Review V. F.’s corporate website Essay

1. Prepare a two-paragraph memo to the company’s CEO outlining whether V. F. should more broadly adopt Timberland’s CSR reporting, identifying which of its brands would most likely benefit the most from sustainability reporting. VF took a strategic step by buying Timberland with its CSR policies. They chose to be one of the sustainable companies whose products perfectly match their target audience. VF owns North Face, i.e. a premium outdoor brand that can perfectly complement Timberland. VF did not only buy a company but also their whole package of their sustainability, which proved to be working, as Timberland was a profit-earning company. VF knew that with the purchase of Timberland, they committed to keep the Timberland’s CSR and also to start to adopt the CSR policies to their own branches. On the VF’s website under Corporate Responsibility, they talk about their values: â€Å"To us, values such as honesty, integrity, consideration, and respect are more than words; they are embedded in everything we do and are the foundation of our social and environmental efforts.† With that said, it is quite obvious that they adopted Timberland’s CSR reporting. They also give back to the community as they have a VF 100 program for companies who have the highest number of community service hours. VF donates $1,000 for â€Å"$1,000 to each winner’s qualified charity of choice.† I believe that VF recognized the importance and future of sustainability when they purchased Timberland and adopted their CSR reporting. As they have 50% of the market share, we can state that it was worth it for them. 2.Upon reviewing former CEO Jeff Swartz’s final blog post, do you agree or disagree with his finding that the business world has shifted to sustainability? I agree that more and more companies realize how important morally and financially as well to adopt CSR reporting. When Mr. Swartz started to put his ideology into practice, he met lots of barriers and he was the one of the pioneers of establishing CSR. I am sure in the beginning he felt like that the new management didn’t understand how complex it was as they said it â€Å"the answer is simple—we believe that sustainability is good for the  business and good for the world environmentally†, but later on Mr. Swartz realized that his pioneer days were over, the world has moved on and started to understand what he was fighting for.

Term Paper on Controlling Proceess

Govt. Titumir College Term Paper On â€Å"Application of Controlling Process in Banking Sector in Bd. † Prepared By Supervised by Name: Md. Golap Mia Rita Khandoker Roll:181 Year: BBA (2nd year) Lecturer Session: 2011-12 Department of Management NU Roll No: 9613648 Govt.Titumir College Department of Management Dhaka. Govt. Titumir College, Dhaka. Date of Preparation: 26. 01. 2012 Letter of Transmittal To Lecturer Department of Management Govt. Titumir College, Dhaka. Sub: Letter of transmittal. Dear Sir. I would like to draw your kind attention that we are submitting our report about the topic of â€Å"Application of Controlling Process in Banking Sector in Bd. † We have tried our best to prepare this report which will fulfill our requirement.We believe all these new ideas from this â€Å"Term Paper† will help us in our future practical life. We will be highly grateful to your honor if you would kindly accept our â€Å"Term Paper† and obliged thereby. Th anking you Name: Golap Mia Year: BBA (2nd year) Session: 2011-12 NU Roll No: 9613648 Department of Management Govt. Titumir College,Dhaka. Table of contents and counts: ChapterTopic namePage count 1 Introduction4 2Conceptual issues5-6 3Database7 4Findings of study8-24 5Conclusion& recommendations25-27 1. Internal Control Policy 1. 1) Overview Banking has a diversified and complex financial activity which is no longer limited within the geographic boundary of a country. Since its activity involves high risk, the issue of effective internal controls system, corporate governance, transparency, Accountability has become significant issues to ensure smooth performance of the banking industry throughout the world. In many banks internal control is identified With internal audit; the scope of internal control is not limited to audit work.It is an Integral part of the daily activity of a bank, which on its own merit identifies the risks associated with the process and adopts a measure to mi tigate the same. Internal Audit on the other hand is a part of Internal Control system which reinforces the control system through regular review. According to an IMF publication Internal Control refers to the mechanism in place on a permanent basis to control the activities in an organization, both at a central and at a departmental divisional level.A key component of effective internal control is the operation of a solid accounting and information system. In Bangladesh analysis on the performances of the banks has pointed out that an effective internal control system could have contributed significantly in improving the performance of the Commercial banks if the control culture is brought in through policy guidelines and structural changes at these banks and procedural controls. (1. 2) Objective of Internal ControlThe primary objective of internal control system in a bank is to help the bank perform better through the use of its resources. Through internal control system bank iden tifies its weaknesses and takes appropriate measures to overcome the same. The main objectives of internal control are as follows: †¢ Efficiency and effectiveness of activities (performance objectives). †¢ Reliability, completeness and timelines of financial and management information (information objectives) †¢ Compliance with applicable laws and regulations (compliance objectives) .Accountability to the Board. (2) STANDARDS OF INTERNAL CONTROL Internal control policies set forth some standards that departments must establish and incorporate in an internal control structure: (I)Cover all activities: All financial institutions should develop internal controls which have coverage over all their functions, in general, and the key risk areas (KRA) in particular. Key Risk Areas include those core activities, the break down of which may render a financial institutions unable to meet its obligations; to its customers, regulators and the sponsors.Further, the risk originatin g from such activities is of the type that it may cause in systemic failure of other financial institutions. Examples of key risk areas are Liquidity Risk, Interest Rate Risk, Foreign Exchange Risk, Credit Risk, Operational Risk, etc. (II) Regular Feature: Control activities should be an integral part of the daily activities of a financial institutions / DFI in such a manner that it becomes ingrained in their ongoing processes rather than a year-end â€Å"fire drill† to satisfy documentation requests from auditors and supervisors. III) Separation of Duties: Duties should be divided so that no one person has complete control over a key function or activity. (IV) Authorization and Approval: All transactions should be authorized before recording and execution. (V) Custodial and Security Arrangements: Responsibility for custody of assets needs to be separated from the related record keeping. (VI) Review and Reconciliation: Records should be examined and reconciled to regularly de termine that transactions are properly processed, approved and booked. VII) Physical Controls: Equipment, inventories, cash and other assets should be secured physically, counted periodically and compared with amounts shown on control records. (VIII) Training and Supervision: Qualified, well-trained and supervised employees always help ensure that control processes function properly. (IX) Documentation: Documented policies and procedures promote employee understanding of duties and help ensure continuity during employee absences or turnover. Therefore, policies and procedures (in the form of operations manuals and desk instructions) should exist in all financial institutions / DFI. X) Communication of importance of Internal Controls: Setting standards of professional integrity and work ethics and ensuring that all levels of personnel in their organization know the importance of internal controls and understand their role in the internal controls process and be fully engaged in the p rocess. (XI) Cost/Benefit: It is for the financial institutions to assess the costs associated with control processes commensurate with the expected benefits. The controlling process data are collected in a standardized way.To start, the controlling process team, with academic advisers, designs a questionnaire. The questionnaire uses a simple control case to ensure comparability across economies and over time—with assumptions about the legal form of the control, its size, its location and the nature of its operations. Questionnaires are administered through more than 28 local experts, including lawyers, banker, business consultants, accountants, freight forwarders, government officials and other professionals routinely administering or advising on legal and regulatory requirements.These experts have several rounds of interaction with the controlling process team, involving conference calls, written correspondence and visits by the team. For Controlling process 2012 team membe rs visited 4 economies to verify data and recruit respondents. The data from questionnaires are subjected to numerous rounds of verification, leading to revisions or expansions of the information collected. It is not a statistical survey, and the texts of the relevant laws and regulations are collected and answers checked for accuracy. The methodology is inexpensive and easily replicable, so data can be collected in a large sample of economies.Because standard assumptions are used in the data collection, comparisons and benchmarks are valid across economies. Finally, the data not only highlight the extent of specific regulatory obstacles to business but also identify their source and point to what might be reformed. Limits to what is measured The Controlling process methodology has 5 limitations that should be considered when interpreting the data. First, the collected data refer to businesses in the economy’s largest business city and may not be representative of regulation in other parts of the economy. To address this limitation, sub nationalControlling process indicators were created (see the section on sub national controlling process indicators). Second, the data often focus on a specific business form—generally a commercial bank (or its legal equivalent) of a specified size—and may not be representative of the regulation on other businesses, for example, Islami Bank Third, transactions described in a standardized case scenario refer to a specific set of issues and may not represent the full set of issues a banking encounters. Fourth, the measures of time involve an element of judgment by the expert respondents.When sources indicate different estimates, the time indicators reported in Controlling process represent the median values of several responses given under the assumptions of the standardized case. Finally, the methodology assumes that a business has full information on what is required and does not waste time when completing procedures. In practice, completing a procedure may take longer if the business lacks information or is unable to follow up promptly. ELEMENTS OF A SOUND SYSTEM OF INTERNAL CONTROLS AND THE PRINCIPLES FOR ASSESSING THE SYSTEM (A)Elements of Internal ControlsAn effective internal control system consists of following interrelated components: 4. 1. Management oversight & Control environment; 4. 2. Risk assessment & management ; 4. 3. Control activities & segregation of duties; 4. 4. Accounting, information & communication; and 4. 5. Self assessment & monitoring 4. 1 Control Environment: The environment in which internal control operates has an impact on the effectiveness of the control procedures. In fact it is institution’s control environment which embodies the principles of strong internal control. Besides giving structure to the internal control system, it provides iscipline and protocol. The success of control environment is judged according to the integrity, ethics, and co mpetence of personnel; the organizational structure of the institution; oversight by the board of directors and senior management; management’s philosophy and operating style; attention and direction provided by the board of directors and its committees, especially the audit and risk management committees; personnel policies and practices and; external influences affecting operations and practices. In order for internal controls to be effective, an appropriate control environment should demonstrate following behaviors:Board of directors reviews policies and procedures periodically and ensures their compliance; Board of directors determines whether there is an audit and control system in place to periodically test and monitor compliance with internal control policies/procedures and to report to the board instances of noncompliance; Board of directors ensure independence of internal and external auditors such that internal audit directly reports to the audit committee of the bo ard which is responsible to the board and that external auditor interacts with the said committee and presents management letter to the board directly; Board ensures that appropriate remedial action has been taken when instance of noncompliance are reported and that system has been improved to avoid recurring errors/mistakes; Management information systems provides adequate information to the board and that the board can have access to financial institutions records, if need arises; Board and management ensure communication of conduct or ethics policies and compliance thereof down the line within the organization; In short, a strong control environment and an effective internal audit function, can significantly complement specific control procedures.However, constitution of internal control environment at a point-of-time does not, by itself, ensure the effectiveness of the overall system of internal control but it is the continuous supervision by management to ensure if it is functi oning as prescribed and is modified as appropriate. Many internal control failures that resulted in significant losses for financial institutions could have been substantially lessened or even avoided if the board and senior management of the organizations had established strong control cultures. Weak control cultures often had two common elements: First, senior management failed to emphasis the importance of a strong system of internal control through their words and actions, and most importantly, through the criteria used to determine compensation and promotion.Second, senior management failed to ensure that the organizational structure and managerial accountabilities were well-defined. For example, senior management failed to require adequate supervision of key decision makers and reporting of the nature and conduct of business activities in a timely manner. Senior management may weaken the control culture by promoting and rewarding managers who are successful in generating profi ts but fail to implement internal control policies or address problems identified by internal audit. Such actions send a message to others in the organization that internal control is considered secondary to other goals in the organization, and thus diminish the commitment to and quality of the control culture. 4. 2 Risk assessment and management:Every financial institutions activity involves some kind of risk and this creates a compulsion for the financial institutions that, as part of an internal control system, these risks are being identified, assessed and mitigated. From an internal control perspective, risk assessment involves; identification and evaluation of factors, both internal and external, that could adversely affect performance, information and compliance objectives of a financial institutions. Internal factors include: complexity, nature and size of operations; quality of personnel and employee turnover; objectives and goals, etc. External factors include: fluctuating economic conditions, changes in the industry and technological advances, degree of aggressiveness of the market and competition faced by the market participants, etc.It may be noted that it differs from the risk management process, which typically focuses more on the review of business strategies and plans developed to maximize the risk/reward trade-off within the different areas of the financial institutions. This risk identification should be done across the full spectrum of activities addressing both measurable and non-measurable aspects of risks. Second part of risk assessment – evaluation is done to determine which risks are controllable by the financial institutions and which are not. For those risks that are controllable, the financial institutions must assess whether to accept those risks or the extent to which it wishes to mitigate the risks through control procedures.For those risks that cannot be controlled, the financial institutions must decide, for the present, whether to these risks or to withdraw from or reduce the level of business activity concerned. But for the future, internal controls may need to be revised to appropriately address any new or previously uncontrolled risks. An effective risk assessment system allows the board and the management to plan for and respond to existing and emerging risks in the financial institutions activities. For that matter, such a system needs to demonstrate following: Board and management involve audit personnel or other internal control experts in the risk assessment and risk evaluation process.Those experts should be competent, knowledgeable, and provided with adequate resources. As the risks mutate with time and with changing circumstances, the board and the management, with due involvement of audit personnel, should appropriately evaluate the risks and consider control issues related to existing products and those relevant to new products and activities. Risk coverage in the form of insurance (t hat is risk transfer) or provisioning (contingency fund) in relation to the financial institutions risk profile is adequate. In the recent past, inadequate risk assessment has contributed to some organizations’ internal control problems and related losses.In some cases, the potential high yields associated with certain loans, investments, and derivative instruments distracted management from the need to thoroughly assess the risks associated with the transactions and devote sufficient resources to the continual monitoring and review of risk exposures. Losses have also been caused when management has failed to update the risk assessment process as the organization’s operating environment changed. For example, as more complex or sophisticated products within a business line are developed, internal controls may not be enhanced to address the more complex products. A second example involves entry into a new business activity without a full, objective assessment of the risk s involved.Without this reassessment of risks, the system of internal control may not appropriately address the risks in the new business. 4. 3 Instituting Controls: Control activities are designed and implemented to address the risk that the financial institutions identified through the risk assessment process as described above. Control activities involve: (a) establishment of control policies and procedures, (b) verification that the control policies and procedures are being complied with. It is desired that control activities should involve all levels of personnel in the financial institutions, including senior management as well as front line personnel. Instituting an appropriate controls structure ensures the efficacy of an internal control system. This process involves:Existence and compliance of policies and procedures ensuring that decisions are made with appropriate approvals and authorizations for transactions and activities while assuring that exceptions to the policies are minimal and reported to the board and the top management; Timely reconciliation of accounts so that outstanding items, both on-and of balance-sheet, are resolved and cleared; Segregation of duties, existence of cross-checks, more-than-one-person authorization, dual controls, joint custody of keys, safeguards for access to and use of sensitive assets and records and forced leave policies, employees rotation systems are functioning in sensitive positions or risk-taking activities so that concerned employees do not have absolute control over areas; Building of such reporting lines within a business or functional area that independence of the control function is ensured; Accountability mechanism for the actions taken by the personnel as per their responsibilities and uthorities; Structure and functioning of compliance framework through which the board and senior management establishes that compliance with applicable laws and regulations is ensured. In short, top level reviews; appro priate activity controls for different departments or divisions; physical controls; checking for compliance with exposure limits and follow-up on noncompliance; a system of approvals and authorizations; and, a system of verification and reconciliation are major constituents of the control activities. 4. 4 Accounting Information and Communication Systems An institution’s accounting, information, and communication systems ensure that risk-taking activities are within policy guidelines and that the systems are adequately tested and reviewed.For this the following is important to note; Effective internal control system requires that there is an effective reporting system of information that is relevant to decision making. The information should be reliable, timely accessible and provided in a consistent format. Information would have to include external market information about events and conditions that are relevant to decision making. Internal information include financial, ope rational and compliance data. There, should be appropriate committees within the organization which would evaluate data received through various information systems. This will ensure supply of correct and accurate information to the management.Internal information must cover all significant activities of the financial institutions. These systems including those that hold and use data in electronic form must be secure, monitored independently and supported by contingency arrangements. Most importantly the channels of communication must ensure that all s fully understand and adhere to policies and procedures effecting their duties and responsibilities and that other relevant information is reaching the appropriate personnel. An accounting system is adequate if it properly identifies, assembles, analyzes, classifies, records, and reports the institution’s transactions in accordance with prescribed formats and international best practices.The adequacy of information systems is de termined by the type, number, and depth of reports it generates for operational, financial, managerial, and compliance-related activities and the access and authorization to information systems. An ideal information system covers the full range of its activities in such a manner that information remains understandable and useful for audit trail. Adequate information and effective communication are essential to the proper functioning of a system of internal control. From the financial institutions perspective, in order for information to be useful, it must be relevant, reliable, timely, accessible, and provided in a consistent format.Information includes internal financial, operational and compliance data, as well as external market information about events and conditions that are relevant to decision making. Internal information is part of a record-keeping process that should include established procedures for record retention. On the one hand, the adequacy of communication systems is established by the fact that it imparts significant information throughout the institution (from the top down and from the bottom up, and laterally), ensuring that personnel understand whatever has been communicated and on the other hand, communication system should ensure that significant information is imparted to external parties such as regulators, shareholders, and customers. Without effective communication, information is useless.Senior management of financial institutions needs to establish effective paths of communication in order to ensure that the necessary information is reaching the appropriate people. This information relates both to the operational policies and procedures of the financial institutions as well as information regarding the actual operational performance of the organization. The organizational structure of the financial institutions should facilitate a complete flow of information – upward, downward and across the organization. A structure that facilitates this flow ensures that information flows upward so that the board of directors and senior management are aware of the business risks and the operating performance of the financial institutions.Information flowing down through an organization ensures that the financial institutions objectives, strategies, and expectations, as well as its established policies and procedures, are communicated to lower level management and operations personnel. This communication is essential to achieve a unified effort by all financial institutions employees to meet the financial institutions objectives. Finally, communication across the organization is necessary to ensure that information that one division or department knows can be shared with other affected divisions or departments. 4. 5 Self-Assessment and Monitoring: An integral component of internal control system is self-assessment and monitoring which includes: Board and senior management oversight of the internal control, control r eviews, and audit findings.Before starting full scale control review, the board and senior management should give their approval of the overall scope of the control review activities (e. g. , audit, loan review, etc. ). Frequent and comprehensive reporting of deviations to the board or board committee and senior management regarding sufficiency of details and timely presentation to allow for resolution and appropriate action. Adequate documentation of management responses to audit or other control review findings so that it can be tracked for adequate follow-up. Board or board committee or senior management review of the qualifications and independence of the personnel evaluating controls (e. g. , external auditors, internal auditors, or line managers). Financial institutions is a dynamic, rapidly evolving industry.Financial institutions must continually monitor and evaluate their internal control systems in light of changing internal and external conditions, and must enhance these systems as necessary to maintain their effectiveness. Monitoring the effectiveness of internal controls should be part of the daily operations of the financial institutions but also include separate periodic evaluations of the overall internal control process. The frequency of monitoring different activities of a financial institution should be determined by considering the risks involved and the frequency and nature of changes occurring in the operating environment. Ongoing monitoring activities can offer the advantage of quickly detecting and correcting deficiencies in the system of internal control.Such monitoring is most effective when the system of internal control is integrated into the operating environment and produces regular reports for review. Examples of ongoing monitoring include the review and approval of journal entries, and management review and approval of exception reports. (B) CONTROL PRINCIPLES So far we have discussed about the elements of a sound internal contr ol. Now the question is how to assess the internal controls of a particular organization The following principles related to the basic elements of control should be borne in mind while assessing internal control: A. Management Oversight and Control Environment Principle 1:The board of directors should have responsibility for approving and periodically reviewing the overall business strategies and significant policies of the financial institutions; understanding the major risks run by the financial institutions, setting acceptable levels for these risks and ensuring that senior management takes the steps necessary to identify, measure, monitor and control these risks; approving the organizational structure; and ensuring that senior management is monitoring the effectiveness of the internal control system. The board of directors is ultimately responsible for ensuring that an adequate and effective system of internal controls is established and maintained. Principle 2:Senior management should have responsibility for implementing strategies and policies approved by the board; developing processes that identify, measure, monitor and control risks incurred by the financial institutions; maintaining an organizational Structured that clearly assigns responsibility, authority and reporting relationships; ensuring that delegated responsibilities are effectively carried out; setting appropriate internal control policies; and monitoring the adequacy and effectiveness of the internal control system. Principle 3: The board of directors and senior management are responsible for promoting high ethical and integrity standards, and for establishing a culture within the organization that emphasizes and demonstrates to all levels of personnel the importance of internal controls. All personnel at a financial institution sing organization need to understand their role in the internal controls process and be fully engaged in the process. B) Risk Recognition and Assessment Principle 4:An effective internal control system requires that the material risks that could adversely affect the achievement of the financial institutions goals are being recognized and continually assessed. This assessment should cover all risks facing the financial institutions (that is, credit risk, country and transfer risk, market risk, interest rate risk, liquidity risk, operational risk, legal risk and reputation risk). Internal controls may need to be revised to appropriately address any new or previously uncontrolled risks. C) Control Activities and Segregation of Duties Principle 5: Control activities should be an integral part of the daily activities of a financial institution. An effective internal control system requires that an appropriate control structure be set up, with control activities defined at every business level.These should include: top level reviews; appropriate activity controls for different departments or divisions; physical controls; checking for compliance wit h exposure limits and follow-up on non-compliance; a system of approvals and authorizations; and, a system of verification and reconciliation. BIS Framework for Internal Control Systems in Financial institutions. Principle 6: An effective internal control system requires that there is appropriate segregation of duties and that personnel are not assigned conflicting responsibilities. Areas of potential conflicts of interest should be identified, minimized, and subject to careful, independent monitoring. D) Information and communication Principle: 7An effective internal control system requires that there are adequate and comprehensive internal financial, operational and compliance data, as well as external market information about events and conditions that are relevant to decision making. Information should be reliable, timely, accessible, and provided in a consistent format. Principle 8: An effective internal control system requires that there are reliable information systems in pla ce that cover all significant activities of the financial institutions. These systems, including those that hold and use data in an electronic form, must be secure, monitored independently and supported by adequate contingency arrangements. Principle 9:An effective internal control system requires effective channels of communication to ensure that all staff fully understand and adhere to policies and procedures affecting their duties and responsibilities and that other relevant information is reaching the appropriate personnel. (E) Monitoring Activities and Correcting Deficiencies Principle 10: The overall effectiveness of the financial institutions internal controls should be monitored on an ongoing basis. Monitoring of key risks should be part of the daily activities of the financial institutions as well as periodic evaluations by the business lines and internal audit. Principle 11: There should be an effective and comprehensive internal audit of the internal control system carrie d out by operationally independent, appropriately trained and competent staff.The internal audit function, as part of the monitoring of the system of internal controls, should report directly to the board of directors or its audit committee, and to senior management. Principle 12: Internal control deficiencies, whether identified by business line, internal audit, or other control personnel, should be reported in a timely manner to the appropriate management level and addressed promptly. Material internal control deficiencies should be reported to senior management and the board of directors. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE PARTIES TO INTERNAL CONTROL The board of directors, senior management and other personnel of financial institutions are responsible for establishing, maintaining, and operating an appropriate internal control system on an ongoing basis. Board of Directors:The Board of Directors of all financial institutions is responsible for ensuring that an adequate and effective intern al control system exists in their organization and that the senior management is maintaining and monitoring the performance of that system. Moreover, Board should periodically review the internal control systems and the significant findings. From the above it can be said that: The overall responsibility of setting acceptable level of risk, ensuring that the senior management committee take necessary steps to identify , measure , monitor and control these risks, establishing broad business strategy, significant policies and understanding significant risks of the company rests with the Board of Directors.Through the establishment of an ‘Audit Committee' of the Board and ‘Internal Control Department’ the Board of Directors can monitor the effectiveness of internal control system. The internal as well as external audit reports will be sent to the board without any intervention of the management and ensure that the management takes timely and necessary actions as per t he recommendations. The Board should have periodic review meetings with the senior management to discuss the effectiveness of the internal control system of the company and ensure that the management has taken appropriate actions as per the recommendations of the auditors and internal control. Management:Senior management of financial institutions have the responsibility for implementing strategies and policies as approved by the board in work place ; developing processes that identify, measure, monitor and control risks incurred by the financial institutions; maintaining an organizational structure that clearly assigns responsibility, authority and reporting relationships; ensuring that delegated responsibilities are effectively carried out; setting appropriate internal control policies; and monitoring the adequacy and effectiveness of the internal control system. Audit Committee of the Board: This Committee shall be formed by the Board of a company.The members of the Audit Committ ee shall be the selected Directors and the Managing Director. The Committee shall seat at least quarterly in a year. The Committee shall perform its work through an Internal Control Unit comprising of the Audit & Inspection wing and Compliance wing. The Committee shall monitor the adequacy and effectiveness of the Internal Control System based on established policies and procedure. The Committee vide its two wing shall produce, on quarterly basis, a report on internal control system and significant findings and present it to the Board. The terms of reference of the Audit Committee, frequency of meeting , name of the members of the Committee shall be decided by the Board. External Auditor:The external auditors are not part of a financial institution and, therefore, are not part of its internal control system, yet they have an important impact on the quality of internal controls through their audit activities, including discussions with management and recommendations for improvement o f internal controls. The external auditors provide important feedback on the effectiveness of the internal control system. The concept of external reporting on internal controls is well established and supported in the accounting literature. It is expected that external / statutory auditors shall review control systems for the impact they have on financial reporting and compliance with relevant policies, procedures, regulations and laws.The extent of attention given to the internal control system may vary by auditor and by financial institutions; however, it is generally expected that the auditor would identify significant weaknesses that exist at a financial institutions and report material weaknesses to management and the board in the form of an audit report/ management letter. As regards internal control and the role of external auditors the following things should be borne in mind by the auditors: External Auditors by dint of their independence from the management of the financi al institutions can provide unbiased recommendation on the strength and weakness of the internal control system of the financial institutions.They can examine the records, transactions of the financial institutions and evaluate its accounting policy, disclosure policy and methods of financial estimation made by the financial institutions; this will allow the board and the management to have an independent overview on the overall control system of the financial institutions. It should be made obligatory on the part of the auditor to report to the Bangladesh Bank immediately if during the course of audit the auditor come across any facts which (1) might warrant qualification (2) endanger the entity audited and (3) indicate that the organization has severely infringed the regulatory provisions/guidelines. Regulator:The Financial Institutions Department(FID) of Bangladesh Bank is the direct supervisor of the financial institutions of Bangladesh. FID has many responsibilities to the Fina ncial Institutions to protect interest of the public and to maintain financial discipline. The responsibilities of FID should be regulatory as well as advisory. In order to achieve the regulatory and supervisory objectives the Bangladesh Bank may introduce a comprehensive supervisory framework. Supervision can be of two types: a. On Site Supervision and b. Off Site Supervision Off site supervision would structurally be an in-house review and analysis based on various statutory returns and other statements.On site supervision includes physical visit and inspection by Bangladesh Bank Official ensuring regulatory compliance, evaluation of financial soundness, appraisal of management and identification of areas requiring corrections, review of asset quality , analysis of key financial indicators etc. As a regulator the Bangladesh Bank may introduce a system whereby the name of the Financial Institute which had not complied with the regulatory directions could be published in the newspap ers. The Bank may make it compulsory for the NBFIs to do credit rating periodically. The Bank may introduce an on-line corporate memory/profile building process based on the observations generated from off-site surveillance system, , market intelligence, complaints, supervisory rating, record of compliance with directions and inspection findings.Bangladesh Bank may think of devising a suitable system for co-coordinating the Onsite inspection in tandem with the other regulatory authorities so that these NBFIs are subject to one shot examination by different regulatory authorities. The Bank may think of introducing a supervisory rating system for the NBFIs. Such a rating system should be designed on the basis of different levels of regulatory compliance, capital adequacy and rating assigned by the credit rating agencies. Based on the rating the NBFIs may be placed in three different supervisory â€Å"watch list† with low, medium and high risks. The rating assigned may primarily be the tool for triggering on-site inspection at various intervals.It shall play its role as a watch dog, review the compliances of the regulations and Circulars issued from time to time through periodic inspections and visits, issue new directives for the betterment of macro economy, take corrective actions, if necessary, provide necessary advises and clarifications to the NBFIS. During the course of regular inspection of financial institutions or when required, Financial institutions Department (FID)of Bangladesh Bank shall review the internal control system of any financial institutions in order to ensure compliance with these guidelines and all other relevant regulations and laws, circulars issued and enforced from time to time.In addition to that, the FID may review the report of the internal auditor of the financial institutions, assessment report of the management regarding effectiveness of the internal control and Boards’ endorsement thereof and the external/statutor y auditors’ evaluation of the management regarding effectiveness of the internal control. In addition to the above the following points shall also apply to the regulators: For the financial institutions Bangladesh Bank is the primary regulator, who governs the activities of financial institutions. In addition Tax Authority, Registrar of Joint Stock Company Finance Ministry, Securities and Exchange Commission etc. are different types of Govt. bodies whose directives have significant impact of financial institutions business. The internal control system should always take into account the financial institutions internal processes to meet the regulatory requirement before conducting any operation.The internal control system of the financial institutions must be designed in a manner that the compliance with regulatory requirements is recognized in each activity of the financial institutions. The financial institutions must obtain regular information on regulatory changes and dist ribute among the concerned department, so that they can take necessary, action to adapt to such changes. The financial institutions must develop an effective communication process which will allow smooth distribution of relevant regulations among different departments and, personnel. IMPLEMENTATION OF INTERNAL CONTROLS: Various models/methodologies are used for the design and implementation of internal controls.However, it is the decision of the organizations to decide what model / strategy suit the size, nature, complexity, scope, risk exposure, etc. of their activities. Nevertheless, following is a brief summary of the key points that should be kept in mind while implementing the internal controls: Compare current practices to the internal control system and identify gaps. For an internal control expert, the most important consideration should be to evaluate the existing system of internal control in comparison to one defined by these guidelines and other international best practi ces. In this regard the first step is to identify what is and what is not covered by existing practices. Involve senior management, the audit committee, audit staff, other key players.The thought process and implementation of change should not be considered as â€Å"just other audit things. † Senior management and the audit committee must be perceived as driving the change and developing the control culture. Assess business environment, organization culture and key players. Before the process of change is set in, it would be necessary to understand: (1) what is changing in the culture (2) What is changing in the organization’s businesses and systems (3) Are there organizational initiatives which internal control system implementation could link to (4) What is the perception about the internal auditing function within the organization .Decide on implementation strategy. If the new practices can be designed to align with other organizational initiatives, or if senior man agement has taken ownership, this step is relatively easy. In any case, having a realistic implementation strategy is critical to success. Most implementers introduce the new ideas slowly and informally, building on personal relationships within the organization, listening as much as talking, and gradually building a consensus for change. Provide training to everyone involved. The most critical factor to the successful implementation of a control model is that everyone involved must understand internal control.Effective training depends heavily on how concepts are phrased and the concrete examples and exercises which make the concepts real to participants. Rectification & Improvement: The findings of the internal audit department and that of other experts should be reported back to the relevant staff/office for rectification and improvement of the internal control system. Instituting an appropriate organization structure: Organization structure plays a vital role in establishing eff ective internal control system. It is the sometimes called the pictorial representation of the chain of command and the authority and supervision chain of an organization.The essence of the ideal organizational structure that will facilitate effectiveness of the internal control system is the segregation of duties. The financial institutions should, depending on the nature of business, structure, size, location of its branches and strength of its manpower try to establish an organizational structure which allow segregation of duties among its key functions such as marketing, operations, credit, financial administration etc. Up to which level this segregation will take place will depend on an individual financial institution. For instance a financial institution which has small branch operations at remote places of the country may not find it feasible to have such functional segregation of duties at that branch level.However at the higher level such segregation should exist and where possible this should be extended to the branch levels. In cases where such segregation is not possible, there must be certain monitoring mechanism which should be independently reviewed to ensure all policies and procedures are followed at the branch level. A detail guideline in this respect is given in the following section. Structure of the Internal Control Unit For an effective control system a separate organizational structure is also provided for this unit. The audit committee of the board shall be the contact point for the internal control unit. The unit should be adequately staffed so that it can perform its duty properly.In order to ensure that availability of efficient people with internal control the financial institutions will make it mandatory for all middle to senior management staff to spend at least two years with internal control on second meant. The head of internal control will report directly to the Audit Committee of the Board He will be responsible for the both compliance and control related tasks which include compliance with laws and regulation, audits and inspection, monitoring activities and risk assessment. The audit team of the internal control unit will perform periodic and special audit and inspection. The compliance unit will be responsible to ensure that financial institution complies with all regulatory requirement while conducting its business.They will maintain liaison with the regulators at all level and notify the other units regarding regulatory changes. Audit Committee of Board Audit & Inspection Wing Inspector Compliance Wing Internal Control Unit Preparing various guidelines/manuals Each Financial institution should have a policy guideline in line with relevancy laws and internal documents in order to ensure an effective control over its process in various fields e. g. credit, human resources, finance & accounts, treasury, audit, customer service etc. There should be a written policy guideline for each Departmentâ€℠¢s function which may be as follows. (a) Standard Operating Procedures -Credit & Operations The main objective of lending money is to ensure maximum return of lend able fund.This manual should highlight the process starting from review of credit proposals, obligor risk rating, approving credit limit, disbursement of loans, monitoring of credit risk etc. Various types of MIS should be provided in order to have better control over assets of the financial institutions which can be generated if the system is in place. This manual should also contain role of Credit Admin. , Trade Finance, Reconciliations, Cash, Client’s service, Treasury, Back office etc. It should also reflect a clear guideline regarding Anti-Money Laundering activity in order to protect Financial institution’s interest. Credit Admin will be responsible for monitoring of limits and outstanding as per credit approval.This manual should cover the following areas inter alias: Risk classes, lending limits and credit authorities Investment policies Policies on financial & other product & services Lending guidelines Approval processes Documentations Securities and collaterals etc. Account Opening and closing Payment monitoring procedures Loan Administration Treasury Operations Anti-money Laundering procedures etc. (b) Finance & Accounting Manual This manual should provide guidelines on financial activities regarding income and expenditure of a financial institution. They will look after if there is any exaggeration of expenditure where it is necessary to get control.This manual must incorporate a clause which shall make it mandatory to prepare and present an annual budget which shall contain target business, revenue, expenses, capital expenditures etc. This budget should be placed to the Board before starting of a new year and a periodic review of the actual achievement. Through this process it can also ensure the profitability of the financial institutions. The basic content of Finance Ma nuals are: Financial & Accounting Policies Financial Accounting Financial Management & Administration Fixed Assets Control Procurement of Goods and Services Audit and Internal Control General Clause Capital structure policies Treatment of Land, Building & Equipment Capital Adequacy and Shareholders EquityTreatment of revenue and expenditures Income tax procedures Write-off procedures etc. (c) Treasury Manual This manual should include activities of fund transfer. Inter financial institutions fund management is one by them. The manual should include the guideline so that they may manage the financial institutions fund properly and profitably. There may be some idle fund in the financial institutions which is to be taken into account so as to make them invested in optimum profit seeking area. They should also ensure the security of the fund. If possible, they may look into international money market subject to the available opportunity in the money market arena.While framing a treasur y manual the following things should be considered inter alias : Internal Items Liquidity Cost of fund Vs. yield from assets Policies & Procedure Skill of staff etc. External Items Market Liquidity Risks including changes in Exchange Rates Changes in regulations etc. Investments Capital management etc. (d)Human Resource Policy Manual They will, at first, ensure the proper distribution of available human resources in the infrastructure of the financial institutions. It should also delineate the authority and responsibility of each employees . To find out the right person for setting up them at the right position is very crucial.The rewarding method of that department should be impartial. They will ensure staff welfare which will ultimately encourage people and create a healthy working atmosphere. This manual should contain inter alias the following: Recruitment policy Background checking policy Leave policy Compensation policy Reward and Recognition policy Termination & retirement po licy Promotion and increment policy Training guidelines Employees code of conduct etc. (e)Information Technology Manual This manual should contain the following areas: MIS to be generated Security of Data and programme Back up system Control mechanism of data and files Disaster recovery plan NetworkingHardware maintenance Service agreements etc. Training Manpower backup Power backup system Data storage 20 EXAMINATION OR EVALUATION OF CONTROL As soon as the implementation of control is completed the next question is how to evaluate the effective functioning of this system. Evaluation may be done in the following ways: a. Verification of departmental function through Check List b. Reviewing the documentation relating to operational activities through a check list c. Preparing quarterly report and reviewing the same d. Risk analysis e. Audit Process & communication of weakness Departmental Control Function Checklist (DCFCL) {Appendix 7. 1 to 7. 4} ) The guideline/procedure deals with m atters relating to review/verifications of departmental functions to ensure that prescribed procedures are being followed by each department. b) All departments are required to check that prescribed controls are being observed and laid down procedures are not overlooked & relaxed. c) Departmental Managers/Branch Managers will review the DCFCL to ensure that control functions are performed and documented in the control sheets (Appendix 1) at the prescribed frequencies i. e. Daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly. d) The DCFCL Checklist should be retained with the branch/departments for future inspection by Internal Control and Senior Management. Loan Documentation Checklist {Appendix 7. 6}The checklist deals with matters relating to security/other documentation for sanctioning credit facilities to ensure that prescribed documentation is being obtained to safe guard financial institutions interest in case of litigation. Copy of the loan documentation check list shall be sent to the leas e/loans department for their use. Quarterly Operations Report {Appendix 7. 5} This guideline/procedure relates to reporting of operational functions of each branch/centre under the following heads on the enclosed format: i. Policies, Procedures and Controls ii. Protection of Valuables iii. Proofs/Verifications and Internal Checks iv. Personal and Supervision and v. Premises Management vi. Confirmation on Regulatory Compliance This report will be prepared by the Departmental/Branch Head .This will be prepared in duplicate copies one copy is to be dispatched to Internal Audit Department and another copy to the Audit Committee of the Board by 10th of the following month. The items which are not applicable for individual Department should be marked as N/A and no signature is required against the items marked as N/A. Any deviation in the quarterly operations report must be reported in a separate exception report or shall be marked specially in the report. Risk Analysis of Control Functio ns Individual items in the DCFCL need to be assigned a risk rating in terms of the following dimensions: a) Impact: Before taking into account the mitigation (i. e. Insurance) what is the impact of the lapse/omission. b) Probability: After taking into account of the mitigation what is the likelihood of the event occurring.To assist in this task, the following matrix (Table 1) can be used. However some financial institutions may consider customization of this matrix to suit their own risk profile. Where appropriate, additional details (e. g. financial values can be added). The key principle is that all financial institutions should be able to differentiate between different levels of risk in their own area of activity and then ensure appropriate controls are established. Scores should be plotted on the following table to determine a category of high, medium and low risk. Conclusion Recommendations The quality of internal control is (strong, satisfactory, weak). Note: Examiners should use appropriate tools (e. g. the CEO questionnaire,ICQs, and FDICIA internal control assertion work papers) and findings from all areas under examination, including the OCC’s review of the bank’s audit functions, when completing these objectives and steps. When substantive supervisory concerns about the adequacy of internal control or the integrity of financial reporting controls exist after achieving the following objectives and performing the following steps, examiners should consider performing additional examination procedures, such as using ICQs,for those areas of concern. If, after completing those additional procedures, examiners remain concerned about internal control adequacy or financial reporting control integrity, they should perform appropriate verification procedures to confirm the existence and description of bank assets.As an alternative, examiners may require the bank to expand its own verification program to include the areas of weakness or deficienc y; however, this alternative will be used only if management has demonstrated a capacity and willingness to address regulatory problems, if there are no concerns about management’s integrity, and if management has initiated timely corrective action in the past. Use of this alternative must result in timely resolution of each identified supervisory problem. If examiners use this alternative, supervisory follow-up must include a review of work papers in areas where the bank’s program was expanded The institution’s internal control is (strong, satisfactory, weak)Objective: Assess the overall effectiveness and adequacy of the institution’s internal control, communicate findings to the EIC, management, and the board of directors, and complete/update OCC work papers. 1. Prepare written conclusion summaries, discuss findings with the Rican communicate findings to management.Conclusion summaries should address, as appropriate,†¢ Whether the internal control environment poses actual or potential undue risk to the institution’s financial performance for any of the following reasons:– The magnitude of control exceptions. – Financial effect of inaccurate, untimely, or improper transactions. – Previous losses from fraud. – Claims against insurance policies. – Employee turnover. – Other high operational losses. – Violations of laws or regulations and nonconformance with established internal policies and procedures related to the internal control functions. †¢ The adequacy of internal control policies, procedures, and programs to control and limit risk in bank operations. †¢ Whether bank personnel operate in conformance with established policies and, if not, the causes and consequences of nonconformance. The adequacy of information on the internal control function received by the board or its committee†¢ Significant areas of control weakness identified by internal or exter nal audits or other control reviews and the board’s and management’s progress in addressing those weaknesses. †¢ Audit or other control review report findings not acted upon by management, as well as any other concerns or recommendations resulting from the review of internal control functions. †¢ Recommended corrective actions, if applicable, and management’scommitments. 2. Determine how the quality of internal control affects the aggregate level and direction of OCC risk assessments.Examiners should refer to guidance provided under the OCC’s risk assessment programs for large and community banks. 3. Determine how the quality of internal control affects the bank’s composite and component CAMELS ratings. In coordination with examiners performing information system/technology, asset management, and fiduciary reviews, communicate the effect of control findings and conclusions on Uniform Rating System for Information Technology (URSIT), Unifo rm Interagency Trust Rating System (UITRS),and compliance ratings. 4. Determine, in consultation with the EIC, whether the risks identified are significant enough to merit bringing them to the board’s attention in the report of examination.If so, prepare items for inclusion under the heading â€Å"Matters Requiring Attention† (MRA). MRA comments should cover practices that (1)deviate from sound fundamental principles and are likely to result in financial deterioration if not addressed or (2) result in substantive noncompliance with laws or internal policies or processes. The examiner should provide details regarding:†¢ Factors contributing to the problem’s and management Consequences of inaction.. †¢ Management’s commitment to corrective action. †¢ The time frame for any corrective action and who is responsible further action. 5. Update any applicable schedule or table and include a comment on internal control in the report of examination.T he comment should address†¢ Adequacy of internal control policies and processes, internal control and overall programs, personnel, and board oversight. †¢ Significant problems discerned by the auditors or other control reviewers that have not been corrected. †¢ Any deficiencies or concerns reviewed with management, any corrective actions recommended by examiners, and management commitments to corrective actions. 6. Prepare a memorandum and update OCC work programs with any information that will facilitate future examinations. Make recommendations about the scope of the next internal control review and determine whether internal control findings should change the scopes of other area reviews. 7. Update the OCC databases, including rating screens/schedules.

Emerging Technologies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Emerging Technologies - Essay Example Audio files are broadcasted for download into iPod like devices and hence the name podcasting. Podcasting distributes the audio content through the use of RSS. RSS comprises a family of web feed formats that refers to standards like Really Simple Syndication, Rich Site Summary and RDF Site Summary. The use of RSS makes the whole process simple. Podcasting is emerging as a technology that has application benefits in several fields of human activity. (Curry, A., 2004). The versatility of podcasting is the primary reason for the choice of podcasting in the emerging technologies of ICT. Podcasting offers scope of use in several disparate industrial activities. The hardware used is already popular in its entertainment application. The simplicity and affordability of the iPod adds to the attraction in exploring the possibilities of its wider use. Podcasting is being tried out as a means to increase the efficiency of education. In this emergent form, it is already gaining the popularity of students for several reasons. The familiarity of the hardware, the ease of use, the option of what to listen, and the convenience of when it can be used are the main factors that are likely to play a significant role in its wider use. The versatility of Podcasting makes it possible to select many different industrial activities. The industrial activity chosen for this project is its application to the field education. There are many parts to the industrial activity. The first part is the development of iPod like devices with the objective of increased suitability to the field of education. The second business activity is the development of educational content suitable for students, to be broadcasted through podcasting. The final part of the business activities consists of promotion of these educational facilities to the target market of students either as part of their online educational activities, or as part of support to their

Avoiding System Development Pitfalls in the IT Decision Making Dissertation

Avoiding System Development Pitfalls in the IT Decision Making Processes - Dissertation Example Likewise, a brief observation of these categorized characteristics of various applications, many categories have been projected. Sprague and Watson proposed the performance dimension of the systems can be categorized or can be divided in to four levels i.e. basic data processing systems, integrated data processing systems, management information systems and decision support systems (Hogue, 1985). However, the research and technology for the DSS continue to revolutionize and by 1996, Whinton and Holsapple proposed five particular types of DSS. These specialized DSS types were text-oriented DSS, database-oriented DSS, spread-sheet-oriented DSS, solver-oriented DSS, and rule-oriented DSS (Power,). Moreover, these last four DSS types were again divided into seven categories proposed by Arnott and Pervan (Burstein & Holsapple,). The seven categories are (Burstein & Holsapple,) personal DSS, group support systems, negotiation support systems, intelligent DSS, knowledge management-based DSS , executive information systems/business intelligence, and data warehousing. However, these sub categories overlaps with some of them but they introduced a diverse advancement of past research. Afterwards, these four levels were categorized as transaction processing systems (TPS), Management Information Systems (MIS) and Decision Support Systems (DSS). Information Technology has revolutionized. Business organization dependent on information systems, cater information for decision making. The revolutionized information technology completely modified the business structure and the information required for decision making process. A term called strategic management focuses on building a powerful competitive advantage. It also involves the development of corporate strategy along with the management of the organization according to that strategy (Strategic management.2007). The BRAC university has launched a world class Integrated library system (ILS) (BRAC university launches integrated library system koha dhaka, bangladesh — koha - open source ILS - integrated library system). It is â€Å"an interrelated group of computer programs that automates multiple library operations† (Ebenezer, 2002). The ILS will redefine customer services by advance information technology services that will enhance the process of delivering both electronic information and printed documents. Keeping in mind the long term perspective, the strategic goals for the ILS are constructed as: The infrastructure of the library will be enhanced and well maintained Maximizing the access to the customers for the printed information resources (not digital). Maximizing access to the customer of digital information resources. Establishing strategic affiliation with other libraries locally and globally including schools, colleges and universities. Build learning environments in all accessible locations connected with the library. The strategic goals are to define the library’s strate gic plan and as well as Information technology strategic plan. The current infrastructure has inadequate capacity, size and functionality which are not fulfilling user requirements. Current system has issues related to performance and functionality which is affecting the users. The system cannot be maintained as it needs to be re-designed. The decision for the replacement of the system was made because of

Current Problems With Migrant Workers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Current Problems With Migrant Workers - Essay Example In simple terms, migration can be defined as the process of the movement of people from one place to another occurs for better living prospects or job opportunities. Migration usually occurs internally and externally. In other words, migration cane takes place within the boundaries of the country and also between different countries. Globalization, liberalization and privatization like modern economic principles gave momentum to the migration activities. Countries like India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka etc have excessive labor forces and lesser job opportunities whereas countries or regions such as America, Europe, Middle East have excessive job opportunities and lesser manpower. In order to keep a balance between the number of labor force and the number of opportunities, countries often encourage migration activities. Even though migration is a kind of fortune exploration, it is not necessary that all the migrants may get better fortunes because of migration. In fact migrant workers are fa cing lot of personal, social and family problems in their workplace which is situated in locations other than their native places. In most of the cases, workers are usually comfortable in working near their native places because of their better awareness about the local culture and working environment. However, migrant workers forced to work in entirely new places which could be extremely different; socially, linguistically, legally, politically and economically from their native places. All these parameters can create huge problems to the migrant workers and their families. This paper analyses the current problems facing by migrant workers and the possible solutions for this problem. Current problems with migrant workers The latest changes in the UK government's managed migration policy with the introduction of a new Points-Based System have been recognized as privileging White European economic migrant workers - including those from Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries - a t the expense of low-skilled (non-White) workers from outside of the European Union (Pemberton & Stevens, 2010, p.1289). Europe is a region which is facing severe manpower shortage virtually in all the critical areas of employment. People from all over the world are currently working at different parts of Europe. For example, in majority of the European hospitals, a substantial portion of the working nurses are from Asian countries. Since the integration of European countries is currently taking place though European Union, many European countries have implemented different labour laws for different people. In other words, labour laws for White European economic migrant workers are entirely different from the labour laws for black people. In other words, racial discrimination in the form of labour discrimination is still prevailing in many of the European countries. The case of America is also not much different. Violence against the migrant workers are growing everywhere in the wor ld. It should be noted that people from developed countries are reluctant in accepting professions which requires hard labour. On the other hand workers from poor countries are ready to accept hard labour. Thus skilled labour shortage is one of the major problems facing by the developed countries. In America, Europe and Middle East, most of the workers working in the construction industry are from India and Pakistan. Because of the shortage of domestically available constructions workers and the huge demands for construction works, developed countries are recruiting bulk volumes of skilled workers from underdeveloped countries. Migration of workers in large volumes is causing demographic

Medal east Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Medal east - Assignment Example Ataturk aims included; the onerous treaty of serves in 1920s which served as a legal framework imposed by the republicans as well as sovereign power overlooked by the grand national assembly, the reformist, republicanism, nationalism, populism, statism and economic development. The principles initiated were fundamental and contained unchanging aims that were guided by republic’s interests. The principles were vested as sovereignty of Turkish statehood and involved particulars of nationalism and universalism. This was a big order for a young country. Ataturk also established constitutional amendments in Turkey that have made it accepted into the European Union. These amendments include the abolishment of death penalty and allowed broadcasting in the Kurdish. Wives, women, and feminism characters have a right to seek employment without their husbands’ permission and bringing to end the practice of high school test for girl’s virginity as well as the removal of crim es that involved anti-state comments. Secularist reforms were set out and they led to the abolishment of Caliphate laws as well as religious law courts and codes that they had implemented. Ataturk brought to existence the procedures that influenced directly the Islamic Shari’a. ... Turkey and Israel agreed to signed an agreement on tourism such that nationalist from the two countries could visit without restrictions. This increased the social bond between Turkey and Israel. The two also made military agreements whereby training arrangements were conducted by Israel. In this agreement, Turkish military men were trained in Israel. Turkey imported missiles from Israel, therefore, increasing the economic status and political standards. Turkey invited Israel for a contract to upgrade Turkish fighter jets, a contract that required six hundred and thirty two million dollars. Turkey conducted a military maneuvers with Israel and the US since Israel became a state. The economic, social, and cultural shares between Turkey and Israel as well as US helped it to sustain its people. In fact, it is the interaction between Turkish government and the US government can be seen when Turkey allowed US to use her airports to fly bombing raids on Iraq in the gulf war. These characte ristics have helped Turkish government to rebuild and project a highly commercial and economic sustainability. Question # 3 Jordan faces a number of challenges despite being a popular monarchy where the king speaks with the voice of moderation. These challenges result from lack of water where aquifers scarce or are rarely found, rainfall is below five milliliters and scarcity of oil wealth like other regions around it. These issues bring poverty into Jordan that she cannot pay for desalinization of plants, an agricultural degrading phenomenon in which farmers have to use irrigation systems particularly drip irrigation that would rather save the scarce water. Unfortunately, plans with Syria for a dam on the Yarmuk

Research advantages and disadvantages to bring World Cup to US Paper

Advantages and disadvantages to bring World Cup to US - Research Paper Example and equipment, which could be practiced on any more or less flat open space of the required size, made its way through the world entirely on its merits. But not in the United States† (Markovits & Hellerman, 2001, p.7). Sports culture is what people breathe, read, discuss, analyze, compare, and historicize and the less popularity of soccer in the US may be a reason of cultural hegemonic sports culture in the US which may lead to the domination of other sports like baseball, basketball, tennis and so on over the soccer extravaganza (Markovits & Hellerman, 2001, p.9). However the craze for soccer is gaining speed in America and a transition has taken place from soccer pioneers to  soccer-literate and are gradually directing towards the creation of the road to soccer-passionate by the soccer fans (Saporito, 2010). The Men’s Soccer World Cup held in 1994 saw almost near-capacity crowds at stadiums around the United States and attracted large domestic television audiences. Coupled with this success, the Major League Soccer (MLS) was founded in 1996 with money flowing from large owners and influential investors accelerating the games’ recognition with high media coverage. Women’s football became the most popular game in the United States nowadays followed by the phenomenal World Cup shootout victory over China by the United States Women’s national team in 1999 paving the way for the Women’s United Soccer Association’s (WUSA) founding in 2001 with huge inflow of investments (Richard & Nagel, 2007). The US bidding committee has also started bidding for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup for bringing this mega event in their country. This paper will analyze the advantages and disadvantages of bringing the World Cup to the United States with the subsequent impacts on the social, economic, and environmental dimension of the country. Emphasis is given on the research of secondary literary resources. Justifications of the statements are provided with examples and

Tough Love Parenting Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Tough Love Parenting - Research Paper Example Tough parenting refers to the act of being aggressive and stern in acting towards behavioral problems with an aim of assisting children to be good people. Although the actions towards bad behavior may seem like an act of cruelty to the child, it is aimed at making the child realize the need to change a given behavioral attitude in preparation to be good people in the future. For example, a parent may decide to withhold all entertainment opportunities to a child until school grades are improved. In extreme cases, a parent may decide to withhold all the financial support to a drug-addicted child until the child sees the need to go to a rehabilitation or correctional facility. According to Zodkevitch, tough love parenting is indeed important and necessary. Zodkevitch argues, â€Å"Tough love action steps a take parents from chaos to functionality, but tough love requires a change from whish-washy parenting to parenting with purpose on a daily basis (Zodkevitch 102). This presents a ver y interesting point of argument. What is the exact cause of behavioral problems to children? Is it poor parenting or a more complex problem that lies within the family and the society? its seems logical to claim that if the problem stems from poor family or societal set up, then tough love parenting may not work at all since it does not address the specific problem. On the other hand, the children may be experiencing behavioral problems due to poor parenting. When the same parents exercise tough love, then the problem escalates rather than solving the issue. A research conducted by Demos based on parenting behavior found that â€Å"high levels of parental warmth and attachment until the age of 10, combined with strict discipline by the time they are 16, play a powerful role in reducing the likelihood that a child would go on to be a binge drinker† (Doward web). This raises a question on what is the best time to implement tough love parental approach. This is because there is still a possibility that the child may develop behavioral problems even at early age. Conversely, it is possible for a child to grow maturely without behavioral problems even without tough parental love. However, the research findings by Demos can be taken as a precursor to the most appropriate period to initiate or stop tough parental love. Based on these findings, it can be argued that continued tough parental love beyond the age of 16 may not work since other factors come into play. For instance, teens over the age of 16 may no longer see the need to be supported by the parents. However, Heineman and Pieper have a very different and perhaps a counter approach to the issue of parenting. They advocate for â€Å"smart parenting† as opposed to tough love parenting. They claim â€Å"you can enjoy a relationship that’s based on mutual respect. You don’t have to get tough-you can get smart† (Heineman and Pieper 2). However, this raises the question of what co nstitutes smart parenting. The two extremes may not work at all situations but it seems more logical to assume that any methodology would apply depending on the particular situation. Therefore, tough love finds profound use when cases of indiscipline have gone overboard. However, on a normal situation, smart parenting should surely prevail. The degree of behavioral problem that may warrant tough love

Geomatics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Geomatics - Essay Example (PLSO) Geomatics tradition in land surveying and mapping science has enabled today's modern era to understand the scientific methods used in the same way as the challenge of representing a round Earth on a flat surface which was the basic confront for map projection; therefore land survey and graphical presentation were standard skills of the geographer as map maker. The principles of good measurement and models have enabled us to understand more or less 'land surveying' as a profession or an industry. Land analysis in surveying, usually done in professional concern is never so much neglected as forcefully rejected by the people. The reason is the perception built by customer, they are not concerned by the analysis and measurement, the only concern, which they possess, is the cost and commercial value of the asset. There are good grounds for most of the realignments, as flaws in analysis are recognised and replaced by very different approaches. Yet the rejection is too all embracing and it is a clear case of 'throwing the baby out with the bathwater'. The best example can be seen by the confusion people possess to accept it in the form of profession. There was a time when physical geography and mapping sciences were largely untouched by these perturbations and the scientific method in its broadest sense continued to serve them well. The question for human geography is now the form in which the heritage of spatial analysis may coexist alongside more recent qualitative methodologies and how both can contribute to the continuing development of the discipline. Some of the inheritance has never really gone away. Qualitative methods compete with the quantitative and each has something of value to offer. Research practices from anthropology such as participatory and observational techniques have a part to play. Although the teaching of Geography still reflects the influence of spatial analysis, it is far less evident in the weight of ongoing research and probably that is to the disadvantage of the discipline. As Turner (2002) pointed out, much of human geography has lost touch with mainstream social science research where positive science remains a strong component. This is not to denigrate the quality of the raft of research in human geography, simply to say that the balance needs to be restored and some of the prejudices removed. (Herbert & Matthews, 2004, p. 28) Increasingly competitive and complex real estate market surveys require international investors to become more knowledgeable about the unique requirements of real estate assets. The demand for the objective counsel of property advisers with technical knowledge of functional areas and products appeared to rise incrementally with the expansion of commercial property investment. Land surveying advisory services covered diverse disciplines within the profession, which includes mostly the real estate: the sale and leasing of property, real estate finance, institutional investment, property and asset management, portfolio investment management, and project management and construction.

Musical Autography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Musical Autography - Essay Example This essay suggests that through music, various important mysteries in the society have been able to be solved. Music has therefore for a long time presented itself as a tool of expression and mediation among different groups of individuals. Music usually expresses who people are and how they feel, thereby bringing them closer and together. Music has been used by the society as a tool of self-expression, since through music, various people have the chance of expressing their joys, fears, secrets etc. It is therefore significant for the researcher to look at how various sons or instrumental pieces relates to political, cultural and religion identities. It is stated that musical autobiography has had an impact to both the cultural, religion and political spheres. The general tastes and preferences of individuals change over time. Personally, my tastes and preferences for music have changed from the â€Å"Asian like† type of music to that of more westernized ones. This has been l argely due to the education that the researcher has acquired abroad which has enabled him to mingle with people from other communities. However, these tastes differ with those of my other family members who still prefer the Asian type of music and they have not been influenced to listen to other genres. In conclusion, the researcher mentiones that music has helped the researcher to construct his identity in various ways, and through music he has been able to interact with people from various geographical locations.

Hamidian Era Essay Example for Free

Hamidian Era Essay â€Å"Analyse the Hamidian era from the perspective of either the Balkan or the Anatolian or the Arab provinces, discussing the different ways in which that region was treated by the Ottoman government, and the different ways that region responded†. The Balkan region of the Ottoman Empire had always been a crucial part of it vast domains. The Balkan states can be credited with shortening the lifespan of a troubled empire. More specifically, Albania it can be argued contributed a great deal in bringing about the eventual demise of the Empire. The late British MP Audrey Hebert succinctly stated that, â€Å"In the end, like Samson in the Temple of Gaza, they pulled down the columns of the Ottoman Empire upon their own head. It was the Albanians and not the Serbs or Bulgars or Greeks who defeated the Turks†. It is strange then that not enough research has been done to deeply analyze the Albanian nations’ contributions towards the Ottoman Empire. This essay will look at the Hamedian agenda in relation to the Balkan region, focusing specifically on the Albanian nation. This essay will analyze the Sultans policies vis-a-vis the Albanians to conclude that in the end the Empire lost a once great ally of the Empire due to its detrimental centralizing policies, which attempted to strip away national in a time when nationalism was a central them in the region. The loss of Albania within the Balkans culminated in the Young Turk revolution, which brought an end to the Hamedian era. Sultan Abdul Hamid II is generally remembered as a pious ruler. The Hamedian agenda was multi-faceted. The Sultan sought to unify the Muslims under the banner of Islam to repel outside intruders. He also wanted complete authority in order to centralize his Empire. The Ottoman context at this time was characterized by strong nationalist calls from within the Empire. This sweeping nationalism was inspired by Western Europe and various European states encouraged nationalist movements within the Empire thus further compounding the multitude of political, social and economic problems confronting the Sultan. Sultan Abdul Hamid II attempted to undermine the growing nationalist problem by employing his policies of pan-Islamism. Pan-Islamism gained real momentum only after the signing of a treaty in Berlin in 1878. The treaty was a consequence of the Ottoman defeat against the Russians a year earlier. As a result the Sultan auspiciously suspended the constitution and exiled Ottoman Bureaucrats whose where seen as a threat to the Sultans power. The major outcome of this European headed congress however was that the Empire had lost large parts of the majority Christian Balkan territories. The Sultan then distanced himself from the secular orientated ideas of the preceding Tanzimat era. His policies â€Å"went from being, ostensibly supra-religious during the hey-day of the Tanzimat, to more emphasis being placed on Islam in tone and nuance†. An example of this is his education policy, which put forward school curriculums very Islamic in nature. The Balkans had always been a key economic resource for the Ottoman Empire, owing to its large population, huge fertile lands and well located position inside Europe. The congress’s decision resulted in Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria gaining independence. This greatly hindered the Sultan’s desire for centralization. Without worrying about ruling a large Christian population, the Sultan could now focus exclusively on his Muslim subjects. He did this in two ways. Firstly, the Sultans’ subjects needed to form â€Å"a cohesive new core of identity,† especially since the Muslim population made up over 70% of the Empire. Secondly, Abdul Hamid was not afraid to use his title as Caliph of the Believers to rally support from his subjects to call for jihad against the infidel colonialists. Of course this was part of the pan-Islamic propaganda used so well by the Sultan. In 1877 the Islamic agenda of the Sultan became very apparent. The San Stefano, treaty was forced on the empire after the Russians had defeated the Ottomans in war. The treated stipulated that the majority Albanians lands be given to Serbia, Bulgaria and Montenegro. The Albanians were ethnically non-Slavic and most of them were Muslims. They were known to be very loyal to the Empire. Some of the best soldiers who served in the Janissary corps came from Albania. Not long after the treaty of San Stefano, prominent figures from Albania came together in response to a congress that they perceived as dangerous to the Albanian national interests. This phase in Albania’s’ history is known as the national awakening. The initial result of this congress was the formation of the â€Å"league of Prezren† on 20 June 1878, lasting until 1881. With a coalition of land-owners, religious scholars and intellectuals, the league had almost 300 members. They came from Kosovva, Yannya, Isscodra, and Monasstir. The league submitted a document consisting of sixteen plans to the Sultan in 1878. At least 47 Albanian representatives signed this document. Article 1 clearly outlined that the Albanians were not against the Empire. Article 2 had clearly stated the Leagues’ loyal stance towards Abdul Hamid. We find the following in article 6: â€Å"In view of the situation in the Balkans, we will not allow any foreign troops to enter our territory. We will not recognize Bulgaria and do not even wish to hear its name mentioned. If Serbia does not agree to give up the regions it has occupied illegally, we will deploy volunteer corps (akindjiler) against it and do our utmost to bring about the return of these regions. We will do the same with Montenegro. † â€Å"It is understood that the Government may not interfere in the affairs of the League. Accordingly, the League will not interfere in the administrative affairs of the Government, unless the latter can be shown to have issued orders involving the use of force. † (Article 14) The formation of the league coupled with the resistance against the decisions of the congress of Berlin contributed in heightening the nationalistic tendencies of the Albanians. The call amongst the Albanians to unify the four populated vilayets into one autonomous province grew louder. However this clearly ran counter to the Sultan’s policy to unite the Empire on an Islamic basis and not a nationalist one, therefore rendering their demands impossible to accept. The Albanians became increasingly disgruntled with the policies of the Empire. However the Sultans endeavour to redefine the Ottoman identity as purely Islamic was â€Å"mainly directed at curbing nascent proto-nationalist acuities of the Ottoman Muslims. † Such a context deemed the ideas of league as harmful to the agenda of Abdul Hamid. The notion of a separate national entity, in this case â€Å"Albanianism’’ was thus actively suppressed by Abdul Hamid. Indeed Albanian nationalism became very pronounced and posed a threat to the Sultan. The idea of a national identity became so popular in Albania, that a traveller from England became astonished to observe that Albanians viewed themselves as Albanians and not as â€Å"Turks or Christians like other minorities in the Empire†. However language became a key hindrance for the Sultans plans. The Albanian language united them. In the wider Balkan context language aided in further agitating the growing nationalistic tendencies within the region. However the use of language as a basis for Albanian unity was not welcome by all. The Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople outlawed the use of the Albanian script in writing. Sticking to the social contours set by the Sultan the Patriarch intended to divide the Albanians on the basis of creed. † Local Orthodox Patriarchs threatened Albanian bishops teaching the language with excommunication. However such attempts were ultimately unsuccessful. The Albanian issue was also expressed in military terms further perplexing the Sultans problems. The Albanians fiercely resisted the points of the aforementioned treaty, which gave away territory to its neighbours, in particular the cessation of Ulcinnj, Plavve and Gusinnje to Montenegro. The Albanians represented by the league were even prepared for what they believed to be an imminent attack by Montenegro and Serbia. The military capabilities of the Albanians were well known to the Sultan. A close confidant to the Sultan and chief secretary of the Empire Tahsin Pasha (1894-1909) describes the Sultans views towards the Albanians. The Albanians occupied first place [in the empire]. Abdul Hamid believed in the bravery and devotion of Albanians. This certainly constituted the foundation of Abdul Hamid’s policies†¦in Rumeli; the Albanians were considered a bastion of Abdul Hamid’s policies† The Sultan was able to use the military might of the Albanian forces. 1879 was the year in which they defeated an army form Montenegro in Gussnye. The Empire would suppo rt or restrain Albanian military activity depending upon its political interests at the time. Albanians generally fitted into the wider Ottoman political plans, and although the league acted as an independent government inside Albania, collecting taxes and administering the region for example, the Sultan largely ignored this due to the Albanian opposition to a complete dissolution of the Ottoman Empire and its territories. However in 1881 when the pan-Islamic policy of the Sultan had reached a new level, the league was seen as a threat and officially dissolved. Many people were exiled to the western peninsula of Asia. Following on from the dismantling of the League of Prezren, Abdul Hamid had always attempted, until his removal in 1909, to use the loyal elements of the Albanians to maintain control of the Balkan region. The former vizier Mehmet assad Sefvett Pasha suggested that the Albanians should be heavily relied on for security in Europe. The general Derrvish Pasha also supported this view. The Sultan was fully aware of the strategic importance the Albanians held within the Empire. The Albanian population was of great size, and well placed in the Balkan region. They were key in defending the Empire from the Balkans. Due to the loyalty and importance the Albanians had to the Sultan, he expanded the role of the Albanians within the Empire. Many were hired as his palace guards, and given a greater chance of participation in the Ciragan Palace (the Ottoman Parliament). They were also appointed to keep the Sheikh-a-Islam safe. Nevertheless Abdul Hamid maintained a feeble hold over population of Albania. Tribal loyalty was a strong force amongst the Albanian people. This loyalty eventually evolved to become expressed through nationalism, a notion that had already swept the region. The Sultans use of pan-Islamism to centralize his Empire, and more specifically to create a loyal defensive Albanian front in Europe became interpreted as an infringement on the Albanian right to self-recognition. The Alabanian language was used to promote national solidarity amongst the Albanian population, something the Sultans at times abstract policies could not deal with. However it is also true that the Albanians shared a common cause with the Sultan. They rejected and resisted foreign encroachment of the Empire and did not wish for its dissolution. The formation of the league of Prezren is evidence for these sentiments. In the end the question of why the Albanians and the Sultan could not work together, even for the short term to solve these shared issues is difficult to answer. However what becomes pretty clear is that the Sultans policy of uniting his empire on the basis of religion was persistently competing with the powerful force of nationalism, and in this case Albanianism. To conclude, nationalist movements, which had engulfed the Balkans— the Serbs, Montenegrins and Greeks — had an impact on the Albanians. The Albanians wanted greater autonomy within the Empire. The Albanians did not necessarily despise the rule of Abdul Hamid or his Empire. They were after all â€Å"loyal subjects for 500 years† and always â€Å"felt secure,† within the Empire. They disagreed with the idea that they could not gain greater autonomy like the rest of the Balkan states around them. Abdul Hamid’s attempt at centralization infringed on the national aspirations of his subjects thus pan-Islamism was antithetical to granting self-government to the different segments of the Ottoman Empire. The Albanians wanted greater autonomy but this clearly ran counter to the Sultans plans of centralization via the medium of pan Islamism. The Sultan lost the support of the Albanians and this paved the way for the committee of union and progress to gain huge support in the Balkans (especially in Macedonia). This eventually led to the dethronement of the Sultan. The Sultans policy failed to confront a tough nationalism, and ultimately became his undoing.

Effect of Art Essay Example for Free

Effect of Art Essay Traditionally, we have believed that art imitates life. The painter represents what he or she sees by producing a scene on a canvas. The sculptor does the same with bronze or stone. A photographer or film maker does it even more directly. A writer describes life in his or her books. This simple concept is known as mimesis. But some have questioned the one-way nature of mimesis by arguing that art also changes the way we view the world, and in fact, life sometimes imitates art rather than the other way around. The person who first articulated this belief effectively was Oscar Wilde. Speaking about the foggy conditions in London in the late 19th century, he wrote that the way we perceive them changed because of art. Referring to the wonderful brown fogs that come creeping down our streets, blurring the gas lamps and turning houses into shadows he argued that poets and painters have taught [people] the loveliness of such effects. According to Wilde, They did not exist till Art had invented them. And you don’t have to look too far to see anti-mimesis in our lives. To what extent is our outlook on life altered by ideas we read in books? The portrayal of people in films? The styles we see in fashion photography? One great example of this is the TV series The Sopranos, and how it affected both the Mafia in the USA and the FBI. Art’s influence on society: propaganda and censorship Throughout history, it has always been the case that art has the power to change society, especially when new media are used to express an idea. During the First World War, for example, movie cameras were used for the first time to record trench warfare – when the film was shown in cinemas in Britain, audiences ran out screaming. This led to the government censoring further such use of such a powerful medium. And in government censorship, and use of art as propaganda, we see how seriously governments take the effect of art. All of the major dictators of the C20th understood the power of art to influence the population. In Nazi Germany, Hitler set up the Ministry of Propaganda and National Enlightenment. It was headed by Goebbels, who made sure that nothing was published, performed, or exhibited without his approval. When this happens, you know there isn’t going to be a happy ending. And what Goebbels approved, of course, only fit in with Nazi ideology and ideas. In terms of art, this meant no modern and abstract art, certainly nothing hostile to the regime, and nothing that featured images other than the stereotypical blonde-haired, blue eyed set in idyllic pastoral scenes of blissful happiness. In Stalinist Russia, there was also a keen understanding of the power of art. Art portrayed contented peasants, industrious workers, and Stalin himself. In fact, Stalin was shown god-like in many paintings, a phenomenon known as the Cult of Stalin. Just as in Germany, gigantic architectural projects expressed the power of the state. However, there is no doubt that in Russia there were greater artistic achievements than in Nazi Germany. Composers worked with fewer hindrances – as seen in the works by Prokoviev and Shostakovich, and film-makers such as Eisenstein emerged. Art’s influence on society: the trial of Lady Chatterley’s Lover But even under less oppressive governments, the artistic expression of certain ideas can be subject to control. One great example is the book ‘Lady Chatterley’s Lover’ by DH Lawrence, which was deemed offensive on many levels. In this book, Constance Reid, a woman from a progressive liberal middle class family marries a minor member of the aristocracy, Lord Clifford Chatterley, and takes the title ‘Lady Chatterley’. But her husband is injured in the First World War, confined to a wheelchair, and left impotent. Despite this, he becomes a successful writer and businessman. It is more his obsession with financial success and fame rather than any physical difficulties which come between him and his wife, and she begins an affair with their gamekeeper, Oliver Mellors. The largely aristocratic ‘establishment’ of Britain at the time – the book was published in Italy in 1928 were shocked by many aspects of the book. First, there was the fact that the book was ‘obscene’, in the way it went into explicit detail the affair that took place (see below). Second, there was the fact that a women was breaking her marriage vows, something considered far worse than a man behaving in the same way. Finally, it represented an intimate relationship between a member of the ‘lower’ classes (although it emerges during the story that Mellors is actually well-educated, and became an officer in the army during the First World War) and the ‘upper’ classes, a concept that was totally taboo in Britain at that time. The book was duly banned. But the book was republished by Penguin books in 1960. The attorney general, Reginald Manningham-Buller (dubbed ‘Bullying-Manners’ by the journalist and author Bernard Levin) had to read only four chapters to decide to prosecute Penguin books for publishing it. What annoyed him was not just the content, but the fact that the price of the book meant it was affordable to women and members of the lower classes (remember that only few women worked at this time, and husbands were generally in charge of family finances). The trial was a disaster for Manningham-Buller and the prosecution. They had failed to find any experts to support their case, in stark contrast to Penguin’s defence team, which had brought in authors, journalists, academics, and even members of the clergy to defend the book. Manningham-Buller and his team had very little idea of what Lawrence had been trying to express in his book, regularly being caught out by the superior insight of the witnesses they were trying to catch out. And although they tried to shock the jury – in his opening speech, Manningham-Buller announced: The word fuck or fucking appears no less than 30 times . . . Cunt 14 times; balls 13 times; shit and arse six times apiece; cock four times; piss three times, and so on. they were unable to prove that the book would have a negative influence on the readers it was aimed at. According to the Guardian: No other jury verdict in British history has had such a deep social impact. Over the next three months Penguin sold 3m copies of the book – an example of what many years later was described as the Spycatcher effect, by which the attempt to suppress a book through unsuccessful litigation serves only to promote huge sales. The jury – that iconic representative of democratic society – had given its imprimatur to ending the taboo on sexual discussion in art and entertainment. Within a few years the stifling censorship of the theatre by the lord chamberlain had been abolished, and a gritty realism emerged in British cinema and drama. (Saturday Night and Sunday Morning came out at the same time as the unexpurgated Lady Chatterley, and very soon Peter Finch was commenting on Glenda Jacksons tired old tits in Sunday Bloody Sunday and Ken Tynan said the first fuck on the BBC.) Homosexuality was decriminalised, abortions were available on reasonable demand, and in order to obtain a divorce it was unnecessary to prove that a spouse had committed the matrimonial crime of adultery. Judges no longer put on black caps to sentence prisoners to hang by the neck until dead. Can we say, though, that it was art in this case that changed society, or was it an interaction between human sciences (ie, the law) and the arts (the book) that led to change? This is from the same Guardian article: †¦the message of Lady Chatterleys Lover, half a century after the trial, is that literature in itself does no harm at all. The damage that gets attributed to books – and to plays and movies and cartoons – is caused by the actions of people who try to suppress them.