Fallacies and Generalizations Essay Example for Free

Fallacies and Generalizations Essay Fallacies and generalizations of complex topics is common in today’s high-pace society. Even before the era of 24/7 news, it was often easier to persuade people to an action if the terms were simplified. Unfortunately, this simplification often mires debates, and those who have no cost to being wrong often burden others with the cost of making a wrong decision. As I have been reading Economic Facts and Fallacies (by Sowell), many of the common fallacies of today’s economics and culture situations are broken down to reveal possible causes, as well as the true causes. For today’s post, common fallacies and generalizations will be defined, as well as an example of each. When debating with others, watch out for these fallacies and call them out when you are able to. 1. Ad hominem One of the most common fallacies today, in which an argument is linked to a personal characteristic or belief to the opposition. It should not be confused with general name-calling or with legitimate concerns of the opposition’s motives for arguing. Example: Mark: Gay marriage is wrong. Susan: Well, to you it is because you are a Christian. Mark: All the reasons against have had nothing to do with religion. Susan: You are religious so it does not matter what your reasons are for not supporting gay marriage. 2. Argument from Authority Simply put, an argument/statement is correct because someone with recognized authority (person or organization) has said it is correct or endorses the position. It is commonly seen in commercials, but also prevalent in areas of debate that do rely upon factual data. Arguments based on a person’s expertise must be heavily scrutinized, especially in the scientific and mathematical fields, which require non-biased data to support conclusions in experiments. Example: â€Å"Hi, I’m (Athlete) here to talk to you about the amazing advantages of using the Dental Pro-Product Extreme! Example 2: Susan: Global Warming has not yet been conclusively proven to have been caused by human activities. Mark: 90% of scientists with the UN and many climate agencies around the world have agreed that man is the cause of this Warming. 3. Appeal to Emotion The fallacy of appealing to emotion is broad, a person can appeal to fear, ridicule, or some positive benefit. Emotion though has not place in a debate based upon facts. Example: Mark: If we don’t support our troops, then our national security is at risk! Who really wants to let up security so terrorists can sneak through and harm us? 4. Correlation does not imply Causation One of the biggest generalizations committed today is this one. Many of the fallacies in Sowell’s book revolve around this type of fallacy including various â€Å"discrimination† such as the gender-wage gap, and black-white income/education gap. The other problem with this generalization is that it generally applies broadly to a diverse group, such as â€Å"women†. Example: Mark: Women consistently earn 75 cents per dollar that men make doing the same jobs despite all the advances they have made over the years. Susan: Did you know that women, as a group, tend to choose jobs that are lower pay and have less hours? And that when compared individually, productivity differences due to time off from work explain the gap? 5. Slippery Slope The bane of many internet debates and political debates is the slippery slope fallacy. It is often combined with other fallacies to make the argument stronger. In essence, the person will use this fallacy to say that a small event will cascade into ever larger events, typically against the wishes of the audience. Susan: If we legalize prostitution, then drug use will increase. Which means more tax dollars will be needed to combat the rise in crime that will result, and schools will need to enforce stricter drug policies to protect children. Mark: Why not legalize drugs as well? Shouldn’t people be free to use their bodies as they please? Many, many, infinitely many more fallacies exist. Generalizations are also common when people are treated as a homogeneous group, such as the income differences amongst ethnic groups in the United States. Of course, at times fallacies and generalizations can be useful, if they are true and conform to reason, but for every-day usage, most are just to win the debate and shame the opponent one way or another.

Birth Control :: Contraceptives, Birth Control Essays

The practice of birth control prevents conception, thus limiting reproduction. The term birth control, coined by Margaret SANGER in 1914, usually refers specifically to methods of contraception, including STERILIZATION. The terms family planning and planned parenthood have a broader application. METHODS OF BIRTH CONTROL Attempts to control fertility have been going on for thousands of years. References to preventing conception are found in the writings of priests, philosophers, and physicians of ancient Egypt and Greece. Some methods, though crude, were based on sound ideas. For example, women were advised to put honey, olive oil, or oil of cedar in their vaginas to act as barriers. The stickiness of these substances was thought to slow the movement of sperm into the uterus. Wads of soft wool soaked in lemon juice or vinegar were used as tampons, in the belief that they would make the vagina sufficiently acidic to kill the sperm. The Talmud mentions using a piece of sponge to block the cervix, the entrance to the uterus. Sperm Blockage Several modern methods of birth control are practiced by creating a barrier between the sperm and the egg cell. This consists of the use of a chemical foam, a cream, or a suppository. Each contains a chemical, or spermicide that stops sperm. They are not harmful to vaginal tissue. Each must be inserted shortly before COITUS. Foams are squirted from aerosol containers with nozzles or from applicators that dispense the correct amount of foam and spread it over the cervix; creams and jellies are squeezed from tubes and held in place by a diaphragm or other device; and suppositories--small waxy pellets melted by body heat--are inserted by hand. More effective at keeping sperm and egg apart are mechanical barriers such as the diaphragm and cervical cap (both used with a spermicide), the sponge, and the condom. A diaphragm is a shallow rubber cup that is coated with a spermicide and positioned over the cervix before intercourse. Size is important; women need to have a pelvic examination and get a prescription for the proper diaphragm. The cervical cap, less than half the size but used in the same way, has been available worldwide for decades. It was not popular in the United States, however, and in 1977 it failed to gain approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA); in 1988, the FDA again permitted its sale. The contraceptive sponge, which keeps its spermidical potency for 48 hours after being inserted in the vagina, was approved in 1983. Like the diaphragm and cervical cap, the sponge has an estimated effectiveness rate of about 85%. The devices only rarely produce side effects such as irritation and allergic reactions and, very rarely, infections. The condom, a rubber sheath, is rolled

Organization and Leadership Analysis Essay

The Company chosen for this analysis is Cummins Inc. and I am confident the description that follows will give a better understanding of the organization for any third party considering a career with this organization. Clessie Lyle Cummins built his first steam engine in rural Indiana with the backing of banker William G. Irwin in the year 1919. These men together built the first company that would take advantage of the technology developed by the German Engineer Rudolf Diesel in the late 1880’s. From that early beginning thru today Cummins Inc. has been a world leader in Diesel power engines and service products with sales and service locations in 197 countries and gross sales of over nineteen billion dollars  in 2015 (Cruikshank, 1997). I have Chosen Ericka Rodriguez Eastern Distribution Center Site Material’s Leader for this analysis. I chose both the company and one of its leaders as they have carved a niche for themselves in the field of diesel technologies and s ervice products. It has been an inspiration to learn from the leader ship style portrayed by Ms. Rodriguez. Organization Description The Company chosen for this analysis is Cummins Inc. and I am confident the description that follows will give a better understanding of the organization for any third party considering a career with this organization. Clessie Lyle Cummins built his first steam engine in rural Indiana with the backing of banker William G. Irwin in the year 1919. These men together built the first company that would take advantage of the technology developed by the German Engineer Rudolf Diesel in the late 1880’s. From that early beginning thru today Cummins Inc. has been a world leader in Diesel power engines and service products with sales and service locations in 197 countries and gross sales of over nineteen billion dollars in 2015 (Cruikshank, 1997). I have Chosen Ericka Rodriguez Eastern Distribution Center Site Material’s Leader for this analysis. I chose both the company and one of its leaders as they have carved a niche for themselves in the field of diesel technologies and serv ice products. It has been an inspiration to learn from the leader ship style portrayed by Ms. Rodriguez. Organization Description Cummins Inc. was founded over ninety years ago with a vision of revolutionizing the concept of how diesel power was produced and serviced. This organization has been the global leader in diesel technologies and services for over 75 years and its products have been emulated by several other global companies. These advances were only achieved by the whole hearted dedication of its workforce. The customers and stakeholders show immense support of Cummins Inc. and it is because of their belief that Cummins Inc. is the leading enterprise in the diesel technology and service ecosystem. Customer are now able to obtain the power needed in the quantities needed over a variety of business fields. They have facilitated the process of selling and servicing there markets ensuring the success of  the company for years to come. Cummins Inc. has three overarching business objectives: 1.) Achieve Financial target over the quarters. To succeed and grow into the future, we must demonstrate performance by consistently meeting or succeeding our financial targets. 2.) Be the first choice of customers. Cummins success depends solely on our customers. As we succeed in our ability to help them, they will view Cummins as a partner in their success and we will then become their first choice in our competitive market place. 3.) Be a great place to work. The ability of Cummins Inc. to achieve these objectives is based on our workforce. Cummins Inc. must be able to attract, develop and retain the skills need to pursue the first two objectives (Hanafee, 2011). Aspiring to fulfill their objectives helped Cummins Inc. maintain its position in the diesel power and service market and over time ensuring its success. The commitment to customers, communities, and partners they serve, and the employees with diverse employment cult ure has positioned Cummins Inc. to maintain that global first choice power leader status. Leadership Practices I interpret Ms. Rodriguez leadership style as situational, she is skilled at mentoring individuals, sharing her vision, and motivating her employees. She has portrayed situational leadership style and this can be rationalized from the following three examples: 1.) Coaching – Ms. Rodriguez has portrayed this attribute, and has successfully been able to lead her group in achieving the strategic objectives of the organization. She coaches her employees by providing detailed instructions while encouraging her subordinates, requesting feedback and explaining the decision making process to them. She gives specific feedback to all individuals on their metrics and how there metrics can be achieved to meet overall organizational objectives and goals. Situational leaders reduce their involvement in daily activities as the dynamics of her group changes and matures. Ms. Rodriquez gives her people the freedom to do their work. The most productive work can be accomplished by people given th e space needed and are entrusted by the organization to be of the highest quality. Ms. Rodriquez is a leader of the highest integrity, though she is portrays a situational leader she does not change her approach to take advantage of the situation. She is seen to adapt to the is most appropriate practice after considering factors such as level  of maturity, organizational structure and culture, and the business metrics. She works with integrity and is not motivated by a desire to capitalize on a weakness of her team or organization 2.) Flexibility- The fundamental nature of a situational leader is to move their style in the business environment of an organization and encourage the thoughts of innovative employees. Ms. Rodriguez is more adaptable to the various changes that occur and welcomes innovation in her group. Rather than abiding by the typical views of a leader and not adapting to change. She is a risk taker and seems to enjoy the freshest concepts brought to her attention. She faces many challenges but still enjoys her work and the people who work for her. The people who work for her are likely influenced by her nature and work ethic and will mirror this behavior and expectations in their own work. 3.) Courage- Ms. Rodriguez as a situational leader is never afraid to take on new challenges because of the fear of incurring losses. She portrays a clear vision and takes complete charge of where and how the team is moving forward. She takes it upon herself to mentor, lead, delegate responsibilities to employees on a personal level and have each person accountable for their metric within the organization. This leadership style allows her to determine and embrace most behaviors and strategies to get the goal achieved. Her projects humility at various levels and as a key leader does not claim to have all the answers. She encourages participation of all level of employees and makes sure that her group has ample scope of engagement and remains close with them. The above mentioned attributes lead me to conclude that she is a true leader, and because of this leadership many employees at different sites across Cummins Inc. would like to work here. Ms. Rodriguez treats her employees as family. Cummins Inc. offers diverse career opportunities for people to enhance their skills and ensure growth not only for the company but employees as well. She recognizes that investing in vast amount of resources for overall development for her work force will only enhance the employee experience as a whole. This spirt of family acknowledges that she has the full support of her team which ensures good will amongst her them Relationship Between Leadership and Organizational Culture A leader’s beliefs and values shape the culture of any organization. Talented people from around the world come to work at Cummins Inc. because of the diversity it represents. The opportunity to eclipse other companies in an atmosphere that has numerous opportunities, a fast pace, and leaders that motivate, inspire and invent new technologies. Cummins Inc. offers uncommon career advancement opportunities regardless of the ethics, gender, and race. Employees chosen to work from Cummins Inc. are results oriented, entrepreneurial and independent. . People do not join a company simple on the brand name it offers, it is the culture and atmosphere that binds the work place together. People thrive under the growth, guidance and opportunities that an organization provides. Each employee wants to connect with an organization that facilitates, engages, and cares for its employees and their families. It is impossible to invest employee time and energy to the best interests of the organization without proper support to their families. Cummins rewards exceptional performance are direct results of exemplary employees and customer success. Ms. Rodriguez is always encouraging first class performance from her group and helps them understand the value of the hard work. She redirects her groups work when necessary to make sure the work is aligned with the company culture and strategy for long the term health of Cummins Inc. SWOT Analysis SWOT analysis is a strategic planning tool used to evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats revolving around a corporation. This analysis involves determining the objective of the corporation and identifying the internal and external environmental factors expected to benefit or burden the achievement of company objectives. After the business identifies that objective a SWOT analysis is performed to examine the strengths and weaknesses(Internal factors) and then considers the opportunities posed by business conditions(external factors) By identifying the company strengths, a company will be better able to think of strategies that will take advantage of new opportunities. Identifying current weaknesses and the threats, a company will be able to identify changes needed to improve and protect its current operations. Organizational Strengths The strengths identified for Cummins are summarized in that they are a market leader for diesel technologies and products? One of the most important strength is that the company has a strong and loyal customer base across the globe. Its ability to reach around the globe with its master and regional distribution centers is clearly an advantage against their competitors. A second important strength is the yearly improvements made in the research in new diesel technologies. I emphasize yearly because competitors can take multiple years to produce results that Cummins Inc. routinely makes year over year. Lastly Cummins Inc. financial stability and security is a major strength. The company consistently maintains market position, financial disciplines and operational strengths to contend with cyclical nature of its business. The Financial Stability of Cummins Inc. is a key strength of this organization with Moody’s assigning an A2 rating. Moody’s determined that Cummins will maintain its market status, operational durability, and the financial self-restraint necessary to deal with the substantial cyclical nature of its business. Cummins Inc. recognizes that the cyclicality in the market it serves and maintains a high degree of financial discipline that is characterized my low levels of debt and a healthy liquidity profile (Park, 2014). Organizational Weaknesses Weaknesses that have been identified at Cummins Inc. are the weak profit margins on Diesel engine filters. A low profit margin will leave little room for them to lower their selling prices. Which is sometimes necessary to gain a competitive edge against competitors. A low margin means little funds available for profits and expenses. Reducing your selling price without a corresponding and proportionate reduction in the cost of goods sold will further reduce the funds available for expenses and profits. The biggest disadvantage for Cummins Inc. is that of a low profit margin is poor operational efficiency. Profit margins are lower than the industry average are indicative of a need to improve performance. The lack of improvement results in a lower level lower than would normally be attainable. Heavy dependence on a few suppliers is also another weakness with the Cummins Inc., strategy. The supplier will have the opportunity to take advantage of the company. When they are at the opportune time they may drive up prices because they understand that they are the supplier of choice at Cummins Inc.  even though they are contracted to do otherwise. Cummins will also be vulnerable to losing company technologies and research because suppliers are part of that information flow during the development process. Lastly a significant disadvantage is the supplier capable of meeting the future capacity of the company. Suppliers may withhold this information until product launch and once the launch of the new product is complete there may become capacity constraints with their production lines. Organizational Opportunities With the Cummins product Market environment consistently changing due to continuous improved product offerings need to adapt and change to what the customer wants. To be able to maintain the growth and profits of the business it is of vital importance to safeguard and diversify its product range. Possible opportunities to explore are capitalizing on the growth and expansion of diesel technologies. Product growth in this area can be a key imitative. Cummins takes the lead with these technologies. Cummins should also be able to, because of significant capital reserves, undergo strategic acquisitions and synergies, for example overseas dealerships that are privately owned and also undertake strategic alliance with competitors like Parker-Racor Corp for an interdependency that will cater to a wider consumer base. Organizational Threats The outlook for Cummins still looks positive but there are also are threats to the business that need monitored and/or addressed. China has enjoyed rapid growth for the past few years but is has been noted that diesel trucks purchased in China are down ten percent. China is the second largest market behind the United States in sales and any prolonged sales weakness there would have a large impact on Cummins Yearly performance. Secondly, with the long term in mind, emerging technologies in artificial intelligence could pose another threat. Self driven vehicles may possess a significant long term danger to Cummins. While this seems far off, one has to consider the limitations of human driven trucks. Simply put is that automating a truck fleet would put less trucks on the road because you would not have down time as you do now with humans. Leadership Evaluation My choice for the Leadership Evaluation is situational leadership theory, it is representative of the leadership form characterized by Ericka Rodriguez for her organization. It is pertinent from this background characterization and can be attributed to its overall success of the leadership qualities she exhibits. Leadership Strengths The scholarly sources that I have chosen are listed below: 1. Blanchard, K. (2010). Leading At A Higher Level. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Blanchard Management Corporation. 2. Hanafee, S. (2011). Red, black and global: The transformation of Cummins, 1995-2010. Columbus, IN: Cummins. 3. Winkler, I. (2009). Contemporary Leadership Theories Enhancing the Understanding of the Complexity, Subjectivity and Dynamic of Leadership. Heidelberg: Physica-Verlag Heidelberg. Cummins Inc. is prospering by becoming the leading diesel engine builder and service provider in addition to maximizing its workforce and develop world class business leaders. Under Ms. Rodriguez the Eastern Distribution Center has grown from a regional parts Distribution center to a facility services the globe. She exhibits situational leadership style and are justified from the following instances; 1.) Coaching, participating, directing- Ms. Rodriguez has portrayed these attributes, and still successfully directs all her employees into achieving the strategic goals of Cummins Inc. She coaches, encourages, inputs solicitation, and explains why she has made certain decisions. She gives out specific instructions about what the objectives are and how the goals are achieved. As a situational leader Ms. Rodriquez gradually reduces her involvement in the day to day activities of her employees. She works with the highest integrity and never appears motivated by a desire to capitalize on the weaknesses of the team or Cummins Inc. She gives her employees the freedom to do their work to the best of their abilities. She does not change her approach to merely take advantage of the situation as she visualizes it but rather to take advantage by adapting to how the employees  visualizes and coaching accordingly(Winkler, 2009). 2.) Flexibility- A fundamental nature of a situational leader is to be able to flow with the changes in the environment of an organization and encourages thoughts from different people. These are the people who take risk. They enjoy new concepts, take challenges and enjoy their chosen profession. Employees enjoy working under Ms. Rodriguez. These employees are more than likely influenced by her working style (Blanchard, 2010). 3.) Ms. Rodriguez consistently encourages improvement of performance in her group and helps them to better understand the value of hard work and consistently motivates them to direct their work towards the strategies of the organization with humility and grace. Leadership Weaknesses Leadership: Situational leadership style exhibited by MS Rodriguez has certain perceived weaknesses. The Situational leadership style may be exhibited as a management technique instead of a leadership style. A vision of a manager maybe limited but a leader has a broad vision. This is a drawback that Ms. Rodriquez on occasion portrays a lack of long-term vision. The lack of vision has allowed competitors to capitalize in servicing our customers. Awareness: Ms. Rodriquez is a situational leader who can be manipulative. She fails to understand the perception of her employees. This perception may lead to the employees considering Ms. Rodriquez as a dictator. This form of leadership is unacceptable in the company culture of Cummins Inc. This will reduce the credibility and trust of the employees towards Ms. Rodriguez. It will be to her benefit if she is more transparent towards her employees (Hanafee, 2011). External factors: The decision making of Ms. Rodriguez may be affected by certain external factors. A situational leader is successful if they take into consideration external factors. There is a fair chance that there will change be in the situation with a change in leadership. It is the capability of the leader to adapt to this change and then adapt to these new circumstances. This capability is lacking in Ms. Rodriquez. Recommendations for Leadership Development I would suggest the use of situational leadership projected by Ericka Rodriquez, Eastern Distribution Center Site Materials Leader, on the fact that under her leadership productivity and employees moral has increased immensely since her hiring. I respect her strategies and completely take into account the knowledge that I have learned in the process of completing this assignment. The knowledge that I have attained can be summarized as follows- 1.) Delegation: Ms. Rodriquez is a considerate leader. Her decision making style is seasoned. She is a flexible leader but on occasion lacks the broad visions necessary to be a complete leader. A broad vision is essential to maintaining a business that is organized and efficient. Engaging with employees is also crucial for the essential for the continued success of Cummins Inc. This organization must work as a team. 2.) Ms. Rodriquez should adopt different styles of leadership according to the requirement. She must be able to provide confidence to the employees in times when Cummins Inc. is not attaining its organizational goals. Her employees will find confidence in these situations if she addresses these situations effectively. The will build and maintain a positive mental feeling (Northouse, 2013). 3.) Ms. Rodriquez leadership style must maintain an open commutatively rather than portrayed as a dictator. Situational leaders have a tendency to be manipulative. Ms. Rodriquez must reduce her dictatorship and take into consideration employees ideas. This will help keep her employees motivated (Brackett, 2011). These strategies of situational leadership are implemented will ensure the viability and sustainability of the Eastern Distribution Center for Cummins Inc. References Bass, B. M., Bass, R., & Bass, B. M. (2008). The Bass handbook of leadership: Theory, research, and managerial applications. Blanchard, K. (2010). Leading At A Higher Level. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Blanchard Management Corporation. Blanchard, K. H., Zigarmi, P., & Zigarmi, D. (1985). Leadership and the one minute manager: Increasing effectiveness through situational leadership. New York: Morrow. Brackett, M. A., Rivers, S. E., & Salovey, P. (2011). Emotional intelligence: Implications for personal, social, academic, and workplace success. Social & Personality Psychology Compass, 5(1), 88-103. Connolly, R., Pico, M., Henderson, K., Bodine, T., & Blankenship, S. (2012). Strategies for success. Training, 49(4), 48-52 Cruikshank, J. L., & Sicilia, D. B. (1997). The engine that could: Seventy-five years of values-driven change at Cummins Engine Company. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. Darling, J. L. (2011). The key for effective stress management: Importance of responsive leadership in organizational development. Organization Development Journal, 29(1), 9-26. Graeff, C. L. (1983, April 1). The Situational Leadership Theory: A Critical View. Retrieved March 9, 2015, from http://amr.aom.org/content/8/2/285.short GURUFOCUS. (2014, December 14th). Cummins Inc Financial Strength Rank. Retrieved March 8, 2015, from http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gurufocus.com%2Fterm%2Frank_balancesheet%2FCMI%2FFinancial%252BStrength%2FCummins%252Binc Hanafee, S. (2011). Red, black and global: The transformation of Cummins, 1995-2010. Columbus, IN: Cummins. Hargis, M. (2011). Developing leaders: Examining the role of transactional and transformational leadership across business contexts. Organization Development Journal, 29(3), 51-66. Lanz, K. (2013 ). The art of self-awareness. Training Journal, 65-69. Momeni, N. (2009). The relation between managers’ emotional intelligence and the organizational climate they create. Public Personnel Management, 38(2), 35-48. Northouse, P. G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice Sixth Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Nyman, M., & Thach, L. (2013). Coaching as a new leadership development option. Supervision, 74(2), 23-26. Park, J. B., & Jankowits, R. P. (2014, December 8). Moody’s raises Cummins’ rating to A2; outlook is stable. Retrieved March 8, 2015, from https%3A%2F%2Fwww.moodys.com%2Fresearch%2FMoodys-raises-Cummins-rating-to-A2-outlook-is-stable–PR_313739. Rooke, D. R. (2005). 7 Transformations of leadership. Harvard Business Review, 83(4), 66-76. Winkler, I. (2009). Contemporary Leadership Theories Enhancing the Understanding of the Complexity, Subjectivity and Dynamic of Leadership. Heidelberg: Physica-Verlag Heidelberg. Zenger, J. (2013). Developing lea ders. Leadership Excellence, 30(8), 24.

Study Of The Reasons Behind Company Name Changes Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 8 Words: 2387 Downloads: 4 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Research paper Did you like this example? A companys name is commonly considered to be a curial part of its image and reputation, just like the quality of its products or the quality of its services and it is also widely accepted that the corporate name is the cornerstone of a companys relationship with its customers. (McNamara, 1998). Changing a companys name is a major policy decision contemplated by many firms and actually implemented by some year. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Study Of The Reasons Behind Company Name Changes Finance Essay" essay for you Create order Such name changes are sometimes a result of mergers or acquisitions to better describe the new combined business, and sometimes an attempt to acquire a new image and corporate identity. However, the process of changing a corporate name is painstaking, risky, and costly, therefore, name changes will not be initiated unless expected benefits outweigh expected costs (Bosch, 1989). Thus, the stock price reaction surrounding a corporate name change can be regarded as the name change effects. However, some ambivalent evident has appeared in the few studies that have considered the effect of name change on firm value. Horsky and Swyngedouw (1987) find that name change announcements can generate positive stock return. Bosch (1988) and Karpoff(1994) maintain that the name change effects are significantly positive before the announcement days but become insignificant after the announcement. Paul (1997) finds the name change effects have a significant effect on the service industry firms. Simil arly, Lee (2001) and Cooper (2001) find name change effects are large and significant positive for those firms which add .com into their name. 2 LITERARURE REVIEW Bosch and Hirschey (1989) collect 392 firms who change names from 1979 to 1986 period in Wall Street Journal (WSJ). After concerning other concurrent event such as announcement of merger and acquisition, stock split, the final sample just includes 79 name change firms. The methodology used to examine the abnormal return around the announcement actually is the market model event study. The market portfolio is the CRSP value-weighted index and the parameters are estimated over a 180-day period beginning 200 days before the announcement date and ending 21 days before ¼Ãƒâ€¹Ã¢â‚¬  -200 ¼Ãƒâ€¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢-21 ¼Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ °. After the test, they find that the cumulative average return (CAR) is 0.33% but insignificant for the whole event period (-10, +10). For 10 days before the name change announcement, the CAR is significantly positive with value of 2.3%, in contrast, for 10 days after the announcement, the CAR is significantly negative with -1.97%. Moreover, on the d ay of name change, the return of 0.53% is positive but insignificant. Then, the sample is further classified into 32 major and 47 minor name changes. Major name changes are whose new names are entirely different from the old, such as Varity Corp. versus Massey-Ferguson Ltd., and minor name changes would not completely affect company recognition, such as Lowen-stein M.Corp. versus M. LowensteinSons Corp. For major name changes, there is no significant effect; and Minor changes generate a significantly 0.75% positive return on the day of announcement, and also have a significantly 1.25% positive effect 5 days before the announcement. Therefore, they conclude that a positive market reaction to name change announcement is found for the overall sample but the effect is statistically weak and all firms negative valuation effects in the post-announcement period largely eliminate beneficial effects appeared during the announcement period. Karpoff and Rankine (1994) use a comparatively la rger sample of 147 firms announced name change from 1979 to 1987 in WSJ. Compared with the previous study, they mention that the WJS is not always the first public disclosure of the plan to change the companys name. Therefore the sample is divided into 4 different categories. There are 88 firms for the name change was mentioned or proposed in a proxy statement before the WSJ announcement; 87 firms refer to no concurrent announcement in the event period; 59 firms for no mention of name change in a prior proxy statement and 36 firms for which the WJS press date is not preceded by a proxy statement announcement of the name change and have no other announcements during the event period. The methodology here is also market model event study, differently; the parameters are estimated over a 200-day period beginning 31 days after the announcement date and ending 230 days after (+31, +230). The result is consistent with the Bosher (1989) and they find that the name change effect impark a si gnificantly positive cumulative return of 4.8% for 30 days before the announcement, but has no significant effect for the post-announcement. The CAR for When the authors take a close look on the 36 firms which have no concurrent event, they find those firms can generate a significant positive return of 1.56% in the two-day (-1,0 ) announcement period but yield no effect after the announcement. Therefore, this study fails to support the hypothesis that name change announcements increase shareholders wealth. Paul (1997) argue that the major problem for the previous studies is that none of them distinguished between the services and manufacturing industries. So their results may bias. He has some explanatory, such as firms in the manufacturing sector produce tangible products such as clothes, cars, computers etc. Therefore, a corporate name change signaling means a change in the direction of the firm and the quality of its products can be verified by examining the product, in contra st, the offering of service producers cannot easily achieve such verifications. Based on this, the sample only includes 28 firms from 1980 to 1990 in the service industry and the firms which changed their name because of mergers and acquisitions are excluded. Unlike the previous studies which use the market model event study approach, this study uses the trend analysis method. They focus on the trend of price per earnings ratio (P/E) because it is a good indication of the desirability of the firms share and eliminates possible size effects. They obtain P/E for five years before and after the name change for each firm and align all the events in time-order. The hypothesis is that if corporate name change signaling is effective, then post-event P/E ratios will be on average higher than pre-event P/E ratios. Finally, the trend analyses show that, on average, post-event P/E ratios are significantly higher than the pre-event P/E ratios. Therefore, corporate name change has a positive eff ect on firm in the services industry. Cooper, Dimitrov and Rau (2001) examine the effect of one particular form of corporate name change which firms add .com to their names. Concerning the concurrent announcement, the sample includes 95 publicly traded companies on the NYSE, AMEX, Nasdaq, and the OTC Bulletin Board (OTCBB) that changed their names between June1, 1998, and July 31, 1999. The new name has to be either a dotcom name (such as, Wareforce.com), a dotnet name (Docplus.net Corporation) or has to include the world Internet in it (e.g., Internet Solutions for Business Inc.) the sample is further classified into 4 different groups: (1) Pure internet companies, which do all their business on the internet; (2) Companies that have some prior involvement with the internet and change their name to better reflect this involvement; (3) Companies that change their focus from non-internet related business to internet-related; (4) Companies whose core business is not internet-related . Besides using the similar event study approach which parameters are estimated over a 151 days period from 30 days before the announcement and 120 days after, the author also use price-matched control group of firms to calculate the abnormal returns. That is, choosing 95 firms which did not change their names during the time period and also their price is the closest to the dotcom sample firms. Inconsistent with the previous studies, the results show that over a five-day period (-2, +2), all firms earn a strongly statistically significant abnormal return of 53%. Moreover, the name change effects of internet-related firms are the biggest which is significantly positive with 105% and the name change have the greatest long-horizon (+1, +120) effect for non-internet related firms with the value of 243%. Over the entire period from (-30, +30), all firms earn a significant return of 89% and there is also no significant reduction on CARs from day (+1, +120). Inconsistent with Bosch (1989) and Karpoff( 1994) who find a small initial positive stock price reaction to name changes is reversed within a few trading days after the announcement date. The finding suggest that firms change their name to a dotcom can experience a permanent value increase. The authors mention that maybe this is due to mania-investors seem to be eager to be connected with the Internet at all costs and this hypothesis is supported by the fact that the non-internet related firms experience the greatest long-horizon returns for the name change effects. Three years after, Cooper, Khorana, Osobov and Rau (2004) examine the stock price reactions to Internet related name changes which are .com additions and deletions in a market downturn. A sample of 183 firms that add a dot.com and 67 firms that delete a dot.com is collected from NYSE, Amex, Nasdaq, and the OTC between Jan 1, 1998 and Aug 31, 2001. The sample is divided into period of hot versus cold markets which use an empirical proxy Amex [email protected]@citve Index to measure. To be conservative, they use three different data which are Feb 1, 2000, Sep 1, 2000 and Apr 1, 2001 as the cutoff date. In order to test whether the price reaction is related to the type of name change, the sample is further separated into two types of name changes. Minor name changes refer to a firm merely adds to or deletes a dot.com from its name and Major name changes refer to a firm not only adds to or deletes dot.com from its name but also changes its name altogether. Using the same method as the previous one, the authors find no significant marker reaction towards to the hot Internet period (Pre-Feb, 2000) for dot.com deletions. In contrast, the cumulative return over the whole period (-30, +30) is significant positive with 64% after Feb, 2000. Moreover, the effect of major changes is significantly greater than the minor changes. When using a cutoff date of Sep 1, 2000, the CAR goes up to 70.2% and continues to increase to 77.5% when using the date of April, 2001. Finally, they also find the results for dot.com additions obtained by the previous study also hold in an out-of-sample period. To be more persific, the CAR for all dot.com additions from Jan, 1998 to Aug, 1999 is significantly positive with 118.6% and the major name changes have greater effect than the minor name changes on the stock price. In the boom period (Pre-Feb, 2000), the effect of dot.com additions is significantly positive with 101.8% but have no significant impact in the bust period (Post-Feb, 2000). Therefore, firms that change their name to a dot.com name in the internet boom period and delete the dot.com from their name in the internet slump period can generate large gains in shareholder wealth. 3 CONLUSION Almost all the above studies are using market model event study to measure the abnormal return. As Fama, Fisher, Jensen and Roll (1969) who first used the event study methodology to estimate the effect of the announcement of a stock split on stock prices, this methodology was widely used as an effective approach to measure the abnormal return over the event period when the value of information announced. Some implications can be drawn from the above studies. Firms can generate a significantly positive return before the announcements of name changes. Bosch (1989) and Karpoff (1994) state that the market reaction to name change announcement is positive but statistically weak as all firms negative valuation effects in the post-announcement period largely eliminate beneficial effects appeared during the announcement period. The WSJ does not publish all the news, and sometimes the news is out in other forms before it is published, so there may have a limitation in the study of Bos ch (1989) as he just uses WSJ to define the event date, therefore the results maybe bias. Although Karpoff(1994) fits this limitation, he finds the same results. Even though event date uncertainty will be a problem, the event study design is still effective. Testing accumulated excess returns over a slightly longer period allows a research to detect events without precisely examine the timing of the event. (Glenn,1990) The market may react positively just for some particular name changes in some industry. Inconsistent with Bosch (1989) and Karpoff(1994), Paul (1997) finds a significantly positive name change effect on the stock market. Cooper (2001) finds firms can experience significantly great long-horizon returns for the name change effects which add .com to their old names. Some irrational investor behavior may exist in the stock market and some manager may take advantage of this irrationality to time corporate events such as name changes. During Internet Fever, when inves tors take internet as important to how business will be managed in the future and firms also want to be identified with the internet, so .com suffix can identifies a firm with the internet, sending a clear and unambiguous signal to shareholders and the general investing public. Since internet firms may be perceived as having great potential about long-run growth and profitability, investor may be more likely invest in the firms with the announcement of .com name changes and this will contribute to an increase in stock prices and trading activity. Based on the result of Cooper (2001), Stock prices of all internet firms may be irrationally high and name change effects bring a significantly positive return of 118.6%. After testing that the non-internet related firms experience the greatest long-horizon returns for the name change effects, the behavior of Investors buying and selling activity toward firms which change their names may reflects that investors are irrationally influenced b y cosmetic effects. It is difficult to believe that investors get no information about stock holdings over the event time period. Also, Cooper (2004) examines the different stock reactions towards .com deletions and additions in internet boom and slump period. Firms that change their name to a dot.com name in the internet boom period and delete the dot.com from their name in the internet slump period both can generate large gains in shareholder wealth. In the sample, firms which add .com to their names occur mostly in the internet boom period and delete .com to their old names occur mostly in the internet slump period. It seems that firms are all obviously too eager to be detected as an Internet company while dot.com market valuations were increasing fast, but not willing to be connected with the Internet sector once it became perceived as slump. According to this, we may surmise that smart managers rationally take advantage of investors irrational behavior and do in fact try to tim e corporate events to make full use of both positive and negative investor opinions.