Duration of technology licensing Research Paper

Duration of technology licensing - Research Paper Example mination of the actual technology transfer charge and the actual duration of the charge, certain factors such as the type of technology, the type of industry and competitive environment contribute to the consideration of the appropriate charging method. Licensing considerations available to innovators highlight the various technology leakage impacts and the effect that the irregular transfer of the innovation has on the monopoly impact that a company enjoys in the market with several competitors. The basic assumption in the considerations is that there are many companies competing for the technology and the innovator seeks to find the most appropriate method to continue making revenue from the technology once sold (Raspudic 6). As mentioned above, the two types of contracts widely employed in licensing innovation to companies include fixed-fee and royalty payments. Despite the fact that the two licensing contracts have several similarities, distinctions however, stand between them in various fundamental perspectives. In the fixed fee alternative, the technology owner charges a fixed fee on the product and makes it available to all competing companies on take-or-leave basis of offer. In this contract perspective, meeting the initial fixed fee implies that the company agrees the offer and effectively gives the company the rights to use the technology as a licencee. In the determination of the fixed fee, the number of companies competing to take up the offer forms an integral determinant force. The concept of royalty arrangement finds shape on the unit output analysis where the innovator charges a specific predetermined royalty fee (Raspudic 4). Licensees become beneficiaries of the technology if they meet th e royalty fees. As employed in fixed-fee contracting, the number of licensees determines the amount of royalty charges. The determination of the active duration of a license depends on the type of contract up to when the technology utility reduces to an outdated

Ethical Issues in Work Groups Essay Example for Free

Ethical Issues in Work Groups Essay Therapeutic pressure, unlike undue pressure, enables members of a group to help each other discover their individual answers without pressurizing them to accept the answers deemed appropriate by the group. Group thinking enhances unanimity, mental efficiency and moral judgement that are appropriate which each person (William, 1995). In the first five sessions, the leader acted ethically since he provided ample time to explore the views, fears, expectations and interpersonal relationships of the members. He also told them about the risks of potential changes that may occur after the session and assessed their preparedness. However, the leader failed the ethical test in the sixth session by asking Kevin to develop romantic feelings towards Lydia yet she was not his partner (Jameson, 2001). Kevin had already confessed that it was against his religious convictions and commitment on monogamous relationship. He failed to respect Kevin’s values and imposed his own belief on the client. If I was Ryan’s co-leader, I would have delayed the role-play experiment until such a time when we could have gathered enough information that does not compromise the values of each individual. In addition, giving Kevin an ultimatum to complete his assignment was undue pressure since it conflicted with his values and the duties he was given (Herlihy Corey, 2005). Although a group leader might have been faced with the dilemma of identifying personal issues that do not conflict with other members, he had to perform a thorough background check to get enough information that could have enabled him to make informed decisions (McKee, 2004). This would have enabled him to respect the cultural diversity present within group members. To develop Kevin’s assertiveness, I would have invited Hannah and coached Kevin on how he ought to treat her in his first assignment. If this does not prove effective, Kevin’s partner should then be included in the counselling sessions so that the leader can evaluate the source of the problem in the relationship. References Herlihy, B. , Corey, G. (2005). ACA Ethical Standards Casebook. Alexandria, VA, American Counselling Association Jameson, R. (2001). Foundations of Ethical Practice in Psychology. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates McKee, L. (2004). A Historical Perspective Approach for Practicing Managers to Improve Ethics. Journal of Applied Management and Entrepreneurship, Vol. 9, p. 22-24 William, G. (1995). Ethical and legal Issues in Group Counselling. Journal of Ethics and Behavior, Vol. 5, p. 10

The Procedures For Teaching Grammar

The Procedures For Teaching Grammar Since teaching grammar plays such an important part in language classroom, it is necessary to know what are the approaches to teach grammar as well as the most effective process of holding a grammar lesson. It is because this will help learners study grammar more effectively. About the teaching approach, there are two main types mentioned which are the inductive and deductive one. In deductive, the rule is presented first and the language is produced based on the rule. On the contrary, in inductive, teacher will give students a means to discover the rules themselves. Both of these approaches have advantages and disadvantages. Deductive approach will save time for teacher and be suitable for young learners, whereas the inductive one will be appropriate for learners with basic knowledge of the language. About planning a grammar lesson in classroom, there are several popular models a teacher should know, for example: the deductive PPP (Presentation, Practice, Production), TTT (Test, Teach, Test), ARC (Authentic use, Restricted use, Clarification and focus), TBL (Task-Based Learning) and ESA (Engage, Study, Activate). All models have their own good points and bad points. Among them, PPP is the most widely used model because this model is easy to conduct and can be suitable for teaching isolated grammatical items. It also allows the teacher to arrange the time for each stage accurately and prepare for the unexpected problems that may occur.(BBC, 2005 December 9) Teaching grammar in PPP includes three main stages: presentation, practice and production. Presentation: This stage includes lead-in, presenting form and meaning, giving other examples, conducting repetition of title, model sentences and examples,and finally asking class to copy down lesson. Lead-in: The teacher usually begins presenting with a text in which the grammatical structure appears. The text maybe one or two sentences, or it can be a short dialogue. The teacher may also use pictures or situations to lead into the structure that will be taught. The purpose of lead-in section is to warm up and raise studentsinterest in the lesson. Throught it, students will know how the structure is used naturally in real life. Presenting form and meaning: In this section, the teacher may begin showing the form first and the meaning second or vice versa. This depends on the students. If students prefer grammar explanations at the beginning, the form should be presented first. On the contrary, if students learn a language better by inferring the meaning before the teacher presents grammar explanation, then showing the meaning first is suitable for them. (Dang and Ruiter, 2005, p.86) Whether the form of the grammar point or its meaning is presented first, the teacher should master the ways of showing form and meaning. Doff (1988) mentioned these ways in his book. When presenting meaning, the teacher can show it visually or through a situation. In showing meaning visually, he or she can use objects, the classroom, the students themselves, the pictures to demonstrate the new structure(p.34). Nevertheless, it is not always possible to show the meaning visually. Hence there is another way of showing meaning more naturally. It is presenting meaning through a situation. This situation can be real or imaginary(p.35). The good point of using a situation is that students can become familiar with how the structure is used in everyday conversations. They will feel what they are learning is relevant to real life, and it is also easier for the teacher to use this way. Together with explaining clearly the meaning of the new structure, it is also important to show how it is formed. Doff (1988) showed two basic ways of doing this. First, a clear model should be given and students are asked to listen and repeat two or three times and then the teacher demonstrates the structure quickly. Second, the teacher writes the structure on the board, says it when writing and underlines the fixed parts. Another way is asking the students to tell the teacher what to write. It is an effective way because it involves the whole class in the lesson and focuses their attention to the structure. (p.37) After the teacher has finished presenting form and meaning, he or she continue doing other steps such as: giving other examples, modeling the structure and examples, and finally asking class to copy down lesson. Practice When students have known the grammatical structure, it is neccessary to get them to say the new language accurately and fluently. Therefore, it is important to move to practice stage. The process will go from controlled practice (mechanical) to less controlled practice (meaningful) and finally to free practice (production). Controlled or mechanical practice In this section, learners are often asked to do mechanical drills such as repetition, substitution, word cues, picture cuesetc. These drills completely control the response of students. They are asked to give the only one correct way of responding because these kinds of drills just focus on correct forms rather than meaning. Therefore, mechanical drills are only useful if students practise doing them for a short time. This kind of practice has some limitations due to these three reasons. First, because students do not have to think much when doing mechanical drills, they will easily forget afterwards. Second, teacher can not be sure that whether students understand the meaning of the words or not. Finally, these drills focus only on producing correct forms, therefore students do not know how to use them to express meaning.(Doff, 1988, p.73) Meaningful practice Meaningful practice is also called less controlled practice because there is still little control of response. Less control is because students can give several right answers and these drills are not suitable for doing chorally. This is called meaningful practice because it requires learners to think and understand what they are doing. Some common drills are information gap exercise, mapped dialogue, interview or find someone whoetc. There are three techniques to make meaningful practice: First, teacher can do this by getting students to say real thing about themselves, or teacher can give a situation that implies the structure but let student decide what to say. Also, teacher can let students add something of their own (Doff, 1988, p.75-76) In this stage, in both mechanical and meaningful practice, teacher should check whether sudents make any errors or not so that teacher goes back to the presentation stage and clarifies any problems of understanding or usage. Production Meaningful practice is followed by production (free practice) in which students have a chance to use the strutures to express their own ideas or talk about their experiences. There are two kinds of useful topics. According to Doff (1988), students can talk about real life, for example themselves, friends or anything in the world. They can also imagine a situation which is not real to practise speaking (p.78). In this section, role play and communicative games are often used. Free practice offers students a chance to talk freely; hence, it is in this stages that errors often occur. Nevertheless, teachers should not interupt students to correct their mistakes because the main purpose is to develop fluency and confidence. Important errors can be corrected during giving feedback after this stage. Although PPP model is widely used, it is becoming old-fashioned nowadays and is under threat to be replaced by other ones. There are a number of reasons for this which Mora et al. (2001) pointed out in their book. For one, PPP will discourage risk-taking and the processes of improvisation and experimentation with the language, which are considered as important aspects of language learning. For another, the controlled context in present and practice stage does little help for students when dealing with the natural language outside the classroom.(p.14). Another problem is that in PPP, the grammatical structures which are often chosen in advance by the course book author or the teacher may not be what students like to learn. Hence, students may not feel excited in the lesson; and if they do not want to learn that grammar point, the whole lesson can be a waste of time. Also, when it comes to more complex grammar points, it will be a challenge for teacher to use this model. These are all the reasons why other models are considered to apply in classrooms instead of PPP.

Open Mine Eyes :: English Literature Essays

Open Mine Eyes 'Open my eyes and allow me to behold the wealth of each curtained acre. Allow me to stand amidst the true complexity of land and hold me hostage beyond the hand of illustrations. As any mind may have it, such beauty is held too deep, so far away no ordinary soul could see. I ask you to bring forth the beauty of such things. Describe to me, young man, the definition of America . . .' Close your eyes and open your mind. Feel that slightly chilled breeze upon your cheeks, barely rustling through your golden hair. Reach out now and grasp the unknown, hold within your hand the temperament of unrestricted air. Now breathe deeply, and allow yourself to inhale that refreshing sweetness. Only you know that its the cause of the shallow whispering of the world around you. Now, in your mind, open your eyes and look beyond that reach. As far as your eyes can see, lays an open field of amber grain. Acres and acres of an un-chartered beauty. Though, what makes such emptiness beautiful? Behold, the white and scattered clouds, now accented by the blue sky and illuminated by the rays of purple, yellow or pink brilliance from the rising sun beyond the horizon. I witness the world grow smaller. I see, in the distance, the annually alternating colors extending from green and yellow, to orange and brown. A painted portrait of freckled or dimpled ground lies towards the horizon. Look above, a great royalty in heavens plains extending his prided wings over the appreciated air. The eagle watches carefully over his kingdom. Though it may not seem much, he prides himself with the restless content of the waving grain. The mild whispering of the wheat battling each other for unity and for serenity, for direction and for time. Though through this complexity, he watches his kingdom dance. You, alone, stand in his shallow pond of grain. When the wind picks up it creates waves of confusion. The careful breeze pushes them one way, and in restraint they push back. Though when the wind s lets up they have strained so much, when they are released, they lurch into the other direction, creating an elegant swaying motion. The individual composition of form, and with the subtle motions they mold a dance of serenity. You must understand, in order to visualize such beauty, a person must be willing to look further than the word America.

Term Paper About Tardiness

School engagement and participation have become the focus of educators over the past decade as they are linked to achievement and dropout rates. In order to learn, a student has to be both physically and mentally present in the classroom, on a consistent basis, ready to receive instruction.Students who are in class, on time, and behaving well are more likely to be actively and productively engaged in their own education. Conversely, students who are moving frequently between schools may be less likely to be engaged in their learning, much like a student who is frequently absent.Additionally, a high rate of mobility at a particular school can adversely affect every student at that school. Measures of engagement and participation vary; however, research has proven that high rates of absenteeism, tardiness, disciplinary incidents, or mobility signal disruptions in the continuity and quality of a student’s learning.Moreover, high rates of absenteeism can lead to course failure and , eventually, dropping out of school. The good news for educators is that all of this student information is accessible early and often in the school year, before course performance data is available.As a result, these data are powerful and useful early indicators for identifying students in need of immediate intervention. In the case of a student who is receiving interventions engagement and participation measures can also provide educators with an important measure of the â€Å"dosage† of the intervention.When viewed together, attendance, tardiness, discipline, mobility, dropout rate and participation metrics help educators understand the true story of how actively and productively individual students, groups of students, and their parents are engaged in school.

Asyndeton Definition and Examples

Asyndeton Definition and Examples Asyndeton is a  rhetorical term for a writing style that omits conjunctions between words, phrases, or clauses. Adjective: asyndetic. The opposite of asyndeton is  polysyndeton. According to Edward Corbett and Robert Connors, The principal effect of asyndeton is to produce a hurried rhythm in the sentence (Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student, 1999). In his study of Shakespeares style, Russ McDonald argues that the figure of asyndeton works by means of juxtaposition rather than coupling, thereby depriving the auditor of clear logical relations (Shakespeares Late Style, 2010). Examples and Observations He was a bag of bones, a floppy doll, a broken stick, a maniac.(Jack Kerouac, On the Road, 1957)Joona walks through the Christmas market in Bollns Square. Fires are burning, horses are snorting, chestnuts are roasting. Children race through a stone maze, others drink hot chocolate.(Lars Kepler, The Hypnotist. Trans. by Ann Long. Picador, 2011)Speed up the film, Montag, quick. Click, Pic, Look, Eye, Now, Flick, Here, There, Swift, Pace, Up, Down, In, Out, Why, How, Who, What, Where, Eh? Uh! Bang! Smack! Wallop, Bing, Bong, Boom!(Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, 1953)She was young, she was pure, she was new, she was nice,She was fair, she was sweet seventeen.He was old, he was vile, and no stranger to vice,He was base, he was bad, he was mean.He had slyly inveigled her up to his flatTo view his collection of stamps.(Flanders and Swann, Have Some Madeira, MDear)Why, theyve got ten volumes on suicide alone. Suicide by race, by color, by occupation, by sex, by seasons of the year, by time of day. Suicide, how committed: by poisons, by firearms, by drowning, by leaps. Suicide by poison, subdivided by types of poison, such as corrosive, irritant, systemic, gaseous, narcotic, alkaloid, protein, and so forth. Suicide by leaps, subdivided by leaps from high places, under the wheels of trains, under the wheels of trucks, under the feet of horses, from steamboats. But Mr. Norton, of all the cases on record, theres not one single case of suicide by leap from the rear end of a moving train.(Edward G. Robinson as insurance agent Barton Keyes in Double Indemnity, 1944) It is a northern country; they have cold weather, they have cold hearts.Cold; tempest; wild beasts in the forest. It is a hard life. Their houses are built of logs, dark and smoky within. There will be a crude icon of the virgin behind a guttering candle, the leg of a pig hung up to cure, a string of drying mushrooms. A bed, a stool, a table. Harsh, brief, poor lives.(Angela Carter, The Werewolf. The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories, 1979)I have found the warm caves in the woods,filled them with skillets, carvings, shelves,closets, silks, innumerable goods(Anne Sexton, Her Kind)In some ways, he was this town at its beststrong, hard-driving, working feverishly, pushing, building, driven by ambitions so big they seemed Texas-boastful.(Mike Royko, A Tribute)Anyway, like I was saying, shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. Deys uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. Theres pineapple shrimp, le mon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. Thatthats about it.(Bubba in Forrest Gump, 1994) Fog everywhere. Fog up the river, where it flows among green aits and meadows; fog down the river, where it rolls deified among the tiers of shipping and the waterside pollutions of a great (and dirty) city. Fog on the Essex marshes, fog on the Kentish heights. Fog creeping into the cabooses of collier-brigs; fog lying out on the yards and hovering in the rigging of great ships; fog drooping on the gunwales of barges and small boats. Fog in the eyes and throats of ancient Greenwich pensioners, wheezing by the firesides of their wards; fog in the stem and bowl of the afternoon pipe of the wrathful skipper, down in his close cabin; fog cruelly pinching the toes and fingers of his shivering little prentice boy on deck. Chance people on the bridges peeping over the parapets into a nether sky of fog, with fog all round them, as if they were up in a balloon and hanging in the misty clouds.(Charles Dickens, Bleak House, 1852-1853) Functions of Asyndeton When [asyndeton] is used in a series of words, phrases, or clauses, it suggests the series is somehow incomplete, that there is more the writer could have included (Rice 217). To put it somewhat differently: in a conventional series, writers place an and before the final item. That and signals the end of the series: Here it is folksthe last item. Omit that conjunction and you create the impression that the series could continue. . . Asyndeton can also create ironic juxtapositions that invite readers into collaborative relationships with writers: because there are no explicit connections between phrases and clauses, readers must supply them to reconstruct the writers intent. . . Asyndeton can also quicken the pace of prose, especially when it is used between clauses and sentences.(Chris Holcomb and M. Jimmie Killingsworth, Performing Prose: The Study and Practice of Style in Composition. SIU Press, 2010) EtymologyFrom the Greek, unconnected Pronunciation: ah-SIN-di-ton

Stirling Engine Overview

Stirling Engine Overview Free Online Research Papers Of all of the heat engines developed today the Stirling engine has the greatest promise to be the most efficient. Theoretically, the Stirling engine has the ability to function at the full Carnot efficiency. However friction, thermal conductivity and other variables keep it from ever reaching that theoretical potential. Stirling engines, being â€Å"external combustion† engines, are very smooth running and very quiet. Also, because the Stirling engine uses an external heat source, it can be run on whatever is available that makes heat.(1) In this paper we are going to look at the history of the Stirling engine, how it works, and the different configurations in which it can be built. Further, we are going to look at the pros and cons of the Stirling engine, different applications, and how new technology is being developed using the Stirling model. History: With the dangers of early steam engines, Dr. Robert Stirling and his brother James sought to create a safer alternative. In 1816 the Stirling brothers patented the Stirling Air Engine.(2) Originally the patent was for a heat exchanger that Stirling called an â€Å"economizer†. Rolf Meijer coined the name â€Å"Stirling engine† approximately one hundred years later in order to describe all types of closed cycle regenerative gas engines. The original patent went on to describe one possible application for the economizer, it could be used as an air engine. Robert and his brother James continued to apply for patents that covered various improved configurations of the original design. One very important improvement was pressurization, which increased the power output of the engine. Although the Stirling engine was unable to compete with the steam engine in large-scale operations, it did find success in the latter nineteenth and early twentieth century wherever a reliable source of low to medium power was required.(3) â€Å"These generally operated at lower temperatures so as not to tax available materials, and thus tended to be rather inefficient. Their major selling point was that they could be operated safely by anyone capable of managing a fire.†(4) As technology improved the appeal of Stirling engine was reduced by the electric motor and was mostly relegated to toys. How it works: The Stirling engine moves through four basic processes, cooling, compression, heating, and expansion. The fixed mass working fluid (commonly air, hydrogen, or helium) moves between two heat exchangers, one heat exchanger to facilitate the absorption of heat and the other to discharge the heat absorbed. In the engine there are two pistons (mechanically linked) exposed to the working fluid at each heat exchanger. The change in working fluid temperature causes a change in the working fluid pressure, which in turn drives the pistons.(5) When most of the working fluid is in contact with the hot heat exchanger, it pushes the â€Å"Hot Piston† to the bottom of its cylinder extracting work from the fluid (power stroke). The â€Å"Cold Piston† being mechanically linked (at 90 ° on a flywheel) to the â€Å"Hot Piston†, is pushed to the top of its cylinder (compression stroke). With the bulk of the working fluid being heated, heat from the hot side bleeds into the cold side causing some expansion and starts to push the â€Å"Cold Piston† toward the bottom of its cylinder (power stroke) extracting more work from of the hot working fluid. As the â€Å"Cold Piston† continues to travel to the bottom of the cylinder the working fluid is at its maximum volume and the â€Å"Hot Piston† begins its travel to the top of its cylinder (compression stroke) moving the bulk of the hot working fluid to the cold side. The working fluid starts to cool and the â€Å"Cold Piston† powered by the momentum of the flywheel, begins its travel to the top of its cylinder (compression stroke). As the working fluid reaches its minimum volume it absorbs heat from the hot side, the working fluid on the hot side increases in temperature, the pressure increases and starts to drive the piston to the bottom of its cylinder (power stroke). Once more placing the bulk of the working fluid in contact with the hot heat exchanger beginning the process again.(6) Configurations: Stirling engines are differentiated into three types; Alpha (operation explained in the preceding section), Beta, and Gamma. The differences are found in the movement of the working fluid between the heat exchangers. The Alpha Stirling utilizes two separate cylinders and power pistons. â€Å"The hot piston cylinder is situated inside the higher temperature heat exchanger and the cool piston cylinder is situated inside the low temperature heat exchanger. This type of engine has a very high power-to-volume ratio†(7) The Beta Stirling has a single power piston arranged within the same cylinder on the same shaft as a displacer piston. The displacer piston however, is fit loosely in the cylinder and extracts no power from the expanding working fluid. Typically, the Beta is attached to a flywheel to enhance its performance.(8) The Gamma Stirling is a Beta with the power piston mounted in a separate cylinder adjacent to the displacer piston cylinder but is still connected by the same flywheel. The working fluid flows freely between the cylinders and remains in a single unit. This configuration is usually used in tandem with other Gamma Stirling engines. Pros and Cons: Pros: Due to their ability to run on any heat source, the Stirling isn’t restricted to combustible fuel sources. They can operate on heat from solar, geothermal, biological, nuclear, and waste heat from industrial processes. Bearings and seals are typically found on the cool side (Beta and Gamma), they need less lubrication and have more longevity than other reciprocating engines. Stirling engines use a single-phase working fluid that maintains an internal pressure close to the design pressure. They run quietly and don’t require an air supply.(9) Cons: There are high costs due to the need for durable materials to handle the heat and pressure load. These materials also must be resistant to creep from the cyclical nature of the engine. Because of the external heat source, a warm-up time is required before useful power can be produced and the Stirling engine can’t change its power output quickly.(10) The dissipation of waste heat can be challenging and difficult to manage. â€Å"The coolant temperature is kept as low as possible to maximize thermal efficiency. This increases the size of the radiators, which can make packaging difficult.†(11) Applications: Today, Stirling engines are used in some very specialized applications, like in submarines or auxiliary power generators, where quiet operation is important. The SES (Solar Dish Stirling) technology is well beyond the research and development stage, with more than 20 years of recorded operating history. The equipment is well characterized with over 25,000 hours of on-sun time. Since 1984, the Companys solar dish Stirling equipment has held the worlds efficiency record for converting solar energy into grid-quality electricity.(12) In space, solar powered Free Piston Stirling Engines (FPSEs) are producing electricity to meet the needs of astronauts without having to rely as much on a finite amount of fuel. â€Å"high efficiency, low mass 35 W free-piston Stirling engine design. Overall (engine plus linear alternator) thermodynamic performance greater than 50% of Carnot, with a specific power close to 100 W/kg appears to be a reasonable goal at this small power level†Ã¢â‚¬ The use of high efficiency FPSEs would allow a reduction in the radioisotope fuel by a factor of roughly four compared to existing RTGs. Free-piston Stirling engines and cryocoolers are demonstrating long life capability, and significant strides in performance of Stirling cycle machines have been made in the commercial sector.†(13) The Stirling engine has also seen success as a Heat-pump and Reverse Heat-pump. As a Heat-pump the Stirling engine pumps heat from the outside of a building to heat the interior rather cheaply.(14) Inversely, as a Reverse Heat-pump the Stirling engine removes heat from a cryo-coolers dropping temperatures to -200 °C (73 °Kelvin). Depending upon their design, the Stirling Reverse Heat-pump can drop temperatures as low as 60 °Kelvin 40 °Kelvin.(15) New Technology: In an effort to cool motherboards for better performance and increased longevity, the â€Å"Air Power Cooler† is in development. It transfers the chipset heat into air momentum. When the heat from the chipset radiates into the air of the cylinder, the air expands and pushes the piston to rotate the fan and in doing so cooling the heat sink immediately. After the air moves from the bottom to top of the piston, the air will become heavy to push the up piston down. This air piston design which is called the â€Å"Electricity-less Fan†, can transfer over 70% heat power to air power thus very efficiently and effectively cooling the chipset.(16) Currently Dean Kamen (the inventor of the Segway) is working to develop a Stirling engine that will re-charge a battery in an electric car while the car is in operation. Its range would be extended significantly.(17) Conclusion: In a global climate of shrinking resources, the Stirling engine has proven itself to be worth our time and effort to examine and experiment with. Incorporating a design that is elegantly simplistic, the Stirling engine has successfully stood the test of time. As we examined how the Stirling engine worked, we found it to be incredibly efficient. We also looked at the different configurations and saw a variety of very creative ways the concept has been applied. When looking over the pros and cons we saw that there was some issues to workout for mass production, though when examining the applications there were specialized instances where the pros clearly out weighed the cons. Lastly, we looked at the â€Å"up and coming† new technology enhancing the Stirling engine and making it worthy of vernacular application. With the increasing pressure for efficiency it’s a very exciting time for the Stirling engine. Bibliography: 1. Gurstelle, William. â€Å"Two-can Stirling engine†, Make (2007): 91-101 2. Unknown, â€Å"Stirling engine, 1.1 History†. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 9 April 2008. Available from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stirling_engine. Accessed 9 April 2008. 3. Unknown, â€Å"Stirling engine, 1.1 History†. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 9 April 2008. Available from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stirling_engine. Accessed 9 April 2008. 4. Unknown, â€Å"Stirling engine, 1.1 History†. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 9 April 2008. Available from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stirling_engine. Accessed 9 April 2008. 5. Unknown, â€Å"Stirling engine, 2.1 The engine cycle†. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 9 April 2008. Available from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stirling_engine. Accessed 9 April 2008. 6. Unknown, â€Å"Stirling engine, 4.1 Alpha Stirling†. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 9 April 2008. Available from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stirling_engine. Accessed 9 April 2008. 7. Unknown, â€Å"Stirling engine, 4.1 Alpha Stirling†. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 9 April 2008. Available from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stirling_engine. Accessed 9 April 2008. 8. Karim Nice, â€Å"Displacer-type Stirling engine†. How Stuff Works. Available from How Stuff Works. http://auto.howstuffworks.com/stirling-engine2.htm. Accessed 9 April 2008 9. Unknown, â€Å"Stirling engine, 8.0 Advantages of Stirling engines†. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 9 April 2008. Available from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stirling_engine. Accessed 9 April 2008. 10. Karim Nice, â€Å"Why aren’t Stirling engines more common?†. How Stuff Works. Available from How Stuff Works. http://auto.howstuffworks.com/stirling-engine4.htm. Accessed 9 April 2008 11. Unknown, â€Å"Stirling engine, 9.1 Size and cost issues†. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 9 April 2008. Available from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stirling_engine. Accessed 9 April 2008. 12. Unknown, â€Å"What is a Stirling engine?†. SES Stirling Energy Systems. Available from SES Stirling Energy Systems. stirlingenergy.com/whatisastirlingengine.htm. Accessed 9 April 2008 13. J. Gary Wood and Neill Lane, â€Å"Advanced 35 W Free-Piston Stirling for Space Power Applications†, Available from Sunpower Inc. sunpower.com/lib/sitefiles/pdf/publications/Doc0083.pdf. Accessed 9 April 2008 14. Unknown, â€Å"Stirling engine, 10.4 Heat pump†. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 9 April 2008. Available from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stirling_engine. Accessed 9 April 2008. 15. Unknown, â€Å"Stirling engine, 10.3 Stirling Cryocoolers†. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 9 April 2008. Available from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stirling_engine. Accessed 9 April 2008. 16. Unknown. â€Å"World’s First Powerless Air Cooler on a Motherboard!†. Micro-Star International (MSI), February 29, 2008. Available from Micro-Star International (MSI). hexus.net/content/item.php?item=12110. Accessed 9 April 2008. 17. Hank Green. â€Å"Segway Inventor Focusing on Green Cars†. Ecogeek, August 11, 2007. Available from Ecogeek. ecogeek.org/content/view/872/. Accessed 9 April 2008 Research Papers on Stirling Engine OverviewThe Project Managment Office SystemOpen Architechture a white paperMind TravelIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalRiordan Manufacturing Production PlanBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaPETSTEL analysis of IndiaMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductBringing Democracy to Africa

A Reading List of 19th Century Novels

A Reading List of 19th Century Novels The novels of the 19th century remain some of the most taught literary works of any period. They not only continue to influence the canon but also cinema and popular culture. Get better acquainted with these groundbreaking works with this reading list, categorized by author. The most popular authors from the eraJane Austen, Charles Dickens and Nathaniel Hawthorneappear on this list in alphabetical order. Alcott, Louisa May Little Women Austen, Jane EmmaMansfield ParkPersuasionPride and Prejudice Blackmore, Richard Doddridge Lorna Doone Braddon, Mary Elizabeth Lady Audley’s Secret Bronte, Charlotte Jane EyreVillette Bronte, Emily Wuthering Heights Burnett, Frances Hodgson The Secret Garden Butler, Samuel Erewhon Carlyle, Thomas Sartor Resartus Carroll, Lewis Alice in WonderlandThrough the Looking Glass Collins, Wilkie ArmadaleNo NameThe MoonstoneThe Woman in White Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan Rodney StoneA Study in Scarlet Conrad, Joseph Heart of DarknessLord Jim Cooper, James Fenimore The Last of the MohicansThe Prairie Crane, Stephen Red Badge of Courage Dickens, Charles Bleak HouseDavid CopperfieldDombey Son DGreat ExpectationsHard TimesLittle DorrittMystery Of Edwin DroodNicholas NicklebyThe Old Curiosity ShopOliver TwistPickwick PapersTale of Two Cities Disraeli, Benjamin Sybil, or The Two Nations Dostoevski, Fedor Brothers KaramazovCrime and PunishmentThe Idiot Dreiser, Theodore Sister Carrie Dumas, Alexandre The Count of Monte CristoThree Musketeers Eliot, George Adam BedeDaniel DerondaMiddlemarchMill on the FlossSilas Marner Flaubert, Gustave Madame BovaryA Sentimental Education Gaskell, Elizabeth CranfordWives and Daughters Gissing, George New Grub Street Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von Elective Affinities Gogol, Nikolai Dead Souls Hardy, Thomas Far from the Madding CrowdJude the ObscureThe Mayor of CasterbridgeThe Return of the NativeTess of the d’UrbervillesThe WoodlandersUnder the Greenwood Tree Hawthorne, Nathaniel Blithedale RomanceScarlet Letter Hugo, Victor Les MiserablesThe Hunchback of Notre-Dame de Paris James, Henry The AmericanThe BostoniansDaisy MillerThe EuropeansPortrait of a LadyWashington Square Le Fanu, Sheridan Uncle Silas MacDonald, George LilithPhantastes Melville, Herman Moby DickRedburnTypee Meredith, George Diana of the CrosswaysThe Egoist Norris, Frank McTeague Oliphant, Margaret The Perpetual CurateSalem Chapel Scott, Sir Walter The AntiquaryThe Heart of Mid-LothianIvanhoe Sewall, Anna Black Beauty Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft Frankenstein Stevenson, Robert L Catriona (aka David Balfour)KidnappedThe Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr HydeTreasure Island Stoker, Bram Dracula Stowe, Harriet Beecher Uncle Tom’s Cabin Thackeray, William M Barry LyndonThe History of Henry EsmondThe NewcomesVanity Fair Tolstoy, Leo Anna KareninaResurrectionThe Forged CouponWar and Peace Trollope, Anthony Ayalas AngelFramley ParsonageBarchester TowersJohn CaldigateThe Last Chronicle of BarsetMarion FayPhineas FinnThe Prime MinisterThe WardenThe Way We Live Now Turgenev, Ivan Fathers and Children Twain, Mark The Adventures of Huckleberry FinnAdventures of Tom SawyerPersonal Recollections of Joan of Arc Verne, Jules Around the World in 80 DaysJourney to the Center of the Earth20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Wells, HG Invisible ManIsland of Dr MoreauThe Time MachineWar of the Worlds Wilde, Oscar Picture of Dorian Gray Zola, Emile L’AssommoirTherese Raquin

Why have many governments found it necessary to regulate the terms, Essay

Why have many governments found it necessary to regulate the terms, conditions and processes in the sale of insurance and financial services products - Essay Example Insurance is one among the financial system. Insurance is a part of financial system. It takes care of the financial consequences of certain specific contingencies both in case of individuals and corporate bodies. The effect of the losses o financial system is not only negative but may be disastrous and catastrophic also. It may be at micro - level or macro - level. Insurance provides financial security wherever there is an insurance policy. In fact, insurance is legally compulsory. The insurance sector has weathered terrorist attacks of previously unknown magnitude; it has suffered from a severe drop in equity markets; it is going through a prolonged period of historically low interest rates and has even suffered from major credit defaults (Rossum, 2005). But it remains in good shape. The attack on the World Trade Centre is a good example in this context. Though past performance can be relied upon to decide whether regulation is necessary or not with respect to sale of insurance and financial service products, there are certain trends which support the need for regulation. They are - The regulation of the financial system can be viewed as a particularly important case of public control over the economy (Giorgio, 2004). A plethora of theoretical motivations support the opportunity of a particularly stringent regulation for banks and other financial intermediaries. Such motivations are based on the existence of particular forms of market failure in the credit and financial sectors. Regulatory Framework A regulatory framework is most essential in order to manage any financial system as a matter of fact ((ICMR), Financial Management for Managers, 2003). The governmental regulatory framework seeks to Define avenues of investment available to business enterprises in different categories, ownership-wise and size-wise; Induce investment along certain lines by providing incentives, concessions, and reliefs; and Specify the procedure for raising funds from the financial markets. Despite the existence and sale of numerous insurance policies that cover various contingencies, the economic reason for the regulation of the insurance is yet to be defined in the financial literature. There are many rigorous arguments in favour of the regulation of insurance companies, some of which are discussed as follows (Booth, Oct,2007). First and foremost, regulation can prevent the adverse affects of information asymmetries in markets for illiquid contracts. Secondly, regulation can be used to ensure that insurers commit to contracts. In the case of life insurers these contracts may be incomplete, and it may be difficult to determine the terms of the contracts objectively; this is particularly so with U.K. with-profit contracts, for example. As discussed in the initial paragraphs of this paper, the term 'financial system' traditionally includes banking, financial and insurance segments ((ICMR), Commercial Banking, 2003). A primary objective of financial market regulation is the pursuit of macroeconomic and microeconomic stability. Safeguarding the stability of the financial system translates into macro controls over the financial exchanges, clearing houses and securities settlement systems. Earlier, many academics and practitioners have argued that, there is a definite

History of Psychological Assessment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

History of Psychological Assessment - Essay Example However, certain quarters harbored a dissenting view and maintained that intelligence was a fixed property, the implication lending credence to the notion that a nation with superior intelligence could be segmented and developed with specific testing techniques. Robert Yerkes was one of those convinced that with intelligence being a measurable constant, intelligence tests could be executed and quantified like an exact science. It is to be recalled that during this period psychology was considered to be a mere pseudoscience, and Yerkes was determined to find a way in which he could bring credibility to his craft. He wanted to have psychology recognized as 'hard' science and believed that using a 'scientific' approach to mental testing looked like a promising route to achieve this. (Gould, 1982) He was under the impression that rigorous, statistic-based tests would uplift the overall image of psychology within the scientific community. The advent of the First World War gave him the perfect opportunity to showcase the "hard" techniques of mental testing, and thus present to everyone that psychology was indeed a creditable science. In 1917, Yerkes was the president of the American Psychology Association, and under their auspices he spearheaded what was to become one of the biggest intelligence tests in history. Faced with the daunting task of gauging the capabilities of more than 1.75 million new recruits, the United States Army handed over the reins to Yerkes and his team from the APA. He devised three types of tests for the recruits. The first was an alpha test, which was a written exam for those who were literate. According to Sticht & Armstrong (2003), it had eight parts, including analogies, filling in the missing number, and unscrambling a sentence. The beta test was a seven-part pictorial test for those who were illiterate. Test components included a picture completion test, and numbering tasks among others. The third test was an individual examination, and this was administered to those who had failed the beta It is pertinent to note that the Alpha and Beta tests could be applicable to big groups, and in most cases took no more than an hour. In analyzing his findings, Yerkes insisted that the tests administered were an accurate barometer of what he had termed "native intellectual ability", or innate intelligence that was unaffected by culture and educational opportunities (Gould, 1982) The tests would go on to generate a significant amount of interest in the country, and with that Yerkes had achieved his long-standing goal of making psychology a credible, "hard" science. In retrospect, the beta and alpha tests promulgated by Yerkes were inherently flawed in so many aspects. Its findings reflected that the average mental age of a white American adult was 13, which if equated in contemporary terms would make them the equivalent of a semi-retarded person. The average mental age of a black American adult was 10, and the scores of immigrants were comparably low. The hypothesis here being, the darker the skin of the person, the less "intelligent" he would be. These findings and the methodologies implemented are now found to be both ethically and scientifically wanting. While it had been

The Economy and it's Effect on Politics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Economy and it's Effect on Politics - Essay Example The existence of the EU is the result of desire to create a European common market, where trade barriers are removed and hence promote economic activities between political member states whilst becoming a united political entity on the world stage. Five economic tests were set out to determine whether the UK's economy was ready for such a change, 1) Convergence with the Euro zone; 2) Flexibility to adapt; 3) Impact on jobs and economic growth; 4) Impact on the financial services sector; and 5) Impact on investment (BBC, 2003). Two of these tests will be discussed in this essay. The Bank of England currently sets the interest rate for the UK but convergence means that power will be transferred to the European Central Bank (ECB). The UK's economy would have to be in sync with the rest of the Euro zone to avoid stresses on the domestic economy, for example The UK's mortgages are unlike the majority of Euro mortgages as they are in general variable rate mortgages, the UK has the highest property owner occupation than any other European country so is sensitive to interest rate changes. There are political and economic consequences to this sensitivity for example mortgage borrowers show unenthusiastic attitude to their political pee rs concerning joining the Euro zone precisely because of this and convergence would bear consequence on the economy as there would be a reduced spending power of these borrowers. Joining a single

Strategy planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5250 words

Strategy planning - Essay Example McDonald’s deals with a wide range of products like hamburgers as well as French Fries, chicken sandwiches along with soft drinks, desserts and other various sorts of breakfast items (Gilbert, 2008). In order to determine the significance of various external factors that impact on the way McDonald’s conducts its business, it can be viewed that proper analysis of the external factors made the company to raise its business reputation and also to accomplish superior competitive position by a greater level. In order to analyse the external environment of McDonald’s, certain appropriate tools have been taken into concern like SWOT and STEEP which are described below. STEEP Analysis Socio-cultural Factors: McDonald’s establishes and follows an effective system in order to assess the requirements of the business markets where it operates. It stresses mainly on the strategy of individuality of the customers in relation to product behaviour and decisions on purchas es (Ivanova, 2011). Technological Factors: McDonald’s deals with broad assortment of fast food related products which generates a greater demand of these products by adopting along with executing pioneering technological procedures concerning its inventory system and supply chain among others (Ivanova, 2011). Environmental Factors: Relating to environmental factor, McDonald’s largely focuses upon effectively performing different sorts of corporate social accountabilities in terms of utilising bio-degradable substances in its broad array of products (Ivanova, 2011). Economic Factors: McDonald’s has a propensity to practice a great deal of difficulty in certain cases where there exists the significant concern of inflation and fluctuation in exchange rates. Specially mentioning, the variations in the exchange rates play a decisive part in the overall operations of the company (Ivanova, 2011). Political Factors: McDonald’s follows a unique set of instructions and policies for performing different operational functions effectively. It mainly concentrates on several sets of anxieties such as areas of health, environment and protection of the workers as well. These elements can be noticed in the state control of licensing of the restaurants in different regions where the company operates (Ivanova, 2011). SWOT Analysis Strengths: McDonald’s has a very strong and reputed brand name across the globe. It bears a strong partnership with other different companies which eventually results in increase of its goodwill in the market. The company is said to be the first fast-food restaurant which offered its customers with nutritional facts and as a consequence the loyal employees, customers and management form to be its biggest strengths (Scribd Inc., 2013). Weakness: McDonald’s has a pessimistic reputation concerning turnover rate of its employees. Relating to weakness, it generally faces quality issues at times and it also receives c riticisms particularly from health conscious people (Scribd Inc., 2013). Opportunities: McDonald’s should provide online services for its clients so that they can order sitting at home which in

HR Strategy Responding to a Union Organizing Drive Assignment

HR Strategy Responding to a Union Organizing Drive - Assignment Example My first approach in this case will be to create a communication bridge between the management and the workers by being friendlier with them. Unless and until each and every employee starts opening up, it will become difficult for me to discuss the issues with them. The employees need to realize the fact that the labour unions chosen by them were doing well in negotiations. The company on the other hand needs to be aware of all the rules of NLRA and also the fact that if the elections took place and the union was not voted then there would be an appeal. In a representation election representatives are given a decision of one or all the more bargaining agents or no illustrative whatsoever. To be confirmed as the bargaining delegate, a singular or a work association must appropriate a greater part of the substantial votes throws. My next step will be to ensure that the supervisors are taking proper care of the employees in sense that all the problems of the employees are being communic ated to the management on time. The supervisors are the representatives of the employees. It is their duty to receive the messages and deliver it to the management. In order to ensure this, I will be conducting a face to face meeting of the management, supervisors, and the employees where all the issues will be discussed. This will also maintain a transparency between everyone. In case the union is at fault, an election may be held by understanding between the head honcho and the singular or work association guaranteeing to speak to the representatives. In such an understanding the gatherings might state the time and spot coincided on, the decisions to be incorporated on the ticket, and a strategy to figure out who is qualified to vote. They might likewise sanction the NLRB Regional Director to lead the election. Collective bargaining is characterized in the Act. Segment 8(d) of NLRA, requires a business and the agent of its representatives to meet at

Gender Roles in Socialization Process Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Gender Roles in Socialization Process - Essay Example Some brands even have gender-specific designs on their diapers: rocket ship details and ribbon details for boys and girls, respectively. Then of course, when the baby grows a bit, the hairstyles can be more telling as well. As in boys should have short ones and the girls should have long ones. These are also part of the gender socialization process, and ironically, the baby, being the participant in the whole interaction thing, does not even know that he is being conditioned to be a â€Å"boy† according to society’s definitions. I’m sure it occurred similarly for me. As a boy growing up, I have been conditioned to like the certain things that boys are supposed to like: toy cars, action figures and the like. I might not know what color my baby things were when I was an infant but I am quite sure that they were not pink. Society has a very strong influence on a person’s gender socialization process. Not only they are the first ones to take on the child’s first gender identification process, but they also reinforce it. Schools, the community, and peers also influence the child too. I am thankful that my family, even if they are traditional, is not as strict with their expectations of me as a boy growing up. Sure, I have been exposed to â€Å"boy† objects and activities that are essentially rough and tumble in nature - and labeled for â€Å"boys†. I have had friends who were from the opposite sex when I was growing up, but then as a young boy, we did not play together not because we were forcefully separated because of our genders; we simply had different toys. I think this is because of the society’s strong influence on the gender differentiation. This influence is even felt in the workplace, or at least when one working. There are expectations for me at work, as I am a man and a manager in a dental office. Although most employees in our office are females, the manager (me) is a man.  

Strategy planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5250 words

Strategy planning - Essay Example McDonald’s deals with a wide range of products like hamburgers as well as French Fries, chicken sandwiches along with soft drinks, desserts and other various sorts of breakfast items (Gilbert, 2008). In order to determine the significance of various external factors that impact on the way McDonald’s conducts its business, it can be viewed that proper analysis of the external factors made the company to raise its business reputation and also to accomplish superior competitive position by a greater level. In order to analyse the external environment of McDonald’s, certain appropriate tools have been taken into concern like SWOT and STEEP which are described below. STEEP Analysis Socio-cultural Factors: McDonald’s establishes and follows an effective system in order to assess the requirements of the business markets where it operates. It stresses mainly on the strategy of individuality of the customers in relation to product behaviour and decisions on purchas es (Ivanova, 2011). Technological Factors: McDonald’s deals with broad assortment of fast food related products which generates a greater demand of these products by adopting along with executing pioneering technological procedures concerning its inventory system and supply chain among others (Ivanova, 2011). Environmental Factors: Relating to environmental factor, McDonald’s largely focuses upon effectively performing different sorts of corporate social accountabilities in terms of utilising bio-degradable substances in its broad array of products (Ivanova, 2011). Economic Factors: McDonald’s has a propensity to practice a great deal of difficulty in certain cases where there exists the significant concern of inflation and fluctuation in exchange rates. Specially mentioning, the variations in the exchange rates play a decisive part in the overall operations of the company (Ivanova, 2011). Political Factors: McDonald’s follows a unique set of instructions and policies for performing different operational functions effectively. It mainly concentrates on several sets of anxieties such as areas of health, environment and protection of the workers as well. These elements can be noticed in the state control of licensing of the restaurants in different regions where the company operates (Ivanova, 2011). SWOT Analysis Strengths: McDonald’s has a very strong and reputed brand name across the globe. It bears a strong partnership with other different companies which eventually results in increase of its goodwill in the market. The company is said to be the first fast-food restaurant which offered its customers with nutritional facts and as a consequence the loyal employees, customers and management form to be its biggest strengths (Scribd Inc., 2013). Weakness: McDonald’s has a pessimistic reputation concerning turnover rate of its employees. Relating to weakness, it generally faces quality issues at times and it also receives c riticisms particularly from health conscious people (Scribd Inc., 2013). Opportunities: McDonald’s should provide online services for its clients so that they can order sitting at home which in

Gender Roles in Socialization Process Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Gender Roles in Socialization Process - Essay Example Some brands even have gender-specific designs on their diapers: rocket ship details and ribbon details for boys and girls, respectively. Then of course, when the baby grows a bit, the hairstyles can be more telling as well. As in boys should have short ones and the girls should have long ones. These are also part of the gender socialization process, and ironically, the baby, being the participant in the whole interaction thing, does not even know that he is being conditioned to be a â€Å"boy† according to society’s definitions. I’m sure it occurred similarly for me. As a boy growing up, I have been conditioned to like the certain things that boys are supposed to like: toy cars, action figures and the like. I might not know what color my baby things were when I was an infant but I am quite sure that they were not pink. Society has a very strong influence on a person’s gender socialization process. Not only they are the first ones to take on the child’s first gender identification process, but they also reinforce it. Schools, the community, and peers also influence the child too. I am thankful that my family, even if they are traditional, is not as strict with their expectations of me as a boy growing up. Sure, I have been exposed to â€Å"boy† objects and activities that are essentially rough and tumble in nature - and labeled for â€Å"boys†. I have had friends who were from the opposite sex when I was growing up, but then as a young boy, we did not play together not because we were forcefully separated because of our genders; we simply had different toys. I think this is because of the society’s strong influence on the gender differentiation. This influence is even felt in the workplace, or at least when one working. There are expectations for me at work, as I am a man and a manager in a dental office. Although most employees in our office are females, the manager (me) is a man.  

Azerbaijani-Armenian Conflict Essay Example for Free

Azerbaijani-Armenian Conflict Essay When owing to their strategic and geopolitical situation Azerbaijani khanates got involved into the stratagem of fight which was led by Russia, Iran and the Ottoman empire for the spheres of influence some Azerbaijani entities were forced to conclude vassal agreements in order to defend their interests. Thus, under the treaty of 1805 the independent Azerbaijani khanate of Karabagh was placed under Russian overlordship. As a result of Russian-Iranian war of 1804-1813 and on the basis of the peace treaties of Gulistan and Turkmanchay, the Karabakh khanate together with Erivan and Nakhchevan khanates was included into the Russian Empire . It was exactly in that period when Armenians started to move to the region of Nagorny Karabakh in Azerbaijan which was inhabited mainly by the Azerbaijanis and the descendants of the ancient Albanians. This fact was proved by the famous Russian diplomat and playwright A. S. Griboyedov. Later, in 1836, after the second mass resettlement of Armenians in 1828-1829, the Russian authorities abolished Albanian Christian patriarchate and donated its property to the Armenian Church. After that when the western region of former Albania – the region of Karabakh lost its statehood and the church lost its independence, the local Albanian population was subjected to Gregorianization (Armenization) . After the proclamation of the Azerbaijani Democratic Republic- the first democratic state in the muslim East on May 28,1918, one of the first moves of its government was the cession of the city of Erivan (Yerevan) to the Republic of Armenia which though proclaimed its independence didn’t have its own land. In that period Azerbaijan’s foreign policy was oriented towards the development of friendly and good-neighbourly relations with Armenia. Unfortunately, nurturing annexing plans the Dashnak government of Armenia made claims for Nakhchevan, Zangezur and Karabakh hich formed a part of the Azerbaijani state, though the Armenian minority of Karabakh took a decision at their Congress in 1919 to remain within the Republic of Azerbaijan . Armenia’s claims to this territory caused conflict and led to a murderous war with Azerbaijan in 1918-1920. Azerbaijan’s independence was violated after the invasion of the XI Red Army of Soviet Russia that proclaimed the Azerb aijan Soviet Socialist Republic on April 28, 1920. In 1922 the Azerbaijan SSR formed a part of the USSR, within which the Republic’s independence was of a formal character. In response to the territorial claims of the Armenian SSR at its session on July 5, 1921 the Caucasian bureau of the CC of the RCP (b) rendered a decision to leave Nagorny Karabakh within the Azerbaijan SSR , considering it primordial Azerbaijani territory. At the same time taking into account the interests of the local Armenian population the government of Azerbaijan was proposed to grant broad autonomy to Nagorny Karabakh. On July 7, 1923 the Central Executive Committee of Azerbaijan issued a decree â€Å"On the formation of the autonomous region of Nagorny Karabakh†. Thus issuing this norm-setting act and taking into account the interests of its citizens of Armenian nationality the government of the Azerbaijan SSR formed an autonomy on the territory of Azerbaijan. At the same time, 300 thousand compact community of Azerbaijanis living in Armenia were refused to get even cultural autonomy both by the central government of the USSR and the government of the Armenian SSR. It infringed on their rights and finally resulted in their repeated deportations and dramatic forced eviction from the territory of Armenia in this century, including more than 200. 000 people in 1988-1989. Chronology of the conflict since 1988. The history of the second in the XX century Armenian-Azerbaijani armed conflict started in February 1988 when the session of the regional Soviet of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region (NKAR) of the Azerbaijan SSR took a illegal decision about the withdrawal from Azerbaijan and joining Armenia. The tragedy that overstepped the line of the local confrontation and transformed into one of the most prolonged and murderous conflicts in post-war Europe is not based on confessionalism or ethnic factor. Its roots lie in the expansionism and the policy of territorial aggression the aim of which is to extend the territory of one state by means of armed annexation and forcible seizure of a part of the territory of another sovereign state, member of the United Nations, OSCE and other international organizations. Anticonstitutional actions of the separatist groups in the region of Nagorny Karabakh which were supported and monitored from outside and which contradicted the international law and the current soviet legislation were a prologue to the wide-spread armed aggression against Azerbaijan. Starting with the unapproved meetings, strikes and actions of disobedience, the Republic of Armenia passed to the formation of unconstitutional power structures in the region of Nagorny Karabakh in Azerbaijan . Militarized units and a large amount of weapons and ammunition were sent to Azerbaijan and bridgehead for committing armed aggression against Azerbaijan was formed. At the end of 1991- the beginning of 1992 full scale military operations started in the zone of Armenian Azerbaijani conflict. During the military operations in the region of Nagorny Karabakh Armenian military units used sophisticated weapons and in February 1992 they managed to capture the city of Khojali where they brutally killed about 800 civilians including old people, women and children and in may 1992 they occupied the region of Shusha. After that the military operations overstepped the limits of the region and spread inland of Azerbaijan and to the Armenian –Azerbaijani border , including the zone of Nakhchevan . During the period of war 7 more regions of Azerbaijan beside Nagorny Karabakh were occupied. Thus, as a result of aggression against the Republic of Azerbaijan more than 17. 000 sq. km of land have been occupied, that makes 20% of the whole territory of the country , more than 18. 000 people have been killed, more than 50. 00 have been wounded and have become invalids, more than 900 settlements, 100 thousand buildings, more than 1 thousand enterprises, more than 600 schools and educational establishments, 250 medical institutions have been robbed and ruined. For the country with the population of 7,5 mln people the number of displaced persons became disastrous – more than 800. 000 people and almost 200. 000 refugees from Armenia. Humanitarian situation. Following the ethnic purges Azerbaijan faced a grave humanitarian situation. A great number of refugees and displaced persons were placed in tent camps, schools and hostels . In spite of great relief efforts they are menaced by colds and epidemics because of the low level of living conditions. The presence of children and old-aged people exacerbate the problem. Chronology of negotiations. International mediation on the settlement of the conflict started in 1992 in the framework of the so-called OSCE Minsk Group process which is the only forum on the formation of the comprehensive model for the settlement of Armenian- Azerbaijani conflict. The OSCE Minsk Group has been formed to take a political decision concerning this problem. It is a forum for the preparation of Minsk Conference. Following the military operations and the seizure of Azerbaijani cities, the UN Security Council adopted resolutions Nr 822, 853, 854, 884 which provide that Armenian military units should be withdrawn from the territory of Azerbaijan immediately and unconditionally, and the refugees and displaced persons should be able to return home. The main milestones in the negotiations were OSCE Budapest and Lisbon Summits. The OSCE Budapest Summit of 1994 took a decision to form an institute of co-chairmen of Minsk conference and entrust them with the duty â€Å"to conduct negotiations in order to conclude political agreement on the termination of the armed conflict (Great political agreement), the realization of which will eliminate the main consequences of the armed conflict for all sides and will permit to call Minsk conference†. Thus, Budapest Summit determined the two-phase structure of the settlement process: 1. the first stage – elimination of the consequences of the armed conflict; it means total liberation of all occupied territories and return of all displaced persons to their permanent places of living; 2. the second stage – comprehensive peaceful settlement will be achieved following Minsk conference. Budapest Summit also reached a decision on conducting OCSE peacekeeping operation after concluding the political agreement. Following Budapest Summit the co-chairmen (Russia-Finland) organized and conducted 16 rounds of talks and numerous consultations with the participants of the conflict. In that period of time they reconciled about 75% of the text of the draft of the Agreement and its Addenda. However, as far as the matters of principle are concerned – total liberation of all occupied territories including Shusha and Lachin regions, security for all the participants of the conflict and the withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from the territory of Azerbaijan – the agreement hasn’t been reached. In his statement at Lisbon Summit in 1996 the president of the OSCE, set up three principles for the settlement of Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. They are: territorial integrity of the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan. legal status of Nagorny Karabakh determined in the agreement and based on the self-determination which grants Nagorny Karabakh the highest degree of self-government within Azerbaijan. security guarantees to Nagorny Karabakh and all its population including mutual obligations to observe the settlement provisions by all parties. These principles were supported by 53 OSCE member states, except Armenia. In November 1996 Armenia unilaterally broke off direct consultations between the Presidential Advisers of Armenia and Azerbaijan. After Lisbon Summit and the establishment of the institution of triple Co-chairmanship (Russia-France-USA) the only one round of talks held in April 1997 was open-ended. In June-September 1997 the Co-chairmanship prepared and brought before the parties a new document which specified a two-stage settlement of the conflict according to the following scheme: the first stage – the liberation of the 6 regions occupied during the conflict outside the former NKAR (except Lachin region), return the civilians to their homes and reconstruction of the main communications in the region; the second stage – the settlement of the dispute around Lachin and Shusha regions and adoption of the main principles for the status of Nagorno-Karabakh region. The complete comprehensive settlement of the conflict including the Agreement on the self-government status of Nagorny Karabakh within Azerbaijan will be reached at Minsk conference. In September 1997 Azerbaijan officially informed the Co-chairmanship of the adoption of the document as a basis for the subsequent negotiations. In October 1997 in Strasbourg the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia made a joint statement about their readiness to start negotiations on the basis of the proposals made by the Co-chairmen. In December 1997 in Copenhagen the session of the Ministers for Foreign Affairs OSCE circulated the Report of the Co-chairmen which stressed the need to continue the efforts aimed at the settlement of the conflict on the basis of Lisbon principles and the proposals of the Co-chairmanship. On May 13-17, 1998 during the visit of the Co-chairmen to the region, Armenia officially declared the recall of the consent of the former President of Armenia to the proposals on the phased settlement and spoke for the â€Å"package† settlement without any preconditions. Armenia strongly objects to the principles of Lisbon Summit and seeks the discussion of the status of Nagorny Karabakh as an independent state. On April 2, 1999, a meeting of the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia during the CIS Summit in Moscow was held at which an agreement was reached on undertaking a series of meetings for discussing the problems of the peaceful settlement of Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. An exchange of views and positions of the parties was continues at the meetings of the presidents on April 24 in Washington, on August 16 and 22 in Geneva, on September 10 in Yalta and on October 11 in the village of Sadarak. During the meetings an agreement was reached on the consultations between MFA and MoD of Azerbaijan and Armenia on the problems of enforcement of the cease-fire rejime, confidence-building measures, procedures of preventing and settlement of the border incidents, as well as the development of the agreed basis for the resumption of the negotiations process within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group. As an implementation of the agreement meetings and consultations of defence ministers (September 14 and October 11) and of foreign ministers (Seprtember 10, September 30 and October 12) of Azerbaijan and Armenia were held. On September 18, 1999, during the visit of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office K. Vollebaek to Baku it was declared that the meetings and consultations of the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia did not substitute the OSCE Minsk process and the Co-Chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group was called to speed up their activities and make a new proposal acceptable to both parties. On November 18-19, 1999, in the Final Document of the OSCE Istanbul Summit and in the report of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office it was once again underlined that the Minsk Group was the most suitable ormat for the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh problem, the continuation of the dialogue of two presidents which is to complement the Minsk process was welcomed, and the parties were called to resume as soon as possible the negotiations on the conflict settlement. The European Security Charter was adopted at the OSCE Istanbul Summit. It is a legally-binding document that confirms the OSCE principles and norms and the resulting com mitments of the states on the observance of the sovereignty and territorial integrity. On December 13-15, 1999, the first visit of new Co-Chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group to the region was held. The Co-Chairmen of the Minsk Group declared that they would begin the work on new proposals that would be based on the elements on which the agreement had been reached at the meetings of the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia. In its actiities on the settlement of the conflict the Co-Chairmanship of the OSCE Minsk Group will pay a considerable attention to the economic development of the region. On this purpose the Co-Chairmanship of the OSCE Minsk Group expressed their intention to appeal to the world financial institutions, public and non-governmental organizations to send experts to the region in order to carry out the works on estimating the costs of the reconstruction of the region. On January 24, 2000, during the Summit of the CIS member-states in Moscow a separate meeting of the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia, and on January 25 a quadripartite meeting with the participation of presidents of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia and the Acting President of the Russian Federation V. Putin were held. Consultations between presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia were resumde during the meetings and it was declared that the policy of the Four in the region will be based on the principles of the international law and, first of all, on the absolute acknowledgement of the principle of territorial integrity of the sovereign states. On January 28, 2000, at the World Economic Forum in Davos the consultations between presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia on searching the ways of peacefull settlement of the conflict. The foreign ministers of the two countries took part in the meeting. On July 20, 2000, during the Summit of the CIS member-states in Moscow a quadripartite meeting with the participation of the presidents of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia and the Russian Federation was held. The questions of peaceful settlement of conflicts in South Caucasus, the problem of consolidation of regional security, including the cooperation in the struggle against international terrorism as well as in humanitarian and other fields. The text of joint statement signed as a result of the meeting of three presidents was also circulated. The statement says that the sides expressed their adherence to the continuation of meetings in this format, welcomed the initiative of the world community and international organisations, which assist the acceleration of settlement of conflicts in South Caucasus. Heads of states agreed that such meetings will be held not less than two times a year and as a rule will be held during CIS summits. On July 2-5, 2000, the visit by the Co-Chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group to the region was held. In their activities on the settlement of the conflict a great attention was paid to the economic development of the region. With this aim the Co-Chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group appealed to the world financial institutes, social non-governmental organisations to send experts to the region to estimate the possibilities of its economic reconstruction. During the visit, the Co-Chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group made a statement that they would search the methods of modifying the plan of the Karabakh conflict settlement. On November 30, 2000 in Minsk during the Summit of the heads of the countries of CIS the bilateral meeting of the President of Azerbaijan H. Aliyev and of Armenia R. Kocharyan took place. After the ending of the meeting the President of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev declared that he was satisfied on the whole with last negotiations. The President H. Aliyev justified his satisfaction by unofficial feature of the meeting but that the Presidents of these two countries are in the process of the search of the ways of the solution of Nagorniy Karabakh problem. As the President of Armenia R. Kocharyan noticed in his turn, the agreement about the intensification of the meetings was achieved at the meeting. On January 25, 2001 in Paris negotiations of the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan Robert Kocharyan and Heydar Aliyev in the presence of the President of Republic of France Jacques Chiraq. In the briefing after the negotiations, which took place in Paris in Yelisey Palace in the presence of the President of the Republic of France Jacques Chiraq, the President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan noticed, that the complete solution of the problem was maybe achieved at the attraction to the negotiations of the representatives of Nagorniy Karabakh. The President of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev said in his turn that as soon as we come to something concrete at the bilateral negotiations with the leader of Armenia, perhaps the third part may appear . Both Presidents characterized their bilateral negotiations in Paris as rather positive, having informed, that they outlined the plan of the following meeting in the very near future. May 31, 2001 At the CIS Summit in Minsk the trilateral meeting among President of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev, President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan and President of Russia Vladimir Putin was held. During the meeting the three presidents discussed the problem of the peaceful settlement of Armenian-Azerbaijani, Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. August 1, 2001 At the informal Summit of the CIS countries in Sochi President of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev and President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan held a bilateral meeting. During the meeting they had a wide discussion on the problem of the peaceful settlement of Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. Currently the Co-Chairs are pursuing their objective to present a compromise settlement plan to the conflict based on the principles of international law. Arms supplies to Armenia. Illegal supplies of Russian arms to Armenia from 1993 till 1994 including 84 tanks T-72, 50 CIV, 32 operational-tactical missiles P-17 capable of a range of 300 km and capable of carrying nuclear warheads as well as other arms amounted to 1 billion US dollars cause Azerbaijan a lot of trouble. These supplies violate the rules of international law and the principles of peaceful settlement of Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. Such illegal actions contradict UN Security Council resolution 853, the Statement of the President of the Security Council of August 18, 1993 and the decisions of the OSCE High-ranking Officials Committee of February 28 and March 14, 1992 which demand that the military supplies to the states involved in the conflict should be stopped, since they facilitate the escalation of the conflict and the maintenance of the occupation of Azerbaijani territories. Illegal supplies also contradict the provisions of the Agreement on Conventional Forces in Europe. Ceasefire violation. It has been four years since the agreement on ceasefire was reached on May 12, 1994. However, in the last years provocative activities of the Armenian military units being stationed along the contact line have assumed an impudent character pursuing an aim to force Azerbaijan to start a new spiral of military operations. It should be noted that Armenia has violated the agreement on ceasefire 1421 times since May 1994. Release of prisoners of war. The work connected with the release of the prisoners of war and hostages is being continued through the mediation of ICRC. In the period from 1993 till May 2004 as a result of the interchange between the countries, 357 people were released – 102 Armenians and 255 Azerbaijanis. At the same time according to the MNS of the Republic of Azerbaijan there are still more than 800 Azerbaijanis in Armenia and the region of Nagorny Karabakh.

Impact of Audit Quality of Real Earnings Management

Impact of Audit Quality of Real Earnings Management Abstract This study aims to evaluate the influence of audit quality (auditor size and auditor tenure), political connection, and institutional ownership toward real earnings management. Purposive sampling was conducted and 83 manufacturing companies registered in Indonesian Stock Exchange during 2010-2014 were acquired as the samples. For testing the hypotheses, panel data regression random effect model was used. The results showed that auditor size and institutional ownership had positive influence toward real earnings management, while audit tenure and political connections did not influence real earnings management. The control variable testing showed that   leverage and loss had negative influence toward real earnings management, while cash ratio had positive effect towards real earnings management. These result have implication for the investors to pay attention to operating cash flow average, because there is still a possibility of real earnings management, although the company audito rs were from the big-4 auditors. Keywords: real earnings management, audit quality, auditor size, audit tenure, political connections, institutional ownership.. INTRODUCTION Managers can apply accrual earnings management and real earnings management to achieve the desired profit (Fisher and Rosenzwig, 1995; Roychowdhury, 2006). The real earnings management is impose bigger long-term costs, because it has negative consequences toward future cash flow which reduce firm value (Roychowdhury, 2006; Cohen et al., 2008; Cohen and Zarowin, 2010). Graham et al., (2005) and Cohen et al., (2007) clarify that the reasons why a company using real earnings management is to avoid auditors and regulators detection. The real earnings management is more difficult to detect because it is almost similar to a companys operational activity (Kim et al, 2010). Becker et al. (1998); Johnson et al.( 2002); Balsam et al.,(2003); Chen et al. (2011), and Inaam et al. (2012)   showed that audit quality (auditor size and auditor tenure) reduce accrual earnings management. Therefore, companies that want to conduct earnings management will shift from accrual earnings management to real earnings management (Chi et al., 2011). Auditor size positively affect real earnings management (Chi et al., 2011; Inaam et al., 2012). Meanwhile, Nihlati and Meiranto (2014) showed that the auditors size negatively impact real earnings management. Chi et al. (2010) found that auditor tenure had positive influence toward real earnings management. While Inaam et al.(2012), Herusetya and Pujilestari (2013) found that auditor tenure did not affect real earnings management. Inaam et al., (2012) conducted a research about the influence of audit quality toward the real earnings management in Tunisia and suggested that the future research can include political connection and institutional ownership as independent variables. Pollitically connected companies have bad reporting quality (Chaney et al., 2010). Meanwhile, Batta et al. (2014) found that political connection positively affect the reporting quality. The phenomena of pollitically connected companies in Indonesia is state-owned enterprises became disorganized after were interfered by political parties (Muqoddas, 2012). Indonesian Corruption Watch data showed that there were 48 legislators who were entrepreneurs that were exposed for corruption case (Gabrillin, 2014). Shleifer Vishny (1986); Bathala et al. (1994); Velury Jenkins (2006); Mehrani et al. (2016) showed that institutional ownership reduce accrual earnings management. The institutional investors monitoring toward managerial process and accounting information accuracy are stronger. For avoiding detection by the institutional investors, companies will shift from accrual earnings management to real earnings management. The aim of this research is to evaluate the influence of audit quality, political connection and institutional ownership toward real earnings management. This study contributes in adding political connection and institutional ownerships as independent variables, as suggested by Inaam et al. (2012). Up to now, studies about real earnings management in Indonesia are rarely conducted and, if any, they have not correlated political connection and institutional ownerships toward the real earnings management study yet, so this study will fill in that gap. As the structure of this paper, literature review and hypotheses development will be discussed on the next part. The research method will be discussed in the third section. This is followed by result and discussion and the final section concludes the study. LITERATURE REVIEW AND HYPOTHESES DEVELOPMENT Auditor Size and Real Earnings Management Earnings management can be applied through accrual and real activities (Roychowdhury, 2006; Zang, 2007; Cohen and Zarowin, 2010). The methods of real earnings managements are sale manipulation, overproduction, and reducing discretionary expenses (Roychowdhury, 2006). DeAngelo (1981), Becker et al. (1998) and Krisnan (2003) found that big size auditors   have better audit quality   than small auditors.   The Big-4 auditors is considered to be more competent than the non Big-4 auditors if seen from their education, training, and experience (Amijaya and Prastiwi, 2013), their independencies (Zou and Elder, 2003) and their good reputation (Christiani and Nugrahanti, 2014). Big-4 auditors competency will ease the earnings management detection. Therefore, companies tend to choose real earnings management, so it will be more difficult to be identified. Cohen and Zarowin (2010), Chi et al. (2011), Inaam et al. (2012) found out that auditor size positively influences real earnings manag ement. H1: Auditor size has positive influence toward real earnings management. Auditor tenure and Real Earnings Management Auditor tenure is the number of years of an auditor being assigned by a company (Myers et al., 2003). The longer engagement duration, the higher auditors knowledge about that company, so it ease in detecting earnings management (Giri, 2010). The company will shift from accrual earnings management to real earnings management so that it will not be detected easily. The real earnings management tends to be out of the auditors supervision (Chi et al., 2011) and it will be hard to detect because it is almost the same as companys daily operational activity (Kim et al., 2010). Cohen and Zarowin (2010) and Chi et al. (2011) found that auditor tenure has positive influence toward real earnings management. H2: Auditor tenure has positive influence toward real earnings management. Political Connection and Real Earnings Management A company can be called politically connected if the biggest shareholder (has minimum 10% of voting rights) or top officers serves as the parliamenterian, minister, or has close relation with a politician or political party (Faccio, 2006). A company which has political connection will get the benefit such as capital allocation (Fisman, 2001; Goldman et al.,2010), better business opportunities (Fisman, 2001), and bailouts from the government (Faccio et al., 2006). If a company is not able to maintain its reputation and profit, It will loose special previlege from political connection (Braam et al., 2015). For increasing their performance, the companies tend to perform real earnings management. Earnings management detection would lead decreasing in companys reputation, increasing in political cost and the companys external interventions (Watss and Zimerman, 1990; Faccio, 2006; Ramanna and Roychowdhury, 2010; Kothari, 2012). For avoiding that detection, the company will shift the accrual earnings management to real earnings management. Chaney et al.,   (2011) found out that politically connected companies tend to conduct earnings management. H3: Political connection has positive influence toward real earnings management. Institutional Ownership and Real Earnings Management Institutional investors generally have a big number of shares, so they carry out strict monitoring to the companies performance and   companies information quality (Velury and Jenkins, 2006; Pound, 1988; Shleifer and Vishny, 1986). Bushee (1998) and Potter (1992) found out that institutional investors were too focus on the short-term performance, so they force the managers to achieve that short-term profit. For improving their performance and for avoiding the detection from institutional investors , the managers will prefer real earnings management than accrual earnings management. H4: Institutional ownership has positive influence toward real earnings management. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Samples and Source of Data This study used the manufacturing companies listed in Indonesia Stock Exchange during 2010-2014 periods. The criteria for purposive sampling method are the companies published annual report sequentially during that periods and the annual reports were finished on the December 31st. There were 83 companies were selected as the samples, so there were 415 firm year observations. The annual reports acquired from the Indonesia Stock Exchange website. The political connection data were acquired from (1) annual report and tracing down the Board of Directors and Board of Commissioners biography from the sites in Google, (2) the Indonesian Republic National Portalwebsite (indonesia.go.id), the Indonesian Republic House of Representative website (www.dpr.go.id), and Tokoh Indonesia Indonesian Leaders (www.tokohindonesia.com). Variables Real Earnings Management (Dependent Variable) Abnormal Cash flow from operation will be used as proxy of real earnings management. When the companies apply real earnings management, the average of   CFO will be negative (Roychowdhury, 2006; Chi et al., 2011., Inaam et al., 2012 and Ratmono, 2010). CFOt= operating cash flow of company i in year t At-1= the total asset of company i in t-1 year St= the total sales of company i during year t ÃŽÂ µt= abnormal cash flow from operation (regression residual, real earnings management proxies, REM) Independent Variables Political connection, auditor size, auditor tenure and institutional ownership are the independent variables. Table 1: Independent Variables Measurement Independent Variables Measurement Political Connection ( Political connection variable will be measured by calculating the number of Board of Directors and Board of Commissioners, both the chiefs and the members who are also the House of Representative members, ministers or vice ministers, or related to prominent politicians and political party members (Braam et al., 2015) Auditor size (AUDSIZE) A Dummy variable, 1 if the firm was audited by a Big 4 auditor, 0 otherwise (Chi et al., 2011; Inaam et al., 2012.,Christiani and Nugrahanti, 2014). Auditor Tenure (TENURE) The number of engagement years or auditing period assigned in which the auditors from the same Public Accountant Firm conduct audit engagement to the auditee during 2010-2014 periods (Chi et al., 2011; Inaam et al., 2012) Institutional Ownership (INSTOWN) The percentage of shares owned by the institutional investors (Velury Jenkins, 2006; Mehrani et al., 2016; Wiranata and Nugrahanti.,2013) Control Variables Leverage, company loss and cash ratio were used as control variables in this study. Leverage/ LEV (the total debt/ the total asset) positively influence the REM (Herusetya and Pujiletari, 2013). The loss of the company is measured using a dummy variable, 1 if company has net loss and 0 otherwise (Herusetya and Pujilestari, 2013). One of the reasons why a company applies real earnings management is to cover up the company loss (Roychowdhury, 2006). Cash ratio (CCE) is the ratio of the cash and cash equivalents toward the total asset (Herusetya and Pujilestari, 2013). The higher CCE ratio, the faster companys cash flow, so it will ease the manager in utilizing the available cash to have earnings management (Herusetya and Pujilestari, 2013). Regression Model Panel data regression analysis was chosen to perform the hypotheses testing because this study used data combination of time series and data cross section (Winarno, 2015). Hypotheses H1, H2, H3, H4 and control variable in this study will be tested using empirical model as follows: RESULT AND DISCUSSION Descriptive Statistics Table 2 below showed descriptive statistics used in this study. Table 2 Descriptive Statistics (Pooled Sample, n= 415) Variable Mean Maximum Minimum Std .Deviation REM -0.006352 0.659900 -1.217470 0.188328 POLCN 0.245783 2 0 0.468655 AUDSIZE (dummy variable) 1 0 0.485552 TENURE 2.554217 5 1 1.381844 INSTOWN(%) 70.4841 100 0 19.61332 LEV 0.470906 4.189190 0.000265 0.321157 LOSS (dummy variable) 1 0 0.339475 CASH 0.102345 0.500295 0.000078 0.122287 From 415 firm years, 157 companies (37.8%) used the big-4 auditors and 258 companies (62.2%) used the Non-Big 4 auditors. Besides, there were 55 companies (13.3%) reported a loss. Real Earnings Management (REM) Testing Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test was conducted to confirm whether REM are validly applied in the sample companies.   The result of this test are presented in appendix 1. If the average abnormal CFO was negative, the companies were assumed to apply REM in operating cash flow (Oktorina Hutagaol,2008). The Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Testing result showed that the mean of abnormal CFO was -0.006352 and its significance value was 0.046, so it was confirmed that those companies applied REM through operating cash flow. Panel data Model Testing Chow Test and Hausman Test for determining the appropriate estimation method were presented in appendix 2. Based on the Chow Test and Hausman Test results, the estimation method applied in this study was panel data regression using random effect model. Hypotheses Testing The results of hypotheses testing using panel data regression random effect model within 5% alpha level were presented in Table 3. Table 3 Hypotheses Testing Results Variable Expected sign Coefficient Probability Conclusion Intercept -0.077146 0.0997 AUDSIZE + 0.084373 0.0031*** H1 accepted TENURE + -0.008594 0.0968 H2 rejected POLCN + 0.001902 0.9380 H3 rejected INSTOWN + 0.001100 0.0372** H4 accepted LEV + -0.075769 0.0071*** LOSS + -0.067431 0.0083*** CASH + 0.268174 0.0043*** Dependent variable        Real earnings management (REM) R-squared                           0.119266 Adjusted R-squared 0.104118 F-statistic                           7.873503 Prob(F-statistic)              0.000000 **significant on alpha 5% ***significant on alpha 1% Auditor Size and Real Earnings Management The H1 testing shows that auditor size positively influence REM. This result is in line with Chi et al. (2010), Cohen and Zarowin (2010), Inaam et al. (2012), Nihlati and Meiranto (2014). The big-4 auditors are assumed to have better skills compared to non big-4 auditors, regarding from their educational backgrounds, trainings, and experiences (Amijaya and Prastiwi, 2013), their independencies (Zou and Elder, 2003) and their good reputation (Christiani and Nugrahanti, 2014).   The big-4skills will ease the auditors in detecting the accrual earnings management. Hence, companies will cover up the earnings management from the   auditors and prefer to apply real earnings management. Real earnings management is harder to be identified than accrual earnings management since it is almost the same as the companies daily operational activity (Kim et al., 2010, Graham et al., 2005; Gunny, 2010; Badertscher, 2011). Auditor tenure and Real Earnings Management The H2 testing result shows that auditor tenure did not had an effect toward REM. This result consistent with Inaam et al.(2012), Herusetya and Pujilestari (2013), Nihlati and Meiranto (2014). Gul et al. (2009) categorized the audit placement period into three categories, the short term (2-3 years), medium term (4-8 years), and long term (9 years).   Table 2 show that auditor tenure average is 2.5 years, and the short auditor tenure had not been able to influence real earnings management. By limiting auditor tenure, there will be a gap between the auditor and the company. In order to verify a company, auditors had to identify in advance the companies characteristics and managements, and it usually took quite a long time (Kono and Yuyetta, 2013). Amijaya and Prastiwi (2013) stated that why audit tenure did not have any influence toward earnings management was the auditors incapability in identifying earnings management. Political Connection and Real Earnings Management Based on Table 3, it can be seen that political connection did not had an effect toward REM. This result is in contrast with Braam et al. (2015). Political connection did not had an effect toward real earnings management because the numbers of political connections in the samples was few, which was 27.71% (23 out of 83 companies). There were only one person in board of directors and board of commissioners that were involved in political connection, so political connections did not influence real earnings management. Institutional Ownerships and Real Earnings Management The H4 testing result indicates that institutional ownerships positively influence REM. The institutional ownerships mean was 70.48%. Institutional investors who had a big number of shares will strictly monitor companys performance and companys information quality (Velury and Jenkins, 2006; Pound, 1988; Shleifer and Vishny, 1986). The strict monitoring made the companies that want to apply earnings management shift from accrual earnings management to real earnings management. Institutional investors were too focus on short term performance, so they urged the managers to fulfill that short term profit (Bushee,1998; Potter, 1992). For increasing their performance and for avoiding institutional investors detection, the managers would prefer real earnings management to accrual earnings management. Leverage, Company Loss, Cash Ratio and Real Earnings Management The testing results of control variables show that leverage negatively influenced REM. If a company has high levels of debts, it has to pay principal and high debt interest. The obligatory of those payments limit managers in using cash flow, including for real earnings management (Zamri et al.,2013).The company loss negatively influences REM. This finding is in line with Herusetya and Pujilestari (2013) and Roychowdhury (2006). When the company reported positive earnings, the company was assumed that they were covering up the loss through REM. If the company reported negative earnings, the company would be assumed that they did not apply REM, and the company was considered to not cover up the loss (Herusetya and Pujilestari, 2013). Cash ratio positively influence REM. The higher cash ratio, the better companys liquidity, so it would ease the managers in utilizing the provided cash for real earnings management (Herusetya and Pujilestari, 2013). CONCLUSION Although a study about audit quality and real earnings management has been conducted before, this study contributes in adding new independent variables, which are political connection and institutional ownerships. The testing results show that the auditor size and institutional ownerships can increase real earnings management. Meanwhile, audit tenure and political connection do not influence real earnings management. The testing toward control variables showed that leverage and company loss negatively influence real earnings management, while cash ratio had positive influence. The applied implication of these result is the investors need to see the operating cash flow average , because there is still a possibility of real earnings management, although the company auditors were from the big-4 auditors. The limitation of this study was a few number data of political connection although depth investigation had been carried out by looking at the name of legislative members/ ministers and vice ministers/ kinships to members of political parties. For the future study, the political connection criteria can be added by including the Indonesia National Forces retirees or ministry officials (for example the secretary general, directorate general, staff member of ministry, assistance of ministry). 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