Internet and culture Essay

Introduction Technology affects culture in various ways. As the industrial revolution made its impact in Europe in the nineteenth century, the factory mode of production and assembly line operations had a significant impact on family structures. In the twentieth century the popularity of radio and television gave way to large scale broadcasting media that reached out to a large population. The post second world war era saw a proliferation of mass media shaped by new age advertising that attempted to create new markets, sometimes by determining people’s needs and sometimes by shaping their wants. This has been seen by many as a culture shaping mechanism that attempts to harmonize the entire world. One of the first models that studied this phenomenon is the Frankfurt School, which analyzed the processes of cultural production and political economy, the politics of cultural texts, and audience reception and use of cultural artifacts (Kellner 1989 and 1995). The Frankfurt school studied this trend in both the US and in Germany and was witness to the rise of modern media and a culture that evolved around the cinema, popular music, radio, television, and other forms of mass culture (Wiggershaus 1994). The Internet Revolution However the internet revolution that came on the heels of the collapse of the Berlin wall and the dismantling of the Soviet system, putting an end to the cold war unleashed other forces that would counter the unifying theme of global corporate controlled media. The Internet allowed people to access specific information, it made it possible for the ordinary person, cutting across digital divides to upload his or her won thought and through various websites, blogs and contributed material enabled a large amount of personalized information to be shared and debated. The forces of globalization coupled with individual thought and attitude made the internet a forum that could counter the uniformity that mass media was prone to develop. The future of the internet is one where larger communities develop of like minded individuals or of individuals who debate and discuss issues of their concern. The digital divide, thanks to cheaper broadband, is already dwindling and larger communities across the globe getting connected. The web, with its search engines and portals that carry loads of information, already is a seamless source of information that is easy to access and offers information for free. Email that developed along with the web is now something everyone uses and has brought back people in touch with each other without having to send slow snail mail or spend money in calling their contacts over the phone; Email will continue to be one of the most important tools on the web used by large populations for easy communication. Search engines have already developed to a large extent and the contribution of encyclopedia like Wikipedia to those wanting to share information and learn new things is already well documented. As Zittrain (2006) argues, â€Å"The most plausible path along which the Internet might develop is one that finds greater stability by imposing greater constraint on, if not outright elimination of, the capacity of upstart innovators to demonstrate and deploy their genius to large audiences. Financial transactions over such an Internet will be more trustworthy, but the range of its users’ business models will be narrow. † Conclusion However, what is yet uncertain is how this new technology shapes the future of culture in an international setting. Will it cause further stress as more people use the technology to spread terror, child abuse, sell spurious drugs over the net and indulge in petty financial fraud? Will it be an invasion of privacy as more and more personal information is stored in web pages across the net? Would it lose its current free flowing inclusive character and get regulated by various governments worried about the nature of the Internet that allows everyone to be the author and the reader at the same time? The future will answer these questions, but till then as we surf the web getting more and unique information, individual thoughts and insights, send email and blog, the power of this new technology captivates those of us who now spend hours on the net. REFERENCES †¢ Kellner, D (1989) Critical Theory, Marxism, and Modernity. Cambridge and Baltimore: Polity and John Hopkins University Press. †¢ Kellner, D. (1995) Media Culture. Cultural Studies, Identity, and Politics, Between the Modern and the Postmodern. London and New York: Routledge. †¢ Wiggershaus, R (1994), The Frankfurt School. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press. †¢ Zittrain, J. L. (2006) â€Å"The Generative Internet†. Harvard Law Review, Vol. 119. pp 1974 -2040. At http://www. harvardlawreview. org/issues/119/may06/zittrain. pdf. Last Accessed May 1, 2007.

Globalization - Good or Bad Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Globalization - Good or Bad - Essay Example In terms of International Trade, the author has described globalization as the platform that sets a level playground for both rich and poor countries. The author has also affirmed the less developed country can only improve their situation through the assistance of World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. I agree to a greater extent the assertions of the author except at some few issues which I total disagree. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have been described by the author as the pillars of global governance systems. The author overlooked the power of sovereignty of states, democracy, and the international justice system. The claim that developing countries can only improve their situation through these two global financial institutions is not accurate. Wallerstein (2004) pointed out that the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund is ‘training’ poor countries to depend on them. Developing countries have difficulties servicing the loans they receive from these organizations. They find themselves overburdened by the huge interest rates and end up borrowing again from other sources including internal sources. This creates a scenario similar to the one of digging a hole to bury another hole. The problem still remains. In this regard, I view the two institutions as contributing to the slow growth of developing economies and not as the sole path to their economic prosperity. Multinational companies in developing countries have been highlighted as better paying compared to the local firms and that foreign firms are not really oppressing their workers. Hurst (2008) claim that multinational companies are one of the social oppressions in less developed and poor countries. They offer jobs to locals at a higher wage than local firms, but this should not justify the poor, working conditions, job insecurity, or the prolonged hours of work often witnessed especially in the manufacturing industry. The author claims that if the w orkers were not happy with these companies then they would leave. Hurst (2008) explains that is huge labor force in developing countries and very few job opportunities which leaves many workers to ‘persevere’ where they are. The reason, therefore, why these workers continue working for the foreign firms is not because they are happy but rather because they have nowhere else to look for a livelihood. On the issue of foreign companies being nothing compared to the government, and not being able to raise an army or taxes, the author failed to put into perspective that, at times, some senior government officials usually have personal interests in these companies. Revesz (1997) stated that when it comes to crisis where multinational firms are being accused of various reasons, ‘the states cannot be trusted’ in the way the matter is handled. He observed that despite huge negative publicity and accusations from both the media and the public, the government remains silent and waits for the ‘tide to settle’. The international trading system has been implied by the author as unbiased against developing countries. This may be true as far as international trade laws and regulations are concerned. But, on the other hand, according to Wallerstein (2004), there is a more serious issue of trade imbalance whereby developed countries have an upper hand due to their economic strength advantage, superior

Parachute jump Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Parachute jump - Research Paper Example From the Newton laws of motion, a free fall is the motion which involves the weight of a body as the only body is the only force that acts against it. Gravitation was reduced to a time space curvature. Felix had no force acting against him and hence moved along a geodesic. Due to absence of any other forces, gravitation acted on him equally due to the relative weightlessness. In this condition the gravitation field is zero. Felix in the free fall experienced gravititation "0-g". The Newton’s law of universal gravitation simplifies the dynamical equations that describe the trajectories that result due to gravitational force under normal conditions as F = mg. This accounts for the assumption for objects falling to earth over relatively short vertical distances. It is however much untrue over larger distances. The equation ignores the air resistance that was involved that has an effect on falling objects within appreciable distance in air causing them to approach a terminal velocity quickly. The air resistance effect varied enormously due to the size of Felix. The equation ignores the rotation of the earth failing to describe the Coriolis effect (Heitzmann, 23) Near the surface of the Earth, g  =  9.8  m/s ². The assumption is that SI unit g is measured in mps therefore d has to be measured in meters and time t in seconds. Therefore, velocity v is measured in meters per seconds(Heitzmann, 26) Felix is assumed to have started from rest and air resistance was neglected. In the Earth’s atmosphere all results are inaccurate after the first five seconds of the fall. Felix’s velocity at the time should have been a little less than the vacuum vale of 49 m/s due to the resistance of air. As Felix was falling through the atmosphere (which is not a perfect vacuum) therefore, he did not encounter a drag force brought about by air resistance. The drag force should have increased the velocity of the free fall. Felix therefore reached a state where the drag force

Impact of New Technology In the Public Sector In England Essay

Impact of New Technology In the Public Sector In England - Essay Example ced in 1976 by the police scientific development branch in the UK and the operation began in 1979.The first arrest was made in 1981 which was a stolen car. A number of persons have also been credited for the development of the ANPR to the modern structure, among them include; Bernard Hogan Howe, a metropolitan commissioner in the UK. The scope of offered services includes facilities to curb rising insecurity, drug trafficking, uninsured vehicles, untaxed and unlicensed vehicles. Following the recent innovations in the last decade, especially the introduction of the ANPR, cases of insecurity has been on the decrease. Police and security services have been able to track all the vehicles. This technology can store images and also text from the license plate. Statement of the Problem Stakeholders in the security sector have realized the need to embrace this technology in the country. The increase of the use of ANPR has been associated with a number of factors such as; it saves valuable p olice time, saves valuable police resources, helps in advancing investigation, it enforces arrest. Research Questions This Study was guided by the following research questions: 1. To what extent do the police departments embrace ANPR? 2. To what extent do the ANPR contribute to the efficiency? 3. What are the challenges faced by the security personnel in the adoption of the ANPR? Objectives of the Study Overall Objective: The overall objective of this study was to establish the effect of ANPR service delivery in the police sector. Specific Objectives: Specifically, the study sought to: 1. Establish the use and management of ANPR technology in the security sector. 2. To determine the effect of ANPR technology on the operations of police in England. 3. To find out the challenges faced by the... The study was primarily set within England context, with the focus on metropolitan police in England to explore and evaluate the effects of the ANPR on English. This area was preferred for the study because ANPR was first introduced in UK and also the presence of many vehicles on the roads in the United Kingdom. The findings of the study are useful to different stakeholders of the population. Firstly, UK citizens can use the study to educate themselves in order not to be on the wrong side of the law. Secondly, the findings of this study can be used by security personnel to control cases of rising insecurities in England. The study has exposed the Strengths and Weaknesses of this technology. The study was conducted in England and its environs, which is located in Europe. The study dealt with the citizens and security personnel of England who are served by the metropolitan police commission. The area was chosen because of its geographical position in Europe, first country to introduce this technology and also presence of many cars in its roads. Moreover, past studies showed that England has the most number of insecurities in the region. These reasons made the data collected from this study area to be one of the most reliable in the country. From this study, there is a close relationship between use of Automatic Number Plate Recognition and decrease in insecurity. This is because before introduction of this technology department of commission experienced a high rate of insecurity in England.

Feedback Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Feedback - Essay Example In a speech provided by the White House Web site (2009) titled â€Å"Remarks by the president on the home mortgage crisis,† President Barak Obama highlighted how the mortgage phenomenon challenged the American dream and it frightened our nation’s financial system, the strength of our families and communities. President Obama (2009) said that, â€Å"its a crisis that strikes at the heart of the middle class: the homes in which we invest our savings and build our lives, raise our families and plant roots in our communities.† Millions of this country’s citizens ended up losing their jobs and are still at risk of losing their properties. The foreclosure crisis impacted the United States economy dramatically, and I strongly believe that one way to protect ourselves from foreclosures is to control the risk of our financial activities, and as homebuyers we should be well aware of what type of loans we can afford. As homeowners it is essential to take responsibility and take proper actions when it comes down to correctly distributing the household’s budget. According to Petrovich (2008), usually one individual manages the books in the majority of our households, meaning taking charge for bills getting paid and supervising the finances. Moreover, Petrovich (2008) had written that the person in charge knows if the total income is enough to keep up with the expenses. It is easy to review your expenses increases versus the earnings you are bringing home. Are you considering in your monthly balance sheet costs like utility bills or simply groceries? Determining and examining your spending behaviors is crucial to be successful at managing your finances, and have a lifestyle that meets your budget (Petrovich, 2008). But what do we know and why do we care about foreclosures? According Frame (2010), foreclosure can be defined as a legal

Global Financial Crisis and the Ramifications and Impacts upon Ethics Research Paper

Global Financial Crisis and the Ramifications and Impacts upon Ethics and the Developmen of Ethical Behavior - Research Paper Example As such, this brief paper will analyze some of the ways in which this researcher believes it could have ultimately been prevented, the means whereby ethical standards were violated. Although it is oftentimes noted that hindsight is 20/20, it is worth discussing these mechanisms as a function of gaining a further insight into the way that the market works and seeking to prevent a similar situation occurring within the future. Due to the high level of understanding that current economists have with regards to the Great Depression, many forms of protection have been placed within the current economy as a means of ensuring that the same type of catastrophe, based on the same causal factors, does not occur within the current market. However, these forms of protection were not always present and it can be effectively argued that these were some of the main reasons why the crisis itself was able to be perpetuated and had such long and damaging effects. Finally, as a function of understandin g the crisis, what precipitated it, and what furthered it, this analysis will devote a degree of time to analyzing behavioral bias that existed within the system. Background and Analysis of Causal Factors and Precipitators: As such, it is necessary to know, understand, and discuss the forces which could have prevented or at least greatly assuaged the crisis as it has been presented to the financial markets and subsequent global economies over the period of the past 5 years time. In this way, such an exploratory look into the realm of the financial crisis and its subsequent aftermath can allow for a more informed understanding of how the crisis itself could have been prevented as well as the formulation and creation of new and insightful ideas within the reader with regards to how such a situation might be stopped in the future. The first aspect of anticipation and reduction to the crisis came as early as the mid to late 1990s when a number of lawmakers and political analysts began t o make a series of warnings concerning the untenable nature of the ways in which the financial sector was being deregulated (Liang, 354).1 Although this deregulation has been attributed to both sides of the political spectrum, in all fairness it can be assumed from a moderate interpretation that both sides were complicit in the wholesale deregulation of the financial sector which ultimately caused the collapse of the real estate bubble (The Banking Crisis 9).2 Moreover, the first real and measurable signs of impending difficulties on the horizon were first demonstrated around the year 2006 when the Department of Commerce noted that new home permits had dropped an astounding 28% (Hsu 497).3 Normally incremental increases and/or decrease in the reduction or expansion of new home permits are little cause for alarm; however, when something as earth shattering and innately odd as nearly a 1/3 reduction in the demand for housing should have been a major red flag to the Federal Reserve as well as the entire regulatory system. However, rather than heed such a statistic, the Federal Reserve remained unrealistically optimistic regarding how the economy would likely behave over the next several months and years (Horner 33).4 This allowed for the current situation to continue to extend itself for approximately another 2 years time before the final result of such a failure in oversight and monetary policy was noted by the stock market in the painful round of

Acquisition is a High Risky Strategy Essay Example for Free

Acquisition is a High Risky Strategy Essay In the literature, several motives for takeovers have been identified. One is the desire for synergy. That is, similarities or complementarities between the acquiring and target firms are expected to result in the combined value of the enterprises exceeding their worth as separate firms (Collis and Montgomery, 1998). A second motive involves the expectation that acquirers can extract value because target companies have been managed inefficiently (Varaiya, 1987). A third motive is attributed to managerial hubris the notion that senior executives, in overestimating their own abilities, acquire companies they believe could be managed more profitably under their control. Agency theory motive is the anticipation that firm expansion will positively impact the compensation of top managers since there tends to be a direct relation between firm size and executive pay. Contemporary specialists contend that managerial ownership incentives may be expected to have divergent impacts on corporate strategy and firm value. This premise has been recognized in previous studies. For instance, Stulz (1988) has examined the ownership of managers of target companies and has proposed that the relationship between that ownership and the value of target firms may initially be positive and then subsequently become negative with rising insider ownership. Moreover, Shivdasani (1993) empirically shows that the relationship of the ownership structure of target companies with the value of hostile bids is not uniformly positive. McConnell and Servaes (1990) have likewise analyzed the relationship of equity ownership among corporate insiders and Tobins q. Their results demonstrate a non-monotonic relation between Tobins q and insider equity stakes. Wright et al. (1996: 451) have shown a non-linear relationship between insider ownership and corporate strategy related to firm risk taking. Ownership Incentives and Changes in Company Risk Motivating Acquisitions An agency-theoretic motive for acquisitions has been used to explain managerial preferences for risk-reducing corporate strategies (Wright et al., 1996). The implication is that both principals and agents prefer acquiring target companies with higher rather than lower returns. In that, shareholders and managers have congruent interests. The interests, however, diverge in terms of risk considerations associated with acquisitions. Because shareholders possess diversified portfolios, they may only be concerned with systematic risk and be indifferent to the total variance of returns associated with a takeover. Senior managers may alternatively prefer risk-reducing corporate strategies, unless they are granted ownership incentives. That is because they can not diversify their human capital invested in the firm. In the literature, it has been argued that agency costs may be reduced as managerial ownership incentives rise. The reason is that, as ownership incentives rise, the financial interests of insiders and shareholders will begin to converge. Analysts conjecture, however, that such incentives may not consistently provide senior executives the motivation to lessen the agency costs associated with an acquisition strategy. Inherent is the presumption that the nature of executive wealth portfolios will differently influence their attitudes toward corporate strategy. The personal wealth portfolios of top managers are comprised of their ownership of shares/options in the firm, the income produced from their employment, and assets unrelated to the firm. Presumably, as senior executives increase their equity stakes in the enterprise, their personal wealth portfolios become correspondingly less diversified. Although stockholders can diversify their wealth portfolios, top executives have less flexibility if they own substantial shares in the firms they manage. Hence, if a significant portion of managers wealth is concentrated in one investment, then they may find it prudent to diversify their firms via risk-reducing acquisitions. In the related literature, however, takeovers and risk taking have been approached differently from the described approach. Amihud and Lev (1999) have contended that insiders employment income is significantly related to the firms performance. Thus, managers are confronted with risks associated with their income if the maintenance of that income is dependent on achieving predetermined performance targets. Reasonably, in the event of either corporate underperformance or firm failure, CEOs not only may lose their current employment income but also may seriously suffer in the managerial labor market, since their future earnings potential with other enterprises may be lowered. Hence, the risk of executives employment income is impacted by the firms risk. The ramification of Amihud and Levs (1999) contentions is that top managers will tend to lower firm risk, and therefore their own employment risk, by acquiring companies that contribute to stabilizing of the firms income, even if shareho lder wealth is adversely affected. Consistent with the implications of Amihud and Levs arguments, Agrawal and Mandelker (1987) have similarly suggested that managers with negligible ownership stakes may adopt risk-reducing corporate strategies because such strategies may well serve their own personal interests. With ownership incentives, however, managers may be more likely to acquire risk-enhancing target companies, in line with the requirement of wealth maximization for shareholders. The notion that at negligible managerial ownership levels, detrimental risk-reducing acquisition strategies may be emphasized, but with increasing ownership incentive levels, beneficial risk-enhancing acquisitions may be more prevalent is also suggested in other works (Grossman and Hoskisson, 1998). The conclusion of these investigations is that the relationship between insider ownership and risk enhancing, worthy corporate acquisitions is linear and positive. Some experts assert that CEOs personal wealth concentration will induce senior managers to undertake risk-reducing firm strategies. Portfolio theorys expectation suggests that investors or owner-managers may desire to diversify their personal wealth portfolios. For instance, Markowitz (1952: 89) has asserted that investors may wish to diversify across industries because firms in different industries. . . have lower covariances than firms within an industry. Moreover, as argued by Sharpe (1964: 441), diversification enables the investor to escape all but the risk resulting from swings in economic activity. Consequently, managers with substantial equity investments in the firm may diversify the firm via risk-reducing acquisitions in order to diversify their own personal wealth portfolios. Because they may be especially concerned with risk-reducing acquisitions, however, their corporate strategies may not enhance firm value through takeovers, although managerial intention may be to boos t corporate value. The above discussion is compatible with complementary arguments that suggest that insiders may acquire non-value-maximizing target companies although their intentions may be to enhance returns to shareholders. For instance, according to the synergy view, while takeovers may be motivated by an ex-ante concern for increasing corporate value, many such acquisitions are not associated with an increase in firm value. Alternatively, according to the hubris hypothesis, even though insiders may intend to acquire targets that they believe could be managed more profitably under their control, such acquisitions are not ordinarily related to higher profitability. If acquisitions which are undertaken primarily with insider expectations that they will financially benefit owners do not realize higher performance, then those acquisitions which are primarily motivated by a risk-reducing desire may likewise not be associated with beneficial outcomes for owners. Additionally, it can be argued that shareholders can more efficiently diversify their own portfolios, making it unnecessary for managers to diversify the firm in order to achieve portfolio diversification for shareholders. Risk Associated with HRM practices in International Acquisitions There are a number of reasons why the HRM policies and practices of multinational corporations (MNCs) and cross-border acquisitions are likely to be different from those found in domestic firms (Dowling, Schuler and Welch, 1993). For one, the difference in geographical spread means that acquisitions must normally engage in a number of HR activities that are not needed in domestic firms such as providing relocation and orientation assistance to expatriates, administering international job rotation programmes, and dealing with international union activity. Second, as Dowling (1988) points out, the personnel policies and practices of MNCs are likely to be more complex and diverse. For instance, complex salary and income taxation issues are likely to arise in acquisitions because their pay policies and practices have to be administered to many different groups of subsidiaries and employees, located in different countries. Managing this diversity may generate a number of co-ordination and communication problems that do not arise in domestic firms. In recognition of these difficulties, most large international companies retain the services of a major accounting firm to ensure there is no tax incentive or disincentive associated with a particular international assignment. Finally, there are more stakeholders that influence the HRM policies and practices of international firms than those of domestic firms. The major stakeholders in private organizations are the shareholders and the employees. But one could also think of unions, consumer organizations and other pressure groups. These pressure groups also exist in domestic firms, but they often put more pressure on foreign than on local companies. This probably means that international companies need to be more risk averse and concerned with the social and political environment than domestic firms. Acquisitions and HRM Practices: Evidence from Japan, the US, and Europe In contemporary context, international human resource management faces important challenges, and this trend characterizes many Japanese, US and European acquisitions.   From the critical point of view, Japanese companies experience more problems associated with international human resource management than companies from the US and Europe (Shibuya, 2000). Lack of home-country personnel sufficient international manage ­ment skills has been widely recognized in literature as the most difficult problem facing Japanese compa ­nies and simultaneously one of the most significant of US and European acquisitions as well. The statement implies that cultivating such skills is difficult and that they are relatively rare among businessmen in any country. Japanese companies may be particularly prone to this problem due to their heavy use of home-country nationals in overseas management positions. European and Japanese acquisitions also experience the lack of home country personnel who want to work abroad, while it is less of an impediment for the US companies. In the US acquisitions expatriates often experience reentry difficulties (e.g., career disruption) when re ­turning to the home country: This problem was the one most often cited by US firms.   Today Japanese corporations report the relatively lower incidence of expatriate reentry diffi ­culties, and it is surprising given the vivid accounts of such problems at Japanese firms by White (1988) and Umezawa (1990). However, the more active role of the Japanese person ­nel department in coordinating career paths, the tradition of semi ­annual musical-chair-like personnel shuffles (jinji idoh), and the continu ­ing efforts of Japanese stationed overseas to maintain close contact with headquarters might underlie the lower level of difficulties in this area for Japanese firms (Inohara, 2001). In contrast, the decentralized structures of many US and European firms may serve to isolate expatriates from their home-country headquarters, making reentry more problematic. Also, recent downsiz ­ing at US and European firms may reduce the number of appropriate management positions for expatriates to return to, or may sever expatri ­ates relationships with colleagues and mentors at headquarters. Furthermore, within the context of the lifetime employment system, individ ­ual Japanese employees have little to gain by voicing reentry concerns to personnel managers. In turn, personnel managers need not pay a great deal of attention to reentry problems because they will usually not result in a resignation. In western firms, reentry problems need to be taken more seriously by personnel managers because they frequently result in the loss of a valued employee. A further possible explanation for the higher incidence of expatriate reentry problems in western multinationals is the greater tendency of those companies to implement a policy of transferring local nationals to headquarters or other international operations. Under such a policy, the definition of expatriate expands beyond home-country nationals to en ­compass local nationals who transfer outside their home countries. It may even be that local nationals who return to a local operation after working at headquarters or other international operations may have their own special varieties of reentry problems. Literature on international human resource practices in Japan, the US and Europe suggest that the major strategic difficulty for the MNCs is to attract high-caliber local nationals to work for the company. In general, acquisitions may face greater challenges in hiring high-caliber local employees than do domestic firms due to lack of name recognition and fewer relationships with educators or others who might recommend candidates. However, researchers suggest that this issue is significantly more difficult for Japanese than for US and European multinationals. When asked to describe problems encoun ­tered in establishing their US affiliates, 39.5% of the respondents to a Japan Society survey cited finding qualified American managers to work in the affiliate and 30.8% cited hiring a qualified workforce (Bob ; SRI, 2001). Similarly, a survey of Japanese companies operating in the US conducted by a human resource consulting firm found that 35% felt recruiting personnel to be very difficult or extremely difficult, and 56% felt it to be difficult (The Wyatt Company, 1999). In addition to mentioned problem, Japanese acquisition encounter high local employee turnover, which is significantly more prob ­lematic for them due to the near-total absence of turnover to which they are accustomed in Japan. The US, European and Japanese companies admit very rarely that they encounter local legal challenges to their personnel policies. However, in regard to Japanese acquisitions large   amount of press coverage has been given to lawsuits against Japanese companies in the United States and a Japanese Ministry of Labor Survey in which 57% of the 331 respondents indicated that they were facing potential equal employ ­ment opportunity-related lawsuits in the United States (Shibuya, 2000). Conclusion This research investigates whether corporate acquisitions with shared technological resources or participation in similar product markets realize superior economic returns in comparison with unrelated acquisitions. The rationale for superior economic performance in related acquisitions derives from the synergies that are expected through a combination of supplementary or complementary resources. It is clear from the results of this research that acquired firms in related acquisitions have higher returns than acquired firms in unrelated acqui ­sitions. This implies that the related acquired firm benefits more from the acquirer than the unrelated acquired firm. The higher returns for the related acquired firms suggest that the combination with the acquirer’s resources has higher value implications than the combination of two unrelated firms. This is supported by the higher total wealth gains which were observed in related acquisitions. I did however, in the case of acquiring firms, find that the abnormal returns directly attributable to the acquisition transaction are not significant. There are reasons to believe that the announcement effects of the transaction on the returns to acquirers are less easily detected than for target firms. First, an acquisition by a firm affects only part of its businesses, while affecting all the assets (in control-oriented acqui ­sitions) of the target firm. Thus the measurability of effects on acquirers is attenuated. Second, if an acquisition is one event in a series of implicit moves constituting a diversification program, its individual effect as a market signal would be mitigated. It is also likely that the theoretical argument which postulates that related acquisitions create wealth for acquirers may be underspecified. Relatedness is often multifaceted, suggesting that the resources of the target firm may be of value to many firms, thus increasing the relative bargaining power of the target vis-a-vis the potential buyers. Even in the absence of explicit competition for the target (multiple bidding), the premiums paid for control are a substantial fraction of the total gains available from the transaction. For managers, some implications from the research can be offered. First, it seems quite clear from the data that a firm seeking to be acquired will realize higher returns if it is sold to a related than an unrelated firm. This counsel is consistent with the view that the market recognizes synergistic combinations and values them accordingly. Second, managers in acquiring firms may be advised to scrutinize carefully the expected gains in related and unrelated acquisitions. For managers the issue of concern is not whether or not a given kind of acquisition creates a significant total amount of wealth, but what percentage of that wealth they can expect to accrue to their firms. Thus, although acquisitions involving related technologies or product market yield higher total gains, pricing mechanisms in the market for corporate acquisitions reflect the gains primarily on the target company. Interpreting these results conservatively, one may offer the argument that expected gains for acquiring firms are competed away in the bidding process, with stockholders of target firms obtaining high proportions of the gains. On a pragmatic level this research underscores the need to combine what may be called the theoretical with the practical. In the case of acquisitions, pragmatic issues like implicit and explicit competition for a target firm alter the theoretical expectations of gains from an acquisition transaction. Further efforts to clarify these issues theoretically and empirically will increase our understanding of these important phenomena. Bibliography Sharpe WF. 1964. Capital asset prices: a theory of market equilibrium under conditions of risk. Journal of Finance 19: 425-442 Markowitz H. 1952. Portfolio selections. Journal of Finance 7: 77-91 Grossman W, Hoskisson R. 1998. CEO pay at the crossroads of Wall Street and Main: toward the strategic design of executive compensation. Academy of Management Executive 12: 43-57 Amihud Y, Lev B. 1999. Does corporate ownership structure affect its strategy towards diversification? Strategic Management Journal 20(11): 1063-1069 Agrawal A, Mandelker G. 1987. Managerial incentives and corporate investment and financing decisions. Journal of Finance 42: 823-837 Wright P, Ferris S, Sarin A, Awasthi V. 1996. The impact of corporate insider, blockholder, and institutional equity ownership on firm risk-taking. Academy of Management Journal 39: 441-463 McConnell JJ, Servaes H. 1990. Additional evidence on equity ownership and corporate value. Journal of Financial Economics 27: 595-612. Shivdasani A. 1993. Board composition, ownership structure, and hostile takeovers. Journal of Accounting and Economics 16: 167-198 Stulz RM. 1988. Managerial control of voting rights: financing policies and the market for corporate control. Journal of Financial Economics 20: 25-54 Varaiya N. 1987. Determinants of premiums in acquisition transactions. Managerial and Decision Economics 14: 175-184 Collis D, Montgomery C. 1998. Creating corporate advantage. Harvard Business Review 76(3): 71-83 White, M. 1988. The Japanese overseas: Can they go home again? New York: The Free Press. Bob, D., ; SRI International. 2001. Japanese companies in American communities. New York: The Japan Society.