Nature in Literature Essay

Nature plays a huge role in many pieces of literature, but especially Basho’s Narrow Road to the Deep North and Voltaire’s Candide. There is a major difference between the two forms of literature and how nature is incorporated into each. This Japanese form of literature has a much lighter tone than that of the European style of literature. You can see a calmer, more relaxed intention into the nature that is in Basho’s Narrow Road to the Deep North. On page 413 in Basho’s piece, it says â€Å"As the year gradually came to an  end and spring arrived, filling the sky with mist, I longed to cross the Shirakawa Barrier, the most revered of poetic places. † From this section, you can see that Basho gets his inspiration for his literature and poetry from the places that he travels, and this resulted in his linked-verse sequence. Even though Basho had a long, tough journey of travels; the nature takes his breath away. On page 416 of Narrow Road to the Deep North, it says â€Å"my body and spirit were tired from the pain of the long journey; my heart overwhelmed by the landscape. † This statement  shows that regardless of the struggles, he could find a poetic sense in everything he went through. In Narrow Road to the Deep North, Basho also found religion to accompany the bright nature in his literature of his travels. On page 418, Basho writes, â€Å"the green of pine is dark and dense, the branches and leaves bent by the salty breeze—as if they were deliberately twisted. A Stalker 2 soft, tranquil landscape, like a beautiful lady powdering her face. Did the god of the mountain create this long ago, in the age of the gods? Is this the work of the Creator? † The landscape was so beautiful to Basho, that he couldn’t figure out how it came about to be what it was. He questioned if the Gods had created it. From the passages, you can tell that Basho found much beauty in nature on his journey, even though it was a tough one. Voltaire had a much different take on nature compared to Basho. After reading both passages, you can tell that Voltaire’s Candide has a much darker feel to the literature. In the opening paragraph on page 454, Voltaire writes â€Å"Once upon a time in Westphalia, in the castle of Baron Thunder-ten-tronckh, there lived a young boy whom nature had endowed with the gentlest of dispositions. † This opening sentence makes you believe that it could have a similar feel to Basho’s story. When you reach page 460, there is a line that says â€Å"While he was presenting his argument, the air grew thick, the winds blew from the four corners of the earth, and the ship was assailed by the most terrible storm, within sight of the port of Lisbon. † his passage not only shows you that the nature of the story is a lot more dramatic, but it also shows you that Voltaire is  more focused on the weather instead of the landscape. There is a dramatic earthquake and a storm that destroys the ship that they are on. Page 461 says â€Å"Whirlwinds of flame and ash covered the streets and public squares: houses disintegrated, roofs were upended upon foundations, and foundations crumbled. † Voltaire writing this in his passage just shows the reader how awful and destructive the earthquake actually was. While you understand that they encountered a massive destructive earthquake, they do actually see some light at the end of all the horrible events. On page 467, it says â€Å"’All will be well,’ was Candide’s reply. ‘Already the sea in this new world is better than those we have in Europe. It’s calmer, and the winds are more constant. It is assuredly the new world which is the best of all possible worlds. ’† This statement Stalker 3 shows that the opening statement remains true, that Candide did see nature as gentle, rather than destructive. Overall, reading these two works of literature gives you a great sense of how different Japanese nature in literature is compared to European nature in literature. Japanese nature in literature has more of a Zen feel to it than European nature does. Japanese literature focuses more on trees and landscapes, while the European literature has a great focus on the weather. Regardless of the occurrences that happened in both stories, both ended with the character looking at the brighter side of things. Nature is a beautiful thing, and both Japanese and European literature acknowledge this as you read in Basho’s Narrow Road to the Deep North and Voltaire’s Candide.

Civil Disobedience Essay: King and Thoreau Essay

Civil disobedience is a force needed to purify the condemnation of injustices within a society. Civil disobedience can be defined as the refusal to comply with certain laws as a peaceful form of political protest. Such protests are needed when the rights of citizens are being violated and their voices are being unheard. Thoreau’s ideas were becoming heavily common as they were being used by Civil Rights Activists. These ideas which these activists used greatly affected the way our government now functions today. What if such actions did not take place and only the voices of inequality were heard? Would we not still remain in a society of injustice? ((Rhetorical question)) Civil disobedience – this form of political protest – must be distinguished from cases of crime and acts of civil rebellion. The purpose of civil disobedience is not create fear or establish injustice above the law, but to create justice and equality that may reside under the law. The Civil Rights Movement is a perfect illustration of how the government can be moved and changed to produce a positive outcome toward the community and its citizens. Martin Luther King Jr. followed in Thoreau’s footsteps, his one inspiration, by partaking in acts of civil disobedience. His civil acts promoted a form of influence upon government that did not evoke harm or fear. Thoreau stated in his writing that â€Å"It is not a man’s duty, as a matter of course, to devote himself to the eradication of any, even the most enormous wrong, but it is his duty, at least, to wash his hands of it, and, if he gives it no thought longer, not to give it practically his support.† This means that when a government displays inequality, illustrates injustice, or portrays discrimination ((parallelism)), it is up to people to take action. Gandhi, a highly credited figure in civil disobedience protests, who also supports citizen action, states that â€Å"non-cooperation is a measure of discipline and sacrifice, and it demands respect of the opposite views† – the government. Thoreau’s way of showing his disagreement with injustice displayed by the government is by one, his rejection to pay tax’s which in turn landed him in jail and in more defiance towards the government he secondly helps fugitive slaves, disobeying the Fugitive Slave Act. His rebellion allowed for the  voices of people who agreed with him to stand with him and fight for injustice. To be clear, one should not view or only pursue to be involved with the acts of civil disobedience because of any dislike toward a country, but because he or she believes that the country can be something great, that these unjust laws are only limiting the potential of a beautiful society. Fighting for yourself is courageous; fighting for your co untry, heroic. The court case Plessy vs. Ferguson further displays the affected force any individual has on the government. Plessy, although biologically a white male, was still subjected to the injustices of racial segregation under the †Separate but Equal Act†. Plessy understood how this law still abided under segregation and decided to partake in protests and civil disobedience to change this law and promote equality within the society. His determination to create justice for the people allowed the government to decide that ‘separate was inherently unequal.’ In retrospect, the government can indeed be changed by and influenced by the people. The government perceives itself to be the voice of the people, is that not exactly why the voices of the people should be heard. Is the government not a body of voted people for the people, by the people? Will a government that cannot bend itself to commend its people not break instead? It is civil disobedience that allows the government to bend itself to the extent that it can serve its people. Therefore, it is in turn not unruly to state that civil disobedience is necessary in a community. Civil disobedience is, and will always be necessary in any society.

J. Joyce Clay

James Joyce was a master storyteller who loved to create plot and thematic nature centered on character paralysis. His mastery came in his subtle ability to weave the main characters true essence of paralysis by slowly seeping it into the veins of the reader. Most of Joyce’s collection of stories casts men in the main role where he follows the male protagonist through strife. In Clay, however, the theme follows a woman and her trials of separation—a loss she denies is ever present due to her paralysis. As we attempt to unfold the meaning of James Joyce’s use of paralysis in his classic tale, Clay, one thing stands out. In most other published fiction, Joyce shows a preference to focus on the voice of the male character. Clay, however, is an exception. Here, his central character—the protagonist—is a female. Yet, just because the focus of most of his fiction is set aside for the male sex, does that mean he hopes to glorify this sex? Hardly. We must look into just how Joyce perceived the male character versus the female character in his stories. From one front, we can say that, by-and-large, because his protagonists were male, there was some gender stereotyping going on in the mind of our author. We must, however, look deeply into his use of paralysis as a central theme. This paralysis is not exactly a place people prefer to be. However, many of us can relate to suffering, pain, and loss. These are some of the reasons Joyce’s story Clay is profoundly telling. Another interesting point to consider is this: Was Joyce using men in the starring role as an opportunity to place them on an award-winning podium? Or, was this an opportunity to bash the male gender? So just what was his biased reasoning behind rarely using female protagonists? Did he stereotype the female persona? Were his stories a form of gender racism? In answering this, it is clear that the main character suffered, to varying degrees of emotional, physical, and social discomfort. These characters—male or female—were not something a reader would aspire to. So, just because the role of the female protagonist was rare in a James Joyce story, there is not sound evidence that he preferred the male gender over the female gender. It could be argued, for instance, that his focus on the troubled male was his way of bashing this sex. Surely glory was not an overtone in Clay or many of his other published works of art. So we go to the next question: Did Joyce treat women differently than his male roles? Some can argue that his paralysis-based stories were a chance for Joyce to belittle the female character. In Clay, Maria, our protagonist was viewed as almost distasteful to look at. However, Maria didn’t see it this way. At the very least, we can say that gender role stereotyping was prevalent. In looking at the female voice, we can see that he did place women in the mother/lover/wife role. In the male role position, we see that the character, Joe, is in a much freer position that Maria. Albeit Joe did have a disease of his own: alcoholism. But, Joe was also typecast in the head-of-household role, and the one who others reported to—even though he had a drinking problem. Yet, Maria was the protagonist, so the lead character is, obviously, going to be the sufferer anyway. What’s more important to remember is the fact that James Joyce placed all his characters in debilitating situations. So, sexism doesn’t seem a likely analysis behind the author’s reasoning for creating such one-sided male character-based stories. If someone is looking for a hero or role model, regardless of sex, they will not find it in Clay, or any of his short fiction paralysis-based stories. Joyce had deep reasoning behind staging the story of a maid and how she relates, reacts, and is portrayed by a family who she’s worked with for many years. Paralysis, once again, was Joyce’s underlying motive that created such magic on the page. Upon an initial read of this short classic, there appears to be very little action in the story, with the main thrust coming from emotion and thoughts surrounding Maria—our seemingly wafer-thin female who is loved and respected by those in her life, at least according to Maria. All the characters in the story, in fact, appear to lack any depth. The spiritual epiphany seems to be missing as well. Maria, as transparent as she first appeared, is shown to reveal herself as a charismatic person who has a gift for touching others. Joyce, once again, did this with clever wit. The author loved to move the reader along at a smooth, almost velvety pace. Then, almost out of thin air, he’d add tiny, silent bombs of description that spoke volumes about a character’s past. Maria, for example, is referred to as†¦ a very, very small person indeed but she had a very long nose and a very long chin. She talked a little through her nose, always soothingly†¦ Joyce, here, uses description of Maria’s facial features to tell so much more about her than the dimensions of her nose and chin. We are given a taste of her past: a soft spoken, generous woman who radiated joy in others by her willingness to aid her fellows in need. This radiating joy, however, is something that only Maria perceives. This dysfunctional means of viewing herself as lovely doesn’t become fully apparent until we are through with the story; for Joyce takes this entire process of painting Maria’s emotional state with slow, yet deliberate, remarks. Many times its the way he casts a scene and how the minor characters act or ignore Maria that truly adds color to his theme of paralysis. According to Maria, people saw beyond her less than charismatic nose and chin, seeing her shimmering inner beauty shine forth. It was her actions and unconditional devotion that created her beautiful persona. However, Joyce goes on to use a narrator who works more like a thief. This thief of a narrator tells the tale in a voice that leads the reader off-course so he can hide the wealth of the true theme and moral. For, beyond Maria’s long nose, the narrator goes on to describe Maria as a petite, small-boned and attractive woman. Joyce does this as our Maria—a woman who is valued as reliable, caring, and wise—gains pleasure by marveling over herself in the mirror. Joyce is so subtle that it doesn’t hit the reader until he or she is two or three sentence beyond the scene where Maria gets pleasure out of looking at the soft, gentle slopes of her frame. But only Maria sees herself as lovely. The story opens with positive embellishments by her tea-party friends. They say she is likable and hard-working, a woman with a knack for â€Å"keeping-house. † In effect, this is the minor characters way of patronizing Maria for her inefficiencies and trappings as a maid. Joe, a man she worked for, adds that she holds the standing of a â€Å"proper mother† whom he has formed a deep bond with. Joyce wrote, Mamma is mamma but Maria is my proper mother Joyce, of course, twists things up nicely by adding the fact that Joe has a drinking problem. So, how reliable is he? Yet, even with his joy for booze, Joyce ties it all together with such clarity that the reader is willing to excuse Joe’s drinking problem and accept him as a reliable source when he relates to how Maria has affected him. In comparison to other short stories by James Joyce, this is a rare example of a protagonist suffering from that subliminal paralysis who is actually liked by the other characters. Take Dubliners, for example. In Dubliners, the protagonist is viewed as shallow and lacking integrity. Maria, in contrast, receives preferential treatment by how the other characters voice their opinion of her. True they like her, but they also feel sorry for Maria. This is very empowering yet, at the same time, places the reader on a cliff of wonder. How can this woman who is viewed so highly be suffering from a life-long paralysis? Something is amiss. But what? This is what makes Joyce such a master at toying with paralysis. A more introspective look at Maria reveals the warped perception she sees in herself. How can a woman look at her own long beak of a nose with bulging chin and consider it glamorous? When she laughed, wrote Joyce, her grey-green eyes sparkled with disappointed shyness and the tip of her nose nearly met the tip of her chin. Although the narrative voice is not Maria, per se, we can see that she fancies her own image, as referenced earlier. Maria screens out the fact that it would be a stretch to say that someone was beautiful if the tip of her nose nearly kissed her pointy chin when she laughed. Joyce mentioned that people ignore her in the pastry shop. Plus, when she is on the crowded tram, no one—initially—considers moving over to make a seat for her. Chivalry, back in the morning of the twentieth century, was much more prevalent than it is today. So why would almost every man on the tram offer her no consideration? Furthermore, there is a man who recognizes her and he offers his seat. But he’s a drunk. Even the drunk had stealthy motives: The drunk stole her cake while on the tram, at least this is what could be inferred from the text. So, with careful examination, it becomes very clear that sweet little Maria, is not the person she feels she is. While on the tram, Joyce hit readers with the following description that parallels her life of solitude. She will always be more than one step shy of fitting into the mold of the American middle class. In the following statement, Maria is placed in yet another metaphor where she is going in the wrong direction in her life. Joyce wrote, The tram was full and she had to sit on the little stool at the end of the car, facing all the people, with her toes barely touching the floor. The paralysis becomes more apparent when we analyze Maria’s life as a single woman. She will never marry and is cemented—trapped—into working as a maid for the rest of her life. Joe’s family, somewhat secretly, mock Maria for living the life of a maid†¦. never to be someone’s maiden. In fact, the initial take is that the family truly loves her. As the family gathers, Joe attempts to show some tact by bringing up the notion of everyone should take a drink, just to loosen up. Joe, of course, wants more port, to feed his alcoholic vice. Yet, at the same time he infers that Maria, too, should take a drink. That way she can forget about her sorrowful life. Joe even insists that Maria take a drink. Maria, still blinded by her own faults, refuses the drink. As the story closes, Maria sings a few stanzas of a poem that speak of the fact that she will never live the wealthy life. This singing even brings tears to Joe’s eyes. The reader, once again, is left to wonder this: Is Joe sinking into the depression of alcohol? Or is he feeling sorry for Maria? That is left to the readers’ imagination. One thing is certain, though: Maria will never overcome the paralysis that stymies her.

Victim Typologies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Victim Typologies - Essay Example mization which involves only a single person being targeted – the objective is easy, there is one person on the mind of the potential criminal and he wished to target only him for the purpose of benefitting in some manner; secondary victimization involves that a person be targeted indirectly or impersonally where the criminal may target someone close the actual person he wants to target however brings in the aspect of threat; tertiary victimization refers to when the entire public (absolutely anyone) is being targeted and there is no particular target in mind as the object is to scare a larger crowd of people; mutual victimization is the fourth type that occurs when there are two sets of criminals that turn against each other and target one another for some purpose; lastly, no victimization is when it is difficult to understand and identify the target. There are a number of differences between victimology and criminology, the major being that in criminology, time is spent studying the focal point of the offender and the motive behind his crime whereas in victimology, the goal is to help the victim suffer as less as possible while restoring him back to his community with a healed relationship and state of mind with respect to the crime. The former refers to studying the relationship that a criminal has with a victim with respect to the crime as well as the motive behind committing the same and the latter refers to studying the victims and helping them improve their social status as well as working conditions. Both these studies fall under the branch of crime studies and they significantly assist in increasing the effectiveness of the criminal justice system. There have been a number of criminal cases of late which may be marked with either of the victim typologies; as of June 13, 2011, the body of a young student Lauren Spierer has been missing and the police in Indianapolis have been looking for signs of either life or death. Her family has been worried sick

Burberry Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Burberry Case Study - Essay Example Then the beginning was good, and facilitated further purchase in also other countries of Europe and the world. As the phrase on finance says, â€Å"Capital is added to capital†. Then by raising its production, Burberry proceeded to more investments, being able to increase its profits, by keeping quality, starting to produce more items in a variety of goods, such s perfumes, and several kinds of accessories as well as increasing production variety of its initial goods. Then this gave Burberry the chance to expand to markets all over the world, and throughout year’s conquest the whole world, by multiplying its funds. Some other factors, like production of military uniforms, before the I World War indeed, contributed to creating some favouring circumstances for potential customers, that increased by the years. Also and most important, there have been some keen managers, really interested in the job, who also, managed to create a changing mentality of people and potential b uyers, under the dominating scheme and emblem that not only prosperous and wealthy ones, should be able to have access to the wonderful and exceptional products of Burberry, but more or less any buyer of middle class should be able to afford Burberry’s products. ... Also some other implementations such as SAP and it’s strategies proposed included in IT technologies investments, and moreover and most important, the ability of Burberry to adapt to new market conditions all the time, throughout its organized marketing managements as above have contributed not only to its survival but also its constant growth and development. 2. Explain the criteria and the different segmentation methods which can be used by Burberry (10 marks). Burberry an established brand in clothes, accessories and perfumes, should focus on an organized marketing management in order to assure its position in the global market. Criteria should be focused on axes of management, such as enhancement of retail sales, and the appropriate training of staff, implementation of e-commerce and sales online, for example by SAP and IT technologies, a well balanced system between wholesales and retails, as well as a balanced system of sales of products across global markets, by concent rating, on meeting needs of consumers in every country, by adapting prices. Also, new policies would consist in good and proper advertising and always new products to be manufactured, by keeping quality of old ones, thus adapting its development to meeting market requirements of nowadays. In fact quality criteria, as above should substitute some criteria based on quantity, and vice versa, strategies, on production of quantity, should replace some criteria of quality, so both will be well balanced, and adapted to consumer psychology, be being able to ‘’convince consumers of their â€Å"personal interest† to buying Burberry’s good s and products. Thus segmentation, in terms of both quality and quantity criteria, would give the impression, that Burberry is a brand

DB SC bus139 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

DB SC bus139 - Assignment Example On the contrary this form of business method helps to achieve economies of scale where funds can be allocated as per requirements. I feel that every business has the desire to expand across wide areas and in order to meet such an objective franchising is the best possible solution. The major advantage of this method is to have control on capital and operate across the globe without much of intervention. It can be stated that franchisees are able to provide a large customer base along with some exceptional talent which cannot be accessed by a business that has its wholly owned subsidiary. High level of consistency and quality are maintained by franchisees as they are bound within an agreement. This in turn increases the scope for success of the new business. On the contrary the major disadvantage of the method is that expertise and skills of a firm needs to be shared by all the franchisees. There can even be an issue with timely payment of fees and royalties by franchisees which would disrupt the relationship between franchisor and franchisee and ultimately have an impact on the business (Longenecker, Palich & Hoy 94-99). In order to avoid such a situation the best possible measure is to set forth an agreement with all possible terms and conditions and then I would prefer to have limited number of franchisees who can be easily controlled. I was working as an employee with a renowned organization located in United States known as Kraft Foods. The industry in which the company operates is highly competitive with large number of players. However Kraft Foods has been able to establish its unique position in the market due to high product quality and innovative food items which it brings forth for its customers. Food and Beverage industrial sector is a segment that needs constant monitoring as any new move made by competitor can result into loss of market share. While I was working in this organization, I observed a good management situation in which top

Pekin City as an Economic Center Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Pekin City as an Economic Center - Essay Example This is the question we are going to pay attention to in this essay by looking at the urbanization and development of the city of Pekin in the state of Illinois (Fujita and These, 2002). Pekin City was first discovered after the Europeans immigrants explores landed on the eastern bank of the Illinois River. Pekin city started as an agricultural center with slight trading activities along the Illinois River. As a result of immigration, more people flew in leading to high density economic activity location thus leading to urbanization. Pekin City is located in the county of Tazewell in the state of Illinois, being the biggest city in the county of Tazewell, and the essential part of the Peoria metropolitan area. Pekin is situated on the Illinois River. Pekin City is the county seat and the government core for the county of Tazewell. Pekin City is accessible to air travel and river ways; rich and skillful work force; a lively local economy; an excellent quality life- thus enabling busin ess to thrive well in the city. From the census carried out in the year 2010, the Pekin city has a population of 34, 094. The extension of the city into the county of Peoria is limited by a small portion of the town (Fujita and These, 2002). From the research, Pekin city is the thirteenth populated city in Illinois. The city has managed to grow economically leading to its urbanization through several factors that are discussed in the following pages. 1. Source of economies The accessibility to air travel and river ways; rich and skillful work force; a lively local economy; an excellent quality life- has enhanced the development of Pekin city over years. Pekin city provides a variety of economic incentive and tools for expanding and innovating new business. An example of this business is the River way Business Park. The easy run of business has attracted many investors around the state and nation. In general, people from all around the nation and the state are attracted to the servic e (Fujita and These, 2002). a. Economies of scale at the firm level Over the years, city of Pekin has been going through significant changes. Some of the changes are the commercialization and industrialization expansion on route 29. This has enabled the growth of large firms like Pekin’s Auto Row. The large firms within the city of Pekin have upsurge specialization and use of technologies, hence increasing the efficiency while lowering the average cost of the firms. These have been a tremendous contribution to the growth and expansion of the Pekin City. b. Economies of scale at the place level As time goes by more settlement kicks in leading to clustering and over population within the city of Pekin. This lead to investors like Nat City Investments Inc. Company locating firms in the same sector closely, (agglomerating) within the city of Pekin, hence leading to agglomeration economies. The concept of agglomerating is associated to the knowledge of scale economies network effe cts. However, clustering of related industries together may lead to declining of costs production; it might be of advantages to the city. The multiple firms of the same sector clustering together in Pekin city attracts more suppliers and customers hence leading to the expansion and growth of the city (Fujita and These

How has technology influenced commercial aircraft to make them more Research Paper - 1

How has technology influenced commercial aircraft to make them more eco-friendly and safer - Research Paper Example The transport sector is one of them. Over the recent years, manufacturers of various brands of vehicles, trucks and aircrafts have come up with designs that have increased fuel efficiencies. The result of this has been reduced green house gas (GHG) emissions from the sector. In aviation specifically, a four-pillar strategy has been identified as a mitigation measure to GHG emissions from the sector. The four pillars are efficient infrastructure, effective operations, improved technology and positive economic measures (Centro 98). Of the four, technology has proved to be the most important prospect in minimizing aviation emissions. Since its introduction in the early 1900, commercial aircraft has been developing due to technological advances and recent transformations have made commercial airliners more eco-friendly and safer. This paper explores the ways in which has technology influenced commercial aircraft to make them more eco-friendly and safer. The paper begins by outlining technological advancements that have been made on commercial aircraft and how they have increased its environmental friendliness and safety. This is followed by a brief description of the savings made from these advancements and possible future advancements that can be made to make commercial aircraft more eco-friendly and safer than they are today. Commercial aircraft are second to highway vehicles in terms of motor fuel consumption. At the same time, the demand for air travel in the world is growing by almost twice the rate of growth experienced by highway vehicles. This has presented opportunities for airliners to expand their air routes, number of flights and even their fleet. All these have the potential of increasing the environmental hazards presented by commercial aircrafts on the environment. However, the industry has enjoyed many technological advancements to accommodate the increasing traffic while mitigating this. Greene (538) states that since the early 1970s,

Target Company - Sprint Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Target Company - Sprint - Essay Example The corporate structure and the organizational culture are the backbones of the company’s success (Ante 54). This is demonstrated by the value that the company leadership and management have for the employees and all stakeholders of its business operations and activities. The organizational culture and behavior of the company is however determined by the various forces and variables within the business environment. The economic environment within Sprint’s business activities is characterized by increased competitiveness from its major business rivals and new entrants into the wireless telecommunication industry (MarketWatch 284). It is due to the company’s need for staying competitive that its core corporate values are designed to demonstrate and achieve maximum integrity in the provision of wireless telecommunication services and products to its customers. Integrity is achieved through both the words and actions of the management and employees (Curran 30). Integ rity means that the company endeavors to remain competitive by becoming the most reliable internet provider within the business environment. Additionally, economic forces have caused the company to provide its customers with competitive prices for its telecommunication services. ... ocial and cultural forces within the telecommunication industry and business environment in general have mandated the company to adhere to its corporate responsibility. Additionally, the company values its ethical responsibility to all of its stakeholders (Ante 55). It is in this regard that the directors of Sprint are drawn from diverse cultures to ensure that the needs of all stakeholders with all their differences are effectively met. The company’s directors and management value good relationship with the employees through effective leadership approaches, enhanced communication and collaboration. More importantly, the leadership and company management focuses on gaining the confidence of the investors (MarketWatch 288). In this sense, the interests of the company’s stakeholders are taken into due consideration by the decisions of the directors. Furthermore, the company’s ethical responsibility has been embedded into the company’s business behavior which is characterized by well compensated and motivated employee. As a result of this, the company’s work force is creative and innovative in the design and production of various telecommunication services. The political and legal environment has led to the company’s adherence to the regulations and policies of the government in all its operation (Curran 30). The behavior of the company’s directors and the management team is thus influenced by the regulatory environment within the legal and political business environments. The election of directors is through a majority vote as required by the legal framework. Additionally ethical practice in the presentation of financial statements is highly valued by the company. More importantly, the company has adhered to the regulations on taxation (Ante 56). The

A Career in Accounting Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

A Career in Accounting - Assignment Example The stockholders suffered in untold misery because the Enron executives acted maliciously in cohorts with the auditors while the swindled investors of Madoff trusted overly in the financial statements which were twisted and distorted by the accountants of the alleged fraudster. In the international landscape, the recession started in the United States of America. First, it was the banking system. Then, the credit in housing mortgages crumbled and collapsed. The auto industry followed in the imbroglio. And well, if America sneezes, the world catches cold. All those could have been avoided by proper accounting and sound auditing. Accounting as a career plays a significant role in the world order because it embodies the most useful information system in any undertaking in all jurisdictions and in every kind of business.1 While accounting focuses on financial transactions which are micro, the collection of all data under it represents the ins and outs of economics which are macro. Owing to all these dynamics, accounting will continue to lead in the professional field and accountants will remain in demand in the job market. In the United States, what has led to the need for accountants and auditors is the federally legislated Sarbanes-Oxley law which has outlined stern rules on financial statements after the notorious corporate scandals that included Enron. 2 Where the demand is Aside from the new Sarbanes-Oxley statute repercussion, accountants continue to be in demand in the United States because of the increasing workload of the top audit firms.3 Educational and other requirements including the need for hard and soft skills The requirements for the credentials of an accountant depend on the position that has to be filled up. Generally, the average job requires an accounting course at the bachelor level. One of the best supplements to the normal college accomplishment is a master's degree or a special certification on knowledge of accounting and auditing software. A passer of a licensure examination for Certified Public Accountants will be a great advantage. Sufficient experience will also be a big plus.4 Skills in accounting and auditing are highly checked in the pertinent applications. Among these are: designing of internal control measures and analysis of financial information and computer programming, budget analysis and cost estimation, proficiency in loans examinations, tax verifications, collection, and general bookkeeping. Special skills in computer accounting programming, computer accounting software management and design, and systems administration are likewise highly sought. Pay range for accountants and auditors Average annual or yearly salaries for accountants and auditors as of May, 2006, vary according to the list sourced from the same report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics cited above, thus: accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping, and payroll services $57,020; management of companies and enterprises $55,560; local government $50,120; depository credit intermediation $49,380; and state government $47,200. In a survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, the usual initial remuneration that is offered for bachelor degree holders is $46,700.00 annually. For those with a master's degree, it is $49,200.00 per year. Basically, these pay rates are over and above the salaries for other professionals. Bright job outlook for the profession As earlier discussed briefly, there have been new developments which created impact and implications in accounting and finance. These things have re-shaped trends in the accounting career and the growing demand for accountants a