ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Introduction Earnings are perceived as the most significant part of the financial reporting by both insiders and outsiders of the company. Moreover, the investors, market analysts, and customers seem to evaluate the overall performance based on the reported earnings. Also, the rewards and achievements of the executives are judged by the merit of the accumulated value of the company’s earnings under their leadership. Therefore, despite generally following the accounting standards of the GAAP, the managers are tempted to engage in earnings management. There are several areas, in which managers are more flexible in their methods, including different inventory options, managing debt allowance, recognizing transactions and sales that were not finished, etc. (Degeorge and Zeckhauser 3). Thus, there are a considerable number of the explicit and implicit factors, to which earnings management is a response. In this perspective, earnings management is defined as strategic restructuring the information about the earnings presented in the financial reports presented to the audience to create a certain impression about the company’s performance (Schipper 100). When studying the reasons behind the earnings management, it is important to identify the possible implications for the different specialists in the sphere of accounting because it would improve the standards of financial reporting. For example, one of the ways to explain the antecedents and reasons for earnings management is a threshold model. A Threshold Model of Earnings Management A threshold model is a pattern that anticipates the executives’ decisions to make an impact on the earnings reported to the external audience. The model is based on the data of the different interactions between the agents of the financial sphere, including executives, customers, investors, standards-setters, analysts, etc. However, the cases of the earnings management are all very different, and,
Introduction The concept of leadership can be broadly defined as the intrinsic ability to internalize a setting with the intention of empowering a group or team to proactively and creatively contribute towards problem solving. This analytical paper argues that leadership concept translates easily in the local context when it is based on local traditions and expectations. Leadership and local context In order to lead a multi-cultural group, a manager is expected to balance the dimension of power/distance to minimize the degree of inequality when fulfilling the group expectations. In order to achieve this, the leadership approach should embrace the low power/distance score to make the bridge between supervision and other subjects accommodative. As a result, there will be continuous teamwork that involves as many people of different cultures as possible. The decision made in such environment will not only be friendly to a larger percentage of the group but also accommodative to different cultures within the local setting (Cardenas & Crabtree, 2009). Reflectively, applying individualism dimension as a leader in a multi-cultural setting will create a flexible group culture and feign a common communal connection among the parties functioning within a set of expectations. In order to make the individualism dimension as dynamic as possible, it will be critical to introduce strategies that will ensure that the score is very low. Therefore, the leadership approach will revolve around showing respect to all, promoting harmony through suppressing negative feelings, and introducing changes progressively without having to interfere with the existing traditions (Casimir & Waldman, 2007). As the third cultural dimension, applying masculinity in a multi-cultural organization would involve creating a leadership system that balances the roles between the manager of the expectations and those operating within the expectations. The system will embrace the diverse roles and provide a structure for leadership based on skills and not just ideological or private inclination of a party. For instance, through creation of a task-orientation and transformational leadership skills, it will be easy for the manager to balance the discontent as a result of inferiority or superiority complex among the parties interacting. The skills will ensure that the group has a low score in the masculinity dimension (Cardenas & Crabtree, 2009). Therefore, the elements of equality, job design, and collectiveness will become ideal for proactively managing expectation. The uncertainty/avoidance index dimension within a multi-cultural setting as a leadership strategy is achievable through creating systems that address the sources of stressors and provide coping instruments. Therefore, a low score is ideal for a multi-cultural organization. This is achievable through minimal interference with the group structure, limited emotional response to emergencies, and proactive expression of an otherwise situation that might complicate changes. In order to balance the pros and cons of a lower score, there is need to concentrate on the cu
It is worth noting that, guided by the scientific methods of cognition, Rene Descartes came to a skeptical but boundless trust in human mind. He argued that the path to philosophy lied precisely in doubt in connection with the need to question both feelings and thoughts. In this case, the actual fact of doubt will be unquestionable (Ariew, 2014). The thinker considered this approach to philosophy more reliable than mathematical intuition. Assuming that the presence of thinking presupposed the existence of spirit, Descartes had built his ontological approach based on this relationship. One of the branches of his ontological thought was the discussion of the existence of God. The philosopher searched for an explanation for this phenomenon and tried to argue for the existence of the Supreme Being. The purpose of this paper is review and analyze the arguments Rene Descartes provided to evidence the existence of God. Descartes’ Reasoning Trying to find an explanation for the existence of God, Descartes came to an idea of an innate nature of knowledge. Despite the fact that many researchers emphasize the fallacy of such reasoning, this understanding was not absurd due to the fact that people, as a rule, rely on the knowledge of previous generations and do not question the truthfulness of admonitions or beliefs (Ariew, 2014). However, the philosopher sought for a comprehensive explanation, looking for the proof of the authenticity of human knowledge about the external world. Initially, Descartes tried to find arguments proving the existence of God explaining it by the fact that God was an essential intermediary element between humans and nature. Moreover, God acted as a guarantor of the existence of the world. In this connection, Descartes assumed that God was the source of truth and was opposed to lies and deceit (Croft, 2013). Therefore, the first proof of the existence of the Supreme Being Descartes considered the inadmissibility of lies. The next argument was that it was God solely who was able to instill in people’s souls an understanding of what was a supremely perfect being. In addition, another evidence was the concept of rationalism. Respectively, according to Rene Descartes, no thinking or rational person could assert that there was no God (Hatfield, 2014). Notably, many successive thinkers, as well as researchers, indicated that the latter argument was of medieval scholastic character. Another Argument It is worth noting that all the three arguments described above c
Introduction Over the last couple of decades, people have experienced numerous changes as the world continues to embrace digital technology (Newell 30). However, the digitization effect has not spread across the world in an even manner, as people in some countries still do not have access to certain technologies already in use (Newell 38). Experts argue that most countries are currently dealing with the challenge of addressing the great digital divide in order to increase people’s ability to access digital technology. According to the United Nations (UN), the digital divide refers to economic and social differences between regions, countries, and people that influence their knowledge and use of digital technology (Newell 43). It entails numerous inequalities in the world in terms of the way people from different socioeconomic classes have different degrees of access to digital technology and its related information (Rouse par. 1). It further considers technological gaps between households, whereby people living in certain neighborhoods can have limited access to a certain type of technology while those from a different area have full access. Some of the digital technologies that have created a huge divide include the internet, television, cell phones, and personal computers, among others (Rouse par. 2). Inequality in access to technology between countries is often referred to as the global digital divide. It is important to address the challenge of the digital divide because it will help to promote crucial elements such as democracy, sustainable development, high literacy levels, economic prosperity, and social growth among others (Rouse par. 4). Efforts by the United Nations The concept of the digital divide has changed a lot over the years. In the early 20th Century, it referred to inequalities in access to telephones (Servon 195). Towards the end of the same period, the digital divide included the element of accessibility to the internet. The main focus was on the inequalities in access to communication networks with a bandwidth that could be divided and shared simultaneously by multiple signals (Servon 206). The concept of the digital divide in the 21st Cen
Introduction Capitalism is a type of economic organization or an economic system that describes how people are related. Some essential features of capitalism include accumulation of industrial capital, private ownership of the means of production, and a free market system. Although capitalism has been criticized by some scholars, it is considered by some to be a moral system that is capable of solving the resource allocation problem. Ethical Objections to Capitalism In my opinion, one of the most serious ethical objections to capitalism is its unjustness that leads to the exploitation of workers by robbing them of the products of their labor. It thus denies and corrupts human dignity and fails to promote fairness. To proponents of capitalism, however, there is a more important moral perspective from this criticism can be viewed. As an example, Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) are considered greedy simply because they are highly compensated at the expense of other employees. Advocates of capitalism are opposed to this allegation and are convinced that it is not morally correct to conclude that highly paid CEOs are greedier than most people. Rather than meeting these objections directly by supporting or refuting them, it is more instructive to determine how compensation ought to be set by identifying the relevant ethical principles in the pay setting process. Another serious ethical objection to capitalism has to do with environmental destruction. Recently, there have been concerns about the damage is being caused to the environment by human activities. Although capitalism has been blamed for causing so much destruction to the environment, it has been proposed as a solution to environmental problems. To a capitalist, natural resources are either owned as private property, or they are assets to be used by all. However, when resources are left as property for all, every individual tends to maximize his or her use of the resources without regard for others. Among other things, this leads to the depletion of natural resources as everyone tries to benefit as much as possible. According to proponents of capitalism, it is critical to privatize natural resources so as to preserve them. Once privatized, the use of these resources will be determined by an owner who, because of the exchange value of the resources, will be interested in preserving them. Private property and free markets are therefore provided as answers to preservation of the environment. In addition, it is assumed that the market value of the environment can only be realized once the environment is destroyed. Often times, minerals and trees do not have market unless they are mined or cut down. Considering that we all have a major responsibility of preserving the environment for future generations, this argument is not convincing enough. There are, however, many moral objections to this relationship between capitalism and the environment. One such objection is that the propensity of property owner
Introduction For this week’s discussion board, I chose to analyze the article by Braga and Bond (2008), titled “Policing crime and disorder hot spots: A randomized controlled trial.” Though written a decade ago, the article outlines topical questions in the field that are prevalent in the discussions of governmental representatives, police officers, and lawyers. This assignment will briefly overview the paper’s theoretical framework, evaluate its methodological approach, assess the explanation of the findings, and compare it to the contemporary paradigm of academic sources. Theoretical Framework It is essential to note that the article’s central theoretical concept is devoted to the prevalent strategy for policing: dealing with physical and social disorder. Such an objective is justified for it aims to prevent severe misdemeanors. Braga, Welsh, & Schnell (2015) supported the article’s initial claim, arguing that opposing policing disorder is one of the best ways to minimize rates of serious crimes in high-risk neighborhoods. The concept of policing disorder, as a problem-oriented policing framework, appeared later in a number of studies. For instance, on the one hand, Weisburd (2018) discussed the effect of hot spot allocation on problem-solving strategies through the perspective of policing responses. On the other hand, Braga (2015) revisited the implemented strategy when interpreting systematic observations of disorders at the treatment places in her systematic review. The aforementioned examples demonstrate the high significance of the central theoretical framework of the original article on the basis of empirical evidence. Methodological Approach In the original study, the methodological approach used involved two groups of subjects in a randomized block field experiment. Allocated with the help of random stratification, seventeen pairs of hot spots were held to a multitude of treatment conditions (Braga & Bond, 2008). Treatment conditions utilized were held close to the standards of general policing disorder strategy to avoid instances of biased, thoroughly designed problem-oriented solutions. A similar methodological approach has been later used in the study of Ratcliffe, Groff, Sorg, and Haberman (2015), where citizens, rather than police officers were questioned about the impact of hot spots to avoid bias in the responses. Though the two studies had different core purposes, the same statistical and methodological types of research contribute to the high validity of the original article. Assessment o
At least once in his or her life, everyone thinks of the role of reading. What is it? Is it a mere source of getting information about the world around? Is it a kind of entertainment and time for relaxation? Or, is it a way of expressing oneself? Being so seemingly simple in its sense, the concept of reading and the reading itself does not stop agitating human minds in search of its secret. The author whose works the current paper is concerned with if not found this secret, but at least managed to define the reading for herself. Julia Alvarez believes that reading gives her a powerful model of what she might do with her life (Alvarez 2000). This paper is expected to reveal how the poet, essayist, and fiction writer’s burning desire to read more and more led to her becoming a writer. It will be done by examining two works of the author: the novel !YO! and the essay How the Alvarez Girl Found Her Magic and analyzing the issue of reading and its influence on author’s becoming a writer that is common for both works. Being now a famous American writer of Dominican origin Julia Alvarez in the above-mentioned works establishes her goals and reasons for writing and elaborates on the role of reading in her choosing the profession of a writer. Alvarez successfully explores the issue of becoming a writer in her novel !YO! , as well as in her essay How the Alvarez Girl Found Her Magic by presenting the story of the imagined writer Yolanda (Yo) Garcia and her own story respectively. The reader cannot remain indifferent to both of them as they strike with their sincerity and easiness of narration. The stories presented by the author reveal her steps in becoming a writer and touch the secret sides of the readers’ hearts. We believe that discussion of the issue under consideration should start with considering the author’s biography, as it will throw light on the writer’s origin and explain the basis of her intentions to become a writer. Julia Alvarez was born in 1950 in New York City to a family of Dominican immigrants. It is worth admitting the fact that the members of her family were not fond of reading books, neither was she. One day Alvarez’s pride was hurt by an American who laughed at the level of her English. This was a crucial moment in Alvarez’s life. The would-be writer realized that reading and education, in general, opens one a lot of opportunities and empowers him or her to be proud of oneself. Alvarez firmly decided to reach such a level of English so that even Americans could notice her speeches. That was a starting point of her writer’s career. A grant from one of the US Universities enabled Alvarez to practice her writing skills. Once set a goal to improve her language, now Alvarez gets thousands of words of gratitude from her returned readers throughout the world. No doubt, they feel thankful to the author for her choosing the career of a writer. Alvarez’s essay How the Alvarez Girl Found Her Magic is a kind of the author’s autobiography. From its very beginning, the reader gets to know about the reading culture in the author’s family: reading was not fa
Introduction A rainbow can be defined as an arch of colors that is usually formed in the sky under certain circumstances. The main cause of the formation of rainbow is the refraction and dispersion of the sun light which occur in the event of rainfall or any other form of moisture that could be present in the atmosphere. The seven colors in a rainbow are identified as violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange and red although these are those that are visible with many others that are not. Rainbows are known to take many forms for instance red bows, twinned bows, dark bands, colored fringes, spokes, bows that cross among others depending on the circumstances under which they are formed. This piece of work gives an investigation of the various aspects associated with a rainbow for instance how it is formed and the causes of its formation as well as the various forms of rainbows. Causes and Formation Rainbows are familiar among various people in the universe since they can easily observe it but the underlying principles behind its causes and formation still remain unclear. According to Oblack (2011, par 1), a rainbow is formed through the interaction of sunlight and moisture in the atmosphere. The sunlight is usually made up of various colors and water in the atmosphere for example rain droplets act like a prism through which the sun rays are refracted so that the various colors ( red, yellow, indigo, violet, orange, blue and green among others) of the sunlight can been displayed as a rainbow. We can, therefore, say that rainbows are caused by the ripping of white sunlight into its constituent colors which is made possible by the raindrops. The water droplets acts as a prism which is responsible for the refraction and reflection processes that are necessary for the formation of the rainbow or rather the display of the various colors contained therein. Types of Rainbows According to Oblack (2008 par 3), there are various types of rainbows for example primary rainbows, secondary rainbows, glory clouds and the supernumerary rainbows. Primary rainbows form at the core with the red color being the outermost in the primary bow while the others are within. The bow is usually very shiny. The secondary (rainbow) on the other hand is reasonably fainter (as compared to the primary rainbow) owing to the
As the world’s superpower, America has a significant influence on matters of economics, politics and security of foreign nations. America’s ability to remain influential in a post-colonial world emanates for the country’s economic and military might. America’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is about 15 trillion dollars. The country’s defense budget is about 720 billion dollars. America’s Foreign Policy Agenda entails the engagement of foreign nations in the promotion of democracy and security, which are the key factors in the attainment of a prosperous world. To attain the objectives of the Foreign Policy Agenda, America has various jurisdictional goals, which include the control of commercial aspects such as exports and mitigation of the proliferation of nuclear technology and hardware. Other jurisdictional goals include promoting education internationally, fighting international terrorism and safeguarding the security of American citizens in foreign countries. The United States foreign policies have attracted debates, praise and criticism in an increasingly connect world. An analysis of America’s foreign policies illustrates that the nation has been a benevolent Great Power. The provision of non-military foreign aid is one of the elements of America’s foreign policies. Non-military assistance includes bilateral aid, humanitarian aid, and global economic contributions. [1] America’s policies on non-military aid have been of great benefits especially in the developing nations by creating platforms that foster economic development, recognition of fundamental human rights and democracy. By engaging organizations such as the WHO and WFP, the United States has considerably improved the livelihood of men, women and children without access to basic healthcare and nutrition. The United States’ foreign policy on the mitigation of the proliferation of nuclear technology and hardware has been crucial in the sustenance of global peace by alleviating possible nuclear conflicts. Counties such as Iran and Israel have often threatened to use nuclear bombs against each other. Considering that both nations have adequate nuclear technologies and resources, the United States intervention by promoting diplomatic consultations between the two nations has helped to alleviate a nuclear conflict. In accordance to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, the United States has increasingly engaged in diplomatic consultations with nations in the Middle East with the objective of attaining an amicable solution on Iran’s nuclear program. [2] Despite suggestions by some members of the international community encouraging the use of military interventions in tackling the Iran’s issues, the United States has opted to exploit channels that minimize the possibility of a military confrontation. The United States’ policy on international terrorism has been crucial in