MBA

Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a master's degree in business administration, which attracts people from a wide range of academic disciplines.

The MBA designation originated in the United States, emerging as the country industrialized and companies sought out scientific approaches to management. The first American business school, Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, was established in 1881, 62 years after the world's first business school ESCP-EAP was established in 1819 in Paris. The Tuck School of Business, part of Dartmouth College, was the first graduate school of management in the United States. Founded in 1900, it was the first institution conferring advanced degrees (masters) in the commercial sciences, the forebearer of the modern MBA. Founded in 1898, the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, the second oldest U.S. business school, was the first graduate school in 1940 to offer working professionals the Executive MBA (EMBA) program, a mainstay at most business schools today. Thunderbird School of Global Management, founded in 1946 following World War II by Lieutenant General Barton Kyle Yount, (the Commanding General of the U.S. Army Air Training Command), is the first and the oldest business school in the United States focused solely on "international business."

As the U.S. MBA model emerged at the turn of the 20th century, Europeans developed such business schools as at Webster Graduate School at Regent's College, London and in Manchester Business School; elsewhere colleges such as Cass Business School, London, IMD, MBA-HSG, Instituto de Empresa, INSEAD, Henley Management College, Cranfield School of Management, and Ashridge were established for management training. In 1950 the first MBA degrees were awarded outside the United States by the University of Western Ontario in Canada,[1] followed in 1951 with the degree awarded across the Atlantic by the University of Pretoria in South Africa.[2] In 1957, INSEAD became the first European university offering the MBA degree, followed in 1969 by the HEC School of Management (in French, the École des Hautes Études Commerciales) and the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris. In 1968, the Asian Institute of Management was founded.

The MBA degree has been adopted by universities worldwide, and all six habitable continents have universities offering MBA programs.

In Europe, the recent Bologna Accord established uniformity in three levels of higher education: Bachelor (three years), Masters (five years), and Doctorate (eight years). Students can acquire professional experience after their initial bachelor degree at any European institution and later complete their masters in any other European institution via the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System. A European masters degree in Management is therefore equivalent to the American MBA having additional scientific content; for example, a European master of science in management requires writing and defending a master's thesis.

European Union and United Kingdom Laws regarding motor insurance

In 1930 the UK government introduced a law that required every person who used a vehicle on the road to have at least third party personal injury insurance. Today UK law is defined by the The Road Traffic Act which was last modified in 1991.

The Act requires all motorists to be insured against their liability for injuries to others (including passengers) and for damage to other persons' property resulting from use of a vehicle on a public road or in other public places. This is called Third Party Insurance. It is an offence to drive your car, or allow others to drive it, without at least Third Party insurance whilst on the public highway, on private land no such legislation applies.

The insurance certificate or cover note issued by the insurance company constitutes legal evidence that the vehicle specified on the document is indeed insured. The Law says that an authorised person, such as the police, may require a driver to produce an insurance certificate for inspection. If the driver cannot show the document immediately on request, then the driver will usually be issued a HORT/1 with seven days, as of midnight of the date of issue, to take a valid insurance certificate (and usually other driving documents as well) to a police station of the driver's choice. Failure to produce an insurance certificate is an offence.

Insurance is more expensive in Northern Ireland than in other parts of the UK.

Motorists in the UK are required to display a Vehicle excise duty disc in their car when it is kept or driven on public roads. This helps to ensure that most people have adequate insurance on their vehicles because you are required to produce an insurance certificate when you purchase the disc. However it is a known practice for some people to purchase insurance to gain the certificate and then to cancel the insurance and gain a full refund within the statutory 14 day cooling off period.

The Motor Insurers Bureau compensates the victims of road accidents caused by uninsured and untraced motorists. It also operates the Motor Insurance Database, which contains details of every insured vehicle in the country.

Liability

Liability coverage provides a fixed dollar amount of coverage for damages that an insured becomes legally liable to pay due to an accident or other negligence. For example, if an insured drives into a telephone pole and damages the pole, liability coverage pays for the damage to the pole. In this example, the insured also may become liable for other expenses related to damaging the telephone pole, such as loss of service claims (by the telephone company).

Liability coverage is available either as a combined single limit policy or as a split limit policy:

Combined Single Limit

A combined single limit combines property damage liability coverage and bodily injury coverage under one single combined limit. For example, an insured with a combine single liability limit strikes another vehicle and injures the driver and the passenger. Payments for the damages to the other driver's car, as well as payments for injury claims for the driver and passenger, would be paid out under this same coverage.

Split Limits

A split limit liability coverage policy splits the coverages into property damage coverage and bodily injury coverage. In the example given above, payments for the other driver's vehicle would be paid out under property damage coverage, and payments for the injuries would be paid out under bodily injury coverage.

Note that bodily injury liability coverage is also usually split as well into a maximum payment per person and a maximum payment per accident.

Collision

Collision coverage provides coverage for an insured's vehicle that is involved in an accident, subject to a deductible. This coverage is designed to provide payments to repair the damaged vehicle, or payment of the cash value of the vehicle if it is not repairable. Collision coverage is optional. Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) is the term used by rental car companies for collision coverage.

Comprehensive

Comprehensive (a.k.a. - Other Than Collision) coverage provides coverage, subject to a deductible, for an insured's vehicle that is damaged by incidents that are not considered Collisions. For example, fire, theft (or attempted theft), vandalism, weather, or impacts with animals are just some types of Comprehensive losses.

Uninsured/Underinsured Coverage

Uninsured/Underinsured coverage, also known as UM/UIM, provides coverage if another at-fault party either does not have insurance, or does not have enough insurance. In effect, your insurance company acts as at fault party's insurance company.

In the United States, the definition of an uninsured/underinsured motorist, and corresponding coverages, are set by state laws.

Loss of Use

Loss of Use coverage, also known as rental coverage, provides reimbursement for rental expenses associated with having an insured vehicle repaired due to a covered loss.

Loan/Lease Payoff

Loan/Lease Payoff coverage, also known as GAP coverage or GAP insurance,^[12][13] was established in the early 1980s to provide protection to consumers based upon buying and market trends.

Due to the sharp decline in value immediately following purchase, there is generally a period in which the amount owed on the car loan exceeds the value of the vehicle, which is called "upside-down" or negative equity. Thus, if the vehicle is damaged beyond economical repair at this point, the owner will still owe potentially thousands of dollars on the loan. The escalating price of cars, longer-term auto loans, and the increasing popularity of leasing gave birth to GAP protection. GAP waivers provide protection for consumers when a "gap" exists between the actual value of their vehicle and the amount of money owed to the bank or leasing company. In many instances this insurance will also pay the deductible on the primary insurance policy. These policies are often offered at the auto dealership as a comparatively low cost add on that can be put into the car loan which provides coverage for the duration of the loan.

Consumers should be aware that a few states, including New York, require lenders of leased cars to include GAP insurance within the cost of the lease itself. This means that the monthly price quoted by the dealer must include GAP insurance, whether it is delineated or not. Nevertheless, unscrupulous dealers sometimes prey on unsuspecting individuals by offering them GAP insurance at an additional price, on top of the monthly payment, without mentioning the State's requirements.

In addition, some vendors and insurance companies offer what is called "Total Loss Coverage." This is similar to ordinary GAP insurance but differs in that instead of paying off the negative equity on a vehicle that is a total loss, the policy provides a certain amount, usually up to $5000, toward the purchase or lease of a new vehicle. Thus, to some extent the distinction makes no difference, i.e., in either case the owner receives a certain sum of money. However, in choosing which type of policy to purchase, the owner should consider whether, in case of a total loss, it is more advantageous for him or her to have the policy pay off the negative equity or provide a down payment on a new vehicle.

For example, assuming a total loss of a vehicle valued at $15,000, but on which the owner owes $20,000, the "gap" is $5000. If the owner has traditional GAP coverage, the "gap" will be wiped out and he or she may purchase or lease another vehicle or choose not to. If the owner has "Total Loss Coverage," he or she will have to personally cover the "gap" of $5000, and then receive $5000 toward the purchase or lease of a new vehicle, thereby either reducing monthly payments, in the case of financing or leasing, or the total purchase price in the case of outright purchasing. So the decision on which type of policy to purchase will, in most instances, be informed by whether the owner can pay off the negative equity in case of a total loss and/or whether he or she will definitively purchase a replacement vehicle.

Car Towing Insurance

Car Towing coverage is also known as Roadside Assistance coverage. Traditionally, automobile insurance companies have agreed to only pay for the cost of a tow that is related to an accident that is covered under the automobile policy of insurance. This had left a gap in coverage for tows that are related to mechanical breakdowns, flat tires and running out of gas. To fill that void, insurance companies started to offer the Car Towing coverage, which pays for non-accident related tows.

Auto Insurance in the United States

Coverage Available

The consumer may be protected with different coverage types depending on what coverage the insured purchases.

In the United States, liability insurance covers claims against the policy holder and generally, any other operator of the insured’s vehicle, provided they do not live at the same address as the policy holder and are not specifically excluded on the policy. In the case of those living at the same address, they must specifically be covered on the policy. Thus it is necessary for example, when a family member comes of driving age they must be added on to the policy. Liability insurance sometimes does not protect the policy holder if they operate any vehicles other than their own. When you drive a vehicle owned by another party, you are covered under that party’s policy. Non-owners policies may be offered that would cover an insured on any vehicle they drive. This coverage is available only to those who do not own their own vehicle and is sometimes required by the government for drivers who have previously been found at fault in an accident.

Generally, liability coverage does extend when you rent a car. Comprehensive policies ("full coverage") usually also apply to the rental vehicle, although this should be verified beforehand. Full coverage premiums are based on, among other factors, the value of the insured’s vehicle. This coverage may not apply to rental cars because the insurance company does not want to assume responsibility for a claim greater than the value of the insured’s vehicle, assuming that a rental car may be worth more than the insured’s vehicle. Most rental car companies offer insurance to cover damage to the rental vehicle. These policies may be unnecessary for many customers as credit card companies, such as Visa and MasterCard, now provide supplemental collision damage coverage to rental cars if the transaction is processed using one of their cards. These benefits are restrictive in terms of the types of vehicles covered.^[11]

Lawyer

In most countries, particularly civil law countries, there has been a tradition of giving many legal tasks to a variety of civil law notaries, clerks, and scriveners.[2] These countries do not have "lawyers" in the American sense, insofar as that term refers to a single type of general-purpose legal services provider;[3] rather, their legal professions consist of a large number of law-trained persons, known as jurists, of which only some are advocates who are licensed to practice in the courts.[4][5] Notably, England, the mother of the common law jurisdictions, emerged from the Dark Ages with similar complexity in its legal professions, but then evolved by the 19th century to a single dichotomy between barristers and solicitors. An equivalent dichotomy developed between advocates and procurators in some civil law countries, though these two types did not always monopolize the practice of law as much as barristers and solicitors, in that they always coexisted with civil law notaries.[6][7][8] Several countries that originally had two or more legal professions have since fused or united their professions into a single type of lawyer.[9][10][11][12] Most countries in this category are common law countries, though France, a civil law country, merged together its jurists in 1990 and 1991 in response to Anglo-American competition.[13] In countries with fused professions, a lawyer is usually permitted to carry out all or nearly all the responsibilities listed below.

Florida mesothelioma

The Ferraro Law Firm Trial Lawyers Fighting for Your Rights The trial attorneys at The Ferraro Law Firm have vigorously and successfully fought for the rights of workers injured by asbestos and their families since 1985. Our firm has represented more than 20,000 asbestos claimants and has won more than approximately $ 1 billion dollars in compensation for our injured clients. The Ferraro Law Firm has a nationwide reputation for handling asbestos and malignant mesothelioma, and environmental toxic tort lawsuits. We represent clients in every state, either directly or through our nationwide network of attorneys. Making Legal History – Again The lawyers at The Ferraro Law Firm have successfully tried many cases that resulted in multi-million dollar verdicts. In 1995, Jim Ferraro received the largest compensatory award in the state of Florida for a mesothelioma case ($6.25 million, Galotti vs. Owens-Corning Fiberglas). In 1997, Mr. Ferraro also had the highest jury verdict ever in our nation for a single non-malignant asbestos case ($5 million, Owens-Corning vs. McKenna). In 2002, the firm successfully persuaded the Delaware Supreme Court to weaken a law that protected large corporations from being sued more than two years after their products caused injuries to consumers. (Brown v. DuPont) In 2004, the firm won the first ever asbestos case against Union Carbide Corporation Laqueux v. Union Carbide. Mr. Ferraro was named one of 10 national finalists for Trial Lawyer of the Year in 1997 for trying the first case successfully prosecuted against a chemical company for causing a birth defect. In Castillo vs. DuPont, Jim proved that a pregnant woman's exposure to DuPont's fungicide Benlate caused her son to be born without eyes. The trial was covered in its entirety on Court TV and received worldwide attention. Read The Biographies of Jim Ferraro & Our Team of Attorneys. Who We Are The Ferraro Law Firm has proven that it can fight and win against the negligent companies who let workers continue to work with asbestos, silica and other toxic agents with little regard for their safety after its hazardous health effects were known. We have earned a nationwide reputation in asbestos and toxic tort litigation. In Florida, our practice includes handling cases such as catastrophic personal injury, medical malpractice, product liability, defective drugs and medical devices, automobile defects, wrongful death, construction defects, consumer protection and family law cases. We have attorneys who are fluent in Spanish and Italian. Our Commitment to you As our client, we will treat you as an individual with the highest regard for your well being. We will assign attorneys and legal assistants to your case so it is handled capably and professionally, and you are treated with the respect you deserve. Personal injury case evaluations are always free. We operate on a contingency fee basis, which means that your lawsuit will cost you nothing unless we make a recovery for you. Then, after deducting the expenses we incurred in handling your case, we will take a percentage of the recovery as our fee. For family law cases such as divorce, we charge an hourly fee.

Business

In economics, business is the social science of managing people to organize and maintain collective productivity toward accomplishing particular creative and productive goals, usually to generate profit. The etymology of "business" refers to the state of being busy, in the context of the individual as well as the community or society. In other words, to be busy is to be doing commercially viable and profitable work. The term "business" has at least three usages, depending on the scope — the general usage (above), the singular usage to refer to a particular company or corporation, and the generalized usage to refer to a particular market sector, such as "the record business," "the computer business," or "the business community" -- the community of suppliers of goods and services. The singular "business" can be a legally-recognized entity within an economically free society, wherein individuals organize based on expertise and skills to bring about social and technological advancement. In predominantly capitalist economies, businesses are typically formed to earn profit and grow the personal wealth of their owners. The owners and operators of a business have as one of their main objectives the receipt or generation of a financial return in exchange for their work — that is, the expense of time and energy — and for their acceptance of risk — investing work and money without certainty of success. Notable exceptions to this rule include some businesses which are cooperatives, or government institutions. However, the exact definition of business is disputable as is business philosophy; for example, most Marxists use "means of production" as a rough synonym for "business." Socialists advocate either government, public, or worker ownership of most sizable businesses. Some advocate a mixed economy of private and state-owned enterprises. Others advocate a capitalist economy where all, or nearly all, enterprises are privately owned.