English composition drama essay Essay

Watching a drama clearly is more effective than reading a drama, and in the same perspective comparing a drama that is watched to a short fiction that is read is undeniably on two different ends of the spectrum. The usefulness of a story that has more meaning within itself than intended on when watching itself play out compared to reading a short fiction clearly holds watching the drama more advantageous. But other than just that the effectiveness between watching and reading a drama gets called into question. Watching a drama has an advantage when compared to reading a short fiction because of the way the drama is acted out giving the audience more depth and meaning to the story. There is a clear advantage to watching a drama compared to reading a short fiction. To be able to understand the advantages, one must understand the notable differences between the two. Firstly, short fictions are designed to be read, unlike dramas, which are meant to be acted out in front of an audience. Also, with short fictions the reader is informed about the setting or other important details that are described in the text. However, the setting in a drama is visually portrayed by many elements. The audience sees the exact setting that the author illustrated with his wording. Besides the author’s description of the time and place, other visuals such as costumes give the audience a more definitive perception of the setting. The advantage that drama has over short fiction is that the drama provides the audience with the exact setting that the author constructed while the readers of fiction have to imagine their own setting, which will always vary between one reader and the next. The use of tone also gives a drama the upper hand against a short fiction because short fictions lack the visual components that dramas are able to incorporate in the performance. Such as, the use of lighting, interchangeable scenery, and appropriate props that emphasize the desired tone communicated by the author’s directions. â€Å"For instance, if the playwright wants to evoke an atmosphere of anticipation, that something dreadful is about to happen, the lighting can be adjusted to create a dark, forbidding set†(LearningExpress, 2). Watching a drama is very effective in constructing meaning because of the precision to details the author provides. When an audience can physically see what is going on in a drama, a conflict or resolution becomes easier to comprehend rather than reading a short fiction that does not have nearly as much descriptive detail that a drama expresses. â€Å"This enables the dramatist to create very realistic atmospheres that will convey to the audience a particular mood in the drama†(LearningExpress 2). Something simple as the way characters are dressed in a drama give meaning to their social status such as, someone that is wealthy, or someone that lives in poverty. When given the option to either watch, or read the drama, the decision that is made should always be to watch the drama. It is much more effective to watch the drama in comparison to reading it. â€Å"†¦drama is not intended to be read off the printed page but to be acted out in front of an audience(LearningExpress, 1). If one were to read a drama instead of watching it, then the reader will experience the possibility of misinterpreting the author’s directions for the way a character is meant to speak at a certain time in the drama, which can cause confusion for the reader. Also, the experience of being a part of a large audience watching a drama proves to be a more effective than simply reading it. â€Å"When we read the written script of a play, †¦ but we cannot experience the reactions of other people as they watch the drama with us†(LearningExpress 5). Seeing the reaction of an audience gives a greater sense of appreciation of dramas and their ability to affect many people at once. Dramas were written to be a performance and not to be read to one’s self. Ultimately, watching a drama over reading short fiction clearly has its advantages. The visual elements in a drama such as the set, costumes, and props are completely understood and appreciated fully compared to the two different ideas that were separately concluded from different readers of a fiction novel. The functionality in a drama to provide the audience with the same outlook compared to the various different messages fictions can convey is the main advantage watching dramas has over reading fictions. The concise detailing an author provides in their dramas lets the audience find the meaning in a simpler way. Watching a drama is proven to be much more effective because of the overall experience each audience member get to appreciate. Work Cited â€Å"Reading Drama Study Guide: GED Language Arts, Reading. † Education. com. LearningExpress Editors, 9 Mar. 2011. Web. 13 June 2013. .

Employee Engagement Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Employee Engagement - Dissertation Example ss the organization. These issues should be addressed early in order to avoid the deterioration of employees-employer relationship in the specific organization. From another point of view, the identification of the reasons of the low response of employees to the specific survey would help managers to identify the measures required for the increase of employee satisfaction – an increase that could lead to the improvement of their performance. 3. What is its relevance to the â€Å"client† organisation? The subject of this study is directly related to the strategic framework of the chosen organization. In fact, it is in the context of this framework/ policies that the quarterly employee engagement survey is developed. From this point of view, the review and the evaluation of the performance of the above survey could help to identify any potential gaps in the implementation of the firm’s strategies. 4. Research Objectives The research objectives implied from the stud y’s research question could be described as follows: a. Which is the role of employee engagement in modern organizations. b. Which are the most common factors/ elements that can influence employee engagement in firms of different industries? c. Which methods are likely to be used by managers in order to measure the level of employee engagement within their organization? d. Which is the value of quarterly employee engagement survey for measuring the level of employee engagement in modern firms? e. Which strategies would be developed by the firm’s managers in order for the response rate of employees to be increased to 95% - from its current rate of 77% - in the next two quarterly surveys? 5. Texts/journal articles which were used to identify the key themes within the academic and practitioner literature related to the research question and objectives. Axelrod, R. (2010) Terms of Engagement: New Ways of Leading and Changing Organizations. Berrett-Koehler Publishers Erez, M., Kleinbeck, U., Thierry, H. (2001) Work motivation in the context of a globalizing economy. Routledge Federman, b. (2009) Employee Engagement: A Roadmap for Creating Profits, Optimizing Performance, and Increasing Loyalty. John Wiley and Sons

IT Trends Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

IT Trends - Essay Example Various organizations such as Gartner and Juniper have listed some of the top technological trends that are leading in the field of information systems. This section will briefly explain two major trends from the two firms According to Gartner, the arrival of Windows 8 made battles related to mobile devices as one of the top technological trend for the year 2012 and 2013. Gartner claimed that the conflict among the vendors to have full attention from the consumers had forced IT managers to be heterogeneous. It was predicted that by the year 2013, mobile phones would overtake personal computers, mostly among those workers whose jobs required them to do so though a few still require the PCs. The rise of mobile devices signaled the end of PCs as well as Windows as the only corporate platform. This means that by 2015, it is highly likely that Windows 8 will be lagging behind Apple and Android, reducing Microsoft’s share (Miller par.4). The mobile money has attracted immense attention and related services have been diversifying and growing rapidly. According to Juniper, the environment in Asia and Africa has led to an increased uptake of mobile money oriented service, leading to the development of other services such as product tracking (Koetsier par. 3). In successfully adopting mobile devices in organizations, it is important to first understand some of the drawbacks such as loss of data and insecurity. In this case, there is a need to provide a strategy or framework for mobile users to work in a secure manner, including the use of applications with business oriented data at prescribed entries to heighten cost savings. Consequently, this will unleash innovation and easily solve business related problems. Another way of effectively adopting mobile devices in businesses is by heavily investing in IT. If the IT staff does not have the ability to support the devices, it is essential to outsource external support to ensure that users have someone they

Contingency response plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Contingency response plan - Essay Example He shall likewise be responsible for the onsite coordination of external agents like the local authorities and other emergency personnel. The Medical Officer shall conduct a triage of the victims with triage cards in preparation for the arrival of rescue teams. He shall ensure that the medical response team is well appraise of the situation and is prepared to handle the situation. The Security Officer shall survey and conduct a quick investigation if other explosive devices are still present or could be present within the ship or if there is an imminent danger to rescuers or first responders to be in danger too because of secondary explosions. The Local Authorities (Police/Coast Guard) shall be the final authority that will decide if there are still residual danger, or threat. Imminent or otherwise. They shall provide recommendations on how best to proceed. They or their agents shall be the incident manager with the Captain of the shil and his men following their lead and instructions. 1. At the instant that the Captain is aware of the situation he shall immediately station himself on the deck or at the center of communication of the ship. To coordinate all actions and implementations of all emergency protocol. 3. The Captain shall contact, inform and coordinate with the ships’s owner about the incident and relay all available information about the situation as they come to his attention. He should also give his recommendation with regards to information dissemination to other stakeholders 4. The Captain shall also order the Medical station to standby and prepare for the injured and to activate the Emergency Response Team with focus to smoke inhalation and blast injuries and other information that will protect the responders iii. The Security Officer shall survey and conduct a quick investigation if other explosive devices are still present

Exploratory Methods Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Exploratory Methods - Research Paper Example Exploratory research is also known as unstructured or informal form of research. This is generally done for conducting a background study of the research. The nature of the research keeps changing as the researcher uncovers the different aspects of the research area. In exploratory method of research no well-defined objective, sampling plan or questionnaire is prepared for collecting data. Generally secondary sources of data are concluded in this form of research (Parasuraman, Grewal & Krishnan, 2007, p. 57). The exploratory research method is applicable in: a) Gaining the information regarding the background of the study. It is used when the researcher has very little information about the problem and the problem statement of the research could not be appropriately formulated. It becomes necessary for the reader to develop a background analysis to see the larger picture of the situation, b) It is used to measure the terms and concepts to be used in the research, and c) The hypothesi s and the problem areas can be clarified through exploratory research (Burns, & Bush, 2007, p. 57). Case Study The intensive analysis of any individual unit is called case study. It mainly stresses the developmental factors in relation to the given context. It may be descriptive or exploratory. Case study is used in exploratory research to find the causes so as to find relevant answers for the stated principles. The case study may be prospective one or a retrospective one. The case is the subject, which is discussed on the basis of a particular organization, issue or problem. Case study is also denoted as research study as it gives us an empirical analysis of the phenomenon in real-life situations. Case study is generally formulated to answer the research questions. The research problem is first carefully formulated and then answers are found based on the research conducted by the researcher. The answers derived from the research is explained or interpreted by the researcher with th e help of a real-life situation. The theories used while deriving the solution are utilized and a case is formulated to present the practical problem situations and strategies that were used to solve them. The type of research question defines the type of case study to be formed. Case studies help to find the bottle necks and ways to reach the solutions. It also enables the researcher to monitor the changes. Psychobiography The term psychobiography means analyzing the importance of lives by using the psychological theories and conducting research. The aim of this type of research is to unearth the public motives behind a particular activity or behavior. Psychobiographical research does not involve any form of standardized format. It generally depends on the subject, the researcher and various other aspects. It is actually considered as a qualitative form of research technique. This method of conducting research is generally used for celebrities, outstanding personalities or leaders. Psychobiographical research provides an in-depth analysis to the researcher regarding the behavior of the person and the reason behind such behavior. This methodology was actually invented by Sigmund Freud. It deals with unfolding the personality and psychology of an individual. This method is use in form of qualitative research technique because it deals with human behavior, psychology and emotions. It is also used to explore

Memo Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Memo - Essay Example We have taken this step to increase employee specialization in a particular field and to increase productivity. Employees will even be able to connect with people from different backgrounds and cultures; this will help in developing employees’ interpersonal skills. Communication Language – we have decided to make English as our official language as English language is the world’s third most extensively vocal language. In order to compete globally we need to understand people all over the world and English is the most extensively spoken language. This measure will even help employees from different countries interact with each other and work in teams. SAP took this step to eliminate language barriers and the company will be able to understand the needs of our consumers and work to benefit the consumers. Managers – SAP has hired from different nations as these managers will us develop software according to the needs of the customers. These managers will identify software needs of different customers located in different regions and help us in creating customer friendly software. I am grateful to new and old employees for the commitment and hard work they have shown over the years. We want all our employees to support us in attaining our objective of competing globally. We want our employees to give inputs regarding the training required to implement the change and the difficulties they are facing due to these changes. SAP wants all the employees to meet us in a conference scheduled for 4 April 2010 at 14:00 hours in the conference room number 3. SAP and employees will discuss and analyze the views of our employees in this

Nortel Case Report Essay Example for Free

Nortel Case Report Essay The company also used to be affiliated with ATamp;T/Western Electric until Western was forced to sell its stake in 1949. In 1976, the company changed its name from Northern Electric to Northern Telecom Limited, and shifted its concentration on digital technology. In 1977, Nortel introduced its DMS line of digital central office telephone switches. Nortel ended its long relationship with ATamp;T in 1984, a year after deregulation named. Bell Canada Enterprises the parent company to Northern Telecom. In 1998, the company acquired Bay Networks and changed its name to Nortel Networks. In the late 90’s, Nortel’s sales of fiber optic network gear was predicted to help their sales, but the market became saturated very quickly. At the height of Nortel’s first 100 years the company amassed for more than a third of the total valuation of all companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX), but once the Internet bubble passed, the company fell into ethical debacle. Nortel Networks Corporation, or formally known as Northern Telecom Limited was one of the largest telecommunications equipment companies in the world prior to its filing for bankruptcy protection on January 14th, 2009. During times of functionality, they specialized in multinational telecommunications equipment manufacturing. The company is based in Canada out of Mississiauga, Ontario, Canada. Their biggest rival always was Global System Mobile (GSM). Through the early 1990s, the company invested heavily in Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) in attempt to grow in European and Asian markets. This did not pan out so well as Nortel’s losses amounted to $27. 3 billion by 2001—causing them to lay off two-thirds of the workforce. From 2000 through 2003 there was a period of fiscal irresponsibility resulting from the work of the company’s administrators. Initially in 2000, they falsified their fourth-quarter earnings by $1 billion to meet market expectations and selectively reversing certain revenue entries. In 2002, administrators discovered $300 million in excess reserves being carried over and swept it under the rug for future benefit in addition to establishing another $151 million in unnecessary reserves. In 2003, administrators directed the release of at least $490 million of excess reserves to boost earning, fabricate profits, and pay bonuses. Losses turned to profits during this year thanks to the shifty methods taking place. Later in that year, administrators mislead investors as to why Nortel was conducting a purportedly â€Å"comprehensive review† of its assets—attributed by restatement $948 million in liabilities. They said restatement was caused solely by internal control mistakes instead of the truth that there was intentional improper handling of reserves which needed to remain hidden. 2 On October 23rd, 2003, the company announced that Nortel would restate its financials for fiscal years 2000, 2001, and 2002. Shortly after this restatement, the major players of Nortel’s administration that were responsible for all of this were exposed through an independent investigation. In March 2004, The CFO and controller were suspended, in addition to the announcement of further restatements and revisions; they were terminated a month later in April 2004. A restatement in early 2005 showed approximately $3. 4 billion in misstated revenues and another $746 in liabilities. In late 2005, Nortel admitted that restatements were the result of management fraud—beginning the downturn of their stock. The company ended up restating financials four times over four years, replacing senior management, and instituting a comprehensives remediation program designed to ensure proper accounting and reporting practices. Eventually on October 15th, 2007, Nortel agreed to settle by paying a $35 million civil penalty and admitting to violations of the antifraud, reporting, books and records, and internal control provisions of the federal securities laws. 2 On June 25th, 2009, Nortel’s price dropped to 18. 5 cents a share down from a high of $124. 0 in 2000. The company decided that month that they would discontinue operations and sell off all of its business units. Nortel’s CDMA wireless business and LTE access technology were sold to Ericsson, and Avaya purchased Nortels Enterprise business unit. Major Players in the Scandal: The major players in this scandal were the four members of the senior management: CEO Frank Dunn, CFO Douglas Beatty, controller Michael Gollogly, and ass istant controller Maryanne Pahapill. CEO Frank Dunn, who is also a certified management accountant. Dunn was mainly involved in the improper use of reserves from 2000 to 2003. CFO Douglas Beatty, controller Michael Gollogly, and assistant controller Maryanne Pahapill were also involved in this management fraud. 2 The Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Toronto arrested ex-CEO Frank Dunn, ex-CFO Douglas Beatty, and former corporate controller Michael Gollogly on seven counts of fraud. Including charges â€Å"fraud affecting public market; falsification of books and documents; false prospectus, pertaining to allegations of criminal activity within Nortel Networks during 2002 and 2003. Magnitude of the financial issue: Nortel at its peak was one of the best companies that Canada had ever seen. Just like ENRON and other financial frauds at the time, Nortel appeared to be a shining example of success in the corporate world. Again like ENRON, Nortel grew through a strategy of aggressive expansion and purchasing of smaller companies in order to create a massive conglomerate. During the good times Nortel was the largest technology company and the most valuable company in Canada. Nortel accounted for over one third of the entire aluation of the Toronto Stock Exchange. The Toronto Stock Exchange is the Canadian equivalent of the New York Stock Exchange and holds the most influential stock market in Canada. Nortel employed about 95,000 employees worldwide. About 26,000 of those workers based in Canada alone. Nortel at one point had a market capitalization of almost C$400 billion. Nortel had set up pensions and healthcare protection for its employees. All of these were lost to either the restructuring under Frank Dunne which left about 60,000 employees without jobs or the bankruptcy that followed in 2009. Canadian government officials and regulators identified how destructive a full failure of Nortel would be on the Canadian economy. The Canadian government through the Export Development Canada project tried to lend money to the falling giant. However the Canadian government could not cover all of Nortel’s debt obligations. Nortel owed about $107 million and the EDC (Export Development Canada) could only supply about $30 million in short term loans. This $107 million interest payment accounted for about 4% of Nortel’s cash and put the company into bankruptcy. The world financial crisis of 2008 had put too much strain on Nortel and they were forced to begin liquidation. Public auditor: The auditors involved with this case were Deloitte and Touche. In documents from the fraud case, which is still being heard by the Royal court in Canada, Deloitte claims that they were not given proper documentation by Nortel. Deloitte claims that they did not have pertinent information which should have been provided by administrators at Nortel. Deloitte raised concerns to the audit board of Nortel in 2003 when Nortel turned a profit after Frank Dunne’s restructuring of the company. Deloitte raised awareness of potential fraud and did their duty in that respect. However further investigation conducted has implicated Deloitte in the financial reporting irregularities in Nortel which some have claimed dates back to the time of CEO Roth who held office before Dunne. Information coming out of the case states that even if transactions were deemed suspicious, they still signed off on the verity of the financial reports. Frank Dunne and some of his officers are now charged with fraud by both the SEC and the OSC which regulate the American and Canadian markets respectively. The case is currently still under review in the Royal court of Canada and civil charges have been brought in the United States. Fraud Triangle Nortel had experienced tremendous growth throughout the 1990s, allowing it to expand operations worldwide. Nortel’s expansion came during the telecommunication and technology bubble of the 1990s that inflated stock prices of companies in those sectors. Frank Dunn had taken over for the previous CEO, John Roth, in November 2001 during the telecommunication bubble bust. Dunn felt pressured to maintain the high stock price because it accounted for over one third of Nortel’s value2. Nortel management was also incentivized to post profits that produced executive bonuses with over $7. 8million going to Dunn alone. The primary members of the Nortel fraud were able to commit the fraud because, as executive officers and controllers, they were able to go around the internal controls of the company. That allowed them to implement many accounting practices that did not comply with GAAP. Nortel management’s rationalization for these fraudulent practices must have been that they needed to maintain the high stock price in order for the company to continue operating. Moral Breach and Ethical Issues As a publicly traded company, Nortel had the responsibility of fairly reporting the company’s true financial data to stockholders and potential investors. Dunn, Beatty, Gollogly and Pahapill breached this responsibility by establishing earnings management accounting strategies to manipulate Nortel’s revenues. Nortel management also actively sought to inflate earnings to trigger very large bonuses for key members of management. Perhaps, if these incentives did not exist then there would be less motivation to commit the fraud. Finally, Nortel’s auditor for over a century, Deloitte and Touche, has come under scrutiny by the defense lawyers in Dunn, Gollogly and Beatty’s civil trial in Canada this year. The defense claims that Deloitte approved of all major accounting adjustments that Dunn and his team had engaged in. Summary of Legal Actions On April 28th, 2004, Dunn and his fraud partners were fired for financial mismanagement2. On March 12th, 2007 the SEC filed civil charges against Dunn, Beatty, Gollogly and Pahapill for repeatedly engaging in accounting fraud to bridge gaps between Nortel’s true performance, its internal targets, and market expectations. Dunn and Beatty were charged with violating the officer certification agreement that was established by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Nortel settled with SEC on October 15, 2007 by consenting to be prescribed from violating the antifraud, reporting, books and records, and internal control provisions of the federal securities laws. Nortel paid $35million to the SEC, and $1million to the Ontario Securities Commission to establish a Fair Fund for affected shareholders. Finally, Canadian authorities arrested and charge Dunn, Beatty and Gollogly with seven counts of fraud. Their trial began on January 16th, 2012. Current Status: Nortel, once known as the largest telecommunications manufacturer in the world, filed for bankruptcy in 2009. Now three years later, the period of bankruptcy continues as the company discloses their every operating report highlighting each cash receipt and disbursement. When Nortel went bankrupt, executives believed that selling all business assets would be the best and easiest way to fight debt. Recently, Nortel has netted $7. 7 billion from selling its patents and businesses. As stated on their website, â€Å"Nortel remains focused on maximizing value for its stakeholders, including the sale of its remaining assets, resolution of claims, the wind-down of its global operations and entities, resolution of allocation matters with respect to the sale proceeds, and other significant restructuring activities toward the conclusion of the creditor protection proceedings. † The case for Nortel executives Dunn (ex CEO), Beatty (ex CFO) and Gollogy (ex controller), who were charged with fraud for affecting the public market and falsifying books and documents to earn larger bonuses, is still in trial. In February, a former Vice President of Nortel testified in court against executives stating that they had asked him to use questionable accounting methods to manipulate the company’s earnings. Although those who committed the crime have been charged, thousands of employees will still be left without pension plans and jobs. Nortel has spent over $20 million on retirement package these past two year, but unfortunately the company will stop the pension plan and disability program payments as it continues to sell away its businesses. By the end of 2011, Nortel was split into regional entities – Nortel Networks Limited in Canada and Nortel Networks Inc in the United States, causing disagreements over how to split $7. 5 billion that was earned by selling many assets and patents other corporations such as Apple and Microsoft Corp. The following charts, graphs and financial statements analyze Nortel’s current status. Case Study Questions and Solutions: 1. Dunn is a certified management accountant. Based on the facts of the case, which provisions of the IMA’s Statement of Ethical Professional Practice that was discussed in chapter 1 have been violated? Dunn violates many of the provisions of the IMA’s statement of Ethical Professional Practice they are as follows: 1. Perform professional duties in accordance with law, regulations and technical standards. 2. Provide decision information that is accurate, clear, concise and timely 3. Retain from engaging in any conduct that would prejudice carrying out any duties ethically. 4. Abstain from engaging in or supporting any activity that might discredit the profession. 5. Communicate information fairly and objectively. 6. Disclose all relevant information, that could reasonably be expected to influence an intended users understanding of the reports analyses or recommendations. 7. Disclose delays or deficiencies in information timeliness processing or internal controls in conformance with organization policy and/or applicable law. He violated these by selective reversal of revenue entries in 2000. Followed by concealing the reserves in 2002, which violated GAAP, and then avoided posting a profit so the company wouldn’t have to pay out bonuses. In 2003 Dunn released the reserves to falsely report a profit, which allowed them to eports a profit a quarter earlier than expected, and to pay out more bonuses to senior management. Also in 2003 he misled the investors about why Nortel had restated its financials in order to avoid uncovering the unethical management techniques him and his team had been using. All of these actions take away Dunn’s integrity and credibility in the field of manageria l accounting, which are two of the standards the IMA sets out. Dunn failed to meet his professional code of conduct and his company suffered because of it. 2. What are the responsibilities of an auditor to detect fraud? How were those responsibilities compromised by the actions of Nortel’s management? It is the auditors responsibility to report fraud if they find it, however in this case the actions of Nortel’s management made it difficult for the auditors to do their job. The false financial statements and hiding of money veiled the problems of the company from the auditors. Once there was a hint of the fraud the auditors found it and perused the trail, taking the ethical route and also following the code of conduct. It was their investigation that brought down the fraudulent executives and forced the company to restate its financials properly. This would eventually lead to the failure of Nortel. Nortel made materially false and misleading statements and omissions in connection with the quarterly reviews and materially misstated annual audits of financial statements. This caused the auditors to not be able to properly do their job, and review the statements. 3. Describe the incentives that created pressure on Nortel to manage earnings. Considering the role of Nortel’s management in this regard, discuss whether it met its corporate governance obligations as discussed in previous chapters. The incentives that drove Nortel to manage its earning where greed of the management team, the pressure to deliver bonuses, the pressure to survive an economic downturn, and the pressure to make the company seem like a good investment to both current and potential investors. In an economic climate of intense competition and corporate greed the management at Nortel fell victim to their vices and allowed the pressure to perform to overwhelm their priorities. This caused them to put their own greed and personal ambition before the well being of the company. Nortel did not meet its corporate governance obligations. It did not follow any internal rules of how to run the business. It ignored any corporate ethics they might have. It lied to stakeholders several times by misstating the financials. They did not follow the professional code of conduct of their careers and also did not follow industry standards. They broke the law. No one inside the company caught the fraud therefore their internal controls where not effective. Each of these immoral acts is a case where corporate governance has failed. 4. The final quote in the case characterizes Nortel’s failure as â€Å"just another casualty of capitalism. Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not? How would you characterize the cause of the failure at Nortel? I would argue that Nortel is not just another casualty of capitalism. Nortel did not function in a system of free market capitalism where the government had absolutely no regulation and let the markets function however they wanted. The capitalism system of North America is more of a mixed economy, which combines public and private ownership of companies, and also provides government regulation and intervention to prevent and deal with fraud. Even in a free market the system is meant to come to an equal balance of supply and demand, which cannot be reached if there is fraud involved since the supply has been inaccurately disclosed by the senior management at Nortel. I would characterize this failure as one of humanity. It was not the economic system that allowed this fraud to take place, but the greed of the people and a social environment that ties success so strongly to wealth. It was the social pressure and the effect of human nature that led to Nortel’s demise. . The case discusses how Nortel’s managers prioritized themselves over the shareholders, which, in part, lead to the company’s failure. What should be a company’s first priority? A company’s first priority should be following their code of ethics. The second priority should be the shareholders, followed by the management and other employees. This hierarchy ensures that all the business that is done with be both moral and legal , meaning there is no room to commit fraud and damage the company. In this way you are putting the shareholders first, because by providing a stable and healthy company the shareholders will see an investment that will be able to reach its highest potential. 6. Was Nortel’s settlement a fair penalty? Should the SEC have imposed harsher or more lenient sanctions? Should these sanctions have been on the managers, on Nortel as a whole, or both? A fair settlement would offer compensation to all those who were hurt by this fraud. Groups that may have been hurt could be shareholders, employees and customers. Deciding what is a fair compensation is a little more difficult, however as much of what these people lost as possible should be returned to them. As for the managers who created the problems and took part in the fraud should face a sentence of termination from their company, loss of license (if applicable) and jail time. The company and the individual managers have both failed stakeholders and should both be held accountable. In the case of Nortel specifically the stockholder settlement goes with these guidelines, as for the managers their trial is still ongoing and therefore no sentenced has been given to them yet.