Our Relationship with Others.. Essay

â€Å"Our relationships with others help define who we are† In trying to make sense of ourselves we often look to others and our relationships with them to help us. Our first relationships are with our family. Their influence is often vital to our self- definition. These relationships can give us a sense of who we are and where we have come from and it is often comforting to know we are part of something bigger. Often these relationships are positive, but they can also be negative. Being rejected by our family is not wanted but it can have a big impact on who we are and how we live our lives. It can test our strength of character. As we move through to adulthood and start to gain a greater insight into who we are, we often look to others outside the family and they too can have a lasting influence on us. The people we meet and the experiences we share with them are crucial to our development as individuals. We need to cross these relationships carefully as we balance our uniqueness with conforming to keep those around us happy. Our family strongly influence the sense of who we are and our behavior, family is a part of who we are. What we first connect with is our parents and our family. What our parents said and what they did will influence our behaviour. In the film Skin, Sandra’s father Abraham told Sandra ‘Never give up’ and he never gave up reclassifying Sandra to be white. All of these influence Sandra, even though she left him for nearly 30 years, Sandra still remembered and did as what he said. It made her try to connect with her mother even though she never get her mother write back and Petrus was angry about this, but she never gave up. In the end of the film when Sandra’s children question why she bothers to look for her white family, Sandra said ‘You never stop needing your parents, they are party of who you are.’ For me, my parents influenced me a lot. For example, my mum had always played sport as a young girl and teenager and even now she still plays, an d this has influenced me because I now play or have played every sport that she has, and she is now the coach of my netball team. Where we find happiness is where we belong. Sometimes we need to try to find where we really belong, where people accept us and care for us. In the film  Skin, Sandra was rejected by her father because of her falling in love with Petrus. When she was rejected by her family she felt sad and confused, but she felt she did not belong in the white group and that she will never accepted by the white people, she felt happy when she stayed with Petrus, she had asked Petus ‘how could you make me feel better’ what Petrus did is he just accepted her. When she was rejected by her family Sandra chose to live with Petrus and found out that she was belonging to black community. What Sandra did is try to find where she really did belong, where she will be treated equality and be accepted. When Petrus found out that Sandra keep in touch with her mother, he got angry with Sandra he suspected her loyalty, he rejected her, and Sandra had to take her two children and left Petrus, to try t o find other places where she will have her happiness and make her felt like she belonged. Our sense identity also is influenced by other people, what other people say to us, say about us and how they act around us will change our sense of identity. When we move through to adulthood and start to gain a greater insight into who we are, we usually change our sense of identity by some outside influence. In the film Skin, when Abraham tried to put Sandra into a white school, what happened to her in the school changes herself identity. Sandra did not even know she was coloured unstill she started school where she was the target of prejudice, racism and abuse because the staff and students questioned her status as ‘white ’. When Sandra lived in the boarding, one of a little girl said to Sandra ‘They said you are black.’ When Sandra had maths class the teacher hit her and said she was ‘disgusting’, etc. What happened to her let Sandra know that she is not white, she is coloured and she will never got in the white community. All of these chan ged Sandra, when we can see that even at nearly 30 years old Sandra still feels inadequate, when she talks with people and she’s afraid look at others eye to eye.

Woodstock Music and Art Festival

Woodstock started out as just a big bash and ended as a once-in-a-life-time occurrence. The original Woodstock-goers share a bond and uniqueness that will be hard, if not impossible, for anyone to ever reproduce. Who started such a party? Why was it started? Did the promoters believe it would turn out quite like it did? What was the real Woodstock experience actually like? Four very young and very different men sponsored Woodstock: John Roberts, Joel Rosenman, Artie Kornfield, and Michael Lang. John Roberts was the oldest, at age twenty-six. Being heir to a drugstore and toothpaste manufacturing company, he supplied most of the money. In 1966 he met Joel Rosenman, who had just graduated from Yale Law School and was playing guitar for motel lounge bands in the Long Island area. By 1967 they shared an apartment and an idea for a screwball comedy show about two guys with unlimited resources who are always getting involved with crazy innovations. While looking for new ideas to help the show, they essentially became the characters of it. Artie Kornfield was the vice president of Capital Records and had written at least thirty hit singles. Michael Lang was the youngest in the group, at age twenty-three, and was the manager of a rock group called Train. In December of 1968 he met with Kornfield to discuss a record deal. They hit it off immediately and ended up sharing some similar ideas. One for a cultural exposition/rock concert/extravaganza and another for a recording studio set one hundred miles from Manhattan in a town called Woodstock. Their only problem was getting the money to finance it. Their lawyer recommended they talk to Roberts and Rosenman. In March of 1969, after a written proposal and a discussed budget of about half a million dollars, the four partners formed a corporation called Woodstock Ventures. The Woodstock Ventures team planned to create the world's largest rock n' roll show ever. They wanted it to include the back-to-the-land spirit, yet still be easily accessible. They ended up leasing an industrial park in Wallkill, New York (about twenty miles from Woodstock, NY), from a man named Howard Mills, for ten thousand dollars. They planned the music and art festival to take place on August 15, 16, and 17, 1969. Over seventeen major acts were planned including Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, The Who, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Blood Sweat and Tears, and the Grateful Dead.2 The slogan, â€Å"Three Days of Peace and Music†, and the symbol, a catbird perched on a guitar, were agreed on by the four because they thought it would help break the hype about the concert creating violence. They hired Allan Markoff to be in charge of setting up the sound system, which at the amplifier's lowest setting would cause pain to anyone within ten feet of a speaker. Since they couldn 't entice a big movie studio to film the weekend, they got Michael Wadleigh, who had a strong reputation as a cameraman and director, to do the job. The planning was not easy and Woodstock Ventures ran into a lot of problems. Wallkill residents found out about the festival, which was estimating an attendance of about two hundred thousand people, and got scared. They did not want hippies and rioters disrupting town life. They held a meeting on July 15, 1969 and passed a town ordinance, which prohibited all events that would draw a crowd of more than three thousand people.4 Joseph Owen, the assistant town attorney of Wallkill, made clear the penalty to such a violation, a fifty-dollar fine and/or six months in prison for each officer of the corporation for each day.5 Since Woodstock Ventures had already collected nearly three hundred thousand dollars worth of tickets (the cost for a one day ticket was seven dollars, a weekend ticket cost eighteen dollars), they had no choice but to find an alternative location for the festival. Elliot Tiber, owner of El Monaco (a resort on White Lake), read about Woodstock getting tossed out of Wallkill and realized that he had what Woodstock Ventures needed, a permit to hold a music festival in Bethel, New York. He contacted Lang who immediately came out to El Monaco. However, the resort was only about fifteen acres and they needed a lot more land than that. Tiber then thought of his friend, Max Yasgur, who owned a massive dairy farm right outside of Bethel. On July 20, 1969, Woodstock Ventures agreed to rent six hundred acres of the farm for seventy-five thousand dollars. Bethel residents started to read about Wallkill's worries about the festival and they started to feel like the concert was pushed on them. George Cobb and other small landowners advised Bethel town attorney, Fredrick Schadt, and building inspector, Donald Clark, not to approve their permits.7 The landowners pressed charges against Woodstock Ventures to get them to increase security and sanitation levels. After several meetings and payoffs the court released a statement saying, â€Å"The differences between the parties have been resolved. The motion is withdrawn.† At last Woodstock was really going to happen. By Thursday, August 14, 1969 there were already about twenty-five thousand people at the site and more coming. The main highway, Route 17B, was backed up nearly ten miles. Hippie groups like the Pranksters, the Hog Farmers and Wavy Gravy set up side stages, kitchens and shelters to set a precedent for people who had never camped before and to help keep things in order.9 On the morning of Friday, August 15, 1969 several hundred New York police officers, hand-picked by Woodstock Ventures and promised fifty dollars a day, showed up to help keep order throughout the weekend. However, when they arrived they received a message stating that if they participated they may be subject to departmental censure. Several stayed to work under fake names and the agreement of being paid ninety dollars a day.10 Woodstock Ventures turned to the hippie groups to help with security and handed out passwords and symbols to the most fit. Around noon the ticket-ta kers showed up and wanted everyone to walk out and comeback in with their tickets ready. But security found this to be ridiculous and saw the only solution to be to take down the fence so everyone could enjoy. Drugs were as uncontrollable as the weather. The smell of burning marijuana filled the air. Acid was being passed out in Kool-Aid and other edible forms. Drugs such as heroin, opium, and mescaline were also being distributed throughout the festival. By midnight on Friday it started to rain and hardly let up the whole weekend. Nearly four hundred and fifty thousand people were packed together camping in the mud and sharing their love with each other. By Saturday morning there was already a food crisis. Local groups set up free kitchens and the National Guard had food and medical supplies flown in by helicopter. Three main medical tents were also setup to help organize the patients. There was one for people experiencing bad drug symptoms, another for people with bad cuts and abrasions (especially on the feet) and the last one was for people who burned their eyes from staring at the sun too long. A total of thirty two groups performed during the three day Woodstock event. On Friday, August 15, 1969 at 5:07pm Richie Havens entered the stage and started the music. Following his act was Country Joe McDonald, John Sebastian, Bert Sommer, Tim Hardin, Ravi Shankar, Melanie, Arlo Guthrie, and Joan Baez. On Saturday, August 16, 1969, around 12:15pm, Quill came on, followed by Keef Hartly, Santana, Mountain, Canned Heat, The Incredible String Band, Grateful Dead, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Janis Joplin, Sly and the Family Stone, The Who, and Jefferson Airplane. On Sunday, August 17, 1969, Joe Crocker took the stage around 2:00pm, due to a huge storm the music had to cease and did not continue until about 7:00pm. At that time Country Joe and the Fish came on, followed by Ten Years After, The Band, Blood Sweat and Tears, Johnny Winter, Crosby Stills Nash and Young, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, and Sha-Na-Na. Last but not least, on Monday, August 18, 1969, around 8:30am Jimi Hendr ix walked on stage for an unforgettable ending. He played to a mere forty thousand people and officially ended the Woodstock Music and Art Fair at 10:30am. Woodstock was more than just an art and music festival; it was the capstone of an era and a cultural jungle. People of all sorts attended; Vietnam vets, black militants, anti-war protestors, rednecks, anti-gays, ban drug advocates, pro-government advocates, legalize drug advocates, gays/lesbians, and anti-government advocates. Although it might have seemed to be the start of a civilization collapse, it actually became the site of a mini-nation, in which minds were open and love was free. The people who came together on August of 1969 created an unforgettable landmark of the twentieth century, which changed the world forever. Gary Proud, an original Woodstock attendee, said, â€Å"You can shake off the mud, the music will fade, but you can never forget the emotions.†

Online Reservation and Information System Essay

Today people are living in a society which is called a technologically civilized society. Ultimately, the researchers can say that, â€Å"living without technology is like living without air† in this technical world of today. Most people are using Internet to easily search what they need especially information. The Internet is a global network connecting millions of computers. More than 100 countries are linked into exchanges of data, news and opinions. With the advancement in technology, the researchers decided to develop an Online Reservation and Information System for Fortune Seafood Restaurant. The Fortune Seafood Restaurant is a well known fine-dining restaurant in Pampanga. It is located strategically in between the heart of City of San Fernando and Olongapo-Gapan Road, Pampanga. Fortune Seafood Restaurant is one of the upscale Chinese restaurants in Pampanga. It serves prominent personalities and provides venue for important events. The restaurant accepts reservation fo r various events such as wedding, birthday and others. The company is using manual process when it comes to managing reservation. The customer must go to the restaurant in order to make a reservation. It causes hassle for the customer to go to the venue to just inquire for the reservation information and make a reservation. Sometimes the customers are being disappointed since the date and time that they like to reserve is not available and already occupied by other event. The company promotes and advertises the restaurant using fliers and tarpaulin. The process of the restaurant in requesting feedback to the customers is only verbally by asking them about the food. The Online Reservation and Information System for Fortune Seafood Restaurant is a system that will provide information about the company like the different dishes they serve including the prices, promos, and services that they offer. With this feature the company will be promoted well. It also has photo sharing and allows creation of blogs for the customer to express their thoughts about the food and services or their â€Å"Fortune† experiences. It includes a reservation system that supports the customers who want to make a reservation for occasions like birthday, family reunion, wedding and even a special date. The system shows all the schedule of the events so that the  customer will know if the date and time that they plan to reserve is available or not. It also has a feedback form which may contain discussion of the opinion or suggestion of the customer about the company. Review of Related Literature The following reviews are discussed to support the reasons why the problem exists. It serves as the researcher’s basis in conducting the study. In the book Restaurant and Cafeteria Management Service (2010), the very first restaurant in the world was opened in Paris in 1765. A tavern keeper, Monsieur Boulanger, served a single dish sheep’s feet simmered in a white sauce. The world restaurant is derived from the French word â€Å"restorer† meaning to â€Å"restore†. The first restaurant the dining rooms of the inns and as towns, cities, grew in population, several eating places were established serving lunch and dinner at fixed price. Boulanger’s business was different from other food businesses, like cafes and inns, because Boulanger’s business was centered on food, not alcohol (like taverns) or coffee and tea (like cafes). Customers came to Boulanger’s establishment primarily to eat, and this was a novelty in the late 18th Century, wh ere the population ate their meals at home or, if they were away from home overnight on business, at an inn. In French, the word restorative is restaurant. A local food guild (a union monopoly) sued Boulanger in court for infringing on its monopoly on the sale of cooked foods, but Boulanger won and was allowed to continue. This victory led to the rapid spread of these new restaurants across France. The researchers included this review to be familiar with the first restaurant in the world, in distinguishing when and where it started, what the processes of a restaurant are, and how it became successful. In the book entitled Basic Restaurant Service (2007), Restaurant Service demands an extensive knowledge of international cooking, of beverages and bar services. The wait staff or Restaurant Service Staff are most important contact persons in attending to the guests. It is therefore necessary to have a complete command of serving rules and to know the preparation of special dishes and drinks at the guests table. The wait staff or Restaurant Service Staff, seat the guests, take table orders correctly, prepare special tasks at the table side, serve food and beverages and present the bill and send the guests off. They are the central figures  who create a good impression of restaurant by warmly welcoming gu ests, ensuring that service is prompt and courteous and that the meal meets expectations. These qualities and professional competitiveness, practical work and theoretical knowledge are deemed necessary to carry out job. The researchers included this to know and discuss the importance of effective restaurant service staff since they are one of the keys to the success of the company. In implementing the proposed system the staff who will be assigned must be good technically to easily learn the system and to avoid facing difficulties in operating the system. According to the book Food Service Management in the Philippines (2009), Engracia â€Å"Aling Aciang† Cruz-Reyes, the matriarch founder of Aristocrat Restaurant, discussed that she believes that to find the customers, one has to go where the people are and find ways to keep them coming back. She opened a rolling store in Luneta Park an accomodating thousand of people at one time. She prepared Filipino dishes like arroz caldo, and pancit that were freshly prepared in front of the customers. Later on, to meet the changing needs of the customers she added to her line of menu items a selection of sandwiches and softdrinks. People kept coming bac k for their comfort food from Aling Aciang. Before World war II Mrs. Reyes sought out new market opportunities by locating her food business in a prime property at the Dewey Blvd, Manila. Today, the Aristocrat Restaurant has more than ten additional branches in different location all over the country. The researchers include this review for the reason that it discussed, â€Å"to find the customers, one has to go where the people are and find ways to keep them coming back†. By analyzing the quotation, nowadays many people are using Internet. The proposed system will be where people are to acquire a lot of customers and easily interact with them. In the proposed system the customer also has the privilege to make a blog and share photos so that they can share their Fortune experiences. The researchers provide the blog in finding ways to keep the customer back. The book entitled Fundamentals of Food Service Management (2009) said that, Foodservice is becoming a way of family entertainment and a source of family income for those who are engaged in food service operation. The growing number of people patronizing restaurant, cafeteria and fast food center defends largely on these for their food intake, in schools, for example, many students depend on the school food service for th eir lunch and stocks. As such better and more nutritious foods should be offered in these food services. Based on the book Food Service Management in the Philippines (2009), one of the successful company in the Philippines is the Barrio Fiesta. It is novelty and good taste are the primary reasons that keep Barrio Fiesta afloat in local food business. The restaurant was established in 1960 when Mr. Rod Ongpauco’s recipe on pig’s feet, better known as crispy pata, became sucessful. Being the first to offer the special menu item, customers flocked in and its sales rose from 20 persons per table to 300 persons per table. It is the first to feature the singing cooks and waiters to entertain guests while they are dining. A unique manner of incorporating local customs with foodservice professional setup is considered an excellent marketing strategy. From mentioned that â€Å" the chain restaurants, specially the Barrio Fiesta chain, are sucessful because of aggressive advertising, affordable price s compared to upscale restaurant and availability and accessibility. In this book, the researchers acquired knowledge about the system in restaurant and how to make it successful. One of the important aspects in a restaurant is the food service. The restaurant must have unique strategies in providing service that is why the researchers decided to develop an Online Reservation System for Fortune Seafood Restaurant. In the book Restaurant Service Basics 2nd edition (Sondra J. Dahmer and Kurt W. Kahl, 2008) Restaurant Reservation and Table Management Software has the functionality to track reservation as well as control seating and optimize server performance. It can centralize the dining reservation process, eliminate over bookings, or maximize table utilization with walk-in and wait list functionality. Reservation can be entered and modified guest phone numbers, email, mailing addresses, and preferences ca be captured. Table management software has a display of currently available and occupied tables. This system provides the host with the status of occupied tables and the approximate time when each table will again be open to seating. It can also show reserved and confirmed tables, tables to be joined by more guests in a par ty, tables needing to be cleaned, tables approaching or exceeding assigned departure times, and tables that are not to be utilized. From this information, waiting guests can be quoted realistic wait times, and servers can be given new parties of guests can be quoted realistic wait times, and servers can be given new parties of guests at a manageable pace in their  situations. Guests can even make their own reservation online over the restaurants Web site. The host can then send the guests an email confirming the reservation they made. The researchers included the literature above to know better the processes of different restaurants. The Restaurant Reservation and Table Management Software is very useful and lessens the effort in operating a restaurant. In this review the researchers obtain some ideas of the features that can be adopted for the proposed system. The book Quick Books for the Restaurant (Stephanie Murphy and Alisa Robertson Neunerker, 2010) discuss the importance of the Accounting Process to the Restaurant Manager, it is imperative for successful restaurant operators to understand financial report s, use the information to enable better decisions and take ownership of the financial performance of the operation. Restaurant operators focus on menu items, controlling costs, customer attraction and retention, supplier relationship, and employee relations issues. Each of these challenges, and a restaurant operators response to the, is affected by or has an impact on the financial structure of the business. Menu items drive inventory cost; the restaurant affects the rent or lease expenses of the operation; and turnover drivers recruiting and training costs. Restaurants operators can be overwhelmed by the complexity and details of finance, and as a result they do not give this critical issue the time and attention it deserves and requires. Business operators may focus on things they know best and ignore things with which they are less familiar. An easy to use, accurate, and current set of financial and operational reports form Quick Books will enable a restaurant operator to confidently adopt the universal language of an accounting. It can turn the mystery and overwhelming process of accounting and financial reporting into the most valuable resource for the restaurant. The review above is included by the researchers for the reason that accounti ng in a restaurant is very important and the financial report or transaction must be secured. In the proposed system the researchers make sure that it secures all the transactions especially in reservation. In the book entitled â€Å"How to Improve Dining Room Service†, Richard Saporito stated that for more than 20 years now, he is a restaurant consultant for a variety of profitable establishments. As a noted author and keynote speaker, he helped hundreds of operations around the world ranging from small independent start-ups to large scale corporate  operations with seating capacities of over 1500. In that time, he became part of some extremely successful restaurants, but also witnessed many that struggled unnecessarily. In his experience, the primary factor that separates successful restaurants from those that struggle is the level of service that is provided to the customer. He make sure, the location, menu and marketing play a part, but the most successful restaurants all have one thing in common. They provide customer service which exceeds their customer’s expectations! In the website squidoo.com Just Be Nice (J.B.N) 2009, it is stated that word of mouth is the most effective promotional method. So if your restaurant is nice, the food is good and the wait staffs are friendly and efficient, people will tell their friends. And their friends will tell their friends a nd the list goes on and on. The most effective way is on special occasion like birthdays, anniversaries and so on. According to the book entitled â€Å"A Modern Approach to Restaurant Profitability† by Lloyd M. Gordon, The Restaurant Industry is still growing in gross revenue for the twelfth straight year; first reason is that the numbers of operating facilities are increasing annually. Another factor is that each restaurant enterprise is succeeding in upgrading its revenues from the previous year. As a part of this Industry trend, you are shown how to receive your healthy share of the Industry’s rewards as you become alert to serving and satisfying patrons with the foods, beverages, service, ambiance, and hospitality they require. The researchers include the reviews to be familiarized with some restaurant techniques in terms of serving people. The company must provide customer services which go beyond their customers’ expectations, satisfying customers, and must have effective promotional method. The following studies are written work and concepts adopted by the researchers. These reviews will also help acquaint the readers with the details of arrangement among the previous studies, as well the relation of each to the present study. A study entitled â€Å"Philippines Empowers Guests through Direct Online Reservation via Own Website in Egi Club in Cebu†, reserving rooms at EGI Club in Mactan Island has just been made easier and more convenient with an  innovative booking system that was recently launched on the resort’s website (http://www.egiclubceburesort.com).EGI Club Cebu Resort’s new reservation system shows potential guests two weeks’ worth of real-time room availability matched with the lowest possible rates. This feature allows selection of accommodations based on tastes, and more importantly, budget. A 10% deposit payment, which is deducted from the total room charge, ensures the availability of the chosen room type upon the guest’s arrival at the hotel. An automatic e-mail is immediately sent after the transaction to serve as confirmation. For clarifications and concerns, a reliable customer service team is ready to address reservation issues, including modification of bookings.EGI Club Cebu Resort can be found in Lapu-Lapu City, which is a first class highly-urbanized city in the province of Cebu. The resort hotel is well known for its hospitality and high customer satisfaction brought about by its dedicated hotel staff. It is the perfect getaway because of its myriad of amenities that offer relaxation and rejuvenation. Guests may choose from a total of 120 guest rooms, which all have Internet access and comes with a double bed, IDD phone, mini-bar, and refrigerator. For sports enthusiasts, beach volleyball, jet skiing, diving and other water sports may be enjoyed at Mactan Beach. The company, through its innovative technology, helps accommodation providers maximize the business potential and performance of their websites. In the study entitled â€Å"An Online Hotel Reservation of Palazzo de Laoag† conducted by Rajzle G. Ingles of St. Paul University, Tuguegarao City, a system that will help the hotel to automatically make a reservation online is developed. The system is shown superiority in the aspects of usefulness and functionality for the following reasons: the design has been tailored-made according to the identified needs of the personnel; among its standard features are used of access keys and shortcuts that endow the system with an ease of handling and user-friendliness; structured rather than hard-coded programming was used; the system boast of error-free that can be relief to effectively handle and process data and generate reports for the customers and personnel’s. The graphical user interface is both appealing and friendly. There is a unity and consistency in the grouping of functions and objects. A screen design simulates windows application and  overall is pleasant and shows the virtue of taste in special effects. Benefiting the staff and personnel of Palazzo de Laoag Hotel as a whole, it also stands to benefits the customers who take reservations. Reservation was simplified and personnel and customer do not have to work hard for making the reservation. Repetitive routines are eliminated and customers do not have to go to the hotel. There is no question as to the acceptability of the system. For one, Palazzo de Laoag Hotel has long depended on the manual system in its reservation routines. This system offers superior alternative that makes for ease, efficiency as well accuracy. Bayani et al. (2011) in a study Computerized Table Reservation and Billing System for Kenny Rogers’s Roasters SM Pampanga discussed that the purpose of their study is to provide more efficient and helpful process of reservation and billing for Kenny Rogers’s Roasters SM Pampanga branch. This system concerning computation of bills can help KRR to easily compute bills for their customers in just a few minutes rather that computing it manually. It is easy to use because it will not require manual counting of the number of tables occupied or reserved. It can generate reports of the previous bills and customer information. The system will provide the manager of Kenny Rogers Roasters the authority to see the complete records of their customers and what they availed. It has a search feature integrated to make the process of checking faster and to check if a customer has an existing account. The study covers the development of a table reservation and billing system for Kenny Ro gers Roasters SM City Pampanga. The system of table reservation and billing is composed of two users the guest and administrator. The administrator account has the privilege of verifying, accepting or rejecting and saving the records of the customers. The employee with this type of account is the manager. Reservation through phone call will not be acceptable if the customer is not regular customer, the customer should be a member or it has an existing account. The system will prompt the user when and what time is the arrival of their customer and what table has been booked A 2011 study by Angeles et al. which is a Computer Based System for Function Hall and Catering Reservation for St. Paul Reception Garden is concerned primarily with the process of function hall and catering reservation through computer, recording of data and providing the billing  statement for the clients. This study will provide security of data through the use of username and password and can only be operated by the legal employees. Using the system will only take a few clicks to add, save, edit and retrieve the client’s information and show the billing statement afterwards. The study can also print receipts and quotations. It is also monitors the re servation of the customer by the use of sorting by date. At the end of the reservation transaction, the system provides an official receipt for the customer. The system does not support any discount cards or any credit cards. An Online Reservation System for Cattleya Garden Villas study conducted by Alfonso (2012) is a system that provides an effective online reservation system that will benefit the Cattleya Garden Villas employees and customers, educationally, economically and technologically. The study will greatly help the owner and employees, to make the procedure more streamline thus creating a hassle free and time efficient reservation process. The website will also boost online presence of Cattleya Garden Villas, making its marketing grasp larger network that what it is now.It aims to improve the Villa’s relationship to its customer by means of having a system which is more focus on their reservation needs. The system’s importance, effectiveness and speed of the processing to accommodate the customer request will save time. It will give more opportunity to serve other customers through the help of the system the clients and employees can easily interact with each other. Through the use of the system, Cattleya Garden Villas will save much time, effort and resources such as papers, registration form and portfolios in processing guest’s reservations. It will provide a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) that will handle the customer inquiry and manage the 24/7 operations. The system administrator can add, edit or change username and password and his personal information. The administrator is the one responsible for adding of new rooms, changing the room status, updating room availability and approval or cancellation of reservations. The various studies above are included by the researchers for the reason that the studies will help in identifying the requirements in the proposed system. The researchers can alter the system by comparing it to the previous study and can adopt similar features that will fit in the needs of the Fortune Seafood Restaurant. According to an article entitled â€Å"Learn How to Build a Profitable Business Online†, Mr. Ken Hubener, the writer of the  article said that â€Å"starting and operating an internet business is surprisingly similar to operating any other business. Good business practices, like building the confidence of customers through truthful advertising, providing products and services at a fair price, and developing long-term business relationships are as applicable to the Internet business as they are to any other businesses†. An increasing number are building their own websites to allow them to market their business and it has been very effective and successful to use Internet as their source of income with businesses and to try to go where the people are. The researchers include this study to differentiate an d distinguish that there is more effective way in promoting the company. The manual process of advertising the Fortune Restaurant is only in fliers and tarpaulin that is why the researchers will develop an online system to promote it on the web. In the article entitled â€Å"Online Hotel Reservation on Kerala Tourism Website, a Big Hit†, the 1888 PressRelease said that â€Å"The online accommodation reservation system offers travelers a wide range of choices from five-star hotels to home stays in remote corners of the State. With this facility, rooms can be booked online any time by visiting www.keralatourism.org. The booking can be done by using major credit cards, debit cards, net banking and other facilities like Pay Pal. The specialty of the online reservation platform is that the payment made for reservation goes directly to the account of the property owner.† Based in the article entitled, â€Å"The Suites Niagara Falls† it requested assistance for new hotel website which will launch the site within days to high exposure in the top search engines. Consequently, the management was extremely pleased and requested details of other services. They spoke their challenge managing inventory and reservations, in tracking campaigns and in promoting to past guest. Today, the embassy Suites Niagara Falls provides online reservations, reservation tracking and mass mailing services. These three key services arouse from the development of three products that have been designed to complement each othe r to meet the online goals of compatible tourism entities. It has two parts: the admin (back-end) area where staff controls rates, availability packages and the public (front-end) area where content is projected and reservations are made. In admin dashboard screens, staffs have ability to create and control room types, rates, availability, taxes, automated messages, packages and reservation  enhancers. Whether a regular room booking or package selection, the system displays content from the admin area in real-time, enabling guests to book rooms with ease. At the time of a reservation, the system takes the guest through the booking process: selection of room type, package costs and details, contact and payment information. After all details are stored in, for processing, dual confirmation/notification messages are sent to both guests and hotel staff. According to a Corporate Reservation System (CRS) an independent agency that books approximately 100,000 hotels room each year on behalf of its corporate clients. CRS pre-negotiates special rates with some 15,000 hotels worldwide, offers these discontented rates to their clients than organizes all the bookings and the paperwork. CRS do not change for this service but ins tead receives a commission from the hotels. In addition to accommodation they also organize conferences and special events. CRS was using an old DOS FoxPro system to take bookings. This performed well in the past is now creaking at the seams and needs to be replaced with a new Windows system designed to handle the increased needs of the now larger and more sophisticated organization. The overall brief was to develop a more efficient Windows based replacement to take hotel bookings, conference bookings and to organize special events. The article â€Å"A Study of Airlines’ Online Reservation Services†, stated reports on a study about examining airlines’ Web-based online reservation services. Thirty airlines from three regions (North America, Europe and Middle East, and Asia and Australia) were assessed to determine whether there were any significant differences between the three regions, in terms of the Web site attributes and services provided to travelers. In this research, the attributes selected for examination included (1) components of online reservation services, (2) provision of extra benefits, (3) factors affecting reservation time, and (4) provision of additional services/facilities. Empirical results indicated that some airlines did not provide all components in the chosen attributes and that airlines in these three regions differed significantly in certain dimensions of the chosen attributes. In particular, airlines in North America were found to have the most comprehensive Web-based reservation services. The studies are included by the researchers to have more knowledge about different online reservation systems and prove that online reservation is very effective. Having websites will allow marketing of the business online  and it has been very valuable and successful to use Internet as a source of income with businesses.

How Ethnicity Affects Nigerian Politics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

How Ethnicity Affects Nigerian Politics - Essay Example How Ethnicity Affects Nigerian Politics Many communities viewed political power as the sole tool for correcting social and economic evils perpetrated by the colonial government and governments formed after independence. Furthermore, there is a psychological link between specific ethnic tribes and political parties in Africa. This is more so for Nigeria, which has hundreds of ethnic groups, all viewing political machinery as the only way of correcting acts of deprivation and discrimination by the state. From a historical point of view, the current prevalence of ethnic politics in Nigeria was propagated by the British colonial rule as a strategic technique (divide and conquer) to conquer the nation. The British deliberately adopted the divide and conquer technique in order to segregate the tribes of Nigeria further, to prevent them from joining together and fighting against a common enemy. The British rewarded the tribes that collaborated with their direct rule by appointing local chiefs, who had a little autonomy over the region they were situated. However, the autonomy was not complete as they still answered to the British political hierarchy. On the other hand, for those tribes that resisted colonial rule, they were treated harshly and discriminated against, evidenced by the implementation of forced labour, corporal punishment and imposition of very high taxes aimed at impoverishing the locals and forcing them to concede and submit to British rule.

Vincent Van Gogh and Andy Warhol Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Vincent Van Gogh and Andy Warhol - Essay Example The paper "Vincent Van Gogh and Andy Warhol" compares the artworks of the two artists, Vincent Van Gogh and Andy Warhol. Andy Warhol was charmed to popularity and became one of the significant figures to pop art in the United States, in which he uses manufactured materials as his source for creating exceptional artworks. Despite their individual approaches and influences to art, both have the passion in painting as the primary and fundamental medium in doing their artworks. However, Andy Warhol gained popularity in the art, advertisement, and entertainment industries because of his usage to different mediums in creating artworks, such as filmmaking, carving, sketching, cartooning, and photography. In contrast to Vincent van Gogh, he was more on the usage of different methods of painting in order to capture a fleeting result of hue, value, and intensity within his artwork. However, his approach was criticized by other artists because he neglected the importance of outlining the partic ulars and carried on directly to putting of colors in his paintings. In addition, Warhol and van Gogh have their similar way of presenting their artworks, but they differ on the techniques being used. For example, van Gogh’s famous painting is the â€Å"Starry Night,† which portrays stars illuminating the city at night. In this artwork, van Gogh painted the lines in a horizontally calm direction, but with a texture that seems to be crude in a manner to present a foreground and background structure for the viewers.

Leadership style and theories Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Leadership style and theories - Essay Example When what needs to be accomplished is clear, it is more likely that it will be communicated to the other employees. I also determine which tasks would be best to particular employees as I understand my juniors very well. There is always a need to match responsibilities to the strengths of every person. Giving person roles that are new to him/her will be a recipe for chaos. As a leader, I must ensure that I give individuals projects that they will be more enthusiastic to do. Many modern-day organizations use participatory leadership as their management style. Delegating leadership style relates to participatory leadership because decisions are made with the participation of people affected by the decisions. Just like delegating leadership style, participatory leadership style adds a democratic dimension in leadership. Participative leadership ensures that it consults other people, especially the employees in the process of making decisions. Although participative leaders may eventuall y make decisions on their own, consulting other people demonstrates consideration and respect for other people. This approach of leadership is appreciated by followers who reciprocate by showing their loyalty and commitment. Just like delegating leadership style, participative leadership leads to the development of employees and builds support for the vision of the organization. Participative leaders empower other people to make decisions and take actions that are within defined boundaries. I believe that all leaders are made, not born.

Young Goodman Brown Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Young Goodman Brown - Essay Example He decides to go on this journey in the middle of the night through a forest. His wife urges him not to go alone because she knew that something suspicious was going on but he wanted to discover the truth even though he feared his own actions. It was clear that he was having second thoughts about his journey as he says, â€Å"†¦. Methought as she spoke there was trouble in her face, as if a dream had warned her what work is to be done tonight. But no, no; 't would kill her to think it† (Young Goodman Brown, Web). His willingness to go on this journey shows his desire of finding out answers about his life as well as Puritan beliefs. After meeting his fellow traveler who asked him about being late, Goodman replies by saying, â€Å"Faith kept me back a while," (Young Goodman Brown, Web). By faith, Goodman either meant his wife or even his belief and faith in God which required him not to go on this journey. In the story of Young Goodman Brown, the character of Goodman Brown is driven by his own desire of discovering the truth about his fellow members of the Puritan community. The setting of this story is such that Goodman starts imagining fear and evil everywhere along his route in the forest. He says, â€Å"There may be a devilish Indian behind every tree†¦

Child Care in Colleges are Essential Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Child Care in Colleges are Essential - Essay Example That these women are in school should not be a hindrance to their desires. Universities and other colleges could support their student-parents through a number of ways. One is funding. These could be through opening college-based day care centers on site in campuses. These should be operating during convenient hours to ensure all student-parents manage to go to class without worrying about their children. Some universities and colleges receive grants to help run day care centers for student parents within their colleges. This is a move in a positive direction in a bid to increase the number of students who continue with their studies after giving birth while still pursuing their degree courses. Life is difficult enough for student parents, hence the importance of affordable and flexible day care programs to help alleviate their problems. Furthermore, to put the minds of these parents at ease, these day- care programs should be accredited by relevant bodies to ensure that the children are not only safe, but also well taken care of. The curriculum for such programs should also be at par with state and national standards, to ensure that the children are being taken care of the same way other children in non-campus day care centers are. Funding is an important aspect in ensuring success of day care programs in colleges and universities. Funding can come in form of grants from government agencies for children or education through lobbying by the universities and colleges administrations (U.S. Department of Education 1-2). Funding can also come directly from the university or college administration itself. Funding is imperative in the running of day care centers for student parents in colleges since most of these do not have steady or well paying jobs that could afford them more expensive day care programs. The funding cold go towards building or renovating unused campus buildings to convert them into day care centers, materials and labor required to do this, furnish ing the day care centers and paying the people who will be involved in the day to day running of the day care centers. The student parents could be asked to chip in a little money, though not too much, in order to ensure they partake in the running and maintenance of the day care centers, and that it is not free. Given the fact that most student parents face more challenges and responsibilities than students who are not parents, the former are most likely to perform dismally in their studies (Price 3-6). Furthermore, the stress that comes with raising a child, studying and probably working part time may take a toll on these parents, especially if they are single parents. With this kind of background, student parents are likely to drop out of school to take care of their children. This has an adverse effect of the economic and social well being of the parent and child. Second to funding is flexibility of the day care programs. It is pointless to start day care centers in colleges and universities that operate between times that interfere with the student parents’ academics (Anderson and Dektar 6-8). Day care centers that are closed too early or open too late means that parents have to skip classes while they wait for the day care cent

English is seen by some as 'the global language'. Discuss with Essay

English is seen by some as 'the global language'. Discuss with reference to some of the domains in which English is gaining mos - Essay Example In order to do this, the countries force learning English through their educational system seeing to it that people master the language to decent extent. In case the countries, which adopt certain language as their ‘second language’, are influential enough in the world arena, it could be considered to be a global one. Why do we need a global language? The reason for some kind of international means of human negotiations is quite obvious: people from different countries need to have certain tool in order to communicate, understand and get on with each other concerning some mutual issues. In modern world, where exists a huge amount of languages, it is not possible to solve the problem through bilingualism and trilingualism and, thus, some commonly accepted and understood language is obviously needed. Such language is usually called lingua franca, and implies some simple rules application, so people would not meet a lot of difficulties when learning it. In these terms, a no tion of pidgin arises, which means that common language is drawn towards simplification and combines features from various languages (Todd, 1984). Furthermore, using common language is quite favorable in that sense that this practice significantly reduces costs for translation and interpretation work. Such international establishments as World Bank, UNESCO, the World Health Organization, and UNICEF spend a great part of their budget for removing all the discrepancies in their communication concerning diverse languages usage. Different business and scientific communities also favor from common language adoption as this would ease their exchange of experience essentially. Reasons why English is the global language There are a lot of factors, which forced English to be the global language and in order to analyze them we separate all the reasons into three main groups: geographical-historical, socio-cultural, and linguistic reasons. Geographical-historical reasons Geographical-historica l reasons are closely connected to English expansion through America, Asia, Africa, Australia and the whole South Pacific region, when English colonies were established in these areas. Specifically, English language came to British Isles from northern Europe in 5th century and rapidly widespread nearby areas of Scotland, Cornwall, Wales, and Cumbria. Further significant expansions of English occurred just at the end of 16th century, when English settlements were established in Virginia and New England. Active population movements within American continent led to English assimilation of new territories in the area of the Great Lakes, Texas, and California. Further, waves of immigrants moved to Canada and gradually expanded to the Caribbean islands and South Africa in 17th century, Australia and New Zealand at the end of 18th century (Kachru, 1988). Such powerful expansion led to presence of English an all parts of the world including St. Helena island in Atlantic region, Seychelles i n Indian region, the islands Hawaii and Fiji in Pacific region. Socio-cultural reasons Socio-cultural reasons are closely associated with dependence of various areas on English in terms of social and cultural development. A huge amount of world broadcasting programs are conducted in English, when you travel you always meet advertisements and signs written in English, if you

Successful Athlete Essay Example for Free

Successful Athlete Essay Vince Lombardi says â€Å"the price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand and the determination that whether we win or lost we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand.† A dedicated athlete puts forth their all by fully devoting themselves to their sport. They always try to give one hundred and ten percent before during and after practice. Athlete achieves their success knowing they worked hard to attain it and can truly say they accomplished something that makes them a better person. For instance basketball sensation LeBron James keeps striving to improve. Branded the next Michael Jordan when he was in high school and drafted by the Cleveland cavaliers LeBron James kept his cool and kept working hard. He emerged an all-star and leader the cavaliers to the NBA playoffs three years in a row and made it to the NBA finals in 2007 against the San Antonio spurs. However the cavaliers lost their championship bid in four consecutive games. James continued to help the cavaliers improve in 2008 the team made it to the semifinals where they defeated by the Boston Celtics in seven games. Struggling for an NBA championship, shortly after becoming a free agent, however James announced that he would be joining the Miami heat. Many of his fans consider hid departure a betrayal to his hometown. James finishes second in the league during his first season with the heat. The 2011-2012 seasons also saw major success for James and the Miami heat. Winning his first NBA championship defeating the Oklahoma City thunder. Throughout his NBA career, LeBron James has been considered one of the best player in the league, and has been compared to basketball great Michael Jordan.

Analysis of Tescos Corporate Governance and Responsibility

Analysis of Tescos Corporate Governance and Responsibility 1.0 INRODUCTION 1.1 Overview of the project Corporate governance and Corporate Responsibility have gained an increasing amount of importance over the last decade due to some of the worlds greatest corporate scandals that have been taking place. These scandals have not been happening to the under developed or developing economies, which have a high rate of corruption, but instead have been taking place in the developed countries, which supposedly have had various safeguards to protect the interests of all the stakeholders. Following the collapse of major multi-nationals such as the Maxwell Empire in the UK, Enron in the United States and Parmalat in Italy to name just a few, findings of fraud, dishonesty, irregular accounting and too much power held by one individual soon came to light. As a result, people and investors have lost the trust they placed in the financial markets and the big corporations to safeguard their assets and interests. The loss in confidence has seen big drops in the stock markets around the world and should the trend continues, the whole world economy would collapse which would lead to devastating consequences. As a result of those alarming situations, governments around the globe have devised frameworks of good corporate governance and passed on various laws, rules and regulations to hold companies responsible for their own actions, known as Corporate Governance and Responsibility in order to ensure that such scandals are not repeated in the future. The main corporate governance frameworks include the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Developments (OECD) principles, the UK revised Combined Code (2003) and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in the United States. Some of these are legally binding, such as the one in the United States while others operate on a comply or explain basis. This project will place more emphasis on the governance framework in the UK, namely the revised Combined Code, though I will make brief analyses of other reports and frameworks. Why I chose this particular topic area is for many reasons. Firstly, I believe that there is still scope to improve corporate governance worldwide and hence, wished to learn more about it. Secondly, despite the fact that corporate governance and corporate responsibility have become increasingly important in todays world and that companies have to adhere to the rules or principles, reports of fraud and bad management are still emerging in the developed economies, which lead to the collapse or nationalisation of various organisations. Well known examples in the UK include the nationalisation of Northern Rock bank and the government pumping in money into its various other banks, including Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland among others. It therefore begs the question about the credibility of the corporate governa nce framework. In addition, as a business student, it is now imperative to have a good understanding of the subject and as a taxpayer and citizen, I am both directly and indirectly affected by corporate behaviour. 1.2 The Organisation in question This thesis revolves around Tesco plc, one of the worlds leading retailers. Opened in 1919 by founder Jack Cohen, his first days sales were  £4 with a profit of  £1. By 1947, the company floated on the stock exchange with a share price of 25p and by 1979, its annual sales has reached  £1 billion. In 1983, Tesco Stores (Holdings) Ltd becomes Tesco PLC. Nowadays, the company has entered various other markets including the USA, China, Korea and many other European countries. It has also diversified into other industries, including financial services and is currently making profits in excess of  £2 billion. It is the UKs biggest supermarket in terms of turnover with 2,115 UK stores and employing 280, 373 staff in the UK alone (Tesco annual report 2008) .Such an organisation has been chosen for various reasons, namely because: It is a listed company, and hence according to the London Stock Exchange rules, it needs to adhere to the principles of the UK Combined Code on Corporate Governance on a Comply or Explain basis. Therefore, I will be able to determine whether such a big company is really being a good corporate citizen. Most of the data that I will need to conduct my research is readily accessible through its website, including its financial statements and annual reports. Data on similar organisations, such as Sainsburys plc is also readily accessible, which would prove to be very useful for comparison purposes. This would help me to make an analysis on how those two similar organisations are complying with the UK combined code on corporate Governance and whether the departure from for example a specific code is usual for these companies or ot. Tesco plc has a very large number of stakeholders and hence it is interesting to find out how the company is working towards fulfilling its responsibility towards them. In other words, how it is being corporately responsible, especially how it is dealing with the principal-agent problem. In addition, according to the companys annual report, Tesco follows a diversification strategy, laid down over 10 years ago and which has been the foundation of its enormous success in recent years. Due to the companys size, Tesco has segmented itself into 5 main areas: CORE UK COMMUNITY NON FOOD RETAILING SERVICES INTERNATIONAL The UK is its biggest market and the core of the business. The main aim here is to provide its customers with excellent value and choice. As well as deriving high shareholder value, the company also tries to be a corporate citizen. In addition to its annual report, the company also publishes a Corporate Responsibility report to show that it is a responsible business. Over the past decade, the company diversified into the non-food market whereby it offers a range of products, from laptops to mobile phones, etcThe aim here is to be as strong in food as in non-food, competing on price and value. Following its success into the non-food market, the company went into retailing services, offering financial services to its customers. Again here, this sector has proven to be profitable for the company. Nowadays, Tesco is not only operating in the UK but also in most European countries as well as in the US and Asia. The company has been expanding very quickly and is the number 1 retailer in Thailand today! As can be seen, Tesco has followed through a diversification strategy throughout the last decade, expanding not only into other markets but into other industries as well. Considering that diversification is quite a risky strategy, the company has been performing exceptionally well, defying the current credit crunch to record profits of over 2 billion pounds! Such a big and successful company provides us with ample opportunities to assess whether there are any irregularities in its reports, ie, whether there is good governance or not! 1.3 Research Questions The dissertation is mainly an analytical one, in that an analysis on the companys corporate governance and its corporate responsibility report will be performed. The main objective is to determine whether the company is behaving responsibly, by complying with all the provisions of the code and how is it discharging its duties towards its stakeholders. The main questions that will therefore be investigated are the following: Has Tesco complied in all respect with the principles of Corporate Governance and if not, why has it departed from a particular provision? Is there a link between its Corporate Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility and its financial position? Is the company projecting an image of a good corporate citizen? The above will form the main research questions though I will also be looking at various other aspects briefly such as: Variety of directors at the organisation. The difficulty in finding the right people with the right skills for the company. The role of Tescos audit committee, including independence issues. Public relations regarding the effect on the company if seems to flout regulations. The companys budget towards fulfilling its corporate responsibility How the company is working towards being eco-friendly Whether the company provides proper adequate training, pension provisions, etc 1.4 Overall Research Approach The starting point for the thesis indulges firstly into a broad explanation of both corporate governance and corporate responsibility. We will look at various definitions from a few sources in order to provide the reader with an understanding of the subject. Good corporate governance is incorporated into many reports. The main ones that will be the focus of the dissertation are notably the Cadbury report, Hambel report, Greenbury report, Higgs report, Smith report and the Turnbull Committee. The main points of the UK Combined Code (revised July 2003) will be discussed in a bit more detail, since it will form the basis of our first topic of interest of the project. In addition, the London Stock Exchange now requires all its listed companies to comply with the above code, which includes Tesco. As such, the first project objective will be achieved, whereby we can make an analysis whether Tesco has complied fully with the code or not. Whether there is a link between Tescos governance system and its financial performance will be the second part of the project. An analysis of the companys financial statements will be performed to assess its financial performance using various accounting techniques, such as ratio analysis, industry, competitor and international comparisons. Other items, such as share price movements, off balance sheet finance, creative accounting and conflicts of interests between management and shareholders will also be looked at to ensure that the figures provided in the financial statements are not misleading, especially to both current and potential investors. The impact of Tescos corporate governance system on its various stakeholders will form the next point. The main stakeholders that will be investigated here will be: Shareholders Employees Suppliers Customers Loan provider Government Public Each of the above points will be explored in details and an assessment on stakeholders conflicts of interests will be discussed briefly if there are any. Next on the agenda will be the topic of Corporate Responsibility. I will be making an analysis to determine how well Tesco is taking the responsibility to consider the interests of customers, employees, shareholders, society and the environment in its operational activities. Lastly, the thesis will focus on any criticisms and possible recommendations on the organisations corporate governance system and on its corporate social responsibility. 2.0 Information gathering Gathering information and data effectively is key to achieving a good project. A great deal of research is needed and very often there might be data overload. When too much data is collected, it sometimes becomes very difficult to analyse and interpret them properly which may be problematic in doing well in the thesis. On the other hand, not collecting enough data may lead to the wrong conclusion, thus rendering the thesis useless or even misleading. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that one must collect information properly and effectively in order to avoid wasting time and sometimes even money. We should always bear in mind that the data that needs to be collected should be sufficient so as to achieve the research objectives. 2.1 Sources of information There are two types of data, mainly primary and secondary data. Primary data is data that is unique to the researcher, and that is unavailable anywhere else. There are different methods of collecting such types of data. The main ones though are: Survey Questionnaires Observation and Interviews Primary data is often very valuable since it is unavailable anywhere else. However, collecting it is very time consuming and costly. In addition to that, one must always ensure that a proper margin of error is selected and that a good sample size is chosen. Otherwise, all the benefits of primary data will be lost. As can be seen, though valuable, it is often very time consuming and costly. Secondary data, as the name suggests, is data that is not unique. It is data that already exists somewhere else. Secondary data is data that has already been collected and collated by somebody for some reason other than the current study. It can be used to get a new perspective on the current study, to supplement or compare the work or to use parts of it, as another study may prove costly and time consuming e.g. the census. Secondary data can further be divided into two parts, namely qualitative and quantitative. Qualitative data includes biographies, personal letters, diaries, records, documents, published material, computer database, policy statements, etc. Quantitative data would have market research, census, and Economic documents, planning documents or specimens. The list is endless and once the type of secondary data is identified, it becomes easy to locate the source. The following is a list of where data has been collected and scrutinised for the purpose of the thesis: 2.1.1 Textbooks Textbooks have always been a major source of information. In fact, due to the increased importance of corporate governance, corporate responsibility and responsibility accounting, many textbooks have attempted to explain the concept of those topics and their relevance of in todays financial world. In todays accounting profession, it is now recommended that all accountants be familiar with corporate governance and especially ethics. This is mainly due to those scandals such as Enron which shook the whole financial world. It has been one of the most talked topics in the recent decade regarding the top CFOs and CEOs integrity! I found the texts regarding corporate governance and corporate responsibility to be well documented, which has been quite useful in analysing the topics in question. I made use of several textbooks, including many accounting ones. The main one I have used for my research is the BPP textbook for the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants P1, Professional Accountant. The textbook has provided me with a great insight about ethics and corporate governance and has helped a lot in preparing for this analysis. In addition, I also found the Heriot-Watt University MBA textbook regarding corporate governance to be extremely useful. This has helped me to understand from scratch why corporate governance is so important! The MBA textbook goes into much more details on the subject which really broadened my knowledge and provided me an insight from the barriers to improvement on governance systems to the various policy responses. The benefits of using textbooks are that they contained a great deal of literature on the issue of corporate governance, which not only helped me in achieving some of my aims for my project but also opened my eyes on the effects it has on each and every one of us. Unfortunately, textbooks have some drawbacks as well. Firstly, one needs to get the right texts for a particular research topic, which can take a lot of time. Next, there is a lot of reading to do, and if time is a constraint, this can pose a serious problem. In addition, although one may get the right books, one also has to make sure that they are the latest editions, since they tend to contain updated data and information. 2.1.2 Professional magazines Professional magazines are another great source of information. As a regular subscriber to the economist, needless to say that they have been of tremendous help to my thesis. From an economic point of view, I understood how corporate governance impacts on everyones life, no matter where you are or whichever country you are working in. The Enron scandal for example did not only affect its employees and the United States citizens but everyone else in the world. Now one may asks oneself how do i get affected if i live in Nepal for example. The answer to that I understood it by reading the economist! When Enron collapsed, first of all, the employees and shareholders and whoever were directly connected were the first to suffer. But Enron was a major global player in the financial markets, which sent shockwaves across the whole world, meaning we were all impacted by their actions! It is therefore no wonder that legislations such as the Sarbanes-Oxley were quickly brought into force in the United States. A lot of other countries also brought in their own codes of best practice on corporate governance and responsibility accounting. All this knowledge, I gained from those professional magazines, which are a great way of keeping up to date. Other magazines that have been useful in my research include the various accountancy magazines, such as Student Accountant which i receive regularly, since I am also an accountancy student from the association of chartered certified accountants. 2.1.3 Library I visited various libraries in order to be able to collect as much information as possible for my research. There is a local library where I live and this helped a lot. I needed to find journal articles and specific books for corporate governance and corporate responsibility. However, the problem I encountered at the library is that there were far too many books for me to choose from and that was very time consuming. I had no other option but to seek help from the librarians, who were most eager to help. I spent a really long-time reading and summarising all the information that I believe would be useful to me. A big drawback was that there were a lot of outdated information which was very frustrating. However libraries are a great source to get information from and they have been most useful to me. 2.1.4 The internet The internet nowadays is one of the most indispensable tools for information gathering. It is an integral part on everyones life and without it, mankind would be kind of lost! The big advantage of using the internet is the speed at which a large amount of data can be accessed. For that reason, it had been one of my principal sources of information. The information is mostly free and it is easily accessible. Though some websites require a payment to get the information provided, most were free of charge. Most of the information regarding this thesis has been accessed from the internet. As with every good thing, the internet has its drawbacks as well. First, one needs to make sure that by accessing information for our own use, we should make sure that we are not infringing anyones copyright. We also have to be very careful due to the spread of viruses which can damage ones computer and stealing our private information. In any case, the internet remains one of the most powerful tool to gather information. 2.1.5 Tesco plc annual report (2008) The companys annual reports were easily accessible from the website and provided me with a wealth of information in regards to corporate governance and corporate responsibility. I managed to even get a 5 year summary of the companys financial statements which has helped me to draw out a lot of conclusions regarding performance. However, as one would expect, the report portrayed Tesco as a good citizen which does everything ethically. I could not therefore rely a hundred percent on everything the report said about. 3.0 Ethical Issues As in any thesis, ethics play a very important role. Therefore, one needs to make sure to being completely ethical whenever gathering information and using them for ones purpose. 3.1.1 Information gathering Bias and Balance: Recognizing biased information, looking for balanced views, exploring opposing views, recognizing commercial interests in published information. Fact or Opinion: Recognizing factual information, looking for evidence of factual truth, recognizing and valuing opinion. Knowledge Gaps: Identifying missing information, locating missing information, stating research methodologies so that others can search further. 3.1.2 Information Evaluation Accuracy: Is the information accurate when checked against other sources? How reliable and error-free is the information? Authority: Does the information source qualify as an expert? Is the source rightly expected to know the facts and specifics? Are the qualifications of the author/speaker clearly stated? Is the author/speaker affiliated with an institution or organization? Is there contact information available for the author of a written document? Content: What is the purpose of the information, i.e. to inform, convince, or sell? What does it contribute to your understanding of the issues? Who is the intended audience based on content, tone, and style? What is the overall value of the content compared to other resources on the topic? Coverage: Does the information cover the subject adequately? Are there inexplicable omissions? Currency: Is the publication date clearly stated? When was the information last revised? Is it maintained and updated regularly? Are the links on a web page up-to-date and useable? Documentation: Are you certain the information is based on more than hearsay? Does the author explain where the information was obtained? Does the web page or article contain a bibliography or list of sources used? 3.1.3 Information Use Fair Use of Information: Copyright law allows limited copying for educational and archival purposes, but does limit even that to no more than 10% of a work, among other restrictions. Proper Citation: Complete citations of sources used is the most important issue, attributing information to its true author, and including enough information for another to locate the source. The ethical issues above (3.1.1 3.1.3) were compiled by H. Heller-Ross, Plattsburgh State University. They have been included in this thesis to help readers take a grasp on the various ethical issues which may impact upon ones research. 4.0 Results and Analysis Corporate Governance 4.1 Corporate Governance Corporate governance is the system by which organisations are directed and controlled. (Cadbury A. 1992) Corporate governance is a set of relationships between a companys directors, its shareholders and other stakeholders. It also provides the structure through which the objectives of the company are set, and the means of achieving those objectives and monitoring performance are determined. (Johnston D. J OECD Secretary General) Corporate governance, the system by which organisations are directed and controlled, is based on a number of concepts including transparency, independence, accountability and integrity. (BPP, P1 2007) Corporate governance is the system by which companies are directed and controlled. It deals largely with the relationship between the constituent parts of a company the directors, the board (and its sub-committees) and the shareholders. Transparency and accountability are the most important elements of good corporate governance. This includes: the timely provision by companies of good quality information; a clear and credible company decision-making process; Shareholders giving proper consideration to the information provided and making considered judgements. The corporate governance framework in the UK operates at a number of levels: through legislation particularly the Companies Act; Through regulation and in particular for listed companies through the listing rules, which are the responsibilities of theFinancial Services Authority. Through the Combined Code which is the responsibility of the Financial Reporting Council. It contains general principles and more detailed provisions relating to the corporate governance of listed companies. It is appended to the FSAs Listing Rules, which require these companies, in their annual report and accounts to, (i) report on how they apply the principles, and (ii) confirm that they comply with the Codes provisions or, where they do not, provide an explanation: hence the comply or explain principle which, if applied effectively, underpins informed dialogue between directors and shareholders. contains general principles. (http://www.berr.gov.uk/whatwedo/businesslaw/corp-governance/page15267.html) What the above definitions are about is that organisations should be managed in the best interest of everyone connected. In other words, directors should not forget that they are the agents of the companies they manage and they have a responsibility towards the various stakeholders. Therefore, they should act with integrity and honesty and should not just be concerned with filling their own pockets. The principal agent problem consists of trust and risk. (Lee, A.T. 2006). This trust may be breached by the agents by pursuing their own interest or through negligence and fraud. History is witness to this abuse, which has resulted in shareholders losing their investments and employees losing their jobs with no fault of theirs. As a consequence, stakeholders now want reassurance that such scandals are not repeated, resulting in corporate governance frameworks around the world. The success of a company based on the principal-agent relationship is dependent on the effectiveness of its corporate governance particularly the competence and independence of its board of directors and various subcommittees. (Lee, A.T. 2006) 4.2 Various Corporate Governance Reports The various scandals around the financial world prompted governments to review corporate governance, especially about those companies that are listed in the stock markets. This lead to a wide range of corporate governance reports being written by scholars around the world. The main ones in the UK are listed below, with a brief explanation about it. 4.2.1 The Cadbury report The Cadbury Report, titled Financial Aspects of Corporate Governance, is a report of a committee chaired by Adrian Cadbury that sets out recommendations on the arrangement of company boards and accounting systems to mitigate corporate governance risks and failures. The report was published in 1992. The reports recommendations have been adopted in varying degree by the European Union, the United States, the World Bank, and others. 4.2.2 The Greenbury Report The Greenbury report was issued in 1995 by a committee under the chairmanship of Sir Richard Greenbury that developed a number of recommendations of the Cadbury Report on directors remuneration. It stressed the importance of a remuneration committee of non executive directors , the provision of information on remuneration policy in the annual report and accounts, and the restriction of notice and contract periods to less than one year. 4.2.3 The Hambel Report This was a committee set up under the chairmanship of Sir Ronald Hampel to review the implementation of the Cadbury Code and the recommendations of the Greenbury report. A report was issued in 1998 emphasizing that the primary duty of directors is to shareholders and that the recommendations of the two earlier reports should be treated as guidelines rather than prescriptive rules. 4.2.4 The Turnbull Report The latest link in the UK corporate governance chain is the September 1999 publication Internal Control: Guidance for Directors on the Combined Code otherwise called, after its chairman (Nigel Turnbull, Executive Director of Reed Plc), the Turnbull Report (Turnbull). Turnbulls guidance is based upon the adoption by a companys board of a risk-based approach to establishing a sound system of internal control, and on Accountability, transparency, corporate social responsibility: a new mantra for a new millennium. reviewing its effectiveness. This should be incorporated by a company within its normal management and governance processes. The span of internal control contemplated by Turnbull stretches wider than financial controls, to encompass social and environmental issues matters that have recently come to be grouped together under the generic heading of reputational risk. 4.2.5 The Higgs Report The Higgs Report, named after its author Derek Higgs focused on the role and effectiveness of the non-executive director so as to consolidate the UKs combined code on corporate governance. The report was published in January 2003 and it was expected that the revised combined code will come into effect in July 2003. 4.2.6 The Smith Report Following the major financial scandals around the world, the Financial Reporting Council invited Sir Robert Smith to chair a report on the role and responsibilities of the audit committees. The aim was to develop the existing Combined Code guidance and to clarify the duties of the non executive directors meant to form the audit committee. 4.2.7 UK Combined Code The Combined Code on Corporate Governance sets out standards of good practice in relation to issues such as board composition and development, remuneration, accountability and audit and relations with shareholders. All companies incorporated in the UK and listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange are required under the Listing Rules to report on how they have applied the Combined Code in their annual report and accounts. Overseas companies listed on the Main Market are required to disclose the significant ways in which their corporate governance practices differ from those set out in the Code. The Combined Code contains broad principles and more specific provisions. Listed companies are required to report on how they have applied the main principles of the Code, and either to confirm that they have complied with the Codes provisions or where they have not to provide an explanation. (http://www.frc.org.uk/corporate/combinedcode.cfm) The combined code on corporate governance will be the benchmark against which an analysis of corporate governance at Tesco will be made. Any areas of the code which have not been followed or where the company has tried to manipulate it will be looked at in detail and conclusions drawn out. 5.0 Analysis of Tescos Governance system 5.1 Directors 5.1.1 The board As at 28 February 2009, the Board of Tesco PLC comprised eight Executive Directors, seven independent Non-executive Directors and David Reid, Non-executive Chairman. The Companys Articles of Association require all new Directors to be submitted for election by shareholders in their first year following appointment. The Board has appointed one Non-executive Director, Rodney Chase, to act as Senior Independent Director. The Senior Independent Director is available to shareholders to assist in resolving concerns, should the alternative channels be inappropriate. The Senior Independent Director is also required to lead the discussion in relation to assessing the effectiveness of the Chairmans performance. The Non-executive Directors bring a wide range of skills and experience, as well as independent judgement on strategy, risk and performance to the Compa Analysis of Tescos Corporate Governance and Responsibility Analysis of Tescos Corporate Governance and Responsibility 1.0 INRODUCTION 1.1 Overview of the project Corporate governance and Corporate Responsibility have gained an increasing amount of importance over the last decade due to some of the worlds greatest corporate scandals that have been taking place. These scandals have not been happening to the under developed or developing economies, which have a high rate of corruption, but instead have been taking place in the developed countries, which supposedly have had various safeguards to protect the interests of all the stakeholders. Following the collapse of major multi-nationals such as the Maxwell Empire in the UK, Enron in the United States and Parmalat in Italy to name just a few, findings of fraud, dishonesty, irregular accounting and too much power held by one individual soon came to light. As a result, people and investors have lost the trust they placed in the financial markets and the big corporations to safeguard their assets and interests. The loss in confidence has seen big drops in the stock markets around the world and should the trend continues, the whole world economy would collapse which would lead to devastating consequences. As a result of those alarming situations, governments around the globe have devised frameworks of good corporate governance and passed on various laws, rules and regulations to hold companies responsible for their own actions, known as Corporate Governance and Responsibility in order to ensure that such scandals are not repeated in the future. The main corporate governance frameworks include the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Developments (OECD) principles, the UK revised Combined Code (2003) and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in the United States. Some of these are legally binding, such as the one in the United States while others operate on a comply or explain basis. This project will place more emphasis on the governance framework in the UK, namely the revised Combined Code, though I will make brief analyses of other reports and frameworks. Why I chose this particular topic area is for many reasons. Firstly, I believe that there is still scope to improve corporate governance worldwide and hence, wished to learn more about it. Secondly, despite the fact that corporate governance and corporate responsibility have become increasingly important in todays world and that companies have to adhere to the rules or principles, reports of fraud and bad management are still emerging in the developed economies, which lead to the collapse or nationalisation of various organisations. Well known examples in the UK include the nationalisation of Northern Rock bank and the government pumping in money into its various other banks, including Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland among others. It therefore begs the question about the credibility of the corporate governa nce framework. In addition, as a business student, it is now imperative to have a good understanding of the subject and as a taxpayer and citizen, I am both directly and indirectly affected by corporate behaviour. 1.2 The Organisation in question This thesis revolves around Tesco plc, one of the worlds leading retailers. Opened in 1919 by founder Jack Cohen, his first days sales were  £4 with a profit of  £1. By 1947, the company floated on the stock exchange with a share price of 25p and by 1979, its annual sales has reached  £1 billion. In 1983, Tesco Stores (Holdings) Ltd becomes Tesco PLC. Nowadays, the company has entered various other markets including the USA, China, Korea and many other European countries. It has also diversified into other industries, including financial services and is currently making profits in excess of  £2 billion. It is the UKs biggest supermarket in terms of turnover with 2,115 UK stores and employing 280, 373 staff in the UK alone (Tesco annual report 2008) .Such an organisation has been chosen for various reasons, namely because: It is a listed company, and hence according to the London Stock Exchange rules, it needs to adhere to the principles of the UK Combined Code on Corporate Governance on a Comply or Explain basis. Therefore, I will be able to determine whether such a big company is really being a good corporate citizen. Most of the data that I will need to conduct my research is readily accessible through its website, including its financial statements and annual reports. Data on similar organisations, such as Sainsburys plc is also readily accessible, which would prove to be very useful for comparison purposes. This would help me to make an analysis on how those two similar organisations are complying with the UK combined code on corporate Governance and whether the departure from for example a specific code is usual for these companies or ot. Tesco plc has a very large number of stakeholders and hence it is interesting to find out how the company is working towards fulfilling its responsibility towards them. In other words, how it is being corporately responsible, especially how it is dealing with the principal-agent problem. In addition, according to the companys annual report, Tesco follows a diversification strategy, laid down over 10 years ago and which has been the foundation of its enormous success in recent years. Due to the companys size, Tesco has segmented itself into 5 main areas: CORE UK COMMUNITY NON FOOD RETAILING SERVICES INTERNATIONAL The UK is its biggest market and the core of the business. The main aim here is to provide its customers with excellent value and choice. As well as deriving high shareholder value, the company also tries to be a corporate citizen. In addition to its annual report, the company also publishes a Corporate Responsibility report to show that it is a responsible business. Over the past decade, the company diversified into the non-food market whereby it offers a range of products, from laptops to mobile phones, etcThe aim here is to be as strong in food as in non-food, competing on price and value. Following its success into the non-food market, the company went into retailing services, offering financial services to its customers. Again here, this sector has proven to be profitable for the company. Nowadays, Tesco is not only operating in the UK but also in most European countries as well as in the US and Asia. The company has been expanding very quickly and is the number 1 retailer in Thailand today! As can be seen, Tesco has followed through a diversification strategy throughout the last decade, expanding not only into other markets but into other industries as well. Considering that diversification is quite a risky strategy, the company has been performing exceptionally well, defying the current credit crunch to record profits of over 2 billion pounds! Such a big and successful company provides us with ample opportunities to assess whether there are any irregularities in its reports, ie, whether there is good governance or not! 1.3 Research Questions The dissertation is mainly an analytical one, in that an analysis on the companys corporate governance and its corporate responsibility report will be performed. The main objective is to determine whether the company is behaving responsibly, by complying with all the provisions of the code and how is it discharging its duties towards its stakeholders. The main questions that will therefore be investigated are the following: Has Tesco complied in all respect with the principles of Corporate Governance and if not, why has it departed from a particular provision? Is there a link between its Corporate Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility and its financial position? Is the company projecting an image of a good corporate citizen? The above will form the main research questions though I will also be looking at various other aspects briefly such as: Variety of directors at the organisation. The difficulty in finding the right people with the right skills for the company. The role of Tescos audit committee, including independence issues. Public relations regarding the effect on the company if seems to flout regulations. The companys budget towards fulfilling its corporate responsibility How the company is working towards being eco-friendly Whether the company provides proper adequate training, pension provisions, etc 1.4 Overall Research Approach The starting point for the thesis indulges firstly into a broad explanation of both corporate governance and corporate responsibility. We will look at various definitions from a few sources in order to provide the reader with an understanding of the subject. Good corporate governance is incorporated into many reports. The main ones that will be the focus of the dissertation are notably the Cadbury report, Hambel report, Greenbury report, Higgs report, Smith report and the Turnbull Committee. The main points of the UK Combined Code (revised July 2003) will be discussed in a bit more detail, since it will form the basis of our first topic of interest of the project. In addition, the London Stock Exchange now requires all its listed companies to comply with the above code, which includes Tesco. As such, the first project objective will be achieved, whereby we can make an analysis whether Tesco has complied fully with the code or not. Whether there is a link between Tescos governance system and its financial performance will be the second part of the project. An analysis of the companys financial statements will be performed to assess its financial performance using various accounting techniques, such as ratio analysis, industry, competitor and international comparisons. Other items, such as share price movements, off balance sheet finance, creative accounting and conflicts of interests between management and shareholders will also be looked at to ensure that the figures provided in the financial statements are not misleading, especially to both current and potential investors. The impact of Tescos corporate governance system on its various stakeholders will form the next point. The main stakeholders that will be investigated here will be: Shareholders Employees Suppliers Customers Loan provider Government Public Each of the above points will be explored in details and an assessment on stakeholders conflicts of interests will be discussed briefly if there are any. Next on the agenda will be the topic of Corporate Responsibility. I will be making an analysis to determine how well Tesco is taking the responsibility to consider the interests of customers, employees, shareholders, society and the environment in its operational activities. Lastly, the thesis will focus on any criticisms and possible recommendations on the organisations corporate governance system and on its corporate social responsibility. 2.0 Information gathering Gathering information and data effectively is key to achieving a good project. A great deal of research is needed and very often there might be data overload. When too much data is collected, it sometimes becomes very difficult to analyse and interpret them properly which may be problematic in doing well in the thesis. On the other hand, not collecting enough data may lead to the wrong conclusion, thus rendering the thesis useless or even misleading. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that one must collect information properly and effectively in order to avoid wasting time and sometimes even money. We should always bear in mind that the data that needs to be collected should be sufficient so as to achieve the research objectives. 2.1 Sources of information There are two types of data, mainly primary and secondary data. Primary data is data that is unique to the researcher, and that is unavailable anywhere else. There are different methods of collecting such types of data. The main ones though are: Survey Questionnaires Observation and Interviews Primary data is often very valuable since it is unavailable anywhere else. However, collecting it is very time consuming and costly. In addition to that, one must always ensure that a proper margin of error is selected and that a good sample size is chosen. Otherwise, all the benefits of primary data will be lost. As can be seen, though valuable, it is often very time consuming and costly. Secondary data, as the name suggests, is data that is not unique. It is data that already exists somewhere else. Secondary data is data that has already been collected and collated by somebody for some reason other than the current study. It can be used to get a new perspective on the current study, to supplement or compare the work or to use parts of it, as another study may prove costly and time consuming e.g. the census. Secondary data can further be divided into two parts, namely qualitative and quantitative. Qualitative data includes biographies, personal letters, diaries, records, documents, published material, computer database, policy statements, etc. Quantitative data would have market research, census, and Economic documents, planning documents or specimens. The list is endless and once the type of secondary data is identified, it becomes easy to locate the source. The following is a list of where data has been collected and scrutinised for the purpose of the thesis: 2.1.1 Textbooks Textbooks have always been a major source of information. In fact, due to the increased importance of corporate governance, corporate responsibility and responsibility accounting, many textbooks have attempted to explain the concept of those topics and their relevance of in todays financial world. In todays accounting profession, it is now recommended that all accountants be familiar with corporate governance and especially ethics. This is mainly due to those scandals such as Enron which shook the whole financial world. It has been one of the most talked topics in the recent decade regarding the top CFOs and CEOs integrity! I found the texts regarding corporate governance and corporate responsibility to be well documented, which has been quite useful in analysing the topics in question. I made use of several textbooks, including many accounting ones. The main one I have used for my research is the BPP textbook for the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants P1, Professional Accountant. The textbook has provided me with a great insight about ethics and corporate governance and has helped a lot in preparing for this analysis. In addition, I also found the Heriot-Watt University MBA textbook regarding corporate governance to be extremely useful. This has helped me to understand from scratch why corporate governance is so important! The MBA textbook goes into much more details on the subject which really broadened my knowledge and provided me an insight from the barriers to improvement on governance systems to the various policy responses. The benefits of using textbooks are that they contained a great deal of literature on the issue of corporate governance, which not only helped me in achieving some of my aims for my project but also opened my eyes on the effects it has on each and every one of us. Unfortunately, textbooks have some drawbacks as well. Firstly, one needs to get the right texts for a particular research topic, which can take a lot of time. Next, there is a lot of reading to do, and if time is a constraint, this can pose a serious problem. In addition, although one may get the right books, one also has to make sure that they are the latest editions, since they tend to contain updated data and information. 2.1.2 Professional magazines Professional magazines are another great source of information. As a regular subscriber to the economist, needless to say that they have been of tremendous help to my thesis. From an economic point of view, I understood how corporate governance impacts on everyones life, no matter where you are or whichever country you are working in. The Enron scandal for example did not only affect its employees and the United States citizens but everyone else in the world. Now one may asks oneself how do i get affected if i live in Nepal for example. The answer to that I understood it by reading the economist! When Enron collapsed, first of all, the employees and shareholders and whoever were directly connected were the first to suffer. But Enron was a major global player in the financial markets, which sent shockwaves across the whole world, meaning we were all impacted by their actions! It is therefore no wonder that legislations such as the Sarbanes-Oxley were quickly brought into force in the United States. A lot of other countries also brought in their own codes of best practice on corporate governance and responsibility accounting. All this knowledge, I gained from those professional magazines, which are a great way of keeping up to date. Other magazines that have been useful in my research include the various accountancy magazines, such as Student Accountant which i receive regularly, since I am also an accountancy student from the association of chartered certified accountants. 2.1.3 Library I visited various libraries in order to be able to collect as much information as possible for my research. There is a local library where I live and this helped a lot. I needed to find journal articles and specific books for corporate governance and corporate responsibility. However, the problem I encountered at the library is that there were far too many books for me to choose from and that was very time consuming. I had no other option but to seek help from the librarians, who were most eager to help. I spent a really long-time reading and summarising all the information that I believe would be useful to me. A big drawback was that there were a lot of outdated information which was very frustrating. However libraries are a great source to get information from and they have been most useful to me. 2.1.4 The internet The internet nowadays is one of the most indispensable tools for information gathering. It is an integral part on everyones life and without it, mankind would be kind of lost! The big advantage of using the internet is the speed at which a large amount of data can be accessed. For that reason, it had been one of my principal sources of information. The information is mostly free and it is easily accessible. Though some websites require a payment to get the information provided, most were free of charge. Most of the information regarding this thesis has been accessed from the internet. As with every good thing, the internet has its drawbacks as well. First, one needs to make sure that by accessing information for our own use, we should make sure that we are not infringing anyones copyright. We also have to be very careful due to the spread of viruses which can damage ones computer and stealing our private information. In any case, the internet remains one of the most powerful tool to gather information. 2.1.5 Tesco plc annual report (2008) The companys annual reports were easily accessible from the website and provided me with a wealth of information in regards to corporate governance and corporate responsibility. I managed to even get a 5 year summary of the companys financial statements which has helped me to draw out a lot of conclusions regarding performance. However, as one would expect, the report portrayed Tesco as a good citizen which does everything ethically. I could not therefore rely a hundred percent on everything the report said about. 3.0 Ethical Issues As in any thesis, ethics play a very important role. Therefore, one needs to make sure to being completely ethical whenever gathering information and using them for ones purpose. 3.1.1 Information gathering Bias and Balance: Recognizing biased information, looking for balanced views, exploring opposing views, recognizing commercial interests in published information. Fact or Opinion: Recognizing factual information, looking for evidence of factual truth, recognizing and valuing opinion. Knowledge Gaps: Identifying missing information, locating missing information, stating research methodologies so that others can search further. 3.1.2 Information Evaluation Accuracy: Is the information accurate when checked against other sources? How reliable and error-free is the information? Authority: Does the information source qualify as an expert? Is the source rightly expected to know the facts and specifics? Are the qualifications of the author/speaker clearly stated? Is the author/speaker affiliated with an institution or organization? Is there contact information available for the author of a written document? Content: What is the purpose of the information, i.e. to inform, convince, or sell? What does it contribute to your understanding of the issues? Who is the intended audience based on content, tone, and style? What is the overall value of the content compared to other resources on the topic? Coverage: Does the information cover the subject adequately? Are there inexplicable omissions? Currency: Is the publication date clearly stated? When was the information last revised? Is it maintained and updated regularly? Are the links on a web page up-to-date and useable? Documentation: Are you certain the information is based on more than hearsay? Does the author explain where the information was obtained? Does the web page or article contain a bibliography or list of sources used? 3.1.3 Information Use Fair Use of Information: Copyright law allows limited copying for educational and archival purposes, but does limit even that to no more than 10% of a work, among other restrictions. Proper Citation: Complete citations of sources used is the most important issue, attributing information to its true author, and including enough information for another to locate the source. The ethical issues above (3.1.1 3.1.3) were compiled by H. Heller-Ross, Plattsburgh State University. They have been included in this thesis to help readers take a grasp on the various ethical issues which may impact upon ones research. 4.0 Results and Analysis Corporate Governance 4.1 Corporate Governance Corporate governance is the system by which organisations are directed and controlled. (Cadbury A. 1992) Corporate governance is a set of relationships between a companys directors, its shareholders and other stakeholders. It also provides the structure through which the objectives of the company are set, and the means of achieving those objectives and monitoring performance are determined. (Johnston D. J OECD Secretary General) Corporate governance, the system by which organisations are directed and controlled, is based on a number of concepts including transparency, independence, accountability and integrity. (BPP, P1 2007) Corporate governance is the system by which companies are directed and controlled. It deals largely with the relationship between the constituent parts of a company the directors, the board (and its sub-committees) and the shareholders. Transparency and accountability are the most important elements of good corporate governance. This includes: the timely provision by companies of good quality information; a clear and credible company decision-making process; Shareholders giving proper consideration to the information provided and making considered judgements. The corporate governance framework in the UK operates at a number of levels: through legislation particularly the Companies Act; Through regulation and in particular for listed companies through the listing rules, which are the responsibilities of theFinancial Services Authority. Through the Combined Code which is the responsibility of the Financial Reporting Council. It contains general principles and more detailed provisions relating to the corporate governance of listed companies. It is appended to the FSAs Listing Rules, which require these companies, in their annual report and accounts to, (i) report on how they apply the principles, and (ii) confirm that they comply with the Codes provisions or, where they do not, provide an explanation: hence the comply or explain principle which, if applied effectively, underpins informed dialogue between directors and shareholders. contains general principles. (http://www.berr.gov.uk/whatwedo/businesslaw/corp-governance/page15267.html) What the above definitions are about is that organisations should be managed in the best interest of everyone connected. In other words, directors should not forget that they are the agents of the companies they manage and they have a responsibility towards the various stakeholders. Therefore, they should act with integrity and honesty and should not just be concerned with filling their own pockets. The principal agent problem consists of trust and risk. (Lee, A.T. 2006). This trust may be breached by the agents by pursuing their own interest or through negligence and fraud. History is witness to this abuse, which has resulted in shareholders losing their investments and employees losing their jobs with no fault of theirs. As a consequence, stakeholders now want reassurance that such scandals are not repeated, resulting in corporate governance frameworks around the world. The success of a company based on the principal-agent relationship is dependent on the effectiveness of its corporate governance particularly the competence and independence of its board of directors and various subcommittees. (Lee, A.T. 2006) 4.2 Various Corporate Governance Reports The various scandals around the financial world prompted governments to review corporate governance, especially about those companies that are listed in the stock markets. This lead to a wide range of corporate governance reports being written by scholars around the world. The main ones in the UK are listed below, with a brief explanation about it. 4.2.1 The Cadbury report The Cadbury Report, titled Financial Aspects of Corporate Governance, is a report of a committee chaired by Adrian Cadbury that sets out recommendations on the arrangement of company boards and accounting systems to mitigate corporate governance risks and failures. The report was published in 1992. The reports recommendations have been adopted in varying degree by the European Union, the United States, the World Bank, and others. 4.2.2 The Greenbury Report The Greenbury report was issued in 1995 by a committee under the chairmanship of Sir Richard Greenbury that developed a number of recommendations of the Cadbury Report on directors remuneration. It stressed the importance of a remuneration committee of non executive directors , the provision of information on remuneration policy in the annual report and accounts, and the restriction of notice and contract periods to less than one year. 4.2.3 The Hambel Report This was a committee set up under the chairmanship of Sir Ronald Hampel to review the implementation of the Cadbury Code and the recommendations of the Greenbury report. A report was issued in 1998 emphasizing that the primary duty of directors is to shareholders and that the recommendations of the two earlier reports should be treated as guidelines rather than prescriptive rules. 4.2.4 The Turnbull Report The latest link in the UK corporate governance chain is the September 1999 publication Internal Control: Guidance for Directors on the Combined Code otherwise called, after its chairman (Nigel Turnbull, Executive Director of Reed Plc), the Turnbull Report (Turnbull). Turnbulls guidance is based upon the adoption by a companys board of a risk-based approach to establishing a sound system of internal control, and on Accountability, transparency, corporate social responsibility: a new mantra for a new millennium. reviewing its effectiveness. This should be incorporated by a company within its normal management and governance processes. The span of internal control contemplated by Turnbull stretches wider than financial controls, to encompass social and environmental issues matters that have recently come to be grouped together under the generic heading of reputational risk. 4.2.5 The Higgs Report The Higgs Report, named after its author Derek Higgs focused on the role and effectiveness of the non-executive director so as to consolidate the UKs combined code on corporate governance. The report was published in January 2003 and it was expected that the revised combined code will come into effect in July 2003. 4.2.6 The Smith Report Following the major financial scandals around the world, the Financial Reporting Council invited Sir Robert Smith to chair a report on the role and responsibilities of the audit committees. The aim was to develop the existing Combined Code guidance and to clarify the duties of the non executive directors meant to form the audit committee. 4.2.7 UK Combined Code The Combined Code on Corporate Governance sets out standards of good practice in relation to issues such as board composition and development, remuneration, accountability and audit and relations with shareholders. All companies incorporated in the UK and listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange are required under the Listing Rules to report on how they have applied the Combined Code in their annual report and accounts. Overseas companies listed on the Main Market are required to disclose the significant ways in which their corporate governance practices differ from those set out in the Code. The Combined Code contains broad principles and more specific provisions. Listed companies are required to report on how they have applied the main principles of the Code, and either to confirm that they have complied with the Codes provisions or where they have not to provide an explanation. (http://www.frc.org.uk/corporate/combinedcode.cfm) The combined code on corporate governance will be the benchmark against which an analysis of corporate governance at Tesco will be made. Any areas of the code which have not been followed or where the company has tried to manipulate it will be looked at in detail and conclusions drawn out. 5.0 Analysis of Tescos Governance system 5.1 Directors 5.1.1 The board As at 28 February 2009, the Board of Tesco PLC comprised eight Executive Directors, seven independent Non-executive Directors and David Reid, Non-executive Chairman. The Companys Articles of Association require all new Directors to be submitted for election by shareholders in their first year following appointment. The Board has appointed one Non-executive Director, Rodney Chase, to act as Senior Independent Director. The Senior Independent Director is available to shareholders to assist in resolving concerns, should the alternative channels be inappropriate. The Senior Independent Director is also required to lead the discussion in relation to assessing the effectiveness of the Chairmans performance. The Non-executive Directors bring a wide range of skills and experience, as well as independent judgement on strategy, risk and performance to the Compa