STRATEGIC ACCOUNTING & FINANCE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

STRATEGIC ACCOUNTING & FINANCE - Essay Example In the late 1980s and early 1990s there were a series of scandalous collapse of several prominent UK companies. The reasons being weak control and governance over the working of the management board and the main reason was the power and authority vested in the hands of a single person. In December 1992, the Cadbury Committee published the Code of Best Practice(hereafter, the Code) which recommended that Boards of publicly-traded UK corporations include at least three outside directors and that the positions of the Chairman and Chief executive Officer not to be held by a single individual. The purpose of this kind of separation is to enhance corporate performance and to avoid misuse of power and authority. In this essay the author discusses the effects of the Cadbury Committee on Corporate Governance and whether the split in the roles of CEO and Chairman according the Committee recommendations has increased or decreased the efficiency of companies. 1. It is mentioned in various research reports that the Code has definitely increased the general awareness of good corporate governance and it has caused several changes in the governance of companies. Mainly, the presence of independent directors on the Board has definitely increased the performance of a company. 3. ... 3. Another effect is that it has induced the turnover of top level managers in companies after the recommendations were implemented. In a study by Jay Dahya and John J. McConnell, it is evident that the implementation of the recommendations of the committee has increased the turnover of top level executives in companies in UK. This turnover of top-level executives can be voluntary and forced. But the turnover of the executives and the performance of the company shows a direct correlation. This study is very significant to show how the composition of the Board of Directors can cause a change in the performance of a company. 4. Mostly the Code mentions only recommendations voluntary measures. It is upto the necessity and discretion of the companies to implement the recommendations. But the London Stock Exchange has made it mandatory for all the Companies to comply with the Code. This step by the London stock exchange is an evidence about the credibility of the recommendations in itself. These recommendations when implemented by all the listed companies will definitely have a change in corporate governance across UK. 5. Generally, the quality of corporate governance can be measured by the flow of information inside the company. When outsiders are more in the Board of management and the CEO and the Chairmen posts are held by two different people, then there are more chances that information will be available to the shareholders. This availability of information is a cyclic process in improving the efficiency of an organization. If information is available freely the shareholders will have better idea about what is happening inside the Board. This information can play

Natural Disasters Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Natural Disasters - Research Paper Example Although to date, it is still not very clear that Pakistan’s relief efforts were a success or not because of the excessive obstacles created against government, policy makers and humanitarian organization by the lack of communication and transport, but rehabilitation and rescue services started as soon as the underground eruption hit the area Name of the student: Name of the teacher: Course number: Submission date: Even after six years, Pakistan is still enduring impacts of the massive earthquake occurred on the morning of October 8, 2005. Pakistan is a sovereign Islamic state in South Asia. Its northern areas consists of lush green valleys, mountains, ice cold lakes, fruit laden orchards and flower laden slopes. With its rich historical past, these areas serve as heaven of relaxation for tourists as depicted in figure 1 and 2. Figure 1 Valley of Kashmir FIGURE 2: Valley of Swat On the morning of October 8, 2005 at 8:50 A.M local time, these areas were hit by a massive earthqu ake. The magnitude of the earthquake was Mw =7.6 which was the strongest earthquake in the last 100 years in the area. It hit the Himalayan Region of the Northern Pakistan and Kashmir. ... Figure 3 illustrates the situation of the city before and after the event. Figure 3: City of Balakot: Before and After Destruction The initial death toll, according to media reports, was 30,000 people killed only in Kashmir with42, 397 people injured and 200 army soldiers killed on duty. Completely destroyed areas included the city of Muzaffarabad and Balakot, which turned into a plain piece of land after the quake. (Pakimp3,2005). The government’s official death toll is 75,000 whereas, USGS states 86,000 people’s death with 69,000 injured including extensive damage in northern Pakistan. Various other Northern areas of the state were also badly affected such as Gilgit, Baltistan, Swat and Khyber province of Pakistan. Major cities such as Rawalpindi, Islamabad were also affected. A 10- story residential building in Islamabad, named Margalla Towers collapsed completely, killing almost all of the occupants. The death toll grew significantly after the actual event due to ha rsh weather and difficulties in the support services. Severity of the destruction of earthquake is not completely attributed to the severe up thrust in the land plates but poor construction also played a major role in spreading the destruction. As figure 4 and figure 5 show an example of poor construction in the capital city of the country. FIGURE 5: Margalla Towers collapsed due to construction defects The severe shaking was not the limit of this massive natural disaster but aftershocks, landslides and rock falls also rocked the devastated areas a number of times for several weeks. Land sliding was the main feature of this event and earthquake triggered a band of landslidings along the fault rupture trace. These