Essay on Platos Cave - 1124 Words

The basic premise of Platos allegory of the cave is to depict the nature of the human being, where true reality is hidden, false images and information are perceived as reality. In the allegory Plato tells a story about a man put on a Gnostics path. Prisoners seating in a cave with their legs and necks chained down since childhood, in such way that they cannot move or see each other, only look into the shadows on the wall in front of them; not realizing they have three-dimensional bodies. These images are of men and animals, carried by an unseen men on the background. Now imagine one of the prisoners is liberated into the light, the Gnostic path will become painful and difficult, but slowly his eyes will begin to accommodate†¦show more content†¦Many want a vampire boyfriend, not distinguishing that its just fantasy not reality. I myself once became the victim of this imperfect reality, when I was in elementary school I used to watch many Soap Operas and soon I began to beha ve like one of the characters. It just goes to depicts the power the media, and movie directors have over us because they are capable of creating stories that many us cannot distinguish whether its a story, fantasy or reality. Some continue to live in that darkness of perception, believing everything they see on the screen, and never grasp true reality. To break loose of this imperfect reality, one must simply not rely on what they see on the screen and higher being, but rather inner consciousness, and individual autonomy for creating their own philosophical belief. In George Orwell novel 1984 the bases of Plato story of the allegory is depicted, in the city of Oceanian, the idea of false reality and world, thats created by the government of Oceanian for its citizen to perceive as reality. The cave in the novel is represented by the city of Oceanian, the prisoners is the outer party members and the inner party members is the fire that feeds big brother all the information he needs to control the mind of its citizen. The Proles represents true reality, they possess truth about the world outside the cave, or in the novel the world outside big brother’s control. In the allegoryShow MoreRelatedPlatos Allegory of The Cave752 Words   |  3 Pagesinterpreting Plato’s â€Å"Allegory of the Cave’’ in which is a representation that described a narrative of the society of people in before Christ years. I realized how there was a major comparison of people in today’s society that reflected the same prisoner traits as th e prisoners that were described in the dialogue. According to the Plato’s â€Å"Allegory of the Cave.† It described conditions of people chained at birth unable to function as independent individuals that were locked in a protracted dark cave. TheyRead MoreRhetorical Analysis of Platos the Allegory of the Cave2111 Words   |  9 PagesEden Scharer Darrin Broadway English III-4 5th December, 2010 From Darkness to Sunlight: An Analysis of the Allegory of the Cave Imagine yourself sitting inside a dark, damp, cave where the only thing you can see are moving shadows on the cave wall in front of you. You can’t move anywhere or see anything besides the shadows, and these are the only things you’ve seen for your entire life, so these moving dark images are the most real things you’ve ever known. At some point in our childhood weRead MoreEssay on The Allegory of the Cave in Platos Republic901 Words   |  4 PagesThe Allegory of the Cave in Platos Republic This paper discussed The Allegory of The Cave in Platos Republic, and tries to unfold the messages Plato wishes to convey with regard to his conception of reality, knowledge and education. THE ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE Platos Allegory of the Cave is a story that conveys his theory of how we come to know, or how we attain true knowledge. It is also an introduction into his metaphysical and ethical system. In short, it is a symbolic explanationRead MoreThe Void of Learning Explained in Plato’s Allegory of the Cave834 Words   |  3 PagesAfter reading Plato’s Allegory of the Cave I began to wonder whether or not others have encountered an experience similar to what Socrates described here. In the cave Plato conjures up the theory that humans and the prisoners in a cave have similar characteristics. One of the characteristics is that we are close-minded people until someone or something comes along to prove that our ideas are incorrect in some way, shape, or form. As humans we have an interesting way in which we learn things andRead MorePlatos Allegory of the Cave Compared to the Human Condition Essay1025 Words   |  5 Pagesfor reality and truth. This is the basic premise for Platos Allegory of the Cave, in which prisoners sit in a cave, chained down, watching images cast on the wall in front of them. They accept these views as reality and they are unable to grasp their overall situation: the cave and images are a ruse, a mere shadow show orchestrated for them by unseen men. At some point, a prisoner is set free and is forced to see the situation inside the cave. Initially, one does not want to give up the securityRead MoreEssay about The Value of Life in Plato’s Cave and the Divided Lines674 Words   |  3 Pages Plato’s Cave and the Divided Lines People must learn the value of life and the difference between living a dream and making your dreams come true. Being considered a father in western philosophy, Plato presented the Divided Line and Plato’s Cave to show the differences between the intelligent and visible world people live in; as the visible world being a world of one’s own reflections and shadowing’s, while the intelligent world is about the mind and thoughts. Plato uses a complex dialogue ofRead MorePlatos Cave And The Cave1622 Words   |  7 PagesPlato’s Cave We first learn about Plato’s cave in book seven of the Republic. In his book, Plato describes a conversation he has with Socrates. He tells Socrates the story of some men who had lived their entire lives in a cave. These men knew nothing beyond what they could see on the cave wall. One day, a man is freed. At first he rejected his new found knowledge of the world but, once he accepted what he learned outside of the cave, he could never go back to his sheltered existence. The cave isRead MorePlatos Allegory of the Cave1521 Words   |  7 PagesPlato’s Allegory of the Cave Essay One of Plato’s more famous writings, The Allegory of the Cave, Plato outlines the story of a man who breaks free of his constraints and comes to learn of new ideas and levels of thought that exist outside of the human level of thinking. However, after having learned so many new concepts, he returns to his fellow beings and attempts to reveal his findings but is rejected and threatened with death. This dialogue is an apparent reference to his teacher’s theoriesRead MoreAnalysis Of Platos Allegory Of The Cave864 Words   |  4 PagesOn the surface of Plato’s â€Å"Allegory of the Cave† it is just a simple piece, but the main purpose of the piece is to explain people living in a world of face value and having individuals break free from the main idea to create a new sense of what the world is truly about. In here, Plato uses the writing style of allegory to encompass the use of imagery and symbolism to explain his purpose. He also uses very clever dialogue w ith constant repetition to represent a bigger idea about the philosophy withRead MoreExplain Platos Allegory Of The Cave1483 Words   |  6 Pagesquestions they raised. For instance, Plato’s â€Å"Allegory of the Cave† is essential for philosophy because it answers the question of why should anyone engage in philosophy. This paper will explain Plato’s â€Å"Allegory of the Cave† in both classical and modern manner as well as suggest philosophical topics for further inquiry. Plato’s â€Å"Allegory of the Cave† is told through the lips of Socrates, Plato’s teacher, to Glaucon, Plato’s brother. Socrates suggests imagining a deep cave having a large room and a steep

Agency Costs and Financial Decision-Making Free Essays

Agency Costs and Financial Decision-Making The Concept An agency relationship is a contract under which one or more persons (the principal(s)) engage another person (the agent) to perform some service on their behalf which involves delegating some decision making authority to the agent. If both parties to the relationship are utility maximizers and they may have divergent goals and objectives, and there is good reason to believe that the agent will not always act in the best interests of the principal (Jensen, Michael C. , and William H. We will write a custom essay sample on Agency Costs and Financial Decision-Making or any similar topic only for you Order Now Meckling. â€Å"Theory of the Firm, Managerial Behavior, Agency Costs, and Ownership Structure. † Journal of Financial Economics 3 (October 1976), 305-360) The concept of agency cost recognizes there are fundamental differences in how shareholders, managers, and even bondholders interpret their respective relationships to an organization. While they may share some common goals and objectives, there is the potential for at least some objectives to emerge that are focused more on individual enrichment than on the well-being of the whole. For example, managers may be more focused on building a reputation for themselves, possibly creating their own power bases within the structure of the larger organizations. Shareholders may become more focused on earning dividends now and less on the future of the business. Bondholders may be concerned only with the project associated with the bond issue, and lose sight of how the overall stability of the company can have a negative impact on the return earned from that bond. ( http://www. referenceforbusiness. com/encyclopedia/A-Ar/Agency-Theory. tml#ixzz14WVaUW4g) Agency Costs is an economic concept which is defined as the cost incurred by an entity in relation to issues like varied goals and objectives of the management and shareholders and information asymmetry. Self-Interested Behavior Agency theory suggests that, in imperfect labor and capital markets, managers will seek to maximize their own utility at the expense of corporate shareholders. Agents have the ability to operate i n their own self-interest rather than in the best interests of the firm because of asymmetric information (e. g. , managers know better than shareholders whether they are apable of meeting the shareholders’ objectives) and uncertainty (e. g. , myriad factors contribute to final outcomes, and it may not be evident whether the agent directly caused a given outcome, positive or negative). Evidence of self-interested managerial behavior includes the consumption of some corporate resources in the form of perquisites and the avoidance of optimal risk positions, whereby risk-averse managers bypass profitable opportunities in which the firm’s shareholders would prefer they invest. Outside investors recognize that the firm will make decisions contrary to their best interests. Accordingly, investors will discount the prices they are willing to pay for the firm’s securities. (Bamberg, Giinter, and Klaus Spremann, eds. Agency Theory, Information, and Incentives. Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 1987). A potential agency conflict arises whenever the manager of a firm owns less than 100 percent of the firm’s common stock. If a firm is a sole proprietorship managed by the owner, the owner-manager will undertake actions to maximize his or her own welfare. The owner-manager will probably measure utility by personal wealth, but may trade off other considerations, such as leisure and perquisites, against personal wealth. If the owner-manager forgoes a portion of his or her ownership by selling some of the firm’s stock to outside investors, a potential conflict of interest, called an agency conflict, arises. For example, the owner-manager may prefer a more leisurely lifestyle and not work as vigorously to maximize shareholder wealth, because less of the wealth will now accrue to the owner-manager. In addition, the owner-manager may decide to consume more perquisites, because some of the cost of the consumption of benefits will now be borne by the outside shareholders. Bamberg, Giinter, and Klaus Spremann, eds. Agency Theory, Information, and Incentives. Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 1987. ) In the majority of large publicly traded corporations, agency conflicts are potentially quite significant because the firm’s managers generally own only a small percentage of the common stock. Therefore, shareholder wealth maximization could be subordinated to an assortment of other managerial goals. For i nstance, managers may have a fundamental objective of maximizing the size of the firm. By creating a large, rapidly growing firm, executives increase their own status, create more opportunities for lower- and middle-level managers and salaries, and enhance their job security because an unfriendly takeover is less likely. As a result, incumbent management may pursue diversification at the expense of the shareholders who can easily diversify their individual portfolios simply by buying shares in other companies. (http://www. referenceforbusiness. com/encyclopedia/A-Ar/Agency-Theory. html#ixzz14WVaUW4g) Managers can be encouraged to act in the stockholders’ best interests through incentives, constraints, and punishments. These methods, however, are effective only if shareholders can observe all of the actions taken by managers. A moral hazard problem, whereby agents take unobserved actions in their own self-interests, originates because it is infeasible for shareholders to monitor all managerial actions. To reduce the moral hazard problem, stockholders must incur agency costs. Measuring Agency Costs The idea behind assessing agency cost is to attempt to identify what impact these differences in objectives and the flow of information between the agent or manager and the shareholders is having on the overall profitability of the organization. By correctly identifying and addressing issues of agency cost, it is possible to minimize the influence of those factors, at least enough to allow the organization to continue moving forward, rather than running the risk of failure. Determining the agency cost normally begins with looking closely at the potential costs or risks associated with including some type of agent or manager in the organizational structure. For example, one potential risk would be the possibility that the individual who is appointed as an officer in the company could seek to use company assets for his or her own personal gain, to the detriment of the company. At the same time, agency cost also looks at the expense involved in anticipating potential abuses of power and resources, and structuring the organization so that abuse is less likely to occur. This may include offering incentives to key employees that promote loyalty and lessen the chance of misappropriation of resources, or structuring the accounting process so that a series of checks and balances create a separation of control, effectively preventing any one individual from having too much power within the organization. http://www. wisegeek. com/what-is-an-agency-cost. htm) Agency costs are defined as those costs borne by shareholders to encourage managers to maximize shareholder wealth rather than behave in their own self-interests. The notion of agency costs is perhaps most associated with a seminal 1976 Journal of Finance paper by Michael Jensen and William Meckling, who suggested that corporate debt levels and management equity levels are both influenced by a wish to contain a gency costs. There are three major types of agency costs: 1) Expenditures to monitor managerial activities, such as audit costs (2) Expenditures to structure the organization in a way that will limit undesirable managerial behavior, such as appointing outside members to the board of directors or restructuring the company’s business units and management hierarchy (3) Opportunity costs which are incurred when shareholder-imposed restrictions, such as requirements for shareholder votes on specific issues, limit the ability of managers to take actions that advance shareholder wealth. In the absence of efforts by shareholders to alter managerial behavior, there will typically be some loss of shareholder wealth due to inappropriate managerial actions. On the other hand, agency costs would be excessive if shareholders attempted to ensure that every managerial action conformed with shareholder interests. Therefore, the optimal amount of agency costs to be borne by shareholders is determined in a cost-benefit context—agency costs should be increased as long as each incremental dollar spent results in at least a dollar increase in shareholder wealth. (http://www. referenceforbusiness. om/encyclopedia/A-Ar/Agency-Theory. html#ixzz14WVaUW4g) Financial decision making for dealing with agency costs There are two polar positions for dealing with shareholder-manager agency conflicts. At one extreme, the firm’s managers are compensated entirely on the basis of stock price changes. In this case, agency costs will be low because managers have great incentives to m aximize shareholder wealth. It would be extremely difficult, however, to hire talented managers under these contractual terms because the firm’s earnings would be affected by economic events that are not under managerial control. At the other extreme, stockholders could monitor every managerial action, but this would be extremely costly and inefficient. The optimal solution lies between the extremes, where executive compensation is tied to performance, but some monitoring is also undertaken. In addition to monitoring, the following mechanisms encourage managers to act in shareholders’ interests: (1) performance-based incentive plans (2) direct intervention by shareholders (3) the threat of firing (4) the threat of takeover Most publicly traded firms now employ performance shares, which are shares of stock given to executives on the basis of performances as defined by financial measures such as earnings per share, return on assets, return on equity, and stock price changes. If corporate performance is above the performance targets, the firm’s managers earn more shares. If performance is below the target, however, they receive less than 100 percent of the shares. Incentive-based compensation plans, such as performance shares, are designed to satisfy two objectives. First, they offer executives incentives to take actions that will enhance shareholder wealth. Second, these plans help companies attract and retain managers who have the confidence to risk their financial future on their own abilities—which should lead to better performance. (http://www. referenceforbusiness. com/encyclopedia/A-Ar/Agency-Theory. html#ixzz14WVaUW4g) An increasing percentage of common stock in corporate America is owned by institutional investors such as insurance companies, pension funds, and mutual funds. The institutional money managers have the clout, if they choose, to exert considerable influence over a firm’s operations. Institutional investors can influence a firm’s managers in two primary ways. First, they can meet with a firm’s management and offer suggestions regarding the firm’s operations. Second, institutional shareholders can sponsor a proposal to be voted on at the annual stockholders’ meeting, even if the proposal is opposed by management. Although such shareholder-sponsored proposals are nonbinding and involve issues outside day-to-day operations, the results of these votes clearly influence management opinion. (http://www. referenceforbusiness. com/encyclopedia/A-Ar/Agency-Theory. html#ixzz14WVaUW4g) In the past, the likelihood of a large company’s management being ousted by its stockholders was so remote that it posed little threat. This was true because the ownership of most firms was so widely distributed, and How to cite Agency Costs and Financial Decision-Making, Papers

Competitive Strategic Management of Information Systems

Question: Discuss about the Competitive Strategic Management of Information Systems. Answer: Introduction: Routine requests are used for business purposes in order to communicate formally and request particular information from the receiver of the request. It is considered as a normal part for business operations. The letter requires the sender to be quite specific and formal in nature. The purpose for the letter must be quite specific to the point (Ward Peppard, 2016). While writing a routine request, it is assumed that the receiver of the request would comply with the request that has been made; hence, there must be no demanding tone in the request that has been made. The request consists of three parts, introduction with the main idea, and body with the supportive information and the conclusion with a call of action for the receiver (Garvey, 2014). The example of the routine request consists of the request that has been made by Jessica Coleson a graduate assistant to Courtney O Brien. In the introduction of the request that has been made, the first sentence itself consists of the reason for writing a request. It states the requests politely to the receiver and not demandingly. It provides the reader with a list of emphasis that re to b included as a request. It specifies the things quite well. In the last two paragraphs, Jessica continues her request by providing and requesting additional information needed to smooth logistics for the seminar. The letter ends with thanks and there is no use of flowery language in the request. The request has been limited to a single idea of request, which is short, concise and fits on one screen. It includes salutation and is comprehensive in nature. The way of writing that has been chosen by Jessica is quite specific and polite at the same time, whereas, complete avoidance of pleas has been do ne. Hence, the provided example is of a good routine request. Communicating bad news to other seems to be a difficult job to be undertaken. Yet, being the manager of the company, it is considered as a duty to well inform the team regarding the changes that has been occurring in the organization, e it good or bad. One of the most important methods of acknowledging the bad news is by starting with a good statement providing a complete background information to prepare the employees for the upcoming bad news (Gillespie, Boczkowski Foot, 2014). The bad news must be delivered in a positive language, and another god will statement must be provided to them along with the news. The interoffice memorandum must end with a positive statement that would provide the employees with a ray of hope. The interoffice memorandum stating the current bad news of employees cut should be stated as follows : I am sorry to report that xxxx has not renewed their contract for the next year. There is a severe budget cuts in the company, which would lead to reduction of our staff. It appears that there will be a partial layoff, but fortunately, this will be offset somewhat by a number of retirements this summer. We are working hard to re-establish our relationship with the companies who provide us with contracts that would help us in acquiring new terms and thereby help us with regaining our previous budget. Until we succeed, we ask for your understanding and cooperation. With your help this will be only a temporary setback. We will keep you informed with weekly updates on e-mail. The interoffice memorandum that had been written by the manager of the company in order to deliver a bad news to its employees regarding the employment cut contains the message that the particular team under the manager would understand. It is not necessary that all the managers share the same relationship with their teammates, or that all the individuals follow the same approach of communicating the bad news. Hence, the interoffice memorandum must not be shared. A manager must handle the situation in their own personal manner, as they would know their team better than they would know the others. The use of internet and advanced technologies has been quite a boon for us in order to address to the problems easily and effectively. It has made our life efficient. One of the most transitioned ways of communicating with each other is through emails, which were earlier carried out through face-to-face interaction (Grunig, 2013). I considered it an efficient step to modernise the society. It saves time, keep record of what had been mentioned and maintains the formal relationship in business operations. Face to face interactions are better methods of communicating when there are some elaborative discussions to take place (Galliers Leidner, 2014). The organizations do hold meeting while such discussions to take place. Yet, while communicating with the employees for minor information or orders to be undertaken, emails play an efficient role. Its saves time, maintains record and avoid miscommunications by being specific in nature. Pet peeves varies from person to person. It depends upon the human nature and their behaviour towards handling such statements. Pet peeves are considered something that annoy the person in particular (David David, 2016). In the present case of Sam, sorry to bother you seem to be a pet peeve. Being a bank employee, he receives several males from the clients, who start their mail by this phrase. This annoys Sam largely. Being in place of Sam, I would have reacted in the same way as he does. It could elicit a negative reaction in me. Hence, using such phrases would not make any difference or put more stress on my work. People who send their mails do not want to annoy the receiver; they find it a humble approach towards the other. Yet, there are various ways in order to address the person in order to get a particular work done. The five ways in which sorry to bother you could be reframed so that it does not annoy the others, could be stated as follows : I would appreciate your expertise I would be grateful for your help if you would ....... I need ...... Can you please handle this for me ? Do you have time today to help me with ....... It would be very kind of you if you would help me ........ Reference David, F., David, F. R. (2016). Strategic Management: A Competitive Advantage Approach, Concepts and Cases. Galliers, R. D., Leidner, D. E. (2014).Strategic information management: challenges and strategies in managing information systems. Routledge. Garvey, W. D. (2014).Communication: the essence of science: facilitating information exchange among librarians, scientists, engineers and students. Elsevier. Gillespie, T., Boczkowski, P. J., Foot, K. A. (2014).Media technologies: Essays on communication, materiality, and society. MIT Press. Grunig, J. E. (2013).Excellence in public relations and communication management. Routledge. Ward, J., Peppard, J. (2016).The Strategic Management of Information Systems: Building a Digital Strategy. John Wiley Sons.