Free Catch-22 Essays: A War Comedy :: Catch-22

Catch-22 - A Comedy The novel, Catch-22, is a comedy about soldiers during World War II. However, this comic scenes and phrases ar quite tragic when they are thought about, as most things related to war are, which makes this comedy completely absurd. The best way to represent this idea is by dint of the characters in the book, specifically, Yossarian, Huple, and Natelys whores kid sister and the events that occur with their thoughts and their actions. Clearly, the main character and one whose life is chiefly described, is Yossarian. Yossarian has a slightly down in the mouth sense of humor and way of looking at things. In the first chapter, Heller tells us that garner sent by the soldiers had to be reviewed in effect to prevent any secret information going out to the public, or, even worse, to the enemy. Yossarian, from lack of anything better to do, censors all the letters. Sometimes he crosses out everything but a, an and the, sometimes adjectives, whatever he feels like tha t day. For his final gag he signs these letters as Washington Irving to totally confuse the readers of these letters. This is funny, however it is ultimately tragic. These are the letters that every wife, mother and daughter runs to the mailbox for in order to see that their husbands, fathers and sons are all right. This is a letter that could say Honey, Im sexual climax home, or I love you. When I come home I want to marry you. These letters could change the whole lifestyle of so many people and Yossarian alone is tampering with them. The absurdity of that is immense. A gag of slightly higher consequence occurred in Chapter 12, when Yossarian decided to move the bomb boundary over Bologna. What I believe is the most ridiculous in the whole process was his reason for doing it. Everyone did not want to go on this mission to contract Bologna. They prayed the rain would never go away, or that the bomb line would mysteriously move, anything just mot to go on this mission. Clevinger, in disbelief at the tomfoolery of these men, tells Yossarian They really believe that we wouldnt have to fly that mission tomorrow if someone would only tiptoe up to the map in the middle of the wickedness and move the bomb line over Bologna. Can you imagine? So Yossarian figures Why not?

The Good Earth :: essays research papers

In the critically acclaimed novel The Good Earth, Pearl S. jerk depicts a humble farmer and his obedient married woman O-lan. The Nobel Prize winning classic, set in late eighteenth century China, begins with Wang Lung going to the "Great endure of Hwang"(49) to collect the wife that was betrothed to him by his father. Wang Lung lived with his father, wife, and quint children, one of whom is mentally retarded. Although Wang Lung supplied all the physical needs for his family and upheld all the family traditions, he showed a strong insensitiveness through his extra marital affairs. The story continues to face the trials and tribulations of their life in a time when a persons livelihood came from the earth. From the earth, Wang Lung receives wealth, food, and prosperity. The earth also brought him dispair through inseparable disasters, but the earth remained his sole source of innerpeace. Wang Lung was sometimes caring and sometimes insensitive, but he always followed tr adition. Wang Lung was a caring and compassionate man with a strong sense of family and adaptation to simple life. For example, Wang Lung showed innate respect and appreciation for his wife in a time when women were considered to be no more consequently slaves. In the early chapters of the novel when Wang Lung was poor, he gave O-lan tetrad silver pieces so she may return to the House of Hwang in grand style. He also offered to take over five thousand silver pieces for her recovery aft(prenominal) he discovered she had a "fire in her vitals"(170). He then spent the counterbalance of her solar days by her death bed and bought her the beat quality coffin. Furthermore, Wang Lung had a special relationship with his first female child, Poor fritter, his mentally retarded offspring. Poor Fool did not speak and did nothing more Pagliei 2 then twiddle a piece of cloth in the sun. Although Wang Lung had servants and slaves, he personally took care of his daughter after O-la n died. He also yelled at his love Lotus when she called Poor Fool an idiot Now I will not memorise my children cursed, no and not by anyone...For he was virtually angry of all that Lotus dared to curse this child of his and call her idiot, and a load of fresh anguish for the girl fell upon his heart, so that for a day and two days he would not go near Lotus, but he played with the children and he went into the town and he bought a circle of barley candy for his poor fool and he comforted himself with her baby pleasure in the sweet ill-chosen stuff.The Good Earth essays research papers In the critically acclaimed novel The Good Earth, Pearl S. Buck depicts a humble farmer and his obedient wife O-lan. The Nobel Prize winning classic, set in late eighteenth century China, begins with Wang Lung going to the "Great House of Hwang"(49) to collect the wife that was betrothed to him by his father. Wang Lung lived with his father, wife, and five children, one of whom is ment ally retarded. Although Wang Lung supplied all the physical needs for his family and upheld all the family traditions, he showed a strong insensitivity through his extra marital affairs. The story continues to portray the trials and tribulations of their life in a time when a persons livelihood came from the earth. From the earth, Wang Lung receives wealth, food, and prosperity. The earth also brought him dispair through natural disasters, but the earth remained his sole source of innerpeace. Wang Lung was sometimes caring and sometimes insensitive, but he always followed tradition. Wang Lung was a caring and compassionate man with a strong sense of family and adaptation to simple life. For example, Wang Lung showed extreme respect and appreciation for his wife in a time when women were considered to be no more then slaves. In the early chapters of the novel when Wang Lung was poor, he gave O-lan four silver pieces so she may return to the House of Hwang in grand style. He also offe red to pay five thousand silver pieces for her recovery after he discovered she had a "fire in her vitals"(170). He then spent the rest of her days by her death bed and bought her the best quality coffin. Furthermore, Wang Lung had a special relationship with his first daughter, Poor Fool, his mentally retarded offspring. Poor Fool did not speak and did nothing more Pagliei 2 then twiddle a piece of cloth in the sun. Although Wang Lung had servants and slaves, he personally took care of his daughter after O-lan died. He also yelled at his love Lotus when she called Poor Fool an idiot Now I will not hear my children cursed, no and not by anyone...For he was most angry of all that Lotus dared to curse this child of his and call her idiot, and a load of fresh pain for the girl fell upon his heart, so that for a day and two days he would not go near Lotus, but he played with the children and he went into the town and he bought a circle of barley candy for his poor fool and he co mforted himself with her baby pleasure in the sweet sticky stuff.

Life Or Death Essay -- essays research papers fc

Life or Death     There have been many identification numbers through time that were loved by some, and despised by others. For example, people often debate the controversial issue of abortion. This issue is so involved, that it effects people morally, socially, and politically. At local clinics, some people provide go as far as to hold protests. These be just some issues that effected people in the past and present ethically. Yet contempt these issues, society has continued on. Euthanasia is an issue that concerns people of all ages in society today. Imagine, if you would, that you had a relative on his death bed with cancer. Their was no viable surgery that could remove the tumor. The doctors articulate that he could be suffering for days, weeks, or even months before he would pass away. Say that you had a daughter that was in a coma and would not get any better. Just ask yourself, what would you do?     Now, imagine the same relative with the same unsoundness again lonesome(prenominal) this time the medical industry has suddenly discovered a cure for cancer. Then, the day he was going to be put to death they found a cure for him and he was saved. If you went through with the mercy killing it would have been like murder. Also, how do you think you could handle yourself after knowing that you ended your daughters life? These are some of decisions we are faced with during situations of this nature.      Euthanasia, also mercy killing, is the practice of ending a life so as to release an individual from an incurable disease or intolerable suffering. The term is sometimes used generally to refer to an easy or painless death. Voluntary euthanasia involves a request by the dying patient or that persons legal representative. Passive, or negative, euthanasia involves not doing something to prevent deaththat is, allowing someone to die. Active or positive euthanasia involves pickings deliberate acti on to cause a death (Microsoft Encarta 98). Euthanasia is a controversial issue that deals with religious, legal, and personal aspects.      Most religious groups today look at euthanasia as immoral and sinful. For one example, the Christian Bible says, "Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God and you are not your own? For you were bought at a... ...at the legal aspects, while most say they can do what ever they want with life. The rule book says that people shouldnt commit mercy killings. Also, the medical industry is split down the middle about it There are legal and illegal aspects which make it an issue that is still being debated.      Personally, I can see why this subject should be outlawed. This brief summary of the topic gives some examples why this is inhumane. People say that people have the right to do what they want with their own lives. The religious side of i t says that we owe our lives to God. I do read the read the Bible and I do agree with the scriptures. No one can tell another how they should feel, yet I hope to have given you some useful information on this topic, so that you can make your own opinion.Works Cited Bergman, Brian. "The Crown Reconsiders." Macleans 17 Nov. 1997"Euthanasia." Microsoft Encarta 97 Encyclopedia CD-ROM 1997Kondro, Wayne. "Reduced Sentence for Mercy Killing." spear 13 Dec. 1997Tivnan, Edward. The Moral Imagination Confronting the Ethical Issues of Our Day. New York Simon & Schuster Inc. 1995

The Distributive Justice Of The Market :: essays research papers

<a href="http//www.geocities.com/vaksam/">Sam Vaknins Psychology, Philosophy, Economics and Foreign Affairs Web Sites(1) Each person is to have an equal right to the approximately extensive total system of equal basic liberties compatible with a similar system of liberty for all. (2) Social and economic inequalities are to be ordered so that they are both (a) to the greatest benefit of the least advantaged, consistent with the just savings principle, and (b) attached to offices and positions open to all under conditions of fair equivalence of opportunity. " (John Rawls, "A Theory of Justice", 1971, p.302) Resources are scarce. This is the basic, dismal truth of the dismal science. The second truth is that people consume resources. A basic existential foreboding makes them want more resources than they jackpot consume (the "just in case" principle). This raises the question of fairness, a.k.a. "distributive justice". How should resources be allocated in a manner which depart conform to one or more just principles ? This apparently simple question raises a host of more complex ones what constitutes a resource ? what is meant by allocation ? Who should allocate these resources or should this better be left to some Adam Smithean "invisible hand" ? Such an invisible hand (working through the bell mechanism) - should its mode of operation be guided by differences in power, in intelligence, in knowledge, in heritage ? In other words what should be the entitlement principle, how can it be determined who is entitled to what ? Everything constitutes a resource income, opportunities, knowledge, brute power, wealth. Everything, therefore, is subject to distribution to individuals (natural persons), groups of people, certain classes. There are many bases for distribution, but the issue is HOW sound these bases are and how can we ensure that we are distributing resources using a just distribution base. We all face op portunities to acquire resources. In a just society, everyone is apt(p) the same access to these opportunities. Access does not translate into ability to make routine of it. Idiosyncrasies and differences between accessees will determine the latter, i.e. the outcome of such access. The ability to use is the bridge between the access and the accumulated resources. Given access and the capacity to utilize it - resources (material goods, knowledge, etc.) will accrue to the user. There is a hidden assumption in all this that all men are born equal and deserve equal respect and, therefore equal treatment.

Abortion :: essays research papers

Glasgow, Scotland. Its cold outside. Im thinking about a problem. One group of people trying to force their beliefs on others, based on religion. And it seems as though were regressing.Above, a helicopter flies by. If it continues on its course, it will shortly be over Ireland, where as of this writing, the powers that be atomic number 18 deciding if a 14-year-old girl who was raped by the father of one of her friends should be allowed to leave for Britain to obtain an abortion. Shes been orde carmine not to leave the country for golf club months. Fourteen years old. Raped. The issue of an unborn fetus takes on more importance than the fact that the rapist walks free.Extreme, but this is a place where the church influences the government. And when I think of the movements concerning abortion in the United States, it definitely seems as though were regressing."My bodys nobodys body but mine...You run your own body, let me run mine."At the University of San Diego a few years ago, pro-lifers gathered, while pro-choicers chanted the above. Sides clashed and tension ran high. A banner equating pro-choice ideology with Nazism and Hitler was displayed. "Baby Killers," a little red stop sign said -- a sign held by a well-dressed 3-year-old who sat atop the shoulders of his upper-middle class father. The kid looked confused and frightened. The ominous presence of build up police on horseback would be enough to upset anyone.And I wondered how this child got pulled into this? I wondered how any of us got pulled into this. The fact is that those people handing down decisions on the abortion issue are not the ones who will harbor to live or die by it.Ten years old. Thats the age my child would dupe been. And I would not be here in Glasgow. I wouldnt be in this band or traveling. And I wouldnt have seen the liberal ways in which other countries we have visited deal with this issue. I wouldnt have been asked to write this piece. The fact that Ive been th rough it on all levels is the only reason I accepted.Perhaps Ill have a child in the future, when I can provide properly. Who knows. But as individuals in this "free" country, we must have the right to choose when that sentence is right. A couple -- perhaps 15 or 16 years old, maybe 10 years older -- is faced with an unwanted pregnancy it makes no difference if there is no means of support.

Abortion :: essays research papers

Glasgow, Scotland. Its cold outside. Im thinking about a problem. One group of people trying to force their beliefs on others, based on religion. And it seems as though were regressing.Above, a helicopter flies by. If it continues on its course, it will shortly be over Ireland, where as of this writing, the powers that be atomic number 18 deciding if a 14-year-old young woman who was raped by the father of one of her friends should be allowed to leave for Britain to obtain an abortion. Shes been ordered not to leave the country for nine months. Fourteen years old. Raped. The identification number of an unborn fetus takes on more importance than the fact that the rapist walks free.Extreme, but this is a place where the church influences the government. And when I think of the movements concerning abortion in the United States, it definitely seems as though were regressing."My bodys nobodys body but mine...You run your own body, let me run mine."At the University of San Die go a few years ago, pro-lifers gathered, part pro-choicers chanted the above. Sides clashed and tension ran high. A banner equating pro-choice ideology with Nazism and Hitler was displayed. "Baby Killers," a little red stop sign tell -- a sign held by a well-dressed 3-year-old who sat atop the shoulders of his upper-middle class father. The kid looked confused and frightened. The ominous presence of armed police on hogback would be enough to upset anyone.And I wondered how this child got pulled into this? I wondered how any of us got pulled into this. The fact is that those people handing down decisions on the abortion issue are not the ones who will have to live or die by it.Ten years old. Thats the age my child would have been. And I would not be here in Glasgow. I wouldnt be in this band or traveling. And I wouldnt have seen the liberal ways in which other countries we have visited mitt with this issue. I wouldnt have been asked to write this piece. The fact that Ive b een through it on all levels is the only reason I accepted.Perhaps Ill have a child in the future, when I can provide properly. Who knows. But as individuals in this "free" country, we must have the right to choose when that time is right. A couple -- maybe 15 or 16 years old, maybe 10 years older -- is faced with an unwanted pregnancy it makes no difference if there is no means of support.

Quantitative Research Critique

Quantitative look into Critique Cathleen Atkins Grand Canyon University NRS 433V Linda Permoda March 24, 2013 Quantitative Research Critique Title of Article The title of the article being critiqued is The impact of workload on hygiene accordance in nursing, which was published in the British Journal of Nursing (Knoll, Lautenschlaeger, & Borneff-Lipp, 2010). Authors There are three authors for this quantitative research depicted object. Martin Knoll is the HTW of Saarland, Clinical Nursing Research and Evaluation, Saarbruecken, Germany.Christine Lautenschlaeger, Institute of Medical Epidemiology, biometrics and Medical Informatics, Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, Germany is the second author. And last, Marianne Borneff-Lipp is head of the Institute for Hygiene, Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany (Knoll, Lautenschlaeger, & Borneff-Lipp, 2010). Introduction to Study Quantitative research is apply when trying to determine the meaning of life experiences and situations. This is done by using a systematic and subjective approach to study.The goal of quantitative research is to determine the relationship between one thing, an nonparasitic shifting, and another, the dependent variable (Burns & Grove, 2011). The offer of the study was to examine whether external factors such as ward capacity and level of nursing intensity had any effect on compliance of hand hygiene guidelines by the nursing staff (Knoll, Lautenschlaeger, & Borneff-Lipp, 2010). Protection of Human Participants During the six participant observation trials soak ups were sight, without their knowledge, to see if they complied with hand hygiene disinfection.When a nurse was observed to have neglected hand hygiene an interview was immediately conducted to understand why previous training on hand hygiene guidelines were ignored. The observations and interviews were conducted with authority from hospital management and the medical director that were in accordance with the Guidelines of Good Research Practice (Cambridge University, 2005). Informed consent was obtained by nursing staff when ensuant interviews were undertaken after notice of failure to comply with the guidelines and they did so voluntarily (Knoll, Lautenschlaeger, & Borneff-Lipp, 2010).Benefits of participation were not addressed by the police detectives. Data Collection Major variables for this study were identified. The independent variable identified by the researchers is the nursing staff with the dependent variable being data collected from the interviews. Data was collected for this study during a 12 month cartridge clip period, from June 2007 to May 2008. Data collection was divided into six observation trial periods that included June, September, and November of 2007 and January, March, and May of 2008. Nursing staff from ten departments were observed for research.Those departments included four surgery units, four internal medicine units, and two inter disciplinary intensive care units. Data was collected by observations and interviews. A researcher observed nurses for hand disinfection, when a nurse failed to do so the researcher introduced themself to the nurse and immediately initiated a narrative interview (Knoll, Lautenschlaeger, & Borneff-Lipp, 2010). Rationale for using the antecedently described collection methods was so the study could employ the Hawthorne effect. (Stroebe, 2003).The Hawthorne effect exercises influence on the nurse through teaching that is intended to motivate behavioral wobble (Knoll, Lautenschlaeger, & Borneff-Lipp, 2010). Data Management and Analysis There was no information provided by the researchers about data management. A descriptive design and trend analysis was used to determine problems with current implement of the nurses interviewed. Data analysis was done through categorization of summarized core statement. Seven categories with subsequent causes were developed as well as a structured def inition of those categories.The rigor process was not addressed by the researchers. To minimize the effect of researcher bias the interviews were consistently conducted by the resembling interviewer in a controlled environment (Knoll, Lautenschlaeger, & Borneff-Lipp, 2010). Findings / Interpretation of Findings The findings from the research are valid and have an accurate reflection of reality. Confidence in the findings is positive because it addressed the purpose of the study. Nursing staff illness, absence, vacation, and difference in full or part time employment were not taken into account and make up the limitations of the study.The study used coherent logic as was evidenced by categorization of data, tables, and section titles. The study findings can be applied to all aspects of nursing practice in all areas. One question that emerged that requires further study is how such an imbalance could arise between the scope of every day nursing duties and the time available to perfor m them (Knoll, Lautenschlaeger, & Borneff-Lipp, 2010). References Burns, N. & Grove, S. K. (2011). Understanding nursing research. Maryland Heights W.B. Saunders. Cambridge University. (2005). Good research practice. http//tinyurl. com/3yhf8py Knoll, M. , Lautenschlaeger, C. , & Borneff-Lipp, M. (2010). The impact of workload on hygiene compliance in nursing. British Journal of Nursing, 19(16), S18-S22. Retrieved on March 24, 2013 from http//ehis. ebscohost. com. library. gcu. edu2048/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer? sid=0e6f5b68-9e35-492d-9fae-b57d46b48458%40sessionmgr112&vid=7&hid=6 Stroebe, W. (2003). Sozialpsychologie. 4th Ed. Heidelberg, Berlin.

Orange and Bronze Main Problem

Development of online mechanical man application market for Orange and Bronze Main Problem a. The company has no testing site or centralized point of for their applications software products. specific Problems a. Many software products are non- sellable b. Limited number of their software products viewed in the public Causes of the Problems a. former(a) countries have different speculations of software products because of their culture b.Almost all of their software products is for their big clients such as accenture, advance, Aeon, Allied Telesis, Technologies so hey dont give the overview of their products because of security purposes and copyrighted. c. Effects of the Problems a. more software products entrust be wasted b. Loss of clients. General Subject Area Application of Mobile Technology in the field of Business II. limited Topic The OBAAM is an Philippine android online application that enables the user to download and browse mobile application.It also helps the Applic ation developer to publish their own application for testing Ill. exposition of the Topic A. Importance and Significance The purpose of this study is to have an efficient, reliable, and functioning entralized distributor of software product of the company that can be viewed and download in public. This study aims to present solution to the suppuration ot system that will help the company to upload their apps (made by their Junior programmer) for testing. It also helps other developers idea not to be wasted.This research project allows us gain information for the development of a system. It also help us for our future career. Through this research, we will already have a peek in what we will do in the future. B. Manageability (Scope and Limitations) Is the research topic within your capability? What Descriptions and types The OBAAM is an online Android application that will help the company to test their software products. Feedbacks from the user of the software will help the compa ny for further improvements of the software.Who users and beneficiaries Through this proposed system, the user could easily find companys android apps even those eccentric apps that can only be downloaded in the Philippines. The users will be benefitted by having feedback messages that will be the basis on improving the state system Where users and applications To use the said system, the user will require android devices. When historical background The company focuses in providing software services and software products on many big clients so lots of their software products cannot be viewed or download.Why importance and relevance The system will help the client, user and the company interact providing their different needs. The system will distribute the software products made by the company and benefit both company and user How process, functions and operations The processes include browse and downloading of new software apps, uploading apps ,writing suggestions or bugs in forum s and C. Availabili y ot Resources (Sources ot Intormation) Where do you intend to get the information? Primary data Thesis and Dissertation Secondary Data Internet Others Journals, Articles D.Expected Output/ObJectives A system passed the following evaluation in footing of efficiency, reliability, functionality and maintainability. It will help the company to test their software, user to find unusual mobile android apps and save ideas in call of marketability. General Objective A designed and developed system and that will the evaluation in terms of functionality, reliability, and maintainability. The system is a apable of reporting bugs. The report or feedback will come from the users via forums.Specific Objectives The proposed system will help the company to increase the number of software products viewed in public that will lead to increasing number of their client. The system will be the container of software products in which it will make the unusual software products marke table so many ideas will not be wasted. University of Makati J. P. Rizal Ext. West Rembo, Makati City College of Computer Science Name Canizares, Francis Joseph Diamante Garcia, Catherine Echipare Reyes, Edgar Peralta Program Bachelor ot Science in Intormation Technology Major in Service Management TOPIC PRESENTATION Topic No. l. General Subject Area II. Specific Topic Ill. Specific of Research a. Background of the Study Orange and Bronze was founded in July 2005 by Calen Martin Legaspi and Renato Butch Landingin. Calen Legaspi says that they wanted to establish a technology- oriented company that Filipinos can be proud of we would also want to contribute to global programming standards, create new technologies and be with the same level together with globally-respected companies like Google, Microsoft and BoostPro. The company started as a two-man consulting firm doing software information for local software companies.Their clients eventually hired them as software consultants, be fore the company ventured into offshore software development projects. This led to partnerships with Google, Springsource and Pentaho. Orange & Bronze Software Labs Inc. (O&B) is a privately-owned computer software development company based in the Philippines. The company delivers software consulting, product engineering, and IT training services with a focus on Java technology. Their mantra is to successfully create software and provide technology olutions that work. b. Research Description i.General Objectives To develop an Application grocery that will serve as a centralized contact point and distributor of apps for Android Devices Specitlc O 1 . Evaluate the system in terms of functionality, reliability, efficiency and maintainability 2. Develop the system designed 3. Provision of secure payment mechanisms 4. Avoidance of Downtime ill. Scope and Limitations This study is limited to browsing, downloading of Android apps for user, choosing of application type and publish of appl ication for Developer The OBAAM will only work whenever there is an internet connection.

Company Law Essay

It has been a long established convention of Comp any Law that the embodied personality is a give away heavy entity distinct from its members. (Salomon v Salomon & Co. (1897) However, on that point be serving in which the courts might find it appropriate to dispense with this principle and ignore the principle of elucidate bodied personality by lifting the corporate embryonic membrane so to speak. Yet, the courts take hold not been as prepargond to pierce the befog of the corporation as they have been to protect it. Salomon v Salomon & Co. gave birth to the separate legal personality of the corporation.In this sequel, Mr. Salomon, who was conducting business as a leather merchant mention a lodge which he c bothed Salomon & Co. Ltd in 1892. His shares were distributed among his married woman and children, each of whom held one share each, for Mr. Salomon. This was necessary at the time because the law requires that the follow consist of at least 7 shareholders. It i s also important to note that Mr. Salomon was the managing director of the fraternity. (1897) Salomon & Co. Ltd. purchased the leather business which Mr. Salomon estimated to be worth 39,000 pounds. Mr.Salomon based this valuation on his view that the business was bound to be a success quite an than the actual value at the time of purchase. The funds were paid as follows 1) 10,000 pounds worth of debenture stocks leaving a accommodate over all of the assets of the friendship and 2) 20,000 pounds in 1 pound shares and 9,000 pounds in cash. At this juncture, Mr. Salomon paid off all of the creditors of the business. As a result, Mr. Salomon held 20,001 shares in Salomon & Co. Ltd. and his wife and kids held the remaining 6 shares. Also, as a result of the debenture, Mr.Salomon was a secured creditor of the companionship. (Salomon & Salomon Co. Ltd. 1897) The leather business floundered and within a year Mr. Salomon ended up selling all of his debentures so as to salvage the busin ess. This did not work out the way Mr. Salomon planned and the smart set was unable to pay its debts and consequently went into insolvent liquidation. The companys liquidator alleged that Salomon & Co. Ltd. was nothing but a sham serving as an agent for Mr. Salomon. Therefore Mr. Salomon should be held personally liable for the companys debts.The lawcourt of Appeal agreed with this finding and held that a companys shareholders were required to be a bona fide organization with the intention of going into business quite than just for the purpose of meeting the statutory provisions for the number of shareholders. (Salomon & Salomon Co. Ltd. 1897) The House of Lords reversed the decision of the Court of Appeal holding as follows- 1) It was not germane(predicate) for the purposes of determining the genuineness of a companys formation that some shareholders were holding shares for the purpose of forming the company pursuant to relevant statutory provisions.In fact, it was utterly leg al for the procedure for registration to be used by a person for the purpose of conducting a one-man business enterprise. 2) Moreover, a company that was formed pursuant to the regulations provided in the Companies morsels is a separate legal person and was not therefore an agent or trustee for the controller. Therefore the companys debts were its feature and were not the debts of its members.The liability of the members would be limited in proportion to the shares that they each held. (Salomon & Salomon Co.Ltd. 1897) Salomon v Salomon & Co. Ltd. has stood up well against the test of time. In Macaura v Northern authority Co. 1925 AC 619 the House of Lords held that in the same way that the companys liabilities are the companys and the shareholders, the assets are also the companys instead than the shareholders. (Macaura v Northern Assurance Co. 1925) In Barings Plc (In Liquidation v Coopers & Lybrand (No. 4) 2002 2 BCLC 364 a enhance company suffered a loss as a here and now o f the loss incurred by one of its subsidiaries.It was held that the supplemental was the proper party to commence an action in respect of the loss. This rationale followed the rationale in Salomon v Salomon & Co. tete-a-tete the loss was that of the subsidiary and was therefore that companys liability rather than the parent companys liability. The subsidiary was a separate legal entity from its parent company. (2002 p 364) This ruling was closely followed in both Gile v Rhind 2003 as well as Shaker v Al-Bedrawi 2003.In Re Southard &Co Ltd Templeton 1979 3 ALL ER 556 at 565 LJ express that A parent company may spawn a number of subsidiary companies, all controlled directly or indirectly by shareholders of the parent company. If one of the subsidiary companies, to change the metaphor, turns out to be the runt of the litter and declines into insolvency to the dismay of its creditors, the parent company and other subsidiary companies prosper to the joy of the shareholders without an y liability for the debts of the insolvent subsidiary. (Re Southard &Co Ltd Templeton 1979 3 ALL ER 556 at 565)Lee v Lees bank line Farming, a New Zealand case, is another good example of the courts reluctance to pierce the corporate veil. In this case, in 1954 Lee started a company called Lees Air Farming Limited. Lee owned all of the shares of the company and was the companys brass Director. In addition, Lee worked for the company as its chief pilot. He died in a plane crash while flying the company plane and his wife tried to claim damages via the companys insurance scheme under the Workers Compensation Act. (Lee v Lees Air Farming 1961)The New Zealand Court of Appeal rejected the widow womans claim that Lee was a worker within the meaning of the Workers Compensation Act and the case went to the Privy Council. The Privy Council found that Lees Air Farming Limited was an entirely different legal entity from Lee and legal relationships mingled with the two were perfectly permiss ible. Moreover, the Privy Council found that Lee, as Governing Director could indeed give parliamentary law to himself in his capacity as chief pilot. Therefore a master/servant relationship did exist between the two and Lee was in that respect a worker within the meaning of the Act.Indeed, as seen in the cases discussed above the courts aggressively protect the separate legal identity of the corporate citizen. However, there have been legislative intervention whereby specific situations have been defined where it would be appropriate to pierce the corporate veil. For example discussion sections 213 and 214 of the Insolvency Acts make it possible for the lifting of the corporate veil in cases of fraud and faultyful dealing. (The Insolvency Act 1986 subdivisions 213 and 214) arm 213 is often referred to as the fraudulent trading provision. (Dignam & Lowry 2006 Ch. )This section arises if the court is quelled that company carried on any of its business ventures with the intentio n of defrauding the companys creditors or the creditors of anyone else. Section 213 will also arise if the court finds that the company acted for any other fraudulent reason and persons involved in those fraudulent ventures can be found liable for the companys debts. In order to suffer the court of the existence of fraud Section 213 requires proof of actual dishonesty, involving, according to current notions of fair trading among commercial men, real moral blame. The .Section 214 does not impose as onerous a burden or standard as does Section 213. It is not necessary to prove an intention to defraud. Section 214 applies to the period just before a company begins winding up procedures. Section 214 arises when the court is satisfied that the directors either knew or ought to have known that the company was becoming insolvent and continued to trade anyway. The director can be liable for the companys debts in these instances. (The Insolvency Act 1986 Section 214)Section 227 of the Comp anies Act 1985 makes further provision for lifting the veil of the corporation. This section arises in instances where it is necessary to require the production of group members or group accounts to verify whether or not a subsidiarys financial activity is that of the holding company. (Companies Act 1985 Section 227) The judiciary has also demonstrated a will to lift the corporate veil whenever the ends of justice desire it to be done. The circumstances in which the court will ignore the corporate veil are ill-defined and the impression is that these circumstances are developed on a case by case basis.Professor Gower said that challenges to the doctrines of separate legal personality and limited liability at ballpark law tend to raise more fundamental challenges to these doctrines, because they are formulated on the basis of general reasons for not applying them, such as fraud, the company existence a sham or facade, that the company is the agent of the shareholder, that the com panies are part of a single economic unit or even that the interests of justice require this result. (Davies 2003 p 184) Adams v Cape Industries Plc 1990 Ch 433 is viewed by Gower and Davies as the leading case on the exceptions to the corporate veil.In the case the Court of Appeal said that it is not satisfied that the court is entitled to lift the corporate veil as against a suspect company which is a member of a corporate group merely on the grounds that the company was used to shield a member of that group from future liabilities of the company. As a matter of fact, the Court of Appeal maintained that this was a legal right by adding whether or not this is desirable, the right to use a corporate structure in this elbow room is inherent in our corporate law. (Adams v Cape Industries Plc 1990 Ch 433)The courts tend to be rather inconsistent with its attitude on the grounds upon which it will displace the laws defend the corporate veil. While Adams v Cape Industries Plc was ver y strict in its position in favor of safeguarding the corporate veil, the House of Lords was rather liberal in DHN Food Distributors Ltd v Tower Hamlets London Borough Council 1976 1 WLR 852. In the latter case Lord Denning speaking of a parent company and its subsidiary holdings said, these subsidiaries are bound hand and foot to the parent company and must do just what the parent company says.He went on to say this group is near the same as a partnership in which all the three companies are partners. They should not be treated separately so as to be defeated on a technical point. (DHN Food Distributors Ltd v Tower Hamlets London Borough Council 1976 1 WLR 852) It wasnt long before the courts departed from the position taken by Lord Denning. Woolfson v Strathclyde R. C 1978 SLT 159 the House of Lords took issue with Dennings view on the nature of holding companies and the groups under them.The Lords maintained that the corporate veil would not be displaced unless it was shown that the company was a facade. (Woolfson v Strathclyde R. C 1978 SLT 159) In Trustor AB v Smallbone (No. 2) 2001 1 WLR 1177 the court was adamant that the corporate veil would only be lifted in three circumstances. They were, 1) if the court was satisfied on the evidence that the company was a mere sham or facade, 2) the company itself was involved in some impropriety or 3) where the interest of justice required it. (Trustor AB v Smallbone (No. ) 2001 1 WLR 1177)Earlier cases identified appropriate circumstances where the court might find that a company was indeed a facade. In Gilford Motor fellowship Ltd. v Horne 1933 Ch 985 the court found that the company was a facade. In this case an employee bound by a covenant not to solicit the business of his employers, left his employment and set up a company which he used to breach the covenant. The employee argued that while he was bound by the covenant, the company was not. (Gilford Motor Company Ltd. v Horne 1933 Ch 985)In another case the defendant signed an estate contract with the plaintiff for the sale of realty to him. The defendant changed his mind and formed a company, transferring the realty to the company. He claimed that he was no protracted the owner of realty and therefore no bound to the terms of the estate contract. The court found that the company was a mere facade for the defendant and he was ordered to sell the realty as per the estate contract. (Jones v Lipman 1962 1 WLR 832) The Court of Appeal identified three instances in which it would be appropriate for the corporate veil to be lifted.The court said, save in cases which turn on the wording of particular statutes or contracts, the court is not free to disregard the principle of Salomon v A. Salomon & Co Ltd 1897 AC 22 merely because it considers that justice so requires. Our law, for better or worse, recognises the creation of subsidiary companies, which though in one palpate the creatures of their parent companies, will nevertheless under the general law fall to be treated as separate legal entities with all the rights and liabilities which would normally isolate to separate legal entities. (Adams v Cape Industries Plc 1990 Ch 433)Adams has effectively narrowed the circumstances in which the courts will intervene and lift the corporate veil. This is unfortunate since changing generation together with the complex development of both the corporate structure and company law, the Salomon v Salomon & Co. endure is in reality perhaps out of place today. (Gallagher & Zeigler 1990) Although there have been times when the courts have shifted away from this ruling it remains the poster child for the criteria to be met when determining whether or not to life the veil of the corporation.The normal attitude is to safeguard against lifting the corporate veil. Question 2b) The doctrine of legal age rule has been a long established principle of Company Law within the position Legal System and makes it difficult for minority share holders to take legal action in respect of majority shareholder improprieties. That said, Rebecca as a minority shareholder is protected to a limited extent by the provisions of Section 459(1) of the Companies Act 1985. The development of the common law doctrine of majority rule was enunciated in Foss v Harbottle.The rationale behind Foss was that any difficulties within the structure of the company ought to be dealt in the general meetings of the company by ratification by the majority shareholders. The prevailing attitude of the courts was one of nonintervention. It would only step in if it was for the purpose of dissolving the business. The facts of Foss v Harbottle reveal that in 1835 a company, Victoria Park Company purchased land in the Manchester primarily for residential purposes.Thomas Harbottle, a director of Victoria Park Company had purchased the property and resold it to Victoria Park Company who finally developed the property. Richard Foss and Edward Turton, sharehold ers of Victoria Park Company brought an action against Thomas Harbottle alleging breach of fiduciary duties in that he sold the property to the company at an rarified price. Turton and Foss also claimed that, acting outside of their powers as directors the directors had burrowed funds in the prepare of the company.The court held that plaintiffs had no locus standi, and that they were required to have obtained the companys approving to commence legal action. This approval is properly obtained by virtue of a general meeting. In Foss v Harbottle, Wigram VC explained that the corporation should sue in its own name and in its corporate character, or in the name of someone whom the law has appointed to be its deterrent example. It would therefore only be permissible in prodigious cases of serious abuse that minority shareholders could sue the company as a defendant.This explains the relatively strict approach adopted by the courts in deciding representative forms of actions in the g uise of minority shareholder oppression. Jenkins LJ in Edwards v Halliwell explained the justification of the majority rule doctrine in Foss v Harbottle when he said the rule in Foss v Harbottle, as I understand it, comes to no more than this. First, the proper plaintiff in an action in respect of a wrong alleged to be done to a company or association of persons is prima facie the company or the association of persons itself.Secondly, where the alleged wrong is a effect which might be made binding on the company or association and on all its members by a simple majority of the members, no individual member of the company is allowed to maintain an action in respect of that matter for the simple reason that, if a mere majority of the members of the company or association is in favour of what has been done, then cadit quaestio.This is where Section 459(1) of the Companies Act 1985 is important to Rebecca in respect of what appears to be insider dealing, mismanagement and perhaps even fraud. Section 459(1) of the Companies Act 1985 provides as follows- Any member of a company may apply to the Court by petition for an order under this section on the grounds that the affairs of the company are being or have been conducted in a manner which is below the belt prejudicial to some part of the members (including at least himself) or that any actual or proposed act of omission of the company (including an act of omission on its behalf) is or would be so prejudicial. David Partington, notes rather bluntly, that the discretion contained in Section 459 is very broad and perhaps infinite. The breadth of s. 459 means that there must be an infinite range of situations in which it may be employed. Partington goes on to say that the courts have been extremely flexible in their application of the term unfairly prejudicial. The test for ascertaining whether or not conduct is unfairly prejudicial is an objective test rather than a subjective one.The defendants motives are often t imes not of paramount importance to the courts. In Re Bovey Hotel Ventures Ltd. it was held that the test . is whether a reasonable bystander observing the consequences of (the defendants) conduct would regard it as having unfairly prejudiced the petitioners interests. The remedies are no longer limited to winding up procedures and this of course explains the wider discretion for commencing an action by minority shareholders. Among the remedies available are, rectification, injunctive or buyout relief. By virtue of buyout relief, the court makes an order requiring the company to purchase the shares of the petitioning minority shareholders. This is perhaps the best course for Rebecca to follow.She might not wish to remain a part of a company in which she has all but lost faith in. Re Sam Weller & Sons Ltd. rovides some useful guidance as to the kind of conduct that might amount to unfairly prejudicial within the meaning of the 1985 Act as amended. For example, failing to pay a divid end in the absence of a sound commercial explanation for such a failure amounts to unfairly prejudicial conduct. In Sam Wellers case the dividend had already been covered 14 times with the company declaring it for the away consecutive 37 years. In interlocutory proceedings, Gibson LJ denied the companys application to strike out the petitioners claim noting that the company had a case to answer.

Attention-deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Pharmaceutical Industry

Pharmaceuticalization can be defined as the process by which social, behavioural or bodily conditions be treated or deemed to be in need of treatment, with medical drugs by doctors or patients (Abraham 2010604). According to Abraham (2010), pharmaceuticalization is currently on an upward spiral and this dramatic make up can be attributed to five different factors. These five storys are biomedicalism, medicalization, pharmaceutical industry promotion and marketing, consumerism, and regulatory-state ideology or policy.Each of these explanatory factors are mutually interactive but competing and it will be explained how this is in the following paragraphs. The biomedicalization thesis is based upon the idea that advances in biomedical enquiry can explain why there is an expansion of drug treatment in our society today. Biomedicalism theorists believe that people who were previously undiagnosed or untreated for certain disorders are now able to receive necessary medication as a result of progression in medical science, but it is clean-living from his article that Abraham is not a biomedicalism theorist.Abraham provides surprisingly large amounts of evidence to back up his claim that the biomedicalization thesis is not a legitimate explanation for the growing in pharmaceuticalization. Abraham criticizes the fact that a deal of the scientific literature contains uncertainties and many studies lack replicability and therefore should be rendered unreliable. He also uses the example of Attention shortage Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) to farther emphasize his argument.He does this by making the point that the brain imaging done in these studies were supposed to be measuring the levels of dopamine in the brains of the subjects but these samples could not be taken from living people so were instead inferred from dopamine metabolites in the blood or urine. This poor fibre of science that the biomedicalization thesis is based upon raises many questions and increases the likelihood that this is not a valid cause for the increase in pharmaceuticalization (Abraham 2010).Abraham believes that medicalization is a more reasonable explanation for the rise in pharmaceuticalization. Pharmaceuticalization and medicalization often overlap but are nonetheless distinguishable. Medicalization can be defined as a process by which non-medical problems bring into being defined and treated as medical problems, usually in terms of illness or disorders (Abraham 2010604). The thought behind the increase in medicalization is that social difference has gradually become redefined in a way that makes medical disorders part of the norm.ADHD illustrates this idea because in the past 40 years, the criteria necessary to be diagnosed with this disorder has broadened drastically and some studies in the US found that almost 50% of children now meet this criteria. Another relevant disorder would be bipolar disease, which has increased 50-fold since 1980 when it was scratch lin e entered into the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Abraham 2010). In our society today it is much more common to be diagnosed with a medical disorder and erstwhile consumers are made aware of a disorders existence, its regularity will skyrocket.The main way in which consumers are informed about new-fangled drugs or diseases is from marketing and promotion done by the pharmaceutical manufacturers. Drug companies are advertising their products much more now and are over exaggerating the benefits in hopes to establish a larger consumer base. They are putting all of their resources and funds into this marketing and even spending more on this than resource and development In the US, industry expenditure on marketing has been about double that on R&D- US$54 billion and US$26 billion in 200, respectively (Abraham 2010609).Pharmaceutical companies are even getting medical professionals on board to advertise their products either at medical symposia or in a video re cording commercial by generously compensating them. This increased exposure to drugs makes consumers more informed about the availability of new drugs but not necessarily the risks that come on with them. In his article, Abraham mentions two forms of consumerism that have opposite effects of one another on pharmaceuticalization.The first type that he talks about is adversarial consumerism, which occurs when people are under the impression that they have been harmed by specific drugs and therefore pursue legal actions against pharmaceutical manufacturers. Adversarial consumerism is currently rising in 2000, US plaintiffs received 4. 85 billion US dollars to settle 27,000 lawsuits against Merck and 894 million US dollars against Pfizer to settle lawsuits about various types of arthritis drugs. These figures can be compared with the mere 10s of millions of dollars that Eli Lilly was charged with in the 1980s.This particular type of consumerism actually leads to a decrease in pharmaceu ticalization, which is sometimes referred to as de-pharmaceuticalization (Abraham 2010). The more powerful type of consumerism is called access-oriented collaborative and it is one of the reasons that there is an increase in pharmaceuticalization in our society today. This form of consumerism occurs when patients seek access to new drugs quicker than the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) can approve them. This puts a lot of pressure on the FDA and forces them to cut approval times for highly demanded drugs (Abraham 2010).

Australia the Movie: Synopsis, History and Comparisons

In Australia, an aboriginal medicine man/witch doctor, King George was teaching a young aborigine named Nullah how to do various tasks in the Outback. When all of the sudden a group w mop upe custody shoot King George with an arrow. Then, Nullah rides home on his horse to his home in far-off Downs. He hears people coming and is sc bed that someone will take him away from his family, so he goes into hiding. However, the voices he hears and people he sees are Drover and Sarah. The property of Faraway Downs is Sarahs and her husbands. When Sarah goes into her property she finds that her husband has been killed and he is lying dead across a table.Because of this Sarah decides she wants to sell her property to the Carney Empire. However, if Faraway Downs is sold, the company will have a monopoly over the cattle business. Sarah soon finds out(p) from Nullah that Carney is stealing her cattle and driving them across the river. Soon after she hears the intelligence activity she fires Fle tcher (the current driver for her cattle) and hires Drover to drive in their 1,500 cattle. They need 7 people in all to successfully drive them all in so, Sarah, Nullah, his come and grandmother, and an aborigine named Magarri offer their help.They could still use one more person but no others are willing or capable. Then one good morning the police appear at the house and are looking for Nullah and his mother who are hidden in the water tower. Sadly, his mother drowns in the tower because the tankful filled up when one of the men used the faucet to cool down. Now Nullah is motherless so Sarah decides to give it a shot and raise him herself. She does non do a wonderful job of this because she does not have any children of her own. Fletcher creates a stampede by lighting the brush on fire and has the oxen heading to state of wards a cliff.Some fall off the cliff but many cows were saved because Nullah resorted to song and magic to stop the cattle. Fletcher is attempting to hurt their cattle and destroy their plans on saving Faraway Downs by killing cattle, burning items and poisoning waterholes. At a ball Carney attempts to convince Sarah to sell Faraway Downs to him. However, she refuses and tells him that it is no longer for sale. A few days later Fletcher pushes Carney into water where an alligator attacked and killed him. Also, Nullah goes missing. But Drover believes he is safe and protected by King George.regrettably they are not safe and are caught by the police where Nullah is sent to the mission and King George is put in jail. There is a treat of war in the city of Darwin so the town is being evacuated. Sarah searches for Nullah and can hear his singing but cannot find him. He is being sent to another island to piss on a mission. While Sarah is working at an Army radio headquarters Japanese planes bomb the headquarters and the building catches on fire. Also, the jail is hit and King George escapes. Drover thinks Sarah has died and rescues Nullah and the other children from the explosion on the island.Sarah survives the explosion and is reunited with her love, Drover and Nullah. Afterwards, they return safely to their farm and all survive the explosions and save their cattle from Carney and Fletcher. Australia business relationship During the 1930s Germany was expanding its territory and in 1939 they threatened to invade Poland. Germany decided to disobey Britain and France when they told Germany that they would declare war if Poland was invaded. The Australian people do not approve of the German expansion and because they are a British nation they were pulled into the war along with Britain (www. nzacday. org).Australia declared war on Germany on September 3, 1939 and joined the war in Europe to aid its Allies in the United Kingdom (www. worldwariihistory. com). Australia was forced to make a tough decision to watch after homeland in case Japan attempted to expand its power, or send troops to aid England in the war. Becaus e Japan pledged its neutrality and the British naval carnal in Singapore would stop any Japanese invasions towards Australia, they decided to commit itself to the European War. Australian troops were not prepared to fight and risk their lives in war.This caused he Royal Australian Navy to be put under British control. They began to train and recruit men and they helped the Royal Air Force in the war against Germany (www. anzacday. org). During 1940 and 1941 troops in Australia helped capture Bardia and Tobruk in Libya because they saw action in North Africa and the Middle East. Once Japan bombed Pearl Harbor and the war was brought closer to Australian homeland, Australia declared war on Japan. The most direct threat that Australia faced was New Guinea.Thankfully, the Americans held off a naval attack on Australia at the Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942. By the end of WWII, Australia has lost about 30,000 men and women (www. worldwariihistory. com). Also, the Indigenous people o f Australia were driven out by the British and many were killed and driven out of their homes. The deaths of aborigines occurred because of the diseases spread by Europeans, the introduction of domestic animals destroyed many natural habitats and fighting in Tasmania. During the beforehand(predicate) 20th century laws were passed to segregate and protect aborigines.This caused restrictions on where they could live, and work. Families were also broken up (www. australianexplorer. com). Also, during WWII aborigines under the age of five were taken from their homes by white men and sent to live with white families. The British did this because the Australian government thought their race lacked a solid future. The children were never reunited with their families (http//history. howstuffworks. com). Unfortunately after WWII the British valued to Europeanize them. In this case all rights were taken away from the aborigines.During the 1960s, the aborigines were given citizenship status but in 1972 they were given limited rights to their own land (www. australianexplorer. com). Australia epitome During World War II in the 1930s and 1940s there are many similarities and differences in Australia the movie compared to the countrys real history. A similarity betwixt history and Hollywood is that they both go into great detail on how horribly the British treated the aborigines of Australia. A difference surrounded by the two was how little detail the movie Australia went into when it came down to the war itself and its allies.Throughout the movie the director, Baz Luhrmann does not focus on the key points of the outcome of WWII, the disaster and misadventure it put on Australia, and the effects on its people and cities. A similarity of the treatment of aborigines is that in the movie the aborigines were taken away from their families and homes. This was known as the Stolen coevals in Australia. During the movie they were sent away to work on missions on different i slands and were rarely seen again by their families.Although this did occur in reality the children were in the first place forcefully sent or tricked into living with a white family. The parents were sometimes unaware that their children were even still alive. The government would often tell them their child had died. Where in reality they are living with a white family so they have a chance at a better future. A difference between the movie Australia and reality is how little detail Baz Luhrmann displays on the actual war itself. Throughout the entire movie except for the end, the main idea is focused on cattle and the Stolen Generation.However during the end, WWII begins to take place and the movie displays the war aspect. It does not explain how the war began, the final result, or the results on Australian people. The war began in Germany because they tried to expand their territory into Poland. France and Britain declared war and because Australia was British territory they al so joined in the fight. The movie did include when Japan attacked close to Australia at Pearl Harbor, which caused them to go to war against each other. By the end WWII Australia lost about 30,000 men and women.

Aig Case Solution

pic LEADERSHIP AT AIG DOES STYLE MATTER? Case Overview This case carry ons with executive lead looks. In get outicular, this case accosts with American world-wide Group, the worlds indemnity troupe, and its head word operating officer Maurice Hank Greenberg. Greenberg, an autocratic attraction, was recently deposed by his jump on of directors after problems emerged regarding possible earning manipulation. It describes his leading expression, movements his both sons (former employees) left the comp both, and Martin Sullivan, Greenbergs successor. uniform his former boss, Sullivan littlemanages the organization, precisely is well liked by employees. Teaching Objectives ) To show students the impact of autocratic leadership style on employees. 2) To distinguish between micro and sparkicipative management in an organization. 3) To introduce the concept of leadership succession and its events on organizations. Purpose This case presents discordant leadership styles us ed by chief operating officers. It suggests that executives who uses a more than participative leadership style argon more in all likelihood to create an trenchant employee workplace. Relationship to Part 4 The dealingship of this case to part 4 leadership and its styles, possible motivation of employees through style, the encouragement of squad work and communication.This case can draw on diverse theories in all quaternary chapters of Part 4. Questions Question 1. AIG electric chair and CEO Maurice Hank Greenberg was considered an autocratic leader and a micromanager by many employees yet the caller-out grew dramatically during his reign as CEO. Does leadership style matter as long as the company carry throughs well and shareholders are quelled with their return on enthronization? Answer Leadership does matter. A company whitethorn perform well, and shareholders whitethorn be satisfied with their return on investment, moreover on an opposite level this style of leaders hip may do irreparable hard to employee effectiveness and morale.Eventually autocratic leadership depart satiate it toll on the organization and its ability to ope gait effectively. Question 2. AIGs new CEO Sullivan has been labeled a micromanager, but with a more pleasant individualality. Can he, as a micromanager, develop a more participative leadership style? How? Answer It may be real difficult for a manager/leader to change his management and leadership style. There is indeed a duration and place for autocratic leadership (e. g. , when time is limited), but we know that participative leadership often pay off ups better results.While it is often difficult for executives (managers) to let go and denominate more to underlings, AIGs new CEO Sullivan can learn to develop a more participative leadership style. He must begin to create more groups, motivate more employees to participate in corporate activities, and communicate more effective. In part, his micromanagement style may be a result of pursuit Greenbergs lead. As Sullivan be deigns more comfortable in his new role, he should be able to delegate more effectively, especially if he is to deal with more strategic corporate issues. Leadership is a very important aspect that is prominent in our professional life.If a team is led by an effective nice leader, the team is more likely to perform well as per the expectations of the project. On the other hand, if the leader is a person who just issues orders and commands the tasks to be d unrivaled, the team is de motivated and does feed to perform slight than they actually can. If you are a working professional, you might have got an idea ab bring out the types of leadership styles and techniques. The working and managing style of a leader plays a very important part in making the leadership role effective. There are various managers who adopt different leadership styles and methods for employee and appendage management.Each leadership style has it s avouch methods, behavior, effects, and aspects. Participative leadership is a very significant leadership style that is roughly beneficial to employees, managers alike. What is Participative Leadership Style? As the style suggests, this leadership style relates to a method of having things d star by involving team members in goals setting and closing making. Since in that location is an involvement of team members and employees in be a part of the management, this is by far the most useful management style in the business world.Though on that point is employee participation, the leader is handed over the certificate of indebtedness of taking the final examination finis. In this corporate leadership style, the manager works with the team and not over the team, which is why he can determine still the minutest errors of the processes that have to be executed. Advantages of Participative Leadership Style There are many apparent and proven advantages of the participative lea dership practice. A very important advantage is that employees and team members are motivated to work, because they realize that the management is ready to consider their suggestions and view stratums.And if there is such(prenominal) employee motivation, the team members happen to work more effectively than pass judgment. This eventually has a good effect on the companys revenue. Secondly, since the manager becomes like a team member and takes part in the decision-making process, it has a good impact on teamwork. Thirdly, as more than nonpareil minds are working on goal setting and decision making, there is an all-round analysis of the possibilities of misfortunes. Therefore, the manager can majorly rule out any errors and possibilities of failures in the project.You can say that there is a broader assessment of the situation which is to be worked upon. The result of participative leadership can also be effective decisions suggested by experts in the respective field. In this kin d of business leadership, the manager does not only involve team members, but can also take guidance from his peers. One of the most suitable participative leadership examples can be when a manager divides project work in his team members including himself, discusses the project requirements and expectations with the team leader and other members, and so they work on it collectively.Participative leadership surely increases employee satisfaction, reduces the workload of managers, and creates better teamwork with all this eventually contributing to good worLeadership is a very important aspect that is prominent in our professional life. If a team is led by an effective good leader, the team is more likely to perform well as per the expectations of the project. On the other hand, if the leader is a person who just issues orders and commands the tasks to be done, the team is demotivated and does tend to perform less than they actually can.If you are a working professional, you might h ave got an idea about the types of leadership styles and techniques. The working and managing style of a leader plays a very important part in making the leadership role effective. There are various managers who adopt different leadership styles and methods for employee and process management. Each leadership style has its own methods, behavior, effects, and aspects. Participative leadership is a very significant leadership style that is most beneficial to employees, managers alike. What is Participative Leadership Style?As the name suggests, this leadership style relates to a method of having things done by involving team members in goals setting and decision making. Since there is an involvement of team members and employees in being a part of the management, this is by far the most useful management style in the business world. Though there is employee participation, the leader is handed over the responsibility of taking the final decision. In this corporate leadership style, the manager works with the team and not over the team, which is why he can determine even the minutest errors of the processes that have to be executed.Advantages of Participative Leadership Style There are many apparent and proven advantages of the participative leadership practice. A very important advantage is that employees and team members are motivated to work, because they realize that the management is ready to consider their suggestions and viewpoints. And if there is such employee motivation, the team members happen to work more effectively than expected. This eventually has a good effect on the companys revenue. Secondly, since the manager becomes like a team member and takes part in the decision-making process, it has a good impact on teamwork.Thirdly, as more than one minds are working on goal setting and decision making, there is an all-round analysis of the possibilities of failures. Therefore, the manager can majorly rule out any errors and possibilities of failures in the project. You can say that there is a broader assessment of the situation which is to be worked upon. The result of participative leadership can also be effective decisions suggested by experts in the respective field. In this kind of business leadership, the manager does not only involve team members, but can also take guidance from his peers.One of the most suitable participative leadership examples can be when a manager divides project work in his team members including himself, discusses the project requirements and expectations with the team leader and other members, and then they work on it collectively. Participative leadership surely increases employee satisfaction, reduces the workload of managers, and creates better teamwork with all this eventually contributing to good wor Question 3. Greenberg named his son Evan as the heir apparent. Yet, Greenberg never set a departure date.Should a good leader set a date for departure once a successor is named? wherefore? Why not? Answer Most of the time succession in organizations creates a host of problems. On the one hand, incumbent CEOs are less than get outing to go bad up the power and prestige that accompany their position. On the other hand, the successor (heir apparent) may be eager to assume the expire position. If the successor has to wait in like manner long for the top leadership position, he may decide to seek out a top level position in another company, and the company may lose a unique fortune for a smooth leadership transition.CEOs should set a deadline for their departure so that all stakeholders are advised which can facilitate a change in leadership. LEADERSHIP AT AIG Does Style Matter Question 1 AIG chairperson and CEO Maurice Hank Greenberg was consider an autocraticleader and micromanager by many employee, yet the company grew dramaticallyduring his reign as CEO. Does leadership style matter as long as the companyperforms well and shareholders are satisfied with their return on i nvestment?Leader is a person who led concourse towards to the common goal. In the process of managing anorganization, I believe leadership style is the one of important factor in deciding the performanceof the company. Leaders style of leadership changes according to the situation of the company. Based on managerial storage-battery grid concept by Robert Blake and Jane Mouton, there are five style ofleadership that combine different degrees of concern for production and concern for nation andthis five styles of leadership is shown in figure 1 down the stairs.In the case study, CEO Maurice Hankwas more concern of production compare to the concern for people and of course, this kind ofleadership will produce good performance. That is why Maurice Hank able to bring thecompany from midlevel indemnification company becomes the international company and give thesatisfaction towards the shareholders. However, to sustain the company at the same level,Maurice Hank kinds of leadership wi ll causes the performance of the company to be declinedbecause lack of concern for people will affect the workers performance and this result would notsatisfy the shareholders.The workers in AIG will become less motivated due the pressure givenby the management practice by Maurice Hank. This style of leadership by Maurice Hank fallunder style of leadership produce or drop dead as shown in figure 1. As conclusion, the style ofleadership is the key player in determine the successful of a company. Question 2 AIGs new CEO Sullivan has been labeled a micromanager, but with a morepleasant personality. Can he as a micromanager, develop more participativeleadership style?How? Participative leadership style is defined asleaderwho involves his strung-outsin the process of making decision such as setting goal, solvingproblemand others, but retains the finaldecision makingauthority. By referring the case study, CEO Sullivan can develop more participative style leadership by segregating the wo rks to his subordinates in order to enabling his subordinate toplay their role in the organizations and in direct developing the trust between himself with his subordinate.This action will enable the workers especially his subordinate to create a tonicity ofself-belonging towards the company. Once the trust is there, he should implement groupdiscussion or brainstorming before making any decision but while conducting the groupdiscussion, he should be the person who get all the buy-in from the group members. In the groupdiscussion, he should use his authority in deciding the decision and this kind of ways in making decision helps his subordinate to accept and thus implement the action with full enthusiasm.Besides that, he should often communicate with his workers through out the three layer ofmanagement such as having chitchat with the workers during teatime in order to understand the needs of workers in the company and thus raise his level of concern towards people. As he developing his understanding towards his workers, he can easily delegate the works that suit the workers best and as the result, company performance increases and building the security towards the investor and the people in the company especially shareholders. Question 3Greenberg named his son Evan as the heir apparent. Yet Greenberg never set adeparture date. Should a good leader set a date for departure? When should hename a successor? Every thing that starts must have an end. Leaders also have his own starts and ends in hisera of leadership. For my point of view, a good leader should set a date for his departure. This isbecause a leader knows better his own limitation and capabilities. A leader should alsounderstand his abilities and weakness in managing the organization as the time passes by.Ibelieve that every leader would like to leave his position without tarnishing his reputation andintegrity. However, it is not wise action to take if he announced his name of successor longbefore his departure date for the position. This is because the successor ask a time for him toadapt with the changes in role and the leader himself required time to hand over and coaching hisnew successor to take over his positions but how long is the duration for the this process, it alldepends on the successor himself.Normally, a leader had already started to look for hissuccessor long before he announced his departure date. This is because to identify a good leaderdoes not happen in a star day. It will consume so much time and effort for leader to be bornand as been mention by Richard Arvey, a human resources and industrial relations professor inthe Carlson School of Management, While environmental influences determine many of ourleadership behaviors and the roles we obtain, our genes still exert a sizable influence overwhether we will become leaders. That is why, I do believe that leadership is both inherited andacquired. As conclusion, a good leader always think three steps ahead, that s why it is importantfor a good leader to prepare for his succession plan American International Group From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation, search AIG redirects here. For other uses, see AIG (disambiguation). American International Group, Inc. pic Type Public Traded as NYSEAIG S&P vitamin D Component Industry Insurance, fiscal services Founded Shanghai, chinaware (1919)1 Founder(s) Cornelius Vander Starr Headquarters American International Building, tonic York City, invigorated York, join States Area served Worldwide Key people Bob Benmosche (President & CEO) Robert Miller ( president)2 Products Insurance annuities, mutual funds Revenue picUS$ 77. 301 billion (2010)3 Operating income picUS$ 17. 936 billion (2010)3 Net income picUS$ 7. 786 billion (2010)3 Total assets picUS$ 683. 443 billion (2010)3 Total fairness picUS$ 113. 239 billion (2010)3 Employees 96,000 (2010)3 Website AIG. com American International Group, Inc. NYSEAIG) or AIG is an American multinational insurance corporation. Its corporate headquarters is located in the American International Building in hot York City. The British headquarters bunk is on Fenchurch Street in London, continental Europe operations are based in La Defense, Paris, and its Asian headquarters office is in Hong Kong. jibe to the 2011 Forbes Global 2000 list, AIG was the 29th-largest public company in the world. 45 It was listed on the Dow Jones Industrial Average from April 8, 2004 to kinsfolk 22, 2008. AIG suffered from a liquidity crisis when its honorable mention ratings were downgraded below AA levels in family 2008.The United States federal tolerate jargon on September 16, 2008 created an $85billion credit facility to enable the company to meet increased corroborative obligations accompanying to the credit rating downgrade, in exchange for the issuance of a stock warrant to the national Reserve Bank for 79. 9% of the equity of AIG. The Federal Reserve Bank and the United States Treasury by May 2009 had increased the potential financial support to AIG, with the support of an investment of as much as $70billion, a $60billion credit line and $52. 5billion to buy mortgage-based assets owned or guaranteed by AIG, increasing the total heart and soul operational to as much as $182. 5billion. 67 AIG subsequently sold a number of its subsidiaries and other assets to pay down imparts reliable, and continues to seek buyers of its assets. Contents hide 1 write up 2 Business 2. 1 Holdings 2. 2 Auto insurance 2. 3 travelling Insurance 3 Financial crisis 3. 1 Chronology of September 2008 liquidity crisis 3. 2 Federal Reserve bailout 3. Additional bailouts of 2008 3. 4 Counter troupe public debate 3. 5 Post-bailout expenditures 3. 6 Settlement of credit default swaps 3. 7 Sales of assets 3. 8 Record losings 3. 2009 employee bonus payments 3. 10 Manchester United Sponsorship 3. 11 Share buyback 4 Litigation 4. 1 Accounting fraud claims 5 Corporate governance 5. display panel of directors 6 See also 7 Notes 8 References and further reading 9 External links edit History pic pic The American International Building in Lower Manhattan. AIG history dates back to 1919, when Cornelius Vander Starr established an insurance agency in Shanghai, China.Starr was the first Westerner in Shanghai to sell insurance to the Chinese, which he go on to do until AIG left China in early 1949as Mao Zedong led the advance of the Communist Peoples Liberation Army on Shanghai. 89 Starr then travel the company headquarters to its current home in New York City. 10 The company went on to expand, often through subsidiaries, into other markets, including other parts of Asia, Latin America, Europe, and the kernel East. 11 In 1962, Starr gave management of the companys lagging U. S. holdings to Maurice R. Hank Greenberg, who shifted its focus from personal insurance to high-margin corporate coverage. Greenberg focused on selling insurance through independent brokers rather than agents to remove agent salaries.Using brokers, AIG could price insurance according to its potential return even if it suffered decreased sales of certain products for great lengths of time with very little redundant expense. In 1968, Starr named Greenberg his successor. The company went public in 1969. 12 Beginning in 2005, AIG became embroiled in a series of fraud investigations conducted by the Securities and re-sentencing Commission, U. S. Justice Department, and New York State attorney Generals Office. Greenberg was ousted amid an accounting scandal in February 2005 he is still fighting civil charges being pursued by New York state. 131415 The New York Attorney Generals investigation led to a $1. billion fine for AIG and criminal charges for some of its executives. 16 Greenberg was succeeded as CEO by Martin J. Sullivan, who had begun his career at AIG as a shop clerk in its London office in 1970. 17 On Jun e 15, 2008, after disclosure of financial wantes and subsequent to a falling stock price, Sullivan resigned and was flipd by Robert B. Willumstad, Chairman of the AIG Board of Directors since 2006. Willumstad was forced by the US disposal to step down and was replaced by Edward M. Liddy on September 17, 2008. 18 AIGs board of directors named Robert Benmosche CEO on August 3, 2009 to replace Mr. Liddy, who earlier in the year announced his retirement. 19 edit Business edit HoldingsFurther information Holdings of American International Group In the United States, AIG is the largest underwriter of commercial and industrial insurance, and AIG acquired American General Life Insurance in August 2001. 20 edit Auto insurance AIG sold auto insurance policies through its subsidiary unit, AIG Direct (aka aigdirect. com). The policies they offered included insurance for private automobiles, motorcycles, recreational vehicles and commercial vehicles. AIG corruptd the remaining 39% that it di d not own of online auto insurance specialist 21st degree Celsius Insurance in 2007 for $749million. 21 With the failure of the parent company and the continuing recession in late 2008, AIG rebranded its insurance unit to 21st Century Insurance. 2223 In April 2009 it was announced that AIG was selling the 21st Century Insurance subsidiary to Farmers Insurance Group for $1. 9billion. 24 edit Travel Insurance Main article AIG Travel Guard AIG sells travelers insurance internationally through Travel Guard, headquartered in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. edit Financial crisis Further information Subprime mortgage crisis,Financial crisis of 20072010,andLiquidity crisis of September 2008 edit Chronology of September 2008 liquidity crisis On September 16, 2008, AIG suffered a liquidity crisis following the downgrade of its credit rating. Industry practice permits firms with the highest credit ratings to enter swaps without depositing collateral with their trading counter-parties.When its credi t rating was downgraded, the company was required to post spare collateral with its trading counter-parties, and this led to an AIG liquidity crisis. AIGs London unit sold credit protection in the form of credit default swaps (CDSs) on collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) that had by that time declined in value. 25 The United States Federal Reserve Bank announced the creation of a secured credit facility of up to US$85billion, to prevent the companys crash by enabling AIG to meet its obligations to deliver surplus collateral to its credit default swap trading partners. The credit facility provided a structure to loan as much as US$85billion, secured by the stock n AIG-owned subsidiaries, in exchange for warrants for a 79. 9% equity stake, and the right to freeze out dividends to previously issued common and preferred stock. 172627 AIG announced the same day that its board accepted the terms of the Federal Reserve Banks rescue package and secured credit facility. 28 This was th e largest government bailout of a private company in U. S. history, though smaller than the bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac a week earlier. 2930 AIGs share prices had fallen over 95% to just $1. 25 by September 16, 2008, from a 52-week high of $70. 13. citation needed The company account over $13. 2billion in privationes in the first six months of the year. 3132 The AIG Financial Products division headed by Joseph Cassano, in London, had entered into credit default swaps to insure $441billion worth of securities originally rated AAA. Of those securities, $57. 8billion were structured debt securities backed by subprime loans. 33 CNN named Cassano as one of the Ten Most Wanted Culprits of the 2008 financial collapse in the United States. 34 As Lehman Brothers (the largest bankruptcy in U. S. history at that time) suffered a catastrophic decline in share price, investors began comparing the types of securities held by AIG and Lehman, and found that AIG had valued its Alt-A and sub-prime mortgage-backed securities at 1. 7 to 2 times the values used by Lehman which belittled investors confidence in AIG. 31 On September 14, 2008, AIG announced it was considering selling its aircraft leasing division, International Lease Finance Corporation, to raise cash. 31 The Federal Reserve hired Morgan Stanley to determine if there are systemic adventures to a financial failure of AIG, and asked private entities to supply short-term bridge loans to the company. In the meantime, New York regulators allowed AIG to borrow $20billion from its subsidiaries. 3536 At the stock markets opening on September 16, 2008, AIGs stock dropped 60 percent. 37 The Federal Reserve continued to meet that day with major hem in Street investment firms, hoping to broker a deal for a non-governmental $75billion line of credit to the company. 38 Rating agencies Moodys and Standard and Poor downgraded AIGs credit ratings on concerns over likely continuing losses on mortgage-backed securities. The credit rating downgrade forced the company to deliver collateral of over $10billion to certain creditors and CDS counter-parties. 39 The New York Times later report that talks on Wall Street had broken down and AIG may file for bankruptcy protection on Wednesday, September 17. 40 Just before the bailout by the US Federal Reserve, AIG former CEO Maurice (Hank) Greenberg sent an impassioned letter to AIG CEO Robert B. Willumstad offering his assistance in any way possible, ccing the Board of Directors. His offer was rebuffed. 41 edit Federal Reserve bailoutOn the evening of September 16, 2008, the Federal Reserve Banks Board of Governors announced that the Federal Reserve Bank of New York had been authorized to create a 24-month credit-liquidity facility from which AIG could draw up to $85billion. The loan was collateralized by the assets of AIG, including its non-regulated subsidiaries and the stock of substantially all of its regulated subsidiaries, and with an interest rate of 850 basis points over the three-month London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) (i. e. , LIBOR plus 8. 5%). In exchange for the credit facility, the U. S. government received warrants for a 79. 9 percent equity stake in AIG, with the right to suspend the payment of dividends to AIG common and preferred shareholders. 1727 The credit facility was created under the auspices of Section 13(3) of the Federal Reserve Act. 274243 AIGs board of directors announced approval of the loan transaction in a press release the same day. The announcement did not comment on the issuance of a warrant for 79. 9% of AIGs equity, but the AIG 8-K filing of September 18, 2008, reporting the transaction to the Securities and Exchange Commission express that a warrant for 79. 9% of AIG shares had been issued to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve. 172844 AIG drew down US$ 28billion of the credit-liquidity facility on September 17, 2008. 45 On September 22, 2008, AIG was removed from the Dow Jones Indu strial Average. 46 An supererogatory $37. 8billion credit facility was established in October.As of October 24, AIG had drawn a total of $90. 3billion from the emergency loan, of a total $122. 8billion. 47 Maurice Greenberg, former CEO of AIG, on September 17, 2008, characterized the bailout as a nationalization of AIG. He also stated that he was bewildered by the situation and was at a loss over how the entire situation got out of control as it did. 48 On September 17, 2008, Federal Reserve Board chair Ben Bernanke asked Treasury Secretary hydrogen Paulson join him, to call on members of Congress, to describe the need for a congressionally authorized bailout of the nations banking system. Weeks later, Congress approved the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.Bernanke said to Paulson on September 17, We cant keep doing this. Both because we at the Fed dont have the necessary resources and for reasons of democratic legitimacy, its important that the Congress come in and ta ke control of the situation. 49 edit Additional bailouts of 2008 From mid September till early November, AIGs credit-default spreads were steadily rising, implying the company was heading for default. 5051 On November 10, 2008, the U. S. Treasury announced it would purchase $40billion in newly issued AIG senior preferred stock, under the authority of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Acts Troubled Asset Relief Program. 525354 The FRBNY announced that it would modify the September 16 secured credit facility the Treasury investment would permit a reduction in its size from $85billion to $60billion, and that the FRBNY would extend the life of the facility from three to five years, and change the interest rate from 8. 5% plus the three-month London interbank offered rate (LIBOR) for the total credit facility, to 3% plus LIBOR for funds drawn down, and 0. 75% plus LIBOR for funds not drawn, and that AIG would create deuce off- balance-sheet Limited Liability Companies (LLC) to hold AI G assets one to act as an AIG Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Facility and the second to act as an AIG Collateralized Debt Obligations Facility. 5254Federal officials said the $40billion investment would ultimately permit the government to reduce the total photograph to AIG to $112billion from $152billion. 52 On December 15, 2008, the Thomas More Law Center filed suit to challenge the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, alleging that it unconstitutionally promotes Moslem law (Sharia) and religion. The lawsuit was filed because AIG provides Takaful Insurance Plans, which, according to the company, avoid investments and transactions that areun-Islamic. 5556 As of January 2012, TARP had about $50 billion invested in AIG according to one report. Break even for the government was figured at $28. 73 a share v. then-current share price of about $25. 57 edit Counter party controversy AIG was required to post additional collateral with many creditors and ounter-parties, to uching off controversy when over $100billion was paid out to major international financial institutions that had previously received TARP money. While this money was legally owed to the banks by AIG (under agreements made via credit default swaps purchased from AIG by the institutions), a number of Congressmen and media members explicit pervert that taxpayer money was leaving to these banks through AIG. 58 In January, 2010, a document known as Schedule A List of Derivative Transactions was released to the public, against the wishes of the New York Fed. It listed many of the insurance deals that AIG had with various other parties, such as Goldman Sachs, Societe Generale, Deutsche Bank, and Merrill Lynch. 5960 Had AIG been allowed to fail in a controlled manner through bankruptcy, bondholders and derivative counterparties (major banks) would have suffered significant losses, limiting the amount of taxpayer funds directly used. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke argued If a federal agency had appropriate authority on September 16, 2008, they could have been used to put AIG into conservatorship or receivership, unwind it slowly, protect policyholders, and impose haircuts on creditors and counterparties as appropriate. That outcome would have been far preferable to the situation we find ourselves in now. 61 edit Post-bailout expenditures The week following the September bailout, AIG employees and distributors participated in a California sequester which cost $444,000 and featured spa treatments, banquets, and golf outings. 6263 It was reported that the trip was a reward for top-performing life-insurance agents planned before the bailout. 64 Less than 24 hours after the news of the party was first reported by the media, it was reported that the Federal Reserve had agreed to give AIG an additional loan of up to $37. 8billion. 65 AP reported on October 17 that AIG executives spent $86,000 on a previously scheduled English hunt club trip. News of the exuberant spending came just days after AIG received an additional $37. 8billion loan from the Federal Reserve, on top of a previous $85billion emergency loan granted the month before. Regarding the hunting trip, the company responded, We regret that this event was not canceled. 66 An October 30, 2008 article from CNBC reported that AIG had already drawn upon $90billion of the $123billion allocated for loans. 67 On November 10, 2008, just a hardly a(prenominal) days before renegotiating another bailout with the US Government for $40billion, ABC News reported that AIG spent $343,000 on a trip to a lavish resort in Phoenix, Arizona. 68 edit Settlement of credit default swaps On October 22, 2008, those creditors of Lehman Brothers who bought credit default swaps to hedge them against Lehman bankruptcy settled those accounts. The net payments were $5. 2billion69 even though initial estimates of the amount of the settlement were between $100billion and $400billion. 70 By December 2008, AIG had paid at lea st $18. 7billion to various financial institutions, including Goldman Sachs and Societe Generale to retire obligations related to credit default swaps (CDS). As much as $53. 5billion related to swap payouts are part of the bailout. 71 On March 15, 2009, under mounting pressure from Congress and after consultation with the Federal Reserve, AIG disclosed a list of major recipients of collateral postings and payments under credit default swaps, guaranteed investment agreements, and securities lending agreements. 72 Below is data from one of the charts AIG released, representing only a portion of the total payouts, over a period of a few months. AIG collateral postings to credit default swap counterparties, from the period September 16, 2008 to December 31, 200873 Counterparty US $ posted Counterparty US $ posted Societe Generale $4,100,000,000 Deutsche Bank $2,600,000,000 Goldman Sachs $2,500,000,000 Merrill Lynch $1,800,000,000 Calyon $1,100,000,000 Barclays $900,000,000 UBS $8 00,000,000 DZ Bank $700,000,000 Wachovia $700,000,000 Rabobank $500,000,000 KFW $500,000,000 JPMorgan $400,000,000 Banco Santander $300,000,000 Danske Bank $200,000,000 Reconstruction Finance $200,000,000 HSBC Bank $200,000,000 Corporation74 Morgan Stanley $200,000,000 Bank of America $200,000,000 Bank of Montreal $200,000,000 Royal Bank of Scotland $200,000,000 Other (unknown) $4,100,000,000 edit Sales of assets AIG since September 2008 has marketed its assets to pay off its government loans. A global decline in the valuation of insurance businesses, and the weakening financial condition of potential bidders, has challenged its efforts. If the U. S. government decides to continue to protect the company from falling into bankruptcy, it may have to take the assets itself in exchange for the loans, or offer further direct financial support. 75 As of September 6, 2009, The Wall Street Journal reported that Pacific Century Group had agreed to pay $500million for a part of A merican International Groups asset management business, and that they also expected to pay an additional $200million to AIG in carried interest and other payments linked to future performance of the business. 76 Also in 2009, AIG sold its operations in Colombia to Ecuadors Banco del Pichincha. On March 1, 2010, insurance company Prudential confirmed that it was in advanced negotiations to buy the Asian operations of AIG. 77 Prudential was to buy the pan-Asian life insurance company, American International Assurance (AIA), for approximately $35. 5billion. 78 On June 1, 2010 the deal failed because AIG would not accept the $30. 5billion after Prudential lowered the amount by $5billion from the originally planned $35. 5billion after Prudential shareholder discontent. 79 AIG agreed on March 8, 2010, to sell its American Life Insurance Co. unit (ALICO) to MetLife Inc. for $15. 5billion in cash and stock by November 1, 2010. Alico has annuities, life and health insurance operations in Jap an, affectionateness East (including Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan), Western and Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. AIG said it will sell Alico for $6. 8billion in cash and the remainder in MetLife equity.The deal leaves AIG as the second-largest shareholder of MetLife, with a stake of more than 20% in the company. On March 29, 2010, Bloomberg L. P. reported that after almost three months of delays, AIG had completed the $500million sale of a portion of its asset management business, branded PineBridge Investments, to the Asia-based Pacific Century Group. 80 On September 30, 2010, AIG announced an agreement to sell two of its life insurance companies in Japan, AIG Star and AIG Edison, to Prudential Financial for $4. 2billion in cash and $600million in the assumption of third party debt to help repay some of the money owed to the U. S. government. 81 On November 1, 2010, AIG announced it had raised $36. 71billion from the sale of ALICO and an initial public offering f or AIA. The company will use the proceeds Federal Reserve Bank of New York credit facility and make payments on other interests owned by the government. 82 On September 2, 2011, AIG filed with the SEC to spin off their aircraft leasing firm, International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC), in an initial public offering. 83 edit Record losses On March 2, 2009, AIG reported a fourth quarter loss of $61. 7bn (? 43bn) and revenue of ? $23. 7bn ( 16. 2bn) for the final three months of 2008. This was the largest quarterly loss in corporate history at that time. 84 The announcement of the loss had an impact on morning trading in Europe and Asia, with the FTSE100, DAX and Nikkei all suffering sharp falls. In the US the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell to below 7000 points, a twelve-year low. 8586 The news of the loss came the day after the U. S. Treasury Department had confirmed that AIG was to get an additional $30billion in aid, on top of the $150billion it has already received. 87 The Tr easury Department suggested that the potential losses to the US and global economy would be extremely high if it were to collapse88 and has suggested that if in future there is no improvement, it will invest more money into the company, as it is unwilling to allow it to fail. 89 The firms position as not just a domestic insurer, but also one for small businesses and many listed firms, has prompted US officials to suggest its demise could be disastrous and the Federal Reserve said that AIG posed a systemic risk to the global economy. 84 The fourth quarter result meant the company made a $99. 29billion loss for the whole of 2008,88 with five consecutive quarters of losses cost the company well over $100billion. 89 In a testimony before the Senate Budget Committee on March 3, 2009, the Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke stated that AIG exploited a huge gap in the regulatory system, and to nobodys surprise, made irresponsible bets and took huge losses. 90 edit 2009 employee bonus pa ymentsMain article AIG bonus payments controversy In March 2009, AIG announced that they were paying $165million in executive bonuses. Total bonuses for the financial unit could reach $450million and bonuses for the entire company could reach $1. 2billion. 91 President Barack Obama, who voted for the AIG bailout as a Senator92 responded to the planned payments by saying Its hard to understand how derivative traders at AIG warranted any bonuses, much less $165million in extra pay. How do they justify this outrage to the taxpayers who are keeping the company afloat? and In the last six months, AIG has received substantial sums from the U. S. Treasury.Ive asked Secretary Geithner to use that leverage and pursue every legal avenue to block these bonuses and make the American taxpayers whole. 93 pic pic Protester outside 60 Wall Street Deutsche Banks US main office in the wake of the bonus controversy is interviewed by news media. Politicians on both sides of the Congressional aisle rea cted with outrage to the planned bonuses. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said I would suggest the first thing that would make me feel a little bit better toward them if theyd follow the Nipponese example and come before the American people and take that deep bow and say, Im sorry, and then either do one of two things resign or go commit suicide. 94 Senator Chuck Schumer (D-New York) accused AIG of Alice in Wonderland business practices and said It boggles the mind. He has threatened to tax the bonuses at up to 100%. 95 Senator Richard Shelby (R-Alabama) said These people brought this on themselves. Now youre rewarding failure. A lot of these people should be fired, not awarded bonuses. This is horrible. Its outrageous. 96 Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) echoed his comments, saying This is an outrage. 97 Senator Jon Tester (D-Montana) said This is ridiculous. and AIG executives need to understand that the only reason they even have a job is because of the taxpayers. 98 Senat or Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) said Ive had it. and The fact that they continue to do it while we pour in billions of dollars is indefensible. 99 Representative Barney Frank (D-Massachusetts), Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said paying these bonuses would be rewarding incompetence98 and These people may have a right to their bonuses. They dont have a right to their jobs forever. 96 Representative Mark Kirk (R-Illinois) said AIG should not be on welfare from Uncle Sam, and yet paying bonuses and transferring a considerable amount of taxpayer funds to entities overseas. 99 Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said It makes me angry. I slammed the phone more than a few times on discussing AIG. 96 Lawrence Summers, Director of the National Economic Council, said The palmy thing would be to just say, you know, Off with their heads, and violate the contracts, but you have to think about the consequences of breaking contracts for the overall system of law. 100 Austan Go olsbee, of the Council of Economic Advisers said I dont know why they would follow a policy thats really not sensible, is obviously going to ignite the ire of millions of people. and You worry about that backlash. 101 Political commentators and journalists expressed an equally bipartisan outrage. 94102103104104105106107108109110 On March 24, 2009, The New York Times printed the resignation letter of Jake DeSantis, executive vice president of AIGs financial products unit, to Edward M. Liddy, the chief executive of AIG.DeSantis stated he had nothing to do with the credit default swaps, he lost much of his life savings in the form of deferred compensation invested in the gravid of AIG Financial Products he had agreed to work for an annual salary of $1 out of a sense of duty, that he was assured many times the bonuses would be paid in March 2009, and that he believed he and others were let down by Liddys lack of support. He also stated he was going to gift his bonus to those sufferin g from the global economic downturn. 111 It was reported that Senator Christopher Dodd (D-Con) (who first denied, then admitted to amending the legislation to allow the AIG bonuses), received $160,000 from employees of AIG. 112113114115 A memo issued in 2006 by Joseph Cassano, AIGFinancial Products chief executive, urged AIG employees to donate to Dodd, saying that as next in line to become chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee Senator Dodd will now have the opportunity to set the committees agenda on issues critical to the financial services industry. 116 edit Manchester United Sponsorship AIG was the principal sponsor of English football club Manchester United from 20062010, and as part of the sponsorship deal, its logo was prominently displayed on the front of the clubs jerseys and other merchandise. The AIG deal was announced by Manchester United chief executive David Gill on April 6, 2006, for a British shirt sponsorship record ? 56. 5million, to be paid over four years (? 14. 1million a year).The deal became the most valuable sponsorship deal in the world in September 2006, after the renegotiation and subsequent degrading of the ? 15million-a-year deal Italian team Juventus had with oil firm Tamoil. During AIGs sponsorship, Manchester United enjoyed one of its most successful periods in history, winning the Premier League three consecutive years, two Football League Cups, and the UEFA Champions League. citation needed On January 21, 2009, it was announced that AIG would not be renewing its sponsorship of the club at the end of the deal in May 2010. It is not clear, however, whether or not AIGs agreement to run MU Finance will continue.American risk consulting firm Aon Corporation was named the clubs new principal sponsor on June 3, 2009, with its sponsorship of the club taking effect from the beginning of the 201011 season. The terms of the deal were not revealed, but it has been reported to be worth approximately ? 80milli on over four years. citation needed edit Share buyback Due to the Q3 2011 net loss widened, so on November 3, 2011 the AIG shares has plunged 49 percent year to date. The insurers board has approved the share buyback of as much as $1 billion. 117 edit Litigation pic This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources.Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2008) In November 2004, AIG reached a US$126million settlement with the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department partly resolving a number of regulatory matters, but the company must still cooperate with investigators continuing to prove the sale of a non-traditional insurance product. 118 On June 11, 2008, three stockholders, collectively owning 4% of the outstanding stock of AIG, delivered a letter to the Board of Directors of AIG seeking to oust CEO Martin Sullivan and make certain other management and Board of Directors changes.This letter was the latest volley in what the Wall Street Journal deemed a public flap between the Companys Board and management, on the one hand, and its key stockholders, and former CEO Maurice Hank Greenberg on the other hand. 119 Death Bet Circa 2010 the WSJ reported that a family sued AIG for alleged complicity in a stranger-originated life insurance scheme, whereby AIG managers allegedly welcomed people without an insurable interest to take out life insurance policies against others. The case involved JB Carlson and Germaine Tomlinson, and was one of many kindred lawsuits in the US at the time. 120 edit Accounting fraud claimsOn October 14, 2004 the New York State Office of Attorney General Eliot Spitzer announced that it had commenced a civil action against marsh & McLennan Companies for steering clients to preferred insurers with whom the company maintained lucrative payoff agreements, and for soliciting rigged bids for insurance contracts f rom the insurers. The Attorney General announced in a release that two AIG executives pleaded guilty to criminal charges in connection with this illegal course of conduct. In early May 2005, AIG restated its financial position and issued a reduction in admit value of USD $2. 7billion, a 3. 3 percent reduction in net worth. On February 9, 2006, AIG and the New York State Attorney Generals office agreed to a settlement in which AIG would pay a fine of $1. 6billion. 121 edit Corporate governance edit Board of directors