Paper topics must be relevant to business ethics Essay

Paper topics must be relevant to business ethics - Essay Example The case of Wal-Mart’s recent bribery allegations in Mexico particularly raised the question of whether bribing public officials should be justified from ethical or economic point of view. On the other hand, Lindsey Manufacturing has also been recently accused of engaging engaged in a corporate bribery scandal worth millions of dollars with the Mexican utility electric company but it is alleged to have bribed the employees of the later to win contracts. Despite the controversy of bribery and the potential risk of heavy penalties, corporate bribery remains a common practice in many parts of the world. Many governments particularly in the Latin America, Asia and the Middle East are still unable to protect their citizens from the potential abuse of public resources that may arise due to corporate bribery. However, due to different cultural perceptions, there are a number of grey areas when dealing with the issue of bribery in business organizations. For example, it is often difficult to differentiate legitimate political donations or gifts to a business partner from bribes. Many multinational companies working in such areas often use various forms of bribery as a way of competing with other corporate organizations in the particular countries. Some of the advantage of corporate bribery includes hefty profits for companies, better relationships with foreign officials, and achieving business gains without need for superior services or products. There are a number of reasons why it should be impermissible for U.S companies to engage in Bribery in Countries that permit such Acts. Despite the numerous benefits and profits that come with bribery as well as the costs of not engaging in it in countries that permit it, bribery is against the universal fundamental business ethics and should not be tolerated due to the following reasons. One of the reasons for the claim is that the payment of crimes and other corruption deals by corporations

Amadeus Biopic Essay Example for Free

Amadeus Biopic Essay Told from the flash back perspective of an aged Antonio Salieri in an insane asylum to a priest for a confession, the movie reveals Antonios introduction to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, his professional career with Mozart, and his bitter rivalry and betrayal of Mozart. The film depicts an inaccurate account of Mozart’s life but still delivers on the pieces which he composed. Throughout the film, we’re exposed to what are clearly historical inaccuracies. I understand that this film is an adaptation of the original Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus performed on Broadway in the 1980’s and for purely theatrical purposes to endow the story with a plot, these changes had to either be implemented or just purely fabricated in order for the story to make sense. However, some of the erroneous interpretations of Mozart’s life are just impossible to ignore for anyone who even had even the simplest understanding of his life, such as myself. The predominant trait of Mozart that stuck out to me like a sore thumb was his high pitched cackling laughter. The movie’s laugh for Amadeus was constructed from letters that referenced Mozart having an â€Å"infectious, giddy laugh† much like â€Å"metal scraping glass† according to Forman. However, Robert L. Marshall, author of â€Å"Film as Musicology: Amadeus,† discredits this notion as there were no citations that provided the existence of such letters. Since Mozart lived over two centuries ago, there’s no possible way to know exactly how he sounded. However, the brilliant Mozart in the film is supposed to be Gods creature (The Latin translation of Amadeus translates to â€Å"lover of God† or â€Å"beloved by God†) that usurps the mediocre Salieris position as the â€Å"voice of God. † So in effect, his laugh is God mocking Salieri in his mediocrity which further drives the frustration and anger of Salieri towards Mozart thus pushing the plot along. While we’re on that subject, there is little evidence that Mozart and Salieri actually rivaled each other to the extreme that the movie depicts. Certainly, they were rivals, but they were professional rivals. By professional rivals, I mean that even though they often butted heads in their pursuit of music and their attempted publicity of their works, they still admired and respected each other greatly. Despite Salieri being the inferior musician, he still pooled great respect from Emperor Joseph II and his subjects and served as court composer, director of the Italian opera, and court conductor. Mozart on the other hand came as an outsider therefore did not possess the same influence or reputation as Salieri. To me, this just appears to be the politics of music; it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. Regardless, Salieri really didn’t have a reason to hate Mozart as much as the movie shows because his influence alone virtually neutralized Mozart as a threat. I’m sure when Mozart attempted to get his operas on the Italian stages it must have certainly irked Salieri, but never to the point of violence. However, once again the fiction is created in order to develop a sensical plot line. Without that aggressive rivalry, there’s no movie. One last thing that I personally found confusing is that absence of Joesph Haydn from the entire movie. History tells us that Mozart and Haydn met somewhere 1783 or 1784 and instantly hit it off. They both admired each other’s work immensely and Mozart even went as far as to dedicate six string quartets to Haydn as a tribute to the father of the string quartet. Throughout their lives, they were in correspondence with one another up until Mozart’s death. However, despite this documented historical fact, Haydn is still left out of the movie. The movie itself is about two famous classical composers so why not add Haydn to attract Haydn fans to the play or movie? One can only guess as to why that is. Perhaps Forman thought that the addition of another prominent classical composer would ultimately lessen the importance of the feud between Mozart and Salieri. But Forman fashioned other characters throughout the film in order to serve roles that further drove the plot, so why not use Haydn instead? Or at least mention him? At one point in the film, Mozart mentions that he doesn’t care for Gluck (which is also inaccurate, he was an admirer of Gluck), but nevertheless, he still at least mentions the name. At this point it’s all speculation and I can’t find anywhere an explanation for his absence. The movie is riddled with other inaccuracies that raise a lot of questions, but if anything I learned in English is true, it’s that in order to read any literature that’s fiction or watch any movie, you’re supposed to â€Å"suspend yourself in willful disbelief† meaning that enjoy it for what it is without dissecting it too much, which I can honestly and wholeheartedly say I did. Although it doesn’t give an accurate portrayal of Mozart, Salieri or the setting it’s supposed to be placed in, it still gives an enjoyable experience. Despite the erroneous depiction, the musical pieces revealed chronologically throughout the film are in fact the offspring of Mozart’s genius. Whilst enjoying each piece as much as the next, I don’t have the musical ear or expertise to discern which piece is being played in which scene, aside from the operas. However, the films composer John Strauss created a two disc soundtrack for the film and I have to admit, even though I lack the expertise, I am astounded by Mozart’s ability. Luckily, between the internet and my own mothers personal love for music (Fortunately, she had a library of CDs that included many of Mozart’s work), I was able to essentially find each individual piece within the movie. I have to say, my favorite musical piece offered in the movie is the finale of the Don Giovanni. Perhaps some of it is because of the twist that Salieri puts on it; that â€Å"only [he] understood that the horrifying apparition was Leopald raised from the dead! The inference that I took from that between the monumental sounding music and the fervently conducting Mozart in the scene is that Mozart poured his personal misfortune of not living up to his father’s expectations in his work. It just makes it seem to be so personal, so passionate. I know that was the movies intent for me to feel that way, but I couldn’t help getting sucked in, between seeing the gargantuan black commander singing in the deep bass voice is what seems to me to be such an accusing tone allegorically â€Å"accusing his son in front of the world† as Salieri puts it. All the while the plot twists during this play, as the madness grew within Salieri as he discovers such a simple way to destroy Mozart. It’s just so epic, for lack of better words. One of the brighter operas in the film â€Å"The Marriage of Figgaro† has a much lighter note. Despite all of the red tape Mozart endures, he nevertheless through the exceptionally brilliance of his music and borderline arrogance persuades the emperor to allow him to perform his opera. While we obviously never get to see the whole thing, the music and performance we do see is good. I wouldn’t say I particularly cared for it. The colors, the notes, the lighting, it’s just too bright. However, the most impressive part of it is that his confidence in his music allowed him to break the traditional rules in order for his perform his opera. This seems metaphorically to portray the fact that Mozart’s music didn’t follow these contemporary musical rules of the time which contributed to his genius. Perhaps that’s a long stretch, but that’s immediately what came to mind. While the movie is composed (Pun intended) of Mozart’s work, it would take an entire separate paper to dissect each one individually. Regardless, each piece performed in the play is enjoyable from one degree to another. Overall, I have to say I was more than happy with this movie. For a while, I dreaded watching the movie thinking it would be a long drawn out boring biographic film, but to my surprise it shared little characteristics with a biography. The central thematic message of the movie is mostly if not entirely fictitious, but still lays a foundation in which the movie tells factual information about Mozart and sets a stage in which one can hear the pieces and enjoy them chronologically. To be frank and honest, if these fabrications of the bitter rivalry between Salieri and Mozart weren’t there, I would have had a hard time truly appreciating the Mozart as seen in the movie. Not to say his music is bad, it’s brilliant, but the underlying plot is what made the movie so interesting. Ultimately, if you’re looking for historical facts about Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, look elsewhere. If you’re looking for a movie that’s interesting and loosely based on one of the world’s greatest composers who ever lived, look no further.

Method Of Calculating Shareholder Value Analysis Finance Essay

Method Of Calculating Shareholder Value Analysis Finance Essay This study illustrates the theory, model and method of calculating Shareholder Value Analysis using Alfred Rappaports SVA model. The literature review is the critical relevant work on capital structure. The literature review is focused bonds as a debt instrument. SHAREHOLDER VALUE ANALYSIS (SVA) AstraZeneca Plc. Alfred Rappaport in 1986 coined the term Shareholder Value Analysis. The concept of shareholder value analysis revolves around another concept called Value based management. The procedure for calculating Shareholder Value Analysis is to calculate the present value of the estimated cash flows with the cost of capital. As per Rappaport : Corporate Value = Shareholder value + Debt Shareholder value=Corporate Value- Debt To calculate the shareholder value, the corporate value needs to be calculated first. Corporate value of an entity can be calculated: Present value of cashflows during forecast period + present value of cashflows beyond forecast period To make the answers more precise and reliable, market value of marketable securities and other investments should be included The process of calculating SVA can be graphically depicted as in Figure 1 C17NF006 Figure : Faisal Ahhamad Seven value drivers of shareholder value as described by Rappaport are given below:- Sales growth: Sales is a percentage, based on the trends of previous years, by which sales are expected to increase every year . In the case of AstraZeneca, the sales growth calculated on the basis of the past 5 years from 2006-2010, comes out to be 7%. Thus sales are expected to grow by 7% during the planning horizon. Operating profit margin: Operating margin is the percentage of the selling price which denotes profit. Thus profit margin denotes the percentage of revenues left after deducting all essential costs and overheads. Profit margin for AstraZeneca based on the trend of previous 5 years is 31%. Thus 31% of sales represents profit of the company. Tax: Tax rate is the percentage of your profits which is deducted as tax. HM Revenue and customs shows the tax rate for the year 2011 to be 28%. Based on the average of past trend, I calculated the same figure, ie. 28%. Incremental working capital investment: Incremental working capital represents the increase in the working capital based on the change in the sales. It is represented as percentage of change in sales. For Astra Zeneca the rate of incremental working capital investment is 102% of sales. Incremental Capital Investment: Incremental Capital Investment represents the increase in the fixed assets of the company based on the increase in sales. The ICI is represented as a percentage of sales. For Astra Zeneca the ICI percentage was calculated based on the trend of previous five years. The value of ICI is 1.12 of sales. Required Rate of Return: Required Rate of Return calculated for AstraZeneca is 7.15%. It is the Weighted Average Cost of Capital for AstraZeneca. It is based on the AstraZenecas beta as per the London Business School Risk Management Service Book which was .57 and the current Risk free rate 4.25%. The current Market premium has been taken to be 6% from Glen Arnold. The Require rate of return was calculated using CAPM. Planning Horizon: Planning horizon for the calculation has been taken to be 6 years. The SVA calculated for AstraZeneca =  £37.902 Billion. The real market capitalisation on the day of calculation was  £40.643 Billion The market is overvalued as the SVA of the company is coming to  £37.902 Billion. Critique of the SVA model Shareholder value model like any other model has been criticized for various reasons. SVA is a relatively simple model yet precise in its approach. The major criticism for SVA is that it takes assumptions regarding the trends. For say it assumes that the sales would increase at a constant rate for all years in planning horizon. More over it neglects ICI and IWCI when the values are negative. Therefore the calculation of the SVA cannot be said to be entirely correct. Literature Review of Capital Structure Focussing on Bonds as a source of finance Capital structure in the simplest terms can be described as a combination of various sources of finance that an enterprise uses for acquiring capital. Firms can acquire capital in various forms such as equity and debt. As these can be used in various proportions thus several various combinations or capital structures can exist. Capital structure as an area of academic study gained attention with the work of Modigliani Miller (1958) which concluded that capital structure was irrelevant to the value of a company. This conclusion was constructed on some key assumptions such as a perfect market with perfect knowledge, no taxes and no costs of transaction and that individuals had the capability to borrow at the same rate as big corporations, thus it assumed a high level of uniformity(see Arnold, 2005: pp.958). In 1963 Modigliani and Miller reviewed the conclusion and altered the no-tax assumption, thus changing the conclusion altogether. The new MM theorem suggested that when taxes were taken into consideration, the shareholder value maximization objective would be served with the highest level of gearing. This theorem served as the starting point for most post- 1960 work on capital structure. MM theorem was followed by two more central theories of capital structure known as the Pecking order theory and static trade off theory of capital structure. The earliest version of the Static theory of capital structure is attributed to Kraus and Litzenberger(1973). It suggests that companies choose their gearing levels based on the balance between costs of bankruptcy and the tax benefits derived from such gearing. Thus this theory suggested an optimal level of gearing where transactional and bankruptcy costs would be traded off by tax benefits and no more. Pecking order theory, propounded by Myers and Majluf (1984), on the other hand suggests that companies have a tendency to choose internally generated funds before exercising any other options of financing, followed by external debt leaving equity to be their last resort. Research by Almeida and Campello (2010) suggests a negative relationship between existence of internal funds and tendency to use external funding from debt. The actual prevalence of any of these theories in the real world is still a matter of debate and being tested constantly (Frank and Goyal, 2005; Jong et al, 2011) While the debate about a suitable level of gearing continues, one fact that has gained acceptance that gearing can increase shareholder value and if appropriately used can be a worthy financial tool for companies. This has provided companies with more options to acquire the necessary capital. Debt as an option is now being used by more and more companies as a means of raising finance through public and private placements (Buckley et al, 1998). Companies can acquire debt through various kinds of publicly traded bond instruments or from institutional lenders through term loans and private placements (Berk and DeMarzo, 2011). With the increasing number of options to raise capital, the dilemma of the firm is no more between equity and debt alone but also between what form of debt to use. Issuing of public debt involves high costs, especially fixed costs. Such costs are called floatation costs and are a major factor considered when deciding to raise debt from public (Blackwell and Kidwell, 1998). Smaller firms therefore find the it beyond their resources to carry out such an expensive issue. Thus bigger firms have the size and resources to raise public debt(Krishnaswami et al, 1999; Dennis and Mihov, 2003). Lack of appropriate information is also another major factor considered by investors. Thus any firm information about which is not readily available or verifiable would be subject to suspicion by the investors (Jensen and Meckling, 1976). Taking into consideration the perceived risk when lending to such a firm, the investors would desire a higher rate of return, unless and until they have greater control of and better supervision of the activities of the business. As individual debt holders from the public cannot exercise such close control, they prefer to settle for higher returns. To avoid paying higher interests some companies prefer to borrow from institutional lenders as they have the capability to closely supervise the activities of the firm. Institutional lenders such as banks achieve this by imposing Restrictive Covenants (Diamond, 1984). Such restrictive covenants cannot be imposed by individual owners of public debt instruments. Several different researches have shown that smaller firms, when opting for external debt financing prefer to opt for loans rather than bonds while bigger firms tend to use bonds as the preferred debt instrument(e.g. Krishnaswami et al, 1999; Dennis and Mihov, 2003). Dennis and Mihov(2003) suggest that larger companies with a highly debt geared capital structure may use their leveraging as an indicator of credibility and reputation, thus using it to raise debt from public. This statement is countered by Chemmanur and Fulghieris earlier(1994) statement that high leveraging may be seen as a sign of financial distress and debt renegotiations may become a complication in case debt is raised through public sources. Rao and Edmunds (2001) with regard to restrictive covenants and floating interest rates, state that firms do their shareholders a Disservice by taking private placed debt which comes along with floating interest rates and restrictive covenants. The floating interest rates make the future cash-flows of the firm unstable and the restrictive covenants restrict the growth of the firm, and thus shareholder value, by tying the hands of the management and owners. Smith and Warner(1979) suggest that restrictive covenants involved in privately raised debt may not be worth cost as it the restrictions imposed may discourage management from entering into projects which could have been potentially profitable. Such restrictive covenants and floating rates are usually part and parcel of institutional loans and privately raised debt. Rao and Edmunds(2001) favour bonds which give the firms freedom to operate in favour of the shareholders and to expect stability in their cashflows due to stable intere st rates.Bonds are a preferable form of raising debt publicly as it allows the firm to retain greater flexibility in operations and may turn out to be cheaper than traditional bank or institutional loans. Absolute lack of restrictive covenants can also be abused by the bond issuer at times. Certain situations are discussed as below:- Myers (1977) suggests underinvestment is a major issue for levered high growth business as being highly levered, management in such businesses may let go of positive NPV projects assuming that the returns would not suffice for distribution between the bondholders and stockholders. Myers(1977) further suggests that this problem can be taken care of with dividend covenants which cap the maximum amount of dividend distributable by a company to ensure that free cash flows are not distributed to shareholders, rather they are invested in worthy projects. As levered firms might have a higher tendency to let go of positive NPV projects, putting debt restrictions or debt covenants would help ensure that the firm does not take on more than a certain extent of debt and thus there will be no conflict of interests. Nash et al(2003) describe another situation, where covenants can be of benefit for bond holders, in which the bond issuer can dilute the claim of the bond holders by issuing another taking on more debt and issuing another claim of a higher priority. Under such circumstances the bond holders would be bearing more risk but would still get the interest rate fixed before more debt was acquired by the bond issuer. Certain covenants, which restrict acquisition of more debt or restrict issuing of claims which hold priority over the previous bond holders, can help reduce chances of such claim dilution. Fama and Miller(1972) call such rules as me-first rules. Nash et al(2003) further describes certain situations where the restrictive covenants would turn out to be detrimental for the bond holders themselves. One major drawback of restrictive covenants is the reduction in the flexibility of the management and stockholders. Thus due to restrictive covenants the management and stock holders might decide not to invest in high return projects just to avoid any risk. Such circumstances would lead to sacrifice of growth and thus the firms survival may itself be at stake. Another situation describe by Nash et al(2003) is the scenario where the bond issuing firm may be facing financial distress. Due to lack of operational flexibility and financially restrictive covenants the firm would not be able to generate ample cash flow or arrange external funding and thus would face bankruptcy. Nash et al(2003) and others have suggested certain ways around to cope with the drawbacks of restrictive covenants and to use them constructively. The first such option is the convertibility option. The bond holders should have the option to convert bonds into shares. Mayers(1998) contended that it would allow a level of flexibility to the management of the firm while discouraging the management to transfer any value from the debt holders to the shareholders as such transferred value would be recaptured on conversion of bonds to shares. Next option is to secure the debt with assets. Securing the bonds with tangible assets would provide a sense of security to the bondholders as they would have knowledge of their claim to a specific asset in case of default. Debt priority is another option given by Nash et al(2003) and supported by Fama and Millers(1972) as per their Me first rules. This arrangement would ensure that there is an existing agreement among all claimholders that the bond holders have priority over other claimants and that during the tenure of the bonds no new claimants would be given priority over them. In the end it can be concluded that bonds have certain advantages over other forms of debt like institutional loans and private placements . Such advantages should be capitalised on when considering the option of increasing the debt gearing in the capital structure. That would ensure availability of cheaper finance, increased flexibility and increase in shareholder value.

Motivating Employees Essay -- Business Management

MOTIVATING YOUR EMPLOYEES Every human being needs motivation now and then. Incentives and recognition programs can support you in helping your employees become happier and more productive at work. As a leader, one of the main things to think about is how to recognize an employee for a performance that has exceeded expectations, objectives and goals. Therefore, I would like to introduce you in this paper to some ideas that hopefully would promote this method as one of the main priorities in today's and tomorrow's workplace. People want to do more than work as machines; they want to be productive as well as being recognized by others. Following the successful managers handbook, when employees have the opportunity to work with a leader who challenges, inspires and appreciates them, they are more likely to perform above their expectations. However, there are two different strategies when dealing with this matter that are necessary to identify before implementing these techniques. According to Philip Holmes, "although the two often seem interchangeable, recognition should not be confused with incentives. Recognition involves all the techniques that draw attention to employees who perform. Incentive programs generally use selective techniques to induce people to achieve a specific objective, such as increasing sales. Recognition can be spontaneous, even to the extent that there is no formal announcement that the organization has a recognition program. Incentives are designed to act as carrots, and they're publicized well in advance to whip up enthusiasm for winning a tangible reward". Turnover, absenteeism, and low productivity are some of the many reactions that an unmotivated worker might bring to the company. However, leaders ... ...ccording to the successful managers hand handbook, "people are the key to your organization's present and future success. Organizations compete for talent as well as for customers. Having a reputation as a desirable place to work helps organizations attract and retain top people. It is to your advantage to know the talent of your organization and to know what needs to be done to help each person develop, and understand the priority of a particular talent so you can meet your business goals". There are many methods to promote and expand employee motivation. The main goal to motivating your employees is to know them enough where as a leader you will know what motivates them, and as a result, you will create a motivation program based on those needs. I believe that employee satisfaction is the key to a successful workforce, and it will definitely help pay for itself.

Two Business A2 Level Critical Path Analysis Questions

Q1) Discuss the benefits to Balfour Beatty of using critical path analysis in order to plan its construction projects. (15 marks) Critical path analysis identifies the most efficient and cost effective way of completing a complex project. The various activities which together will make up the project are identified, and the order of these activities are identified. Then, the duration of each activity is estimated and these factors are then arranged as a network or graph, showing the whole project from start to finish, and showing which tasks can happen at the same time.The sequence of tasks which have to be done one after another with no gaps in between is called the Critical Path. One benefit of Critical Path analysis to Balfour Beatty is that it always finds the shortest time possible for completing a complex project. â€Å"The customer requested completion in 124 weeks but through careful planning using Critical Path Analysis, Balfour Beatty was able to plan the project for compl etion in 79 weeks. This can give a competitive edge and is an important element of time-based management. If a company is able to complete the task faster than others, it is more likely that they will get chosen, providing the company with more customers, more revenue and therefore more profit. A second benefit of Critical Path Analysis to Balfour Beatty is that it allows managers to operate Just-in-time production. Resources such as raw materials, labour and equipment can be employed right at the earliest start time.Construction companies rely on subcontractors to complete certain tasks and for certain equipment to be hired at specific times, so with Critical Path Analysis, a manager could predict the exact time a certain piece of equipment would be needed and book the particular equipment early on to ensure that the company will have it when needed. This saves on the storage costs and opportunity costs of stock holding, and improves liquidity.Overall, I believe that Critical Path Analysis is a very recommended way of managing time, and will ensure that a Balfour Beatty will use their time in the most productive way possible when using this network, improving efficiency and making customers want to use them again. Q2) Evaluate the main difficulties faced by Balfour Beatty and other construction companies in their use of CPA to plan their projects. (15 marks) Critical path analysis identifies the most efficient and cost effective way of completing a complex project.The various activities which together will make up the project are identified, and the order of these activities are identified. Then, the duration of each activity is estimated and these factors are then arranged as a network or graph, showing the whole project from start to finish, and showing which tasks can happen at the same time. The sequence of tasks which have to be done one after another with no gaps in between is called the Critical Path. One difficulty of using Critical Path Analysis is t hat unless critical activities are identified and supervised closely, there’ll be delays to the whole project.Critical path analysis puts pressure on mangers to manage effectively and meet deadlines. If, for example, Balfour Beatty was unable to get hold of a particular piece of equipment when needed, the whole project could be delayed by the amount of time that it takes to get the equipment. This means that there will be many employees being paid with no output and the whole project is delayed with doesn’t usually bode well with the customer. A second difficulty of using Critical Path Analysis is that Critical path analysis sets tight deadlines, especially for critical activities.It can be very tempting for the employees to cut corners in order to meet these deadlines, but that can mean quality can suffer. If Balfour Beatty’s employees cut corners with the Bull ring shopping centre, this could mean that the construction was not done properly, causing risks to p ersons entering the shopping centre, or the planning of the bull ring centre may have been rushed, meaning that the layout was not thought out properly, causing problems when it came to construction. Critical Path Analysis puts a lot of pressure on all employees, which could in turn affect the whole project.

John Knowles novel, A Separate Peace Essay

In John Knowles novel, A Separate Peace, Knowles proves through an adolescent relationship, that in order to have a reliable friendship, one must accept another completely, revealing that jealousy can not co-excist within a friendship. Jealousy plays a major role in the deterioration of the relationship between Gene and Finny. Gene has a growing jealousy towards his bestfriend Phineas. Because Finny always â€Å"gets away with everything† and can be whoever he wants to be, while Gene feels as if he is imprisoned within his own body (Knowles 28). The dangerous envy Gene feels towards Finny is eating away at his soul and is in no way healthy for the friendship, or Genes well being. Because of this jealousy, Gene can not fully accept Finny and his mischevious ways and fears to become inured to the fact that Phineas will always be better then him, all without noticing the breathtaking talents he himself possesses. Knowles displays the friendship as a way to prove that jealousy can not only mentally but physically force one to do unthinkable and incomprehensible things to another. The jealousy Gene was hiding within his walls enventually broke and he â€Å"jounced the limb† making Phineas fall from the tree and break his leg (Knowles 60). Revealing that Genes competitive hatred towards Finny lead to unbelievable, malicious action to physically disable his friend. For though friendship is depended on one another, the balance between Gene and Phineas is unequal: Finny needed Gene to help him face adulthood, while Gene uses Finny as a constant comparison to his own hopeless life. Knowles documents when jealousy collides with friendship and the fear of it becoming a reality, when it effects a loved one . In the article â€Å"A Separate peace: Four Decades of Critical Response†by Lois Rauch Gibson, Gibson analyzed Knowles and his perspective on jealousy. By jouncing Finny off of the limb, â€Å"Gene can rid himself.. of the evil within† (Gibson 5). Although ridding himself minimal of jealousy, his unkindly act forced  Gene to be plunged into a new internal world war. With this new profound guilt he destroyed any feelings of affection he once has for Finny. With a consistent feeling of jealousy throughout their friendship and in preparation for the war, Gene wrote : â€Å"i was on active duty all my time at school: I killed my enemy there† (Knowles 196). Revealing that instead of being able to embrace the friendship Finny has always offered, jealousy took over Gene, and eventually all the insecurity kills Finny. To accept each other completely Gene knew this jealousy could not excist within the relationship, he also knew the peace was always Finny, and with him no longer by his side; Gene was able to find his own separate peace. Works Cited Online: Gibson, Lois. â€Å"A Separate Peace: Four Decades of Critical Response.† E-article. Kowles, John. A Separate Peace. New York: Scribner, 1959.