This study aims to evaluate the level of accounting conservatism when preparing financial statements by companies listed in Kuwait Stock Exchange （KSE）. In addition, the study examines the factors that affect the le...This study aims to evaluate the level of accounting conservatism when preparing financial statements by companies listed in Kuwait Stock Exchange （KSE）. In addition, the study examines the factors that affect the level of accounting conservatism in those companies with regard to company sizes, debt contracts, and the type of sector the company belongs to. To achieve these goals, the Basu （1997） model was used to measure conservatism level and the factors influencing it. The sample of the study comprises of 225 companies listed in KSE. Findings of the study showed that the KSE succeeded in forcing Kuwait companies to present a reasonable level of accounting conservatism. The study also found out that the financial statements of small companies were conservative, while those of the big ones were not. In addition, the debt contracts left an impact upon financial reports of accounting conservatism. Thus, companies with lower debts were more conservative than those of higher ones. Moreover, the financial statements of the financial sector in KSE were the most conservative.展开更多
Our main focus in this paper is to try to show Rorty＇s point of departure from mainstream pragmatist treatment of epistemology. In his pragmatic approach to epistemology, Rorty urges that a good pragmatist should aba...Our main focus in this paper is to try to show Rorty＇s point of departure from mainstream pragmatist treatment of epistemology. In his pragmatic approach to epistemology, Rorty urges that a good pragmatist should abandon epistemology as a foundational and rational discipline and instead opt for conversation, the view that knowledge is an expression of judgment of a historically conditioned social group） According to Rorty, the view that we should disentangle ourselves from rigid canons of epistemology is the quest of classical pragmatism traceable to the writings of William James and John Dewey. On this showing, Rorty argues that conversationalism is consistent with mainstream or original pragmatism. Contrary to Rorty＇s claim we try to show, in the following pages, that his pragmatic approach to epistemology is a deviation from mainstream pragmatism. We establish that mainstream or classical pragmatists do not repudiate epistemology.展开更多
Utilizing arguments imbedded in the pragmatist and hermeneutic traditions, the conclusion emerges that genuinely understanding opposing points of view requires a penetrating and sustained questioning process that find...Utilizing arguments imbedded in the pragmatist and hermeneutic traditions, the conclusion emerges that genuinely understanding opposing points of view requires a penetrating and sustained questioning process that finds relief only when the justificatory background material of the other nibbles at the certainty of one＇s own position. The implications of the edict that one ought to question to hesitation are then explored, namely, that （1） it suggests what kind of questioning is the right kind of qteestioning, （2） it suggests a redefinition of what counts as ＂respect for persons,＂ and （3） it challenges the common assumption that the efficacy of communal inquiry is self-fulfilling and self-regulating, and suggests, by contrast, that facilitators ought to be far more prepared to engage in questioning to hesitation.展开更多
Macbeth was wary when he heard the witches out. He deliberated. He dithered. And Lady Macbeth puckered his courage up to the hilt and egged him on to murder. Macbeth murdered. Then he balked. He hallucinated himself o...Macbeth was wary when he heard the witches out. He deliberated. He dithered. And Lady Macbeth puckered his courage up to the hilt and egged him on to murder. Macbeth murdered. Then he balked. He hallucinated himself out of his wits. Then he went on a rampage to save his own skin. He destroyed in fear of being destroyed. Yet all he ended up doing is losing his peace, his composure, his wife, and finally, his life. The whole of Operation Kingship, if the author may so call the whole business of eliminating Duncan out of the way of the royal throne, failed miserably. Macbeth, on the lookout for power found himself terribly, fearfully beaten, crestfallen, devastated. The million-dollar question then is -what is it that went so very wrong in the whole process？ Critics are often heard to cry his ambition--his ＂overvaulting ambition＂ down as his incorrigible hamartia. But living in the 21st century, one gets to hear that ambition is not bad after all--the higher the ＂ambi-horse＂ vaults, the higher the chances of success is. In this dissertation, the author proposes to analyze Macbeth＇s case from the perspective of management studies. This paper, more than setting forth a literary statement of Macbeth＇s predicament, aims at what management Gurus would love to call a candid SWOT （strength, weakness, opportunity, threat） and STEEPLED （social, technological, economic, educational, political, legal, environmental, and demographic factors） analysis of Macbeth＇s situation to find out where the shoe pinched, whether the whole project crashed because of inefficient leadership, or whether there was no leadership at all, whether organizational strategies were not properly formulated or whether the implementation capsized horribly, thereby making the whole business a rudderless wild goose chase. The discussion necessarily follows up with an insight into what Macbeth lacked as far as Maslow＇s Pyramid of Needs is concerned and what it could have been like, had it been rewritten with a corporate-friendly, management-savvy 21st century protagonist armed with well formulated action plans and stronger inter-personal skills, in the titular lead.展开更多
This work examines the role of social network sites as a tool used by companies to achieve marketing goals. As known from the main business literature, the social network represents one of the most important instrumen...This work examines the role of social network sites as a tool used by companies to achieve marketing goals. As known from the main business literature, the social network represents one of the most important instrument to improve the company fame by strengthening the affection of customers to the brand. For this reason, some companies use these tools to build relations and contacts with customers all over the world. The population of social networks users is made, for the most parts, of youngsters （people belonging to the 13-30 years old cluster）. In the last years, with the social web networking, social communication lost the exclusive social meaning and social network sites become strategic instruments for the construction of powerful relations that connect people with people and people with firms. This work is aimed at clarifying the genesis and the evolution of the relations between companies and potential customers, focusing on the tools used by the firm to achieve their marketing goals through social network sites （SNSs）. First of all, the work proposes the recognition of some studies about the origin of web social network and their links with marketing strategies. Secondly, it considers marketing goals achieved from any companies through social networking with a particular focus on advertising through web social networking.展开更多
The contemporary construction of Chinese international law discourse, on the one hand, ought to precisely, systematically and completely express and communicate fundamental principles, main regimes and substantial fea...The contemporary construction of Chinese international law discourse, on the one hand, ought to precisely, systematically and completely express and communicate fundamental principles, main regimes and substantial features of international law as well as core values, basic conceptions, key terms, mainstream theories or doctrines and representative views gradually established and developed in the study of international law; on the other hand, it should fully and in a timely way manifest China＇s creative contributions to international law and its discipline and discourse. The framework of contemporary Chinese international law discourse should take ＂building a harmonious world＂ as the guiding rationale; thoroughly cover the four basic dimensions of the international rule of law and Chinese foreign policy and its practice, namely domestic, multilateral, regional and bilateral; coincide with, follow and respect those rules, natural laws and tendencies such as fundamental rules governing international relations, globalization, multilateralism, regional integration and regionalism, the international community＇s obligations （or rights） and China＇s needs for peaceful development. It should orient its basic functions toward promoting the continuous development and wide application of contemporary international law as well as its teaching, study and dissemination, stimulating the progress of the rule of law in China, protecting Chinese interests, especially those core national interests, and strengthening China＇s international image and status as a responsible big country.展开更多
文摘This study aims to evaluate the level of accounting conservatism when preparing financial statements by companies listed in Kuwait Stock Exchange （KSE）. In addition, the study examines the factors that affect the level of accounting conservatism in those companies with regard to company sizes, debt contracts, and the type of sector the company belongs to. To achieve these goals, the Basu （1997） model was used to measure conservatism level and the factors influencing it. The sample of the study comprises of 225 companies listed in KSE. Findings of the study showed that the KSE succeeded in forcing Kuwait companies to present a reasonable level of accounting conservatism. The study also found out that the financial statements of small companies were conservative, while those of the big ones were not. In addition, the debt contracts left an impact upon financial reports of accounting conservatism. Thus, companies with lower debts were more conservative than those of higher ones. Moreover, the financial statements of the financial sector in KSE were the most conservative.
文摘Our main focus in this paper is to try to show Rorty＇s point of departure from mainstream pragmatist treatment of epistemology. In his pragmatic approach to epistemology, Rorty urges that a good pragmatist should abandon epistemology as a foundational and rational discipline and instead opt for conversation, the view that knowledge is an expression of judgment of a historically conditioned social group） According to Rorty, the view that we should disentangle ourselves from rigid canons of epistemology is the quest of classical pragmatism traceable to the writings of William James and John Dewey. On this showing, Rorty argues that conversationalism is consistent with mainstream or original pragmatism. Contrary to Rorty＇s claim we try to show, in the following pages, that his pragmatic approach to epistemology is a deviation from mainstream pragmatism. We establish that mainstream or classical pragmatists do not repudiate epistemology.
文摘Utilizing arguments imbedded in the pragmatist and hermeneutic traditions, the conclusion emerges that genuinely understanding opposing points of view requires a penetrating and sustained questioning process that finds relief only when the justificatory background material of the other nibbles at the certainty of one＇s own position. The implications of the edict that one ought to question to hesitation are then explored, namely, that （1） it suggests what kind of questioning is the right kind of qteestioning, （2） it suggests a redefinition of what counts as ＂respect for persons,＂ and （3） it challenges the common assumption that the efficacy of communal inquiry is self-fulfilling and self-regulating, and suggests, by contrast, that facilitators ought to be far more prepared to engage in questioning to hesitation.
文摘Macbeth was wary when he heard the witches out. He deliberated. He dithered. And Lady Macbeth puckered his courage up to the hilt and egged him on to murder. Macbeth murdered. Then he balked. He hallucinated himself out of his wits. Then he went on a rampage to save his own skin. He destroyed in fear of being destroyed. Yet all he ended up doing is losing his peace, his composure, his wife, and finally, his life. The whole of Operation Kingship, if the author may so call the whole business of eliminating Duncan out of the way of the royal throne, failed miserably. Macbeth, on the lookout for power found himself terribly, fearfully beaten, crestfallen, devastated. The million-dollar question then is -what is it that went so very wrong in the whole process？ Critics are often heard to cry his ambition--his ＂overvaulting ambition＂ down as his incorrigible hamartia. But living in the 21st century, one gets to hear that ambition is not bad after all--the higher the ＂ambi-horse＂ vaults, the higher the chances of success is. In this dissertation, the author proposes to analyze Macbeth＇s case from the perspective of management studies. This paper, more than setting forth a literary statement of Macbeth＇s predicament, aims at what management Gurus would love to call a candid SWOT （strength, weakness, opportunity, threat） and STEEPLED （social, technological, economic, educational, political, legal, environmental, and demographic factors） analysis of Macbeth＇s situation to find out where the shoe pinched, whether the whole project crashed because of inefficient leadership, or whether there was no leadership at all, whether organizational strategies were not properly formulated or whether the implementation capsized horribly, thereby making the whole business a rudderless wild goose chase. The discussion necessarily follows up with an insight into what Macbeth lacked as far as Maslow＇s Pyramid of Needs is concerned and what it could have been like, had it been rewritten with a corporate-friendly, management-savvy 21st century protagonist armed with well formulated action plans and stronger inter-personal skills, in the titular lead.
文摘This work examines the role of social network sites as a tool used by companies to achieve marketing goals. As known from the main business literature, the social network represents one of the most important instrument to improve the company fame by strengthening the affection of customers to the brand. For this reason, some companies use these tools to build relations and contacts with customers all over the world. The population of social networks users is made, for the most parts, of youngsters （people belonging to the 13-30 years old cluster）. In the last years, with the social web networking, social communication lost the exclusive social meaning and social network sites become strategic instruments for the construction of powerful relations that connect people with people and people with firms. This work is aimed at clarifying the genesis and the evolution of the relations between companies and potential customers, focusing on the tools used by the firm to achieve their marketing goals through social network sites （SNSs）. First of all, the work proposes the recognition of some studies about the origin of web social network and their links with marketing strategies. Secondly, it considers marketing goals achieved from any companies through social networking with a particular focus on advertising through web social networking.
文摘The contemporary construction of Chinese international law discourse, on the one hand, ought to precisely, systematically and completely express and communicate fundamental principles, main regimes and substantial features of international law as well as core values, basic conceptions, key terms, mainstream theories or doctrines and representative views gradually established and developed in the study of international law; on the other hand, it should fully and in a timely way manifest China＇s creative contributions to international law and its discipline and discourse. The framework of contemporary Chinese international law discourse should take ＂building a harmonious world＂ as the guiding rationale; thoroughly cover the four basic dimensions of the international rule of law and Chinese foreign policy and its practice, namely domestic, multilateral, regional and bilateral; coincide with, follow and respect those rules, natural laws and tendencies such as fundamental rules governing international relations, globalization, multilateralism, regional integration and regionalism, the international community＇s obligations （or rights） and China＇s needs for peaceful development. It should orient its basic functions toward promoting the continuous development and wide application of contemporary international law as well as its teaching, study and dissemination, stimulating the progress of the rule of law in China, protecting Chinese interests, especially those core national interests, and strengthening China＇s international image and status as a responsible big country.
