Free Essays on Wife Of Bath

Wife of Bath as a Feminist Hero Throughout the history of the world women have been portrayed as being a sort of ally with the devil. Women then and now may look upon most of these â€Å"devilish† characteristics as desirable, strong-willed and feministic. Chaucer appears to support women and specifically these feminists by creating two very strong-willed and successful women in the Wife of Bath and the old hag in the Wife’s tale. However, through all of the tough outer attributes, on the inside are the same classic and traditional damsels in distress that require a man just like the women of that time always had. Through the original strong qualities of the two women, Chaucer provides a hopeful example and model for women of now and then. Furthermore, by giving these women some stronger, domineering and â€Å"masculine† features Chaucer is terrifically satirizing the gender roles and stereotypes of the time. Along with all of these strong feminist messages also come out anti-feminism idea ls about keeping women in a certain role, causing a lengthy and intelligent debate upon what Chaucer really meant. All of these reasons are why it is important to discuss and understand The Wife of Bath’s relation and influence on contemporary women. Chaucer’s main target of his satire and criticism throughout his Canterbury Tales is the Anglo-Saxon church. Even though in this tale he focuses more on the gender debate, his contempt of the corrupt church and its disciples is embodied in the Wife’s prologue. In the first three lines he says: â€Å"Experience, though no authority, Were in this world, were good enough for me, To speak of woe that is in all marriage.† Here Chaucer, through the eyes of a women, points out that there is far too much reliance on authority, meaning the opinions of older and perhaps ancient writers. This sort of authority was responsible for the horrible distortion of woman’s character and place in society... Free Essays on Wife Of Bath Free Essays on Wife Of Bath Wife of Bath as a Feminist Hero Throughout the history of the world women have been portrayed as being a sort of ally with the devil. Women then and now may look upon most of these â€Å"devilish† characteristics as desirable, strong-willed and feministic. Chaucer appears to support women and specifically these feminists by creating two very strong-willed and successful women in the Wife of Bath and the old hag in the Wife’s tale. However, through all of the tough outer attributes, on the inside are the same classic and traditional damsels in distress that require a man just like the women of that time always had. Through the original strong qualities of the two women, Chaucer provides a hopeful example and model for women of now and then. Furthermore, by giving these women some stronger, domineering and â€Å"masculine† features Chaucer is terrifically satirizing the gender roles and stereotypes of the time. Along with all of these strong feminist messages also come out anti-feminism idea ls about keeping women in a certain role, causing a lengthy and intelligent debate upon what Chaucer really meant. All of these reasons are why it is important to discuss and understand The Wife of Bath’s relation and influence on contemporary women. Chaucer’s main target of his satire and criticism throughout his Canterbury Tales is the Anglo-Saxon church. Even though in this tale he focuses more on the gender debate, his contempt of the corrupt church and its disciples is embodied in the Wife’s prologue. In the first three lines he says: â€Å"Experience, though no authority, Were in this world, were good enough for me, To speak of woe that is in all marriage.† Here Chaucer, through the eyes of a women, points out that there is far too much reliance on authority, meaning the opinions of older and perhaps ancient writers. This sort of authority was responsible for the horrible distortion of woman’s character and place in society... Free Essays on Wife Of Bath During the Wife of Bath’s prologue she is described rather quickly as a little deaf, quite a traveler (she has been on many pilgrimages to exotic places) and that she has had many husbands. The narrator also describes the wife as very outspoken. I am not sure if he does this in an admiring sort of way or if he is actually making fun of her or pointing out traits that he doesn’t actually like. Although in some ways I feel that he is just stating the facts. The lines that make me feel this way are the ones that describe her facial features, such as the gaps between her teeth. He does not say whether or not he admires or hates her features just that they are there. An important view that the wife holds is that religion itself is anti-feminist. She goes on by saying that the bible is written by men and because of this holds a male point of view. Many people think that the wife of bath could be the first feminist character written. However, the ideas she holds regarding controlling men with sex and jealousy don’t seem to go along with an idea that is â€Å"feminist†. This can be attributed to the fact that she pretends to be well learned when in fact she quotes readings that have nothing to do with what she is saying. This may prove that she is not as well educated as she wishes everyone to believe she is. One thing I found interesting though is something I read by a critic of Chaucer. When the wife quotes from Ovid’s story, she tells the reader to read the story to figure out the ending. Originally she explains that women are not able to keep secrets when in fact she may be luring the reader into reading the story a nd making her point that men are unable to keep secrets as well (because the barber, not the wife was in fact the keeper of the secret in this story). While she seems to be against religion, she also uses it to her advantage. She twists the words and their meanings and uses them to defend her actions....

Octane Number Definition and Example

Octane Number Definition and Example The octane number is a value used to indicate the resistance of a motor fuel to knock. Octane number is also known as octane rating. Octane numbers are based on a scale on which isooctane is 100 (minimal knock) and heptane is 0 (bad knock). The higher the octane number, the more compression required for fuel ignition. Fuels with high octane numbers are used in high performance gasoline engines. Fuels with low octane number (or high cetane numbers) are used in diesel engines, where fuel is not compressed. Octane Number Example A gasoline with an octane number of 92 has the same knock as a mixture of 92% isooctane and 8% heptane. Why the Octane Number Matters In a spark-ignition engine, using a fuel with too low an octane rating can lead to pre-ignition and engine knock, which can cause engine damage. Basically, compressing the air-fuel mixture may cause fuel to detonate before the flame front from the spark plug reaches it. The detonation produces higher pressure than the engine may be able to withstand.

Biotechnology legal issues involved in technology transfer and new Assignment

Biotechnology legal issues involved in technology transfer and new venture formation - Assignment Example Another legal issue is the registration of the patents or the transfer of the patents’ ownership with the Office of Intellectual Property in the relevant jurisdiction. Contracts will also have to be drawn up between Bio Vacc Ptty Ltd and RMIT for the vaccine project and between Bio and Protein Solutions and Firefly Australia with respect to their joint ventures. Contracts of employment or simple contracts including confidentiality covenants will also be necessary with respect to the students involved in research. This paper examines the various legal issues involved in the transfer of technologies in the arrangements spearheaded by Bio Vacc with a view to accommodating the interests of the parties and any other relevant stakeholders particularly with reference to the patents involved. This is necessary as the parties to the arrangements are only some of the important stakeholders. Other stakeholders who are not parties to the arrangements may have interests that conflict with the commercial and/or scientific interests of the contracting parties.1 The Consequences of the Spin-off A spin-off is the creation of a new organization which is founded on the resources of the parent company or organization.2 This means that the Bio Vacc is essentially a new and independent organization that originated from RMIT. To put it another way, RMIT is commencing a new venture formation via Bio Vacc. The parent company which is RMIT in this case typically forms the new company which is Bio Vacc in this case, to facilitate technology transfer.3 Four legal issues are involved in this spin-off process. First there is the rights and obligations of the parent organization that transfers the technology (patents). Secondly, there is the stage where the technology transfer can actually start. Thirdly, the rights and obligations of the spin-off company that is attempting to form a new venture out of the technology. Finally there are the rights and obligations of the investor who pr ovides funding.4 The roles of each of the actors are best understood by the definition of spin-offs. To this end, Boehm defines a spin-off as: A new company formed (1) by individuals who were former employees of a parent organization, and (2) which is based on a core technology that is transferred from the parent organization.5 In the context of a university spin-off, Boehm describes the spin-off as a founded by a former member of the faculty, or staff member, or even a student who departs from the university for the purpose of starting an organization or starting a company while â€Å"still affiliated with the university†.6 The university spin-off may also be a â€Å"technology or technology-based idea development within the university†.7 The main legal issues are therefore the limits and extent of the use of new technology for the new venture formed by Bio Vacc. In this case the new technology is the two vaccine patents. A second legal issue is the limits and extent to which university research members will participate in the new venture of Bio Vacc. Bio Vacc is essen

Articles related to Managerial Accounting Essay

Articles related to Managerial Accounting - Essay Example The cumulative cost, therefore, constitutes the job cost charged to the customer. The article successfully illustrates that a job order costing approach is utilized when the job in question is distinctive from other jobs or product batches. Just as learnt in the management accounting class, cost accounting is relatively simple in job order costing. This is because the cost of materials and labor are integrated on one job ticket. Further, other overhead costs are included in the total amount of money charged to a customer. The article clearly distinguishes job costing from process costing, by showing that their difference depends on the product being availed to a customer, hence the kind of production procedure followed. I therefore learned that while process costing involves charging costs incurred in the course of production, job costing involves charging a specific job. I also learned that, cost assignment strategies and record keeping in job order costing, have higher complexity than in process costing. This is especially the case, if there are multiple services or products being provided. Complexity is increased by the fact that different services or products result in different costs. This means that for high efficacy in job costing, a company must maintain detailed cost records for every job or product. Summary: This article recognizes the fact that in any business, there is a possibility of making profits, suffering losses or simply breaking even. The F&B establishment used as an example adopts a strategy of providing high quality soup at a fair price. Â  This means that the variable costs incurred are high because of using ingredients of high quality, yet the selling price stays at an average level. As a result, the contribution margin remains equally average. Therefore, fixed expenses and generate profit, the business compensates low margin with high sales volume. This involves making sure that its outlets are

Economics Commentary - article on the Haitian Earthquake Essay Example for Free

Economics Commentary article on the Haitian Earthquake Essay IN JANUARY last year, the quake causes the 2004 Asian tsunami, which kill 250,000 people and 300,000 injured. People were living under sheeting strung across wooden poles. There were too many vulnerable homeless people that aid agency cant fit them in tens. People are trapped in supermarkets, debris and so on. I feel really sorry for them and I hope casualtys family can be rest in peace. First of all, there will be a change in Haitis economy because theres a huge effect of Haitis production. Haiti lost 250,000 people and 300,000 people were injured. They lost loads of labor and enterprise just because of this. Labor are human resources providing power to make goods and services Enterprise is a firm is an owner of a factory or company e.g. Nike, Apple. Capitals such as Houses, hospitals and factories were destroyed. Capital is man made resources that use for production. Many animals got kill by this earthquake and tsunami and destroyed timbers theres loss of land. Land is natural resources that cant add by human. Clearly, Haitis production is decreasing. In this case, we can use a PPF to explain the situation. PPF is a curve that shows the combinations of 2 or more goods that can be produced using all available resources. Heres the PPF of Haiti before tsunami. PFF1 is Haitis PPF before tsunami and PPF2 is Haitis PPF after tsunami The PPF shift to the left means theres decrease at both actual and potential output. Actual output is what the country is currently producing and potential output is the maximum outputs you can produce will all currently resource. Because Haiti lost a lot of capitals, land, labor and enterprise, its production is running down. Therefore, its PPF shifts inward. Theres also economic decline and economic deterioration. Economic decline is the percent decrease in real GDP per annum and economic deterioration is decrease in living standard for everyone in the country. There is a shift of PPF because of the environment factors (earthquake and tsunami). There was a change of Haiti peoples demand because of the tsunami and earthquake. Demand is amount of a good or service that consumer are will and able to buy at a given price over a period a time. Whats the change of Haiti peoples demand? Tsunami and earthquake destroyed a lot things, one of them is food. Haiti people are in starvation, theres no more flesh food for them so their demand of canned food rose. It is because inferior goods demand if rise when theres war, natural disaster. Inferior good is a good that can replace another good as a substitute. The demand of Haiti peoples canned food This is a demand curve shows people in Haitis demand of canned food rise from D1 to D2. Because the demand determinate is not price of the good of itself, its environment, theres a shift of demand curve to the right. Demand determinants are factors that can affect the demand such as: price, consumer income, and low populations Evolution Haitis earthquake and tsunami are lost and a pain we would never wanted to happen and they took millions of peoples life away and destroyed thousands homes. Here are few solutions I think it might help to raise back the economy of Haiti. First of all is asking UN for help. The United Nations (UN) is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace. United nation will usually provided aid and food for refugees. Second is building hospitals and factories. Recovering labor and capital is an important step to get the economy back on track. Education is more important in Haiti than other countries. They need new blood to contribute for the society and thats where education is needed. Good people equal good country.

Trigonometry :: essays research papers

Trigonometry Trigonometry uses the fact that ratios of pairs of sides of triangles are functions of the angles. The basis for mensuration of triangles is the right- angled triangle. The term trigonometry means literally the measurement of triangles. Trigonometry is a branch of mathematics that developed from simple measurements. A theorem is the most important result in all of elementary mathematics. It was the motivation for a wealth of advanced mathematics, such as Fermat's Last Theorem and the theory of Hilbert space. The Pythagorean Theorem asserts that for a right triangle, the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides. There are many ways to prove the Pythagorean Theorem. A particularly simple one is the scaling relationship for areas of similar figures. Did Pythagoras derive the Pythagorean Theorem or did he piece it together by studying ancient cultures; Egypt, Mesopotamia, India and China? What did these ancient cultures know about the theorem? Where was the theorem used in their societies? In "Geometry and Algebra in Ancient Civilizations", the author discusses who originally derived the Pythagorean Theorem. He quotes Proclos, a commentator of Euclid's elements, "if we listen to those who wish to recount the ancient history we may find some who refer this theorem to Pythagoras, and say that he sacrificed an ox in honor of his discovery". If this statement is considered as a statement of fact, it is extremely improbable, for Pythagoras was opposed to the sacrifice of animals, especially cattle. If the saying is considered as just a legend, it is easy to explain how such a legend might have come into existence. Perhaps the original form of the legend said something like he who discovered the famous figure sacrificed a bull in honor of his discovery. Van der Waerden goes on to comment that he believes the original discoverer was a priest, before the time of Babylonian texts, who was allowed to sacrifice animals and also was a mathematician. This question can never be answered, but evidence that societies used the theorem before the time of Pythagoras can be found. The Theorem is useful in everyday life. For example, at a certain time of day, the sun's rays cast a three foot shadow off a four foot flag pole. Knowing these two lengths, and the fact that the pole forms a ninety degree angle with the ground, the distance from the end of the shadow to the top of the pole can be found without measuring. The first step is to substitute the given data

The Spanish-American War and Imperialism

Q5-How did the Spanish-American War turn into a war of imperial expansion? Shawn Lannin 2/26/2013 The Spanish-American War originally started off as The United States protecting Cuba from its Spanish rulers essentially, but quickly evolved into colonial expansion. The war became a war of imperial expansion in the late 1800’s due to America’s new â€Å"outward† focuses on global markets and growing concerns of economic competition/expansion from other world powers. America, once a colony itself was now looking to expand its influence into other parts of the globe as its European cousins had been doing for quite some time.Before, during, and after the war Americans had growing concerns about the Pacific and East Asia. These foreign markets possessed vast amounts of natural resources and fertile lands for the taking; many expansionists had differing reasons for imperialistic expansion. Some argued religious purposes, some the spread of the White-Anglo-Saxon race, (W hite Mans Burden) while others stressed economic and military reasons to expand abroad. Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan, a naval strategist, believed in a strong navy and that America should turn its focus outward and expand its influences into the world.Mahan also urged the acquisition of Pacific islands for military and naval superiority. Islands such as Puerto Rico, Hawaii, The Philippines, and Guam soon became targets of America’s imperialistic aim. These islands could be used strategically to protect merchant fleets in route from Asia and also for military and economic purposes, for example the natural harbor found in Hawaii’s Pearl Harbor served as a great naval base and served as a stepping-stone to Asia, while the fertile volcanic soils were perfect for sugar plantations.Expansionists also sought to protect their trade rights and foreign policies such as The Open Door Policy, which gave free trade rights in East Asian markets. China was in turmoil at the time and o ther world powers were exhibiting land grabs while trying to carve out â€Å"spheres of influence† to control trade in Chinese markets. Expansion in the Pacific would not only secure our rights to trade but would protect our interests over seas as well.Nations across the world were colonizing weaker countries through the concept of Social Darwinism and America didn’t want to fall by the way side so to speak. We had to keep up with the world powers and protect our best interest. It was a time of empires and after decades of isolationism, America decided it was time to show the world our power. By 1898 America had defeated Spain and with its defeat came the annexation of several island nations that we used to our benefit for years to come.

Career College vs. Community College Essay

After schooling a student may have a number of options. A number of colleges have come up that can meet up the various requirements of the students. The new era students are having now expanded demands and desires for their career and future. So, to meet their needs the various colleges are also coming up in the help of the students. What is a Career college? Career Colleges are the new day colleges. They are the modern colleges that have provided the modern students a new scope in the various fields. They are not the general colleges of doing bachelor degree and master’s degree in general streams. They have specialist subjects that offer professional training to the students. These days the mentality of the students and also the parents has changed drastically. In previous days parents and students had only some of the limited choices such as medical, engineering and government services. But now a number of choices have come as add on to this career option. The varieties of career options now available are the hotel management course for services in various hotels, restaurants and clubs, management degrees for various corporate offerings and much more. Now a time has come when a person can even convert his or her hobbies to a study. This has only led to a vast number of diverse courses such as art, aviation, animation, web designing, linguistics and many more. Both bachelors and masters degrees are provided by these colleges. Even other types of degrees are also provided from here. What is a community college? Apart from choice, students have also got colleges that offer them studies as per the comfort zone of the students. There can be a number of students who have problem of joining and regularly attending a college. There can also be students who are not that financially strong and are not able to afford the cost of the career colleges. In these circumstances there are a number of colleges that support the students in all areas. These are the Community college. These days the community colleges are becoming great options for many of the students. These colleges are flexible in their cost, time and  methods. They provide all types of courses from full time to part time, from 3 year courses for 6 months courses, all depending upon the candidate’s capability and need. The pros and cons As everything has its own pros and cons so does the colleges also. Both the colleges, Career College and the Community College have their own pros and cons. The career college is the most sophisticated academic center. They are the most professional and properly handled colleges that provide the most technical and professional training to its students. On the other hand Community Colleges serve the most cost efficient and time efficient academics. The fees of these countries are lesser than the career colleges and have time flexibility for the students to attend the classes as per their requirement and need.

Book Publishing History

Book Publishing History The world is changing due to changes caused by the emerging technologies. Technology has brought new approaches to various human activities. Various industries have been affected by the emerging technologies.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on Book Publishing History specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The forces are so strong that a firm is always forced to either conform to these forces or be faced out of the market. Many firms have been faced out of the market due to their inability to read and adjust to the market trends. Book publishing industry is one of the industries that have experienced the impact of the emerging technologies. For a long time, traditional firms such as Oxford, John Wiley and Sons, Cengage, among other major publishing firms dominated this industry. They had huge market in schools and colleges, and other institutions not only in the United States, but also in the entire world. This is drastic ally changing. With the emergent of amazon.com among other online bookstores, the world is slowly drifting to e-books instead of printed books. This study is focused on analyzing the revolution of the publishing industry and how various forces in this industry have changed. Analyze the Book Publishing Industry Prior To the E-Book Revolution Using Porters Five-Force Model Prior to the e-book revolution, the world of publishing was a preserve for the large firms which had the capacity to pay authors large sums of royalties or advance payments once their manuscript was confirmed. In order to bring more understand to the external environment of this industry in this period, Michael Porters Five Forces theory will be applicable.Advertising Looking for case study on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Supplier power is always important in determining how profitable an industry is. Operating in an industry where suppliers are very powerful can be very dangerous. During this era, suppliers of papers were the most important suppliers to these firms. Other suppliers for products such as ink, binding pins and machines among other items were very important to this industry. However, these suppliers never managed to monopolize this industry. Publishing firms were able to maintain their position as large organizational buyers. They had powers over their suppliers. There were a number of firms that were offering products that they were using as their raw materials. They were therefore, at liberty to choose which firm to buy their raw materials from. Although there were times when the supply of papers would rise, it was not enough to cause a scare in this industry. The publishers would always find a way of manipulating their way in this industry. Buyer power was another factor that affected this industry during this era. When the buyer has power of the products they buy in the market, then the y always tend to dictate the price of the product in the market. The power of the buyer was largely low during this era. This was because of the large market that existed in the form of students who had no option but to buy the products. Degree of rivalry of the firms in the industry also determined success of a firm. During this era, the degree of rivalry was very stiff, especially to those firms that were smaller in size.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on Book Publishing History specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The larger firms would frustrate smaller firms by paying authors attractive royalties. This made them attract major authors, while smaller firms had to struggle in order to get good authors. Threats of new entrants were felt by firms in this industry. The world has been reduced into a small global village. When the planes and telephone was invented, the geographical barrier that existed before was elimin ated. The world was reduced into a small geographical area where an individual could easily move from one end of the earth to another. Firms were heavily affected by this. Most countries, including the United States of America, have liberalized their markets. A foreign firm can easily enter the US market and operate without any interference from the government. This fact created a threat to traditional firms that existed in this country. New firms were coming into this industry at a rate that many of the existing firms had not predicted before. The firms were forced to come up with new strategies that would help them be competitive. The market became very competitive, and success was determined by how effective a firm could market its products among the target group. The new entrants were eating up the market share of the existing firms, and the existing firms had to formulate competitive ways that they could outsmart them. Threat of substitutes was another problem that these firms had to deal with. During this era, there were no serious threats of substitutes that these firms faced. It was difficult to find a substitute product in the market. As such, the main threat that this industry faced came from the media.Advertising Looking for case study on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The print media was eating into the market for novels and other books that were meant for leisure. Most of the leisure readers preferred to read magazines, newspapers and other journals instead of books that required a longer time to read. Using Porter’s Five-Force Model to Analyze How the Advent of E-Books Changed Industry Structure and Competitive Dynamics This industry has changed a lot. The advent of e-books was a revolution in this industry. The large firms that dominated the industry found that they were in very awkward position as what they had considered as competitive advantage turned into main weaknesses they had. Firms in this industry had to redefine their strategy, and overhaul their system to meet the emerging market trends. Porter’s five forces may be useful in demonstrating the dynamics that have happened in this industry. The power of suppliers in this industry has changed. The suppliers have changed from what they were before the advent of e-books. E- books do not require papers as raw materials, and neither do they need ink, or large machines that were needed before in printing books. Although there are a good percentage of those books that are produced in print form, this percentage is on a constant decline. This means that the power of traditional suppliers has been reduced a great deal. The power of the buyers has been on the rise since the advent of e-books. Buyers are able to access various online suppliers of books. This also means that these buyers have opportunity to dictate price in the market because they have a variety to choose from. This increased buyer power has seen firms in this industry lower the price of books in the market. Threat of substitutes has massively increased in this new era. The internet has massive information in various fields available freely. Scholars have considered it best to access these free sources of information instead of buying books. Threats of substitutes have also increased. For every book that is authored, there are various other sources of information that can be used instead of them. Degree of rivalry has also increased. There are many firms that can easily get into this industry because it is much easier to operate in as opposed to how it was before the advent of e-books. The Long-Term Threats and Opportunities Facing the Book Publishing Industry There are some long term threats that may have serious effects on this industry. Mass and social media is posing serious threat to this industry. Children spend more time watching movie instead of reading books, while youth take most of their time on Facebook, Tweeter, and YouTube among other social media. This means that the sale of books, including the e-books, will continue declining. This is aggravated by the fact that college students prefer getting their information from the internet for free. Such sites as Wikipedia have become so popular among the college students, jeopardizing sale of books Despite these ch allenges, there are some opportunities that are available in this industry. The advent of e-books has had a massive reduction on cost of producing books. The production cost of books has been reduced by almost eighty percent. This makes it easy for the firms to charge lower prices for their products. Distributions of the products have also been made easier, faster and cheaper. It is easier to ensure that an online book reaches the customer from various regions around the world. It has helped this industry eliminated a number of middlemen who inflated the cost of making the product available to customers.

Battle of Charleroi in World War I

Battle of Charleroi in World War I The Battle of Charleroi was fought August 21-23, 1914, during the opening days of World War I (1914-1918) and was part of a series of engagements collectively known as the Battle of the Frontiers (August 7-September 13, 1914). With the start of World War I, the armies of Europe began mobilizing and moving towards the front. In Germany, the army commenced implementing a modified version of the Schlieffen Plan. The Schlieffen Plan Conceived by Count Alfred von Schlieffen in 1905, the plan was designed for a two-front war against France and Russia. Following their easy victory over the French in the 1870 Franco-Prussian War, Germany saw France as less of a threat than its larger neighbor to the east. As a result, Schlieffen sought to mass the bulk of Germanys military might against France with the goal of winning a quick victory before the Russians could fully mobilize their army. With France eliminated, Germany would be able to focus their attention to the east (Map). Predicting that France would attack across the border into Alsace and Lorraine, which had been ceded following the earlier conflict, the Germans intended to violate the neutrality of Luxembourg and Belgium to attack the French from the north in a large-scale battle of encirclement. German troops were to defend along the border while the right wing of the army swept through Belgium and past Paris in an effort to crush the French army.   French Plans In the years prior to the war, General Joseph Joffre, Chief of the French General Staff, moved to update his nations war plans for a conflict with Germany. Though he initially desired to create a plan that had French forces attack through Belgium, he was later unwilling to violate that nations neutrality. Instead, he and his staff designed Plan XVII which called for French troops to mass along the German border and mount attacks through the Ardennes and into Lorraine. Armies Commanders: French General Charles LanrezacFifth Army Germans General Karl von  Bà ¼low  General Max von HausenSecond Third Armies Early Fighting With the beginning of the war, the Germans aligned the First through Seventh Armies, north to south, to execute the Schlieffen Plan. Entering Belgium on August 3, First and Second Armies drove back the small Belgian Army but were slowed by the need to reduce the fortress city of Liege.   Receiving reports of German activity in Belgium, General Charles Lanrezac, commanding the Fifth Army at the northern end of the French line, alerted Joffre that the enemy was advancing in unexpected strength.   Despite Lanrezacs warnings, Joffre moved forward with Plan XVII and an attack into Alsace.   This and a second effort in Alsace and Lorraine were both pushed back by the German defenders (Map).      To the north, Joffre had planned to launch an offensive with the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Armies but these plans were overtaken by events in Belgium. On August 15, after lobbying from Lanrezac, he directed Fifth Army north into the angle formed by the Sambre and Meuse Rivers. Hoping to gain the initiative, Joffre ordered Third and Fourth Armies to attack through the Ardennes against Arlon and Neufchateau.   Advancing on August 21, they encountered the German Fourth and Fifth Armies and were badly defeated. As the situation along the front developed, Field Marshal Sir John Frenchs British Expeditionary Force (BEF) disembarked and began assembling at Le Cateau.   Communicating with the British commander, Joffre requested that French to cooperate with Lanrezac on the left. Along the Sambre Responding to Joffres order to move north, Lanrezac positioned his Fifth Army south of the Sambre extending from the Belgian fortress city of Namur in the east to just past the mid-size industrial town of Charleroi in the west. His I Corps, led by General Franchet dEsperey, extended the right south behind the Meuse. To his left, the cavalry corps of General Jean-Franà §ois Andrà © Sordet linked Fifth Army to Frenchs BEF.   On August 18, Lanrezac received additional instructions from Joffre directing him to attack north or east depending upon the enemys location. Seeking to locate General Karl von  Bà ¼lows Second Army, Lanrezacs cavalry moved north of the Sambre but were unable to penetrate the German cavalry screen.   Early on August 21, Joffre, increasingly aware of the size of German forces in Belgium, directed Lanrezac to attack when opportune and arranged for the BEF to provide support. On the Defensive Though he received this directive, Lanrezac adopted a defensive position behind the Sambre but failed to establish heavily-defended bridgeheads north the river. Additionally, due to poor intelligence regarding the bridges over the river, several were left completely undefended. Attacked later in the day by the lead elements of Bà ¼lows army, the French were pushed back over the river. Though ultimately held, the Germans were able to establish positions on the south bank. Bà ¼low assessed the situation and requested that General Freiherr von Hausens Third Army, operating to east, join in the attack on Lanrezac with the goal of executing a pincer. Hausen agreed to strike west the next day.   On the morning of August 22, Lanrezacs corps commanders, on their own initiative, launched attacks north in an effort to throw the Germans back over the Sambre. These proved unsuccessful as nine French divisions were unable to dislodge three German divisions. The failure of these attacks cost Lanrezac high ground in the area while a gap between his army and Fourth Army began to open on his right (Map).   Responding, Bà ¼low renewed his drive south with three corps without waiting for Hausen to arrive. As the French resisted these assaults, Lanrezac withdrew dEspereys corps from the Meuse with the intent of using it to strike Bà ¼lows left flank on August 23. Holding through the day, the French again came under attack the next morning. While the corps to the west of Charleroi was able to hold, those to the east in the French center, despite mounting an intense resistance, began to fall back.   As I Corps moved into position to strike  Bà ¼lows flank, the lead elements of Hausens army began crossing the Meuse.   A Desperate Situation Recognizing the dire threat this posted, dEsperey counter-marched his men towards their old positions.   Engaging Hausens troops, I Corps checked their advance but could not push them back across the river. As night fell, Lanrezacs position was increasingly desperate as a Belgian division from Namur had retreated into his lines while Sordets cavalry, which had reached a state of exhaustion, needed to be withdrawn. This opened a 10-mile gap between Lanrezacs left and the British. Further west, Frenchs BEF had fought the  Battle of Mons. A tenacious defensive action, the engagement around Mons had seen the British inflict heavy losses on the Germans before being forced to give ground. By late afternoon, French had ordered his men to begin falling back. This exposed Lanrezacs army to greater pressure on both flanks. Seeing little alternative, he began making plans to withdraw south.   These were quickly approved by Joffre. In the fighting around Charleroi, the Germans sustained around 11,000 casualties while the French incurred approximately 30,000. Aftermath: Following the defeats at Charleroi and Mons, French and British forces began a long, fighting retreat south towards Paris. Holding actions or failed counterattacks were conducted at Le Cateau (August 26-27) and St. Quentin (August 29-30), while Mauberge fell September 7 after a brief siege. Creating a line behind the Marne River, Joffre prepared to make a stand to save Paris. Stabilizing the situation, Joffre began the First Battle of the Marne on September 6 when a gap was found between the German First and Second Armies. Exploiting this, both formations were soon threatened with destruction.   In these circumstances, the German Chief of Staff, Helmuth von Moltke, suffered a nervous breakdown. His subordinates assumed command and ordered a general retreat to the Aisne River.

Approaches against Fraudulent Activities Case Study

Approaches against Fraudulent Activities - Case Study Example Hence, even poorly performing firms obtained huge amounts of credits from MCI and this condition adversely affected MCI’s operational efficiency. When receivable collection periods went beyond the stipulated timeframe, the organization was forced to write off some of its receivables. Undoubtedly, this condition caused the firm to experience a rise in its expenses and thereby a decline in earnings per share. Ultimately, MCI’s stock price dropped due to the decline in EPS. As Lyon and Tocco (n. d.) point out, Pavlo used a variety of accounting tricks to convince the management that the level of bad debts and amount receivables had fallen under the safety range. In other words, Pavlo totally manipulated the accounting system to conceal the actual state of affairs of the company. It is obvious that the absence of a well-executed internal check system assisted Pavlo to apply unfair accounting tricks to deceive the company management. A person is not allowed to carry through a transaction from beginning to end under the internal check system. ... situation aided him to employ accounting malpractices such as ‘unapplied cash’ and ‘placeholder credits’ to conceal MCI’s actual financial status. Approaches against Fraudulent Activities If an individual suspects fraudulent activity within the organization where he works, it is advisable for him not to make any false allegation. In addition, he must never try to take any unfair advantage of that fraudulent activity. Every organization has a distinct corporate culture and hence a specific mechanism to report fraud. It is recommendable for the individual to strictly adhere to the accepted fraud reporting mechanism of the organization. If an individual suspects fraud in his organization, firstly he must make an immediate note of his concern. He should specifically try to note relevant details concerning the fraud including telephone conversations, date and time, or names of parties involved. Secondly, the individual has to report the fraud to someone wi th proper authority and experience. Generally, it is better to report fraud to line managers, internal auditors, or whistleblowers. In addition, fraud may be reported to the Monitoring Officer, Chief Executive, or the Director of Finance. The individual should not make any delay in reporting the suspected fraud to proper authorities because such a situation would cause the organization to suffer further financial loss. Finally, the individual should ensure that the authority has taken proper actions over his fraud report; otherwise, he must report the case to higher authorities. Under no circumstance, the individual can disclose his suspicion to public or any other unauthorized person.