Machiavellian and Kantian Analysis of Buddy Fletcher and SEC

Machiavellian Analysis Buddy Fletcher was able to use his financial success and philanthropy to win respect and power. His high esteem combined with his ability to deliver strong profits lead to blind deference. As Machiavelli wrote, â€Å"he who is highly esteemed is not easily conspired against†11 (Ch. 19). In the beginning of his career, Fletcher embodies the spirit of a Machiavellian leader by commanding influence through his success. However, in the spirit of Kant, he seems to adhere to strong moral principles, such as not lying and using others as merely means to his end. However, as details of his success were revealed, his moral character becomes increasingly questionable. Firstly, he did not disclose the methods by which he was†¦show more content†¦This large-scale deception is a clear violation of the principle of universality. If every financier acted like Fletcher, financial systems throughout the world would be destroyed. Trust is a key component and without trust, these systems would lose all their credibility. Fletcher made an exception of himself, violating the maxim of not lying, and took advantage of a trusted system and naive individuals. Fletcher shows his lack of integrity, a quality Kant believed central to his moral theory12 (pg. 155). This lack of integrity only further demonstrates Fletcher’s immorality. Buddy Fletcher’s actions were motivated by selfish desires that he attempted to justify through outlandish philanthropy. Lacking pure motivations, Fletcher used others to suit his own end. Exercising extreme moral hazard, Fletcher lied his way into millions of dollars12. When his fund turned out to be insolvent, it is the individuals’ pension funds that suffer, not Fletcher himself. This is a clear violation of the humanity principle. The humanity principle states that one must never use others as merely a means to their own end. He took pension funds from unwitting individuals and used them for personal needs, such as funding of his brother’s failed movie10. Not only did he lie to investors about the success of the fund, but he used their investments for personal use. He completely violates the humanity principle, using

The Story Of Walter Wimpwung Who Had A Hard Day - 900 Words

In the story of Walter Wimpwung who had a hard day, he experience different types of behaviors throughout his day. First, he had to listen and follow to an order from his boss. Next, he didn’t speak up during a meeting about the product which he didn’t agree with but just went with the crowd. Lastly, he got tricked into buying a bunch of useless stuff. These types of behavior are very common in our day to day lifestyle because it’s something we have got used to. Behaviors like obedience, conformity, compliance, and a variety of different types of social power are examples of what happened to Walter. During the first incident Walter went through, he had to listen to his boss’s orders to ignore the reports that the product wasn’t safe to the public and just move along from it. Even though he didn’t want to follow that certain order, Walter had to obey and show obedience. Obedience is compliance with an order, request, or law or submission to an other’s authority. Even though it was a bad reason to obey, his boss also had social power called legitimate authority. This means that his boss was in a position of power and had the right to tell his staff to follow a certain order. He could have done that to prevent any problems for the company or just wanted to sell the product and make money regardless of who gets hurt. During his meeting with the other staff, Walter knew it was wrong to sell the product as well as the other members of the group. Without anyone to deviate or go

Satire of Modest Proposal Free Essays

Satire at its Finest A masterful satire, this is what Jonathon Swift’s â€Å"A Modest Proposal† is. The writing is used to construct a misunderstood proposal that comments on the social hardship of Ireland while blaming the government’s incompetence as well as the morals of the country. His proposal makes it visible to others that there is a need for social reform. We will write a custom essay sample on Satire of Modest Proposal or any similar topic only for you Order Now From the beginning, it is not clear to the readers of what Swift’s true proposal actually is, but as it is being broken apart, one can see that the entire writing is full of sarcasm. The proposal itself speaks to the people who ignore the issues but who are also the ones that can fix them. As a proposed solution, that author states in the intro that â€Å"for preventing the children of poor people in Ireland from being a burden to their parents or country, for making them beneficial to the public† (Swift 239). Swift is bringing upon an attempt to find a cheap and easy method for bringing children of the poor into the commonwealth as well as turning the problem that is amuck, into its own solution. He uses analogies for the way people, a nation, can be devoured and how the nation is consuming itself and its own resources. â€Å"I grant this food will be somewhat dear, and therefore very proper for landlords who, as they have already devoured most of their parents, seem to have the best title to the children†(Swift 240). Swift has effective and ineffective ways of using different literary techniques that will intrigue one or leave them completely baffled with his proposal. At first glance of this writing, a reader can be nothing but appalled, though it causes one to think about realistic solutions and to take action. Swift’s proposal is effective by which he delivers his argument so efficiently and with such detail and use of sarcastic comparisons, exaggerations, and emotional appeals. His main solution to this problem is the practice of selling and eating children. â€Å"A young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome for, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee or ragout†(Swift 240). He uses statistical support and specific data about pricing, rates, and population numbers, to make his argument more agreeable and supportive. To make his proposal so effective, the author uses good structure, tone, language, and rhetorical appeals. The use of suggestive language makes it hard for the reader to not agree with his arguments. Though the language is clear, it is at a cross with the tone. The tone though full of sarcasm and irony, changes throughout and also reduces human beings and compares them to livestock. An example of this is when Swift writes that â€Å"women as breeders,† and â€Å"children just drooped from its darn† (Swift 241). At first, the author was sympathetic toward the people, but then it becomes more sarcastic again. The use of ethos, logos, and pathos play a large role in making this writing so effective. The constant flow of disgust and humor, have an effect on the reader emotionally, creating pathos. The ethos and logos give the writing underlying meaning, while the logos create an unsympathetic feeling allowing the proposal to come off as one that is opposed. With the author creating different methods of cooking children, the ethos is weakened. A wholesome food whether stewed, roasted, baked or boiled† (Swift 240). With supporting evidence from friends, Swift provides details on better consumption ages, flavors, and experience. This proposal also has some techniques that make it ineffective in its writing. The author is portraying himself to be from a self-righteous moral stance. His stance on the sides is not easy to identify. The irony used is to criticize the society that enables all the se problems and the poverty of others while at the same time it is degrading the poor. His writing shows a lack of compassion for the human life, and by being one-sided and not considering opposing viewpoints, it loses some effectiveness. By discriminating, one would suggest it has an effect on it as well. The story does contain fallacies. One of these fallacies is appeal to authority. Jonathon Swift suggests a friend, who it seems is one of a higher status, who describes the different ages, value and ways that he and others have committed cannibalism. This fallacy is an argument that attempts to overawe an opponent into accepting a conclusion, appealing to ones feelings of modesty. Overall, â€Å"A Modest Proposal† by Jonathon Swift is a very well created satire. Not only does this piece of literature draw one into the progressions of tones and use of strong and witty language, but there are statistics and data to make this argument favorable. In the end of Swift’s writing, he tells us that he has nothing to gain economically, being that he has no children. With this act, one can see that the author is being more sincere than previously believed. The author uses effective and ineffective ways of using different literary tools and tricks that draw many people into is proposal and to see the ultimate reason for it. The rhetorical appeals, structure, tone, discrimination and many details make this writing so intriguing. This absurd request is a way in which to better attempt an economical change in Ireland and to reveal what others wish to not see in the country. His method to get there is one of great success. Work Cited: Swift, Jonathon. â€Å"A M odest Proposal. † Reading Literature and Writing Argument. Eds. Missy James and Alan P. Merickel. 4th ed. Boston: Longman/Pearson, 2011. 238-44. Print. How to cite Satire of Modest Proposal, Essay examples

Corporate Finance Example For Students

Corporate Finance When investors prefer low dividend payout and what is the relation between dividend payout and cash flow (what will increase and what will decrease when using low dividend payment?) Dividend payout ratio refers to the amount of earnings of a particular company that seeks to issue out to its investors in the form of cash dividends. Dividends payouts may vary depending on the industry and a low dividend payout may signify a good thing or a bad thing. Investors who may opt for a low dividend payout may mean that they are willing to allow the company plough back its annual earnings for the purpose of capital growth of the company they have invested in as well as capital gains incur lower tax rates. It may show that the investors are willing to forgo part of their dividends to generate greater returns which lead to higher stock market prices (Sedzro 2010). On the bad side, it may mean that the company does not have enough capital to pay dividends to its investors. The relationship between dividend payout and cash flow is that a company that pays higher dividends may seem to be having a greater cash flow to meet its daily operational needs but a company paying low div idend payout may seem to be having a low cash flow hence, the company needs to retain the dividends for operational needs. This therefore, translates to an increase in cash flow and a decrease in dividend payout when using low dividend payout (Sedzro 2010). What is the relationship between tax and dividend payout (using low dividend payout) what will increase and what will decrease? And does tax benefit shareholder and create value to the firm? One of the disadvantages of quoted companies is that they are subject to double taxation where the annual earnings are taxed as well as the dividends paid out to its investors depending on how much revenue was generated and the amount of dividends paid out. This translates to the higher the tax rate the lower the dividend payout as likewise, the lower the tax rate, the higher the dividends payout (Sedzro 2010). When using the low dividend payout, the tax rate will be low as the companys capital gains will be charged at a lower tax rate, this will translate to dividend payout to the investors also being low as the other percentage of the capital is retained by the company for expansion and growth. When tax rate is high, the investor will receive low dividends payouts which are ultimately unfavorable to the shareholders. The company when taxed highly does not benefit the firm as the earnings taxed could have been ploughed back into the business and used for growth, however, ability to pay the required cash creates goodwill and a positive image of the company to the investors who are more likely to invest more as well receive foreign investments (Sedzro 2010). When investors prefer high dividend payout and what is the relation between dividend payout and cash flow (what will increase and what will decrease when using high dividend payment?) When investors demand high dividend payout, it may signify either that the company is able to pay the high dividends to its investors but its stock prices present a poor state of affairs as they are very low or depressed or that the ability to pay the high dividend payout may mean that the company is very mature and has a number of growth opportunities to its disposal. A higher dividend payout leads to low cash flow while a low dividend payout leads to a high cash flow. When a high dividend payout is used, it may translate to a decrease in cash flow and an increase in dividend payout when a high dividend policy is used. This is as a result of lacking enough working capital at various intervals in its operations since most of its capital was used in paying out dividends (Sedzro 2010). Corporate Finance Test Notes3. Compute the IRR and payback period for each project. How should these metrics affect Harris ´s deliberations? How do they compare to NPV as tools for evaluating projects? When and how would you use each? IRR Analysis Table – IRR Sensitivity Analysis | Revenue Change | Match My Doll Clothing Line | Design Your Own Doll (baseline) 3% | 18.24% | 14.68% | 2% | 17.74% | 14.28% | 1% | 17.24% | 13.87% | 0% | 16.74% | 13.46% | -1% | 16.23% | 13.04% | -2% | 15.72% | 12.62% | -3% | 15.21% | 12.19% | -4% | 14.69% | 11.77% | -5% | 14.16% | 11.33% | -6% | 13.63% | 10.90% | The model reflects a change in revenue from +3% to -6%. IRR of NPV is not used because sensitivity is included in the discount rate. Payback Period Analysis Payback period for each of the scenarios: * Match My Doll Clothing Line Expansion (baseline) = 8.43 years * Design Your Own Doll (baseline) = 10.09 years 4. What additional information does Harris need to complete her analyses and compare the two projects? What specific questions should she ask each of the project sponsors? In order to complete her analyses, several questions need to be asked in order for the report to be as fruitful as possible. Thus the questions that could be asked in order for Harris to make good decisions in comparing the two projects, goes as follows. * What changes would be expected in capital expenditures during periods of change? * Are there any hidden labor costs not being considered in the Match My Doll Clothing Line Expansion, similar to the additional labor costs in Design Your Own Doll? * What level of risk does the project Design Your Own Doll pertains? * In hand with revenue-analysis, what are the incremental earnings? * In addition to the risk level of Design Your Own Doll, is the project stable enough not to harm customer relationships? * What is the forecast for the whole industry? What will be the future market share since this affects sales outstanding and in hand revenue? * Based on the data, what will the equity of the company and share price be, taking into account the two projects? Historical data for inventory turnover ratios; days sales outstanding and days payable outstanding would also be additional information that Harris could benefit from. 5. If Harris is forced to recommend one project over the other, which should be recommended? Why? To improve the present value for both projects the management of the company should think of how to improve the projects’ cash flows. Typically, companies aim to increase cash flow from their existing operations by collecting receivables as soon as possible and slowing down their payables without harming their relations with suppliers. The NPV is a forecast, and as with every forecast, the outcome is not given. Typically forecasts for shorter periods are more accurate. The forecast for New Heritage Company is based on a time period of 10 years. I would recommend reducing that time period to provide more accurate cash flow figures. As with all forecasts, the NVP is not free from risks. The management should be aware that risks such as increase in inflation, change in interest rates, and increased competition in the toys business, could have a negative impact on future benefits of selected project. Last, I would recommend for the management to monitor the costs to increase profits. However, the management should weigh the benefits of reducing costs to avoid an adverse effect of diminished profits. If additional cash inflows are achieved, the company should invest a portion of the profits to generate additional money and expand the business through creation of new products and projects.