The Boundary Of The Boundless Of Anaximander Philosophy Essay

The Boundary Of The Boundless Of Anaximander Philosophy Essay This study tells about Anaximanders theory of Apeiron and as well as his life and his philosophical background. Anaximander is said to be a younger contemporary of Thales, who also sought for the first material principle; he was a disciple and successor of Thales and philosophized in dialogue with him. He was not mentioned until the time of Aristotle. Unlike Thales, Anaximander wrote a philosophical work, entitled  On Nature; unfortunately, neither this nor any of his other works has survived. The information about his philosophy came from summaries of it by other writers, especially Aristotle and Theophrastus. Anaximander was said to have drawn the first map of the inhabited world on a tablet, which was a marvel in his day (Agathemerus  I, 1) Statement of the Problem Anaximanders theory of Apeiron, a Greek word which literarily means boundless, indeterminate, unlimited, infinite, or indefinite is an unintelligible idea about the origin of all things. It gave confusion with his Arche which means beginning, or origin. He explains how the  four elements  of ancient physics (air,  earth,  water  and  fire) are formed, and how Earth and terrestrial beings are formed through their interactions. However, unlike other Pre-Socratics, he never defines this principle precisely, and it has generally been understood (e.g., by Aristotle and by  Saint Augustine) as a sort of primal  chaos. The researcher has his own rule on doing this research. The studies came from the book and through internet. The researchers use a descriptive type of research. This research is for educational purposes and serves as a requirement in on the researchers study. All of the information that has gathered in the entire sources is a big help in answering the research. All of the information that was gathered will serve as knowledge to us and for the readers. This study will be beneficial to the students and instructors. This researchs goal is designed to help students improve academic competency. The output of this study is a source material that the teachers can assimilate and disseminate by diffusion and induction technique. The proposed study serves the students as their reference or guide in creating their research. It will also help students taking help in making their research studies about their topics. For the teachers, this study will help them to have a deeper understanding of the said research. By this study they will come up with easier and powerful research. To the researchers, the proposed study will benefit and help the future researcher as their guide. The study can also open in development of this study.   Background of the Study Anaximanders Biography Anaximander, son of Praxiades, was born in  Miletus  during the third year of the 42nd  Olympiad  (610 BC).  According to  Apollodorus of Athens, Greek grammarian of the 2nd century BC, he was sixty-four years old during the second year of the 58th Olympiad (547-546  BC), and died shortly afterwards. Establishing a timeline of his work is now impossible, since no document provides chronological references.  Themistius, a 4th-century  Byzantine  rhetorician, mentions that he was the first of the known Greeks to publish a written document on nature. Therefore his texts would be amongst the earliest written in  prose, at least in the Western world. By the time of  Plato, his philosophy was almost forgotten, and Aristotle, his successor  Theophrastus  and a few  doxographers  provide us with the little information that remains. However, we know from Aristotle that Thales, also from Miletus, precedes Anaximander. It is debatable whether Thales actually was the teacher of Anaximander, but there is no doubt that Anaximander was influenced by Thales theory that everything is derived from water. One thing that is not debatable is that even the ancient Greeks considered Anaximander to be from the Monist school which began in Miletus with Thales followed by Anaximander and finished with  Anaximenes  3rd-centuryRoman  rhetorician  Aelian  depicts him as leader of the Milesian colony to  Apollonia  on the  Black Sea  coast, and hence some have inferred that he was a prominent citizen. Indeed,  Various History  (III, 17) explains that philosophers sometimes also dealt with political matters. It is very likely that leaders of Miletus sent him there as a legislator to create a constitution or simply to maintain the colonys allegiance. Philosophical View The Apeiron Anaximander shares Thales assumption that all things originate from one original element and ultimately are that element; to use Aristotles terminology, he holds that there is a first (material) principle (arche) of all things. Unlike Thales, however, Anaximander asserts that the first principle is not water but what he calls theapeiron, translated as the indeterminate or limitless. Simplicius , drawing upon theophrastus work, gives following account of anaximanders. Anaximander named the arche and element of existing things the apeiron, being the first to introduce this name for the arche. He says that it is neither water nor any other of the so-called elements, but a different substance that is limitless or indeterminate, from which there come into being all the heavens and the worlds within them. Harmony of the Opposites Dependent upon Theophrastus, Simplicius says according to Anaximander, things perish into those things out of which they have their being, according to necessity; for they make just recompense to one another for their injustice according to the ordinance or assessment of time. The Aperion as Unconditioned and God We cannot say that the apeiron has no effect, and the only effectiveness which we can ascribe to it is that of a principle. Everything is either a source or derived from a source. But there cannot be a source of the apeiron, for that would be a limit of it. Further, as it is a Beginning, it is both uncreatable and indestructible. For there must be a point at which what has come to be reaches completion and also a termination of all passing away. That is why, as we say there is no principle of this, but it is this which is held to be the principle of other things, and to encompass all and to steer all; as those assert who do not recognize, alongside the infinite, other causes such as mind or friendship. Theories Anaximanders theories were influenced by the  Greek mythical  tradition, and by some ideas of  Thales   the father of philosophy   as well as by observations made by older civilizations in the East (especially by the Babylonian astrologists). All these were elaborated rationally. In his desire to find some universal principle, he assumed like traditional religion the existence of a cosmic order and in elaborating his ideas on this he used the old mythical language which ascribed divine control to various spheres of reality. This was a common practice for the Greek philosophers in a society which saw gods everywhere; therefore they could fit their ideas into a tolerably elastic system. Apeiron For Anaximander, the  principle  of things, the constituent of all substances, is nothing determined and not an element such as water in Thales view. Neither is it something halfway between air and water, or between air and fire, thicker than air and fire, or more subtle than water and earth.  Anaximander argues that water cannot embrace all of the opposites found in nature for example, water can only be wet, never dry and therefore cannot be the one primary substance; nor could any of the other candidates. He postulated the  apeiron  as a substance that, although not directly perceptible to us, could explain the opposites he saw around him. Anaximander maintains that all dying things are returning to the element from which they came (apeiron).   Cosmology Anaximanders bold use of non-mythological  explanatory hypotheses considerably distinguishes him from previous cosmology writers such as  Hesiod. It confirms that pre-Socratic philosophers were making an early effort to demythify physical processes. His major contribution to history was writing the oldest prose document about the  Universe  and the origins of  life; for this he is often called the Father of Cosmology and founder of astronomy. However,  pseudo-Plutarch  states that he still viewed celestial bodies as deities. Anaximander was the first to conceive a  mechanical  model of the  world. In his model, the  Earth  floats very still in the centre of the infinite, not supported by anything. It remains in the same place because of its indifference, a point of view that Aristotle considered ingenious, but false, in  On the Heavens.  Its curious shape is that of a  cylinder  with a height one-third of its diameter. The flat top forms the inhabited world, which is surrounded by a circular oceanic mass. Such a model allowed the concept that  celestial bodies  could pass under it. It goes further than Thales claim of a world floating on water, for which Thales faced the problem of explaining what would contain this ocean, while Anaximander solved it by introducing his concept of infinite (apeiron). Multiple Worlds According to Simplicius, Anaximander already speculated on the plurality of  worlds, similar to  atomists  Leucippus  and  Democritus, and later philosopher  Epicurus. These thinkers supposed that worlds appeared and disappeared for a while, and that some were born when others perished. They claimed that this movement was eternal, for without movement, there can be no generation, no destruction. In addition to Simplicius, Hippolytus  reports Anaximanders claim that from the infinite comes the principle of beings, which themselves come from the heavens and the worlds (several doxographers use the plural when this philosopher is referring to the worlds within,  which are often infinite in quantity).  Cicero  writes that he attributes different gods to the countless worlds. This theory places Anaximander close to the Atomists and the  Epicureans  who, more than a century later, also claimed that an infinity of worlds appeared and disappeared. In the  timeline of the Greek history of thought, some thinkers conceptualized a single world (Plato, Aristotle,  Anaxagoras  and  Archelaus), while others instead speculated on the existence of a series of worlds, continuous or non-continuous (Anaximenes, Heraclitus,  Empedocles  and  Diogenes).   Meteorological phenomena Anaximander attributed some phenomena, such as  thunder  and  lightning, to the intervention of elements, rather than to divine causes. In his system, thunder results from the shock of clouds hitting each other; the loudness of the sound is proportionate with that of the shock. Thunder without lightning is the result of the wind being too weak to emit any flame, but strong enough to produce a sound. A flash of lightning without thunder is a jolt of the air that disperses and falls, allowing a less active fire to break free. Thunderbolts are the result of a thicker and more violent air flow. He saw the sea as a remnant of the mass of humidity that once surrounded Earth.  A part of that mass evaporated under the suns action, thus causing the winds and even the rotation of the celestial bodies, which he believed were attracted to places where water is more abundant.  He explained rain as a product of the humidity pumped up from Earth by the sun.  For him, the Earth was slowly drying up and water only remained in the deepest regions, which someday would go dry as well. According to Aristotles  Meteorology  (II, 3), Democritus also shared this opinion. Origin of humankind Anaximander speculated about the beginnings and  origin  of animal life. Taking into account the existence of fossils, he claimed that animals sprang out of the sea long ago. The first animals were born trapped in a spiny bark, but as they got older, the bark would dry up and break. Anaximander put forward the idea that humans had to spend part of this transition inside the mouths of big fish to protect themselves from the Earths climate until they could come out in open air and lose their scales. He thought that, considering humans extended infancy, we could not have survived in the primeval world in the same manner we do presently. Other Accomplishments Cartography Maps were produced in ancient times, also notably in  Egypt,  Lydia, the  Middle East, and  Babylon. Only some small examples survived until today. The unique example of a world map comes from late Babylonian tablet BM 92687 later than 9th century BCE but is based probably on a much older map. These maps indicated directions, roads, towns, borders, and geological features. Anaximanders innovation was to represent the entire inhabited land known to the ancient Greeks. Such an accomplishment is more significant than it at first appears. Anaximander most likely drew this map for three reasons.  First, it could be used to improve navigation and trade between  Miletuss colonies and other colonies around the Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea. Second,  Thales  would probably have found it easier to convince the Ionian  city-states  to join in a federation in order to push the Median  threat away if he possessed such a tool. Finally, the philosophical idea of a global representation of the world simply for the sake of knowledge was reason enough to design one. Gnomon The  Suda  relates that Anaximander explained some basic notions of geometry. It also mentions his interest in the measurement of time and associates him with the introduction in  Greece  of the gnomon. In Lacedaemon, he participated in the construction, or at least in the adjustment, of  sundials  to indicate  solstices  and  equinoxes. Indeed, a gnomon required adjustments from a place to another because of the difference in latitude. In his time, the gnomon was simply a vertical pillar or rod mounted on a horizontal plane. The position of its shadow on the plane indicated the time of day. As it moves through its apparent course, the sun draws a curve with the tip of the projected shadow, which is shortest at noon, when pointing due south. The variation in the tips position at noon indicates the solar time and the seasons; the shadow is longest on the winter solstice and shortest on the summer solstice. However, the invention of the gnomon itself cannot be attributed to Anaximander because its use, as well as the division of days into twelve parts, came from the  Babylonians. It is they, according toHerodotus  Histories  (II, 109), who gave the Greeks the art of time measurement. It is likely that he was not the first to determine the solstices, because no calculation is necessary. On the other hand, equinoxes do not correspond to the middle point between the positions during solstices, as the Babylonians thought. As the  Suda  seems to suggest, it is very likely that with his knowledge of geometry, he became the first Greek to accurately determine the equinoxes. Prediction of an earthquake In his philosophical work  De Divinatione  (I, 50, 112), Cicero states that Anaximander convinced the inhabitants of  Lacedaemon  to abandon their city and spend the night in the country with their weapons because an earthquake was near.  The city collapsed when the top of the  Taygetus  split like the stern of a ship. Pliny the Elder also mentions this anecdote (II, 81), suggesting that it came from an admirable inspiration, as opposed to Cicero, who did not associate the prediction with divination. Philosophy Contributions Cosmology the production of the opposite and their separating off are important in his cosmology penalty and retribution of the opposites in accord to the assessment of time. The earth is cylindrical in shape and its depth is 1/3 its breath. It is immobile (the earth does not rest on water ) in the center of the universe by way of its equilibrium. The earth may someday become dry. Concerning the formation of the heavenly bodies: the sun is equal to the earth. The circles and spheres carry the heavenly bodies. An eclipse occur when the aperture of the sun or moon are blocked. Concerning meteorological phenomena: the winds thunder and lightning all these have to do with winds. Zoogamy the 1st living creatures were born in moisture and enclosed in thorny barks. As their age grows they came forth into the drier part and the bark was broken off. Anthropology- Anaximander held the theory of evolution of animals. Man was born from animals of another species (man come into being inside fishes). Conclusion Anaximander was indeed one of the greatest minds that ever lived. By speculating and arguing about the Boundless he was the first metaphysician. By drawing a map of the world he was the first geographer, by boldly speculating about the universe he broke with the ancient image of the celestial vault and became the discoverer of the Western world-picture. The Boundless has no origin. For then it would have a limit. Aristotle once said there is no beginning of the infinite, or in that case it would have an end. But without beginning and indestructible, as being, a sort of first principle is necessary for whatever comes into existence should have and end and there is a conclusion of all destruction. But there is no principle of this Apeiron (www.egs.edu/library/anaximander/qoutes) and Anaximander himself affirm that that all dying things are returning to the element which they came which is the apeiron. The fact that things dies, decays, or wither states its limit, therefore it is limite d, finite, and is bounded by the natural law. We find his theory of Apeiron unbelievable especially when it is first; a theory and has no proof, second; a paradox itself in a way that he viewed the world as tangled in a neatly bounded category. Its hard to believe on what someone has said when that someone, itself, defies what he have stated and thus formed a seemingly contradictory paradox that leads to confusion.

Hypertext Fiction Essay -- Exploratory Essays

Hypertext Fiction When you read a typical paper book, your job as the reader is simply to read what the author tells you and understand it. Printed books are a linear way of telling a story, where the author chooses the exact way the story should be told and interpreted. Jay David Bolter discusses in his book Writing Space that hypertext fiction will redefine the relationship between the reader and the author of a text. With printed text, the reader has a clearly defined role, where he or she takes in the story exactly as it is told with no say as to where it is going or how they should interpret it. With the development of hypertext fiction, the reader can cross the line into being a sort of author by deciding between options in the story. The reader can create a story suited to them within the boundaries of the hypertext piece as a whole. When a printed text is read, the author becomes more of an authority figure. The author is the creator of the text and is held in high regard by the reader. However, in hypertext fiction, the author is basically creating a story where readers are free to move around and make their own choices about the story with a few limitations set by the author. Bolter describes it by saying on page 168, â€Å"†¦Hypertext writers have shown how the electronic medium can accommodate a different relationship between author and reader. No longer an intimidating figure, an electronic author assumes the role of a craftsperson, working with prescribed materials and goals. She works within the limitations of a computer system, and she imposes further limitations upon her readers†¦the reader may well become the author’s adversary, seeking to make the text over in a direction that the author... ...ver the reader. Hypertext does not take away the role of the author entirely, it simply blurs the line between reader and author that exists in written text. It is my personal belief that as time goes on, the role of the reader and the author will be more and more interchanged. With the boundary between the two already fading, it is possible that there will be hypertexts where someone can be a reader and a writer at the same time. Continuing advances in technology and writing will constantly redefine the roles of everyone involved, it is simply society’s decision to accept the changes that will keep blurring the line between the traditional reader and author. Bibliography Bolter, Jay David. Writing Space. 2nd ed. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2001. Fisher, Caitlin. These Waves of Girls. .

Corporate Finance AIG Accounting Scandal Essay

On February 9th, 2006, the SEC and the Justice Department settled with AIG for an amount in excess of $1. 6B related to alleged improper accounting, bid rigging (defined by Investopedia as a scheme in which businesses collude so that a competing business can secure a contract for goods or services at a pre-determined price), and practices involving workers compensation funds. Both the CEO and CFO of AIG were replaced amidst the scandal. This closure ended a 5-year period, beginning in 2001, which tarnished the 80-year old institution’s reputation that had become the world’s largest reinsurers, and included Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway as an owner. Several of fraud’s culprits were convicted of Conspiracy, Securities Fraud, False Statements to the SEC, and Mail Fraud. Each offender was handed various degrees of penalties, including jail sentences. AIG’s CEO Hank Greenberg was left unindicted and â€Å"pleading the 5th. What led these executives down a path that would forever change their careers and left many convinced that corporations are willing to go to any extent to satisfy their greed for profits? This paper will examine the intricacies of AIG’s accounting fraud, and discuss the hypothesis that accounting fraud and other unethical decisions focused on short-term profits are positively correlated to long-term value destruction. â€Å"The corporate scandals are getting bigger and bigger. In a speech on Wall Street, President Bush spoke out on corporate responsibility, and he warned executives not to cook the books. Afterwards, Martha Stewart said the correct term was to saute the books. † —Conan O’Brien While there are many techniques to distort the financial condition of a publicly traded company, the most frequent types of improprieties involve revenue recognition, cost or expense recognition, accounting for reserves, and accounting related to business combinations. Below are the laws that Elliot Spitzer’s prosecution based their AIG case on:  §?  §?  §?  §?  §? Using or employing manipulative devices, in connection the purchase or sale of securities Making untrue statement of a material fact or to omit to state that a material fact Engaging in any practice or business which operates or would operate as fraud or deceit Falsification of accounting records and conformity with GAAP Conspiracy of two or more persons to commit offense or to defraud United States What does this mean in layman’s terms? Essentially, AIG improperly accounted for the reinsurance transaction to bolster reserves, and detailed numerous other examples of problematic accounting. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, 2009) For example, AIG booked as income $500 million in premium for the loss portfolio transfer and then added $500 million in reserves against future claims to its balance sheet. † AIG counted the transaction as an insurance deal, but later concluded that, â€Å"the Gen Re transaction documentation was improper and, in light of the lack of evidence of risk transfer, the transaction should not have been recorded as insurance. † (Hulburt, Ph. D. , H. , 2005) What turns the deal from mistake to blatant fraud was that no underwriting risk transferred in the deal. Instead, the loss portfolio transfer was effectively a $500 million loan from Gen Re to AIG that AIG would repay through $500 million in claims payments to Gen Re. (Hulburt, Ph. D. , H. , 2005) In the end, AIG’s revised financial statements lowered 2004 net income by $1. 3 billion, or 12%, and reduced 2004 shareholders’ equity by $2. 3 billion, or 3%. Details of the adjustments required 22 pages in the AIG 2004 10K, which was included into the Annual Report to Shareholders. The restatement reduced net income by more than 10% over the 5-year period. (Verschoor, C. , 2005) Ethics is recognition of the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do. – Potter Stewart AIG’s culture and lack of ethical controls exemplify how the greed of few can impact the value of many. Some have attempted to use this case as an example to SOX’s failure to overhaul corporate accounting practices. However, in AIG’s first report mandated by the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002, a number of material weaknesses in control were disclosed, emphasizing that the first and most extensive weakness was in the ethical culture of AIG or its control environment. The report states verbatim â€Å"Certain of AIG’s controls within its control environment were not effective to prevent certain members of senior management, including the former Chief Executive Officer and former Chief Financial Officer, from having the ability, which in certain instances was utilized, to override certain controls and effect certain transactions and accounting entries. In certain of these instances, such transactions and accounting entries appear to have been largely motivated to achieve desired accounting results and were not properly accounted for in accordance with GAAP. (McGee, S. , 2005) Specific overrides noted resulted in (1) creation of a special purpose entity to improperly convert underwriting losses to investment losses, (2) improper recording of reinsurance transactions, (3) improper â€Å"top level† adjustments and covered call transactions, and (4) unsupported â€Å"top level† adjustment of loss reserves. (Knowledge@Wharton, 2005) â€Å"Leadership is the capacity and will to rally men and women to a common purpose and the character which inspires confidence. † – Bernard Montgomery Tom Lin’s article titled â€Å"The corporate governance of iconic executives. explored corporate governance challenges posed by iconic executives such as Hank Greenberg. To better understand the state of AIG, it is beneficial to discuss the iconic executive that led them to water. Hank Greenberg grew up on a New York dairy farm, joined the U. S. Army during World War II, became an Army Ranger, and stormed the beach at Normandy. He attended the University of Miami and New York Law School, where he earned his LLB. As a captain, he received a Bronze Star in the Korean War; Greenberg then entered the insurance business in 1952. He became the youngest person to be appointed vice president at the Continental Casualty Company. As president of AIG’s major subsidiary American Home Assurance Company, Greenberg was credited with developing substantial reinsurance facilities, which allowed insurers who were forced to take unwanted assignments, or â€Å"bad risks,† the opportunity to reinsure those risks. Greenberg’s strategy enabled American Home to write large quantities of major-risks policies and thus control the pricing of those policies. He established a bottom-line philosophy on underwriting only those companies that made profits. Greenberg’s business was successful, aggressive and profitable. Greenberg would acquire companies that were troubled or fighting off takeovers, buying controlling interests in the companies, and ultimately integrating them into the AIG corporate structure. When AIG’s founder and CEO Cornelius van der Starr died, Green was named to head the company. Two years later AIG went public with Greenberg as the CEO where he would reign with an iron fist, terrorizing underlings, intimidating a compliant board and delivering stunningly impressive earnings for the next 40 years. As Tom Lin described, Iconic executives are complex, bittersweet figures in corporate governance narratives. They are alluring, larger-than-life corporate figures who often govern freely. Iconic executives frequently rule like monarchs over their firms, offering lofty promises to shareholders, directors, and managers under their reign. But like many stories of powerful and influential figures, the narratives of iconic executives also contain adversity and danger resulting from excessive deference, overconfidence, and licentiousness. Lin, T. , 2011) â€Å"Money is like a sixth sense- and you can’t make use of the other five without it† – William Maugham Contemporary economic thought presumes that individuals in a society always act according to their self-interest or private economic incentives, while important ethical motivations for action, such as a concern for others and public interest, are largely ignored. (Kulshreshtha, P. , 2005) As is often the case in ac counting cases, the CFO tends to be a central enabler to the fraudulent activities. There are two primary schools of thought when attempting to understand the incentive for CFO’s to become involved in these ethical dilemmas. The first school of thought states that CFOs may instigate accounting manipulations for immediate personal financial gain. There also has been research indicating that CFO equity incentives are more important than CEO equity incentives in explaining earnings management, measured by accruals and frequency of meeting earnings benchmarks (Feing, M. , 2011). Corporate boards have reduced CFOs’ incentive compensation after passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in an effort to undermine this conduct. Bhagat, Sanjai; Romano, Roberta, 2009) Looking at AIG’s share price over the reporting time frame of these actions, the fraudulent accounting did not seem to have significant impact on its market valuation. Analyzing the share price over the months that AIG reported their annual statement in 2002, 2003, and 2004, AIG’s market share price moved approximately -4%, -3% and . 5% respectively. Although a hypothesis could be made that the fraud occurred as a defense against stock devaluation rather than an enabler of increased valuation. The second thought states that CFOs may become involved in accounting manipulations because of pressure from CEOs. As CFOs’ superiors, CEOs can exert pressure on financial reporting decisions through their influence on CFO’s future opportunities and compensation (Feing, M. , 2011). This aligns to what we understand of Hank Greenberg’s style of management. When the judge handed out sentencing to Elizabeth Monrad, the CFO of Gen Re, he made the following statements.  §?  §?  §? The fact that she did not benefit personally from the scheme, does not excuse her conduct. Her involvement in the fraudulent scheme was â€Å"central to its success. † There were many opportunities for her to shake this shady deal, but she never did†¦ Although these two schools of thought help one to better understand the drivers behind the accounting fraud in AIG and other cases academically, they are not mutually independent. In practice, pressure grows like a virus when it attaches to personal gain. Without personal gain, there is hardly a sustainable environment for pressure, which indicates some level of correlation to realizing a self-centered objective. Some of the best lessons are learned from past mistakes. The error of the past is the wisdom of the future. – Dale Turner One may never be able to understand the full extent of the motivations at AIG that resulted in over $1. 6B in penalties, $2. 3B in reduction of shareholder equity, and the destruction of lives and careers. There appeared to be a significant amount of both pressure and personal gain involved. In the end, the AIG case became another brick in the wall for opponents of capitalism pointing to the greed of executives and their boards. With the benefit of writing this in 2012, we know this was merely a minor speed bump in comparison to what would come for AIG in the future global financial crisis of 2008. We now live in a world where greed, profit, share price, and financial institutions are synonymous to each other. However tarnished the reputation of corporations are, there are glimmers of hope in the details. The numbers and results of these actions begin to illustrate a telling story that greed, fraud, and deception are destroyers of value rather than enablers. Cases such as AIG can be reference points to dissuade future decisions of unethical nature. In AIG’s case, their share price fell more than 30% from the period of 1/2/2001 to 5/22/2006 further strengthening our initial hypothesis. The announcement also caused Standard & Poor’s (MHP) to downgrade AIG’s debt rating from AAA to AA+, leading to higher funding costs and decreased long-term value. We may not be able to prove that all of the AIG’s value destruction is directly related to the case beyond a reasonable doubt, it can be arguably assumed that a significant portion is directly related. Even if that destruction is associated to confidence over financial health. (McGee, S. , 2005) In the time since this case, AIG has made considerable steps to prevent future occurrences of financial misrepresentation. The AIG management report on internal control related remediation efforts emphasizing the need for higher integrity and a culture of ethical values throughout the organization. The report notes: â€Å"AIG has taken, and is developing further plans to take, significant actions to improve its control environment, starting with a clear statement of the tone and philosophy set by its current senior management. The Corporate Governance Committee Report in the 2005 AIG Proxy Statement gives further details: â€Å"AIG enhanced its Code of Conduct for employees, mandated that all employees complete formal ethics training, and implemented a Director, Executive Officer, and Senior Financial Officer Code of Business Conduct and Ethics to provide reasonable assurance that all members of the Board of Directors, executive officers, and senior financial officers adhere to the stated principles and procedures set forth in that Code.  At the Committee’s recommendation, AIG is developing a corporate level compliance framework, including implementation of compliance programs at AIG’s major business areas. â€Å"

Essay about Financial Accounting versus Managerial...

University of Phoenix Material Role of Financial Accounting versus Managerial Accounting Matrix Compare and contrast financial accounting and managerial accounting by answering the following questions in the matrix provided. Cite any sources you use in accordance with APA guidelines. Term or Concept Financial Accounting Managerial Accounting What is the primary purpose of the accounting system? The main purpose of financial accounting is to prepare financial reports that provide information about a firm’s performance to external parties such as investors, creditors, and tax authorities. Must be performed according to GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) guidelines. Managerial accounting differs from financial accounting†¦show more content†¦(External) Managerial Accounting reports are primarily used by supervisors, line managers, process owners, as well as executives, to gain a better understanding of the current financial and operational health of the organization. (Internal) What portion of the company is the primary focus? The primary focus of the Financial Accounting is the Company and Enterprise Level. The primary focus of the Managerial Accounting goes down to the Individual Operating Unit. What time periods are included? Historical and Actual Results typically reported on a quarterly and annually basis. Plans, Actual Results and Forecasts that depends on management’s needs; some daily some only once per year. Are there any requirements for the standards of report presentation? GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) determine the content and format of financial statements. SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) requires publicly traded companies to issue annual audit. Concerns are about adequacy of disclosure; and behavioral implications are secondary. Management determines what they would like to include in the report. No authoritative body requires managerial accounting reports. 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