthermore the above parameters should be defined. ÃŽÂ ²o:Constant term ÃŽÂ ²1:Coefficient of the regression ÃŽÂ ²2: Coefficient of the regression ÃŽÂ ²3: Coefficient of the regression eit: Disturbance term Empirical Results and Discussion It is important to mention some important data before continuing to comment on the outputs of the regression. First of all the regression outputs will be tested for all the three confidence intervals 90%,95% and 99%. In order to have a statistical significant output the t statistic has to be greater than 1.64, 1.96 and 2.576 respectively. Moreover so as to have a statistically significant variable the p value has to be less than 0,1 , 0.05 and 0.01 respectively. As it can be observed from the table below, the three independent variables are statistically insignificant because the t statistics are lower than the critical values. Moreover it can be confirmed because all the p values are greater than the level of significance. Dependent Variable: ROE Method: Panel Least Squares Total panel (unbalanced) observations: 99 Variable Coefficient Std. Error t-Statistic Prob. OUT_BOARD -0.00683 0.552604 -0.01236 0.9902 CEO 0.017437 0.17098 0.101982 0.919 AUDCOM1 -0.002796 0.101423 -0.027571 0.9781 C 0.18661 0.529641 0.352334 0.7254 R-squared 0.000114 Adjusted R-squared -0.031461 F-statistic 0.003613 Prob(F-statistic) 0.999698 S.E. of regression 0.791347 Dependent Variable: ROA Method: Panel Least Squares Total panel (unbalanced) observations: 99 Variable Coefficient Std. Error t-Statistic Prob. OUT_BOARD -0.095721 0.061678 -1.551956 0.124 CEO -0.032232 0.019084 -1.688972 0.0945 AUDCOM1 0.009389 0.01132 0.829387 0.409 C 0.140099 0.059115 2.369954 0.0198 R-squared 0.078318 Adjusted R-squared 0.049212 F-statistic 2.690791 Prob(F-statistic) 0.050602 S.E. of regression 0.088325 Dependent Variable: ROA Method: Panel Least Squares Total panel (unbalanced) observations: 99 Variable Coefficient Std. Error t-Statistic Prob. OUT_BOARD -0.104552 0.060653 -1.723773 0.088 CEO -0.028425 0.018493 -1.537033 0.1276 C 0.171387 0.045439 3.771807 0.0003 R-squared 0.071644 Adjusted R-squared 0.052303 F-statistic 3.704289 Prob(F-statistic) 0.028204 S.E. of regression 0.088181 It is evident from the tables above that there is a correlation between return on assets and the independent variables. On the first table it can be observed that the CEO independent variable is statistically significant on 10% confidence interval. Also R- Squared is 7.16% of the variability of the return on assets and is explained by the regression. On the second table one independent variable is excluded from the regression in order to prove that the proportion of the outside directors over the total number of the board is also statistically significant at the 90% confidence interval. It is evident that these two variables influence the financial performance of the shipping companies that are selected in the sample. On the table below it is shown the regression output between the return on investment capital and the independent variables. It can be observed that the proportion of the outside directors and the CEO are statistically significant on the 90% confidence interval. It implies that the majority of the sampled firms, in the period under study, have separate persons occupying the posts of chief executive and the board chair. Dependent Variable: ROIC Total panel (unbalanced) observations: 97 Method: Panel Least Squares Variable Coefficient Std. Error t-Statistic Prob. OUT_BOARD -0.108758 0.062348 -1.744367 0.0844 CEO -0.031869 0.019189 -1.660741 0.1001 AUDCOM1 0.00542 0.011377 0.476405 0.6349 C 0.199476 0.059341 3.361532 0.0011 R-squared 0.081182 Adjusted R-squared 0.051542 F-statistic 2.738981 Prob(F-statistic) 0.047783 S.E. of regression 0.088251 Dependent Variable: CURRENT_RATIO Method: Panel Least Squares Total panel (unbalanced) observations: 99 Variable Coefficient Std. Error t-Statistic OUT_BOARD 0.554821 1.498786 0.37018 CEO -0.636588 0.463736 -1.372737 AUDCOM1 0.538569 0.275082 1.95785 C 0.954122 1.436504 0.664197 R-squared 0.047648 Adjusted R-squared 0.017574 F-statistic 1.584356 Prob(F-statistic) 0.198271 S.E. of regression 2.146311 Another ratio so as to observe the financial performance of a company is the current ratio. By running a regression it can be concluded that the audit committee size is statistically significant at a 90% and 95% confidence interval. Because of the different financial performance ratio it can be observed a different correlation between the dependent and the independent variable. On the particular output the positive relationship between the liquidity ratio and the audit committee seems to be a very reasonable result. Shipping companies follow the corporate governance guidelines which are given by the NYSE for the audit committees. In the end a regression was run for the operating performance of the shipping companies. On the table below it is shown that the proportion of the outside directors is statistically significant at 90% confidence interval with t statistic greater than the critical values. Also it is shown that the audit committee variable is also statistically significant for all the confidence intervals. But the R squared of the output is very low which means that only the 8.76% of the variability of the dependent variable is explained. Dependent Variable: OPER_PERF Method: Panel Least Squares Total panel (unbalanced) observations: 99 Variable Coefficient Std. Error t-Statistic Prob. OUT_BOARD -0.951585 0.50254 -1.893552 0.0613 CEO 0.083654 0.15549 0.538005 0.5918 AUDCOM1 -0.23875 0.092234 -2.588514 0.0112 C 3.109729 0.481657 6.456321 0 R-squared 0.087671 Adjusted R-squared 0.05886 F-statistic 3.043024 Prob(F-statistic) 0.032629 S.E. of regression 0.719653 Descriptive statistics The table below presents the result of the descriptive statistics analysis between the dependent variables and the independent variables by measuring the mean, the standard deviation and the percentage of distribution range of the pooled years of the sample under study. Descriptive Statistics Oper_Perf Roa Roe Roic Cur_ratio Out_Board CEO AUDCOM1 Mean 1.741854 0.078202 0.18183 0.11603 3.243112 0.762211 0.474747 2.808081 Median 1.527139 0.072055 0.156449 0.110134 1.86132 0.777778 0 3 Maximum 5.409894 0.513177 3.84573 0.368966 70.57955 1 1 5 Minimum 0.889839 -0.42841 -4.60062 -0.41285 0.1406 0.428571 0 1 Std. Dev. 0.737746 0.090581 0.779185 0.09045 7.100746 0.153031 0.501903 0.816623 Skewness 1.867152 -0.45139 -1.94635 -1.54254 8.614659 -0.20659 0.101139 0.250996 Kurtosis 8.233289 16.32647 24.76835 14.17857 81.7566 2.085215 1.010229 3.44567 Jarque-Bera 177.3846 735.9403 2017.183 549.1192 27351.86 4.156112 16.50043 1.858795 Probabil. 0 0 0 0 0 0.125173 0.000261 0.394791 Sum 179.411 7.741993 18.00119 11.3709 327.5543 75.45889 47 278 Sum Sq. D. 55.51539 0.804091 59.49867 0.793579 5042.06 2.295021 24.68687 65.35354 Observ. 103 99 99 98 101 99 99 99 As it can be referred from the table above the number of the observations is all close to the hundred. This is because some of the data were not available and could not be extracted from the financial reports. Moreover another reason of the lack of some data is that some of the shipping companies were listed in the New York Stock Exchange after 2005. Conclusion The aim of this essay was to prove that there is a relationship between corporate governance mechanisms and firm performance using a sample of 21 shipping companies which are listed in the New York Stock Exchange from 2005 until 2009. The study used firm performance ratios and three mechanisms to prove the above relationship. Panel data methodology is employed; the method of analysis is multiple regressions and the method of estimation is Ordinary Least Squares. The study concludes to the followings: There is no significant relationship between ROE and none of the independent variables. There is a significant relationship among ROA and CEO status and the proportion of the outside directors. There is significant relationship among ROIC, board composition and CEO status. There is a significant relationship between Current ratio and audit committee. And there is a significant relationship among operating performance, board composition and audit committee. Concerning future research, efforts should be made to increase the sample size and the corporate governance variables to achieve a clearer view about the affection of the corporate governance mechanisms on the shipping companies. It can be said that shipping industry has been expanded all over the world from family to family. It is a closed industry which excludes many people. Consequently the nature of the industry makes it very difficult to perform an in depth research and establish an outcome. References Web Sites http://www.investopedia.com/ http://en.wikipedia.org http://www.dianashippinginc.com Home page

lung cancer Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Lung cancer is the most common cancer-related cause of death among men and women. Lung cancer can be undetected for many years causing it to become more dangerous and possibly fatal. There is not cure for lung cancer or any cancer, but if detected in an early stage the lung cancer can be detected, treated, and hopefully terminated. There are many new and developing treatments being tested now that may save lives in the future. Through understanding what the lung cancer is, doctors can easily diagnose and assess cancer patients. Lung cancer takes many years to develop. The characteristics of lung cancer the same as any type of cancer but it effects the lungs. Lung cancer is caused by expose to carcinogens or cancer causing materials. After the carcinogens get into you lungs through breathing, the lining of your lungs will develop microscopic usual cells. If the exposure of the carcinogens to the cells increases, the cells will become more cancerous and will start to spread. Each infected cell will not do what it is suppose to do. This can limit the amount of air coming and going into your lungs, preventing the amount of oxygen that gets to your blood. Smoking is leading cause of lung cancer. Smoking causes more than 80% of lung cancer cases. When you smoke you are taking in more that 4,000 different chemicals, which are all proven to be cancerous. Even if you do not smoke you are still at risk for getting lung cancer. Second hand smoke is just as bad as smoking itself. Each of the harmful chemicals can still enter into non-smokers lungs when they are around smokers. Radon is also a leading cause of cancer. Radon is a radioactive gas that is invisible and odorless. Radon can be found in the surface of the earth. When people come in contact with radon it cause the same results as smoking, the cells be come usual. Thus leads to lung cancer. People can also come in contact with carcinogens while they are at work. Many cancer-causing chemicals can be found in the work place such as asbestos, uranium, arsenic, and petroleum. If you are exposed to these carcinogens for long periods of time, just like smoking or radon, you will develop lu ng cancer.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the early stages of lung cancer it is hard to detect the cancer. The cancer is silent and can grow and develop for years undetected. When the few symptoms... ...t must be careful not to get too much exposure to bright light like sunlight. Many people develop temporary skin darkening, much like having a suntan. Pain is another side effect of PDT. As the diseased tissue breaks down, it causes inflammation, which can cause pain. Fortunately, the pain of PDT is usually mild and is easily controlled with a painkiller. Another side effect of PDT for lung cancer is shortness of breath. This is from the fluid buildup in the lungs after the treatment. It is also caused by the inflammation when the cancer is broken down and removed from the body. The good news about the side effects of PDT is that they are usually temporary. Although lung cancer is the most common form of cancer many new treatments, as well as old treatments, give lung cancer patients a chance at survival. There are many causes of cancer, mainly by being exposed to carcinogens. Most of these causes can be avoided. By understanding what causes lung cancer or even simply not smoking you can lower the chance of developing lung cancer. Through understanding what lung cancer is, what causes it, and how it is treated, patients can make the process of fighting lung caner an easier task.

Views on the role of Nick as a narrator in the Great Gatsby have Essay

Views on the role of Nick as a narrator in the Great Gatsby have varied greatly. How do the views of Arthur Mizener and Gary J. Scrimgeour relate to your own view of Nick's function in the novel? Published in 1925, and written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, 'The Great Gatsby' is a brilliant and scathing illustration of life among the new rich during the 1920s; people who had recently amassed a great deal of wealth but had no corresponding social connections, or a sense of morality. Nick Carraway is the narrator of the novel; he rents a house on Long Island next door to Jay Gatsby, the title character. Gatsby is in love with Nick's cousin Daisy, who is married to an obnoxious man she does not really love, and he has no strong feelings towards her either. Her and his extramarital affairs are set against the background of the extravagant parties that Gatsby is famous for throwing, while Nick struggles to reconcile his attraction to a lavish lifestyle with his feeling that a moral grounding is missing. The writing style throughout 'The Great Gatsby' is terse and the book at times is depressing, with an overall message of hope and the American dream, discouraging. The story is told through the eyes of an active, biased, participant. Nick Carraway has a special place in this novel and has many functions. He is not just one character among several, it is through his eyes and ears that we form our opinions of the other characters. Nick is both within, yet outside the occurrence of events as he is friends with Gatsby and related to Daisy, but is still not involved fully in all that occurs, even though somebody else often tells him about it. Often, readers of this novel confuse Nick's stance towards those characters a... ...atsby is Nick's opinion. Gatsby's dream and the purity of his vision is the 'great' part, rather than the wealth. In one sense, the title of the novel is ironic; the title character is neither "great" nor named Gatsby. He is a criminal whose real name is James Gatz, and the life he has created for himself is an illusion. By the same token, the title of the novel refers to the theatrical skill with which Gatsby makes this illusion seem real. Fitzgerald has created a most interesting character in Nick because he is very much a fallible storyteller. When an author unsettles an accepted convention in the art of storytelling by creating a narrator like Nick, it draws attention to the story as fiction. Ironically, in doing this, he has created in Nick a figure that more closely resembles an average human being and thus has heightened the realism of the novel.

Notes on Jaws Essay

Characters in the film Chrissie, the first victim is different to everyone else because she almost deserved the attack because it was her own fault. She was drunk at a party and about to have sex with a random guy who she didn’t even know the name of. The boyd was ringing which indicated the fact that there was something in the water- evidently a shark. Subsequently, because she was drunk she could not hear this and the boy was to focused on running over to Chrissie that he was also oblivious to the important indication. Alex is a young boy with an older mother who says ‘just 10 more minutes’ for him staying in the water, if she had not said that and not let him go, he would still be alive. Contrasting two extremes, a large, meaty lady walked past Alex on the opening scene; straight away it strikes you how skinny Alex looks. Speilberg has done this so you think ‘Why was Alex eaten?’ when there were better people the shark could of picked. Another contrast demonstrated by Speilberg was that Alex’s mother was shouting ‘Alex, Alex, Alex’. She knew who her son was, very well, yet the first attack the boy who was the only one who could have potentially saved the victim had to ask for her name. This illustrates how different the two attacks were. False/Fake alerts Screaming makes you alert and suddenly aware of what is happening. Another technique Speilberg uses to catch your attention. There are a few fake attacks/alerts which have been proposed in the film of ‘Jaws’. Firstly, just before the first attack a girl in messing around in the water; initially we think it has something to do with the shark and so does chief Brody. Yet we are wrong, by using this technique is builds the audience’s expectations and then confounding what we expect with the reality. By doing so this makes us more aware that something is about to happen and makes us more excited for the real attack that is soon going to creep up on us. Another example of a false alarm is the ‘Sunday lunch attack’, when the two men are attempting to catch the shark. The strong shark pulls a tyre which is connected to the jetty (the trap) and it breaks the jetty causing the two men to fall in. Although, one of the men is dragged across towards the shark, in shock and realization he scrambles away towards land. Luckily, he gets out of the water just in time. But, we- the audience- believe that he is going to die because there is the shark music playing.