Saturday, December 28, 2019

The Hidden Victims of Wartime Rape by Lara Stemple

There have been a lot of recent tragedies in Africa and a lot of attentions have been giving to the female victim. In this article Lara Stemple want the same attention to be giving to the male victims as well. As stated the reports of male rape in Congo has been made clear that wartime sexual violence is not limited to women and girls. As of now, the United Nation has the situation at hand and they overlook sexual assault of men and boy. Lara Stemple wants us to see the reason while sexual violence against men occasionally make the news. Sexual violence is ‘any violence, whether physical and/or mental, carried out through sexual means or by targeting sexuality’ (Lewis, 2009). An example is the sexual abuse and humiliation that took place in Iraq at the Abu Ghraib prison stunned the world. In this article â€Å"The Hidden Victims of Wartime Rape† by Lara Stemple, she used all 5 rhetorical elements, the argument of reason, argument of the heart, style, argument of character and shape, they are rank from most important to the least important to prove her point. Lara’s article is very informative and supportive and I believe that she has worked so hard to make sure that the male â€Å"victims† are been vindicated. To persuade the readers, Lara Stemple used argument of fact and reason which is the strongest argument she used to present between the lines of her article â€Å"The Hidden Victims of Wartime Rape.† She further stated that â€Å"the United Nations has attempted to take wartime rape

Friday, December 20, 2019

The Effects of the Female Characters Departure in both A...

In both A Doll’s House and Like Water for Chocolate Henrik Ibsen and Laura Esquival respectively, each make one of their women characters leave not only their houses but even their lifestyles and cultures. Nora in A Doll’s House leaves her home in search of her true inner self. While Gertrudis in Like Water for Chocolate leaves her house in her own endeavor to escape Mama Elena’s repression. Bothe Ibsen and Esquival make use of a variety of literary devices and styles in order to show to the readers/audience the effect the departure of Nora and Gertrudis has on not only the other characters in the work but also the entire work itself. Each of the two characters exit the works under different circumstances and it is this dissimilarity that†¦show more content†¦She points out to Torvald that their marriage was a clear failure when she questions Torvald, â€Å"How could you ever teach me to be a proper wife? Your wife?† (Ibsen 82). To this question Torvald is unable to provide a reasonable answer hence proving Nora’s point about the failure of their marriage. Further, the sudden change in Nora’s behavior during the second half of the play is significant as it symbolizes her clear intent to depart from the house in search of her inner-self. The egression of one of the female protagonists from each of the works has a profound effect of the other characters and their development. The departure of Gertrudis is met with both extreme anger and sadness –opposite emotions. Mama Elena’s reaction to Gertrudis’ ‘elopement’ is one of absolute outrage. She in a way almost disowns Gertrudis by â€Å"burned [burning] Gertrudis’ birth certificate† (Esquival 55) and claiming that she â€Å"didn’t want to hear her name mentioned ever again.† (Esquival 55) The diction of the sentence and the usage of the word â€Å"ever† are significant as it shows the extent of Mama Elena’s rage and disavowal towards Gertrudis. At the other end of things, it is clearly evident to the reader that Tita is sad and dissolutioned by Gertrudis’ exit as Tita saw Gertrudis’ rebellious tendencies towards her mother as a fulfillment of her own desires to rebel against her ty rannical mother. On the other hand, in A Doll’s House, the reaction of Torvald varies with the

Thursday, December 12, 2019

Business Relationship Management Marketing -Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The Business Relationship Management Marketing? Answer: Introducation Effective management of a network position refers to maximally utilizing the interrelationship a company or an organization has with companies in the industry. The position the company enjoys in the market should be well used or utilized by the company in order to assist in meetings its objectives. A company with good network position in the market should be able to identify its strengths and build on it as it expand or consolidate the position it enjoys in the industry. Network position can involve both local and international companies such that a an international company such as Procter and Gamble (PG) occupies a certain position in the market such that it can influence both companies in the country of origin that is the USA and other international companies within the same industry but located in different countries. (Daniels, Radebaugh Sullivan, 2011) Effective management of network position can therefore mean a company utilizing its niche in the industry to influence even the international companies. To effectively use this position companies need to make sure that timing of its products and service is appropriate not coming too early as it should or too late when the market is already saturated. For example, CFM International being the leading Turbofan airplane engine manufacture should ensure that it leads the market from the front by timely delivering the newer and improved version of the Turbofan engine to the market without coming in too early when could still enjoy the sales of the previous engine model or coming in too late when other companies have launched new versions of the same airplane engine. Thus to effectively manage network position any company with such an opportunity should pay great attention in its timing in all the major decisions it may want to undertake. (Geringer, Ball, Minor McNett, 2013) The company should also ensure that it utilizes partnerships with its peers and other companies in the industry. The company should ensure that it negotiate for favorable deals with the suppliers in the market such that the goods and services needed by the company for it to deliver its products in the market are of good quality and affordable price. The good quality will ensure that the company will deliver products to the market which are of high quality which will make more like the product. This will in turn ensure that the company continues to consolidate its position in the network even further. Affordable prices will ensure that the company gets bigger profit margin in the market thus increasing its profitability. The more the profits the company makes the better it can be able to expand to new markets and also make maximum returns to investment. The company can also utilize the loyalty customers have in its products or services by seeking to engage them more and further making them get used to company products such that it will be hard for a different company to convince them to embrace a different product more than the previous company. The best way to do this is by continually improving on the quality of the product through research and development as well as feedback from the clients on what they would like added, removed or adjusted in the product. (Dlabay Scott, 2011) A powerful relation plays a central role in effective management of a network position. Without a powerful relationship a company may not influence anything in the industry because it lacks the ability and goodwill to do so. For example, a company like Rolls-Royce the company has powerful relationship with its customers because they trust its products. Without the longstanding service and consistently producing quality products in aviation and marine energy the company wouldnt have been able to command such position in the market. (Sturdy, 2012) The power of trust it has from the customers can make the company launch a completely new product and the market would still embrace it as opposed to when the same product is launched by a new comer in the market or a company in aviation industry that has not established itself well in the market. Thus for effective management of a network position powerful relationship with stakeholders in the market or the industry must be in place. (Rugman , Collinson Narula, 2013) Powerful relationship also enables a company to influence its suppliers to deliver certain kind of products with certain specification. If a for example Rolls-Royce is leader in the market then it follows that it is one of the major buyers of materials form the suppliers in the industry. Thus since it purchases a huge number of materials from the suppliers the company has power to dictate terms and conditions to the suppliers to suit their operations and market demands. This power is drawn from the fact that the company is major market for suppliers and thus the suppliers will have no choice but abide by the consumer taste and behavior in the market. Thus without powerful relationship Rolls-Royce can not effectively manage network position. (Roberts-Phelps, 2014) A company can also influence its peers in the industry to create partnership such that these companies can leverage on the strengths of one another. To ensure that such partnerships came into fruition the company that begins the negotiation must power in such as way that it can offer the next company something that they do not have. The mutual benefit between the companies makes the relationship powerful such that both companies can be able to effectively manage network position in the industry. Without out such strengths in the relationship the two companies will not see the importance of collaborating together and thus each one of them will not be able effectively manage the their respective network position. Thus a strong relationship is always at the center of network position and how the same can be utilized in the best way possible. (Kleinaltenkamp, 2016) References Daniels, J., Radebaugh, L., Sullivan, D. (2011).International business(1st ed., pp. 5-11). Dlabay, L., Scott, J. (2011).International business. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. Geringer, J., Ball, D., Minor, M., McNett, J. (2013).International business(1st ed., pp. 4-17). Kleinaltenkamp, M. (2016).Business relationship management and marketing. [S.l.]: Springer-Verlag Berlin An. Roberts-Phelps, G. (2014).Customer relationship management(1st ed., pp. 4-18). London: Thorogood. Rugman, A., Collinson, S., Narula, R. (2013).International business(1st ed., pp. 2-17). Sturdy, G. (2012).Customer relationship management using business intelligence. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars.

Wednesday, December 4, 2019

Alec Guinness Essay Example For Students

Alec Guinness Essay Alec Guinness writes My Name Escapes Me The Diary of a Retiring Actor in purpose of documentation of his performance to commit his story to the public record. In the diary, Alec Guinness, at 82, shows his wishes to spend his declining years as, a retiring actor; he has not done with acting; he is still performing; yet retiring. This time his performance is committed to words in the commissioned diary. I see a diary as documentation of ones life, especially when it is to be shown to public. By definition, a document is aformal paper bearing important or official information. In the same sense, Alec Guinnesss diary is a document of his act of writing as Paul Matthew Pierre called. We will write a custom essay on Alec Guinness specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now In addition, the facts that it is commissioned and is admissionable to us, the public, that he is a public figure; and that it is commemorating his people suggest Guinnesss intentions for his stories and his performances, in the diary to be for the public record. Writing is another way of acting for Alec Guinness. His desire to perform is reluctantly replaced by writing. Alec Guinness wishes to act again: if I am to retired, I am in inclined to assume a pained expression and deny it. I doubt if any part, however small, would tempt me. *P 10* He openly shows his regrets toward his retirement forced by his senescent body: I think the T.V unit has finished with me it came home to me, almost savagely, that age has withered memory, alertness had taken what talent was there. *p 41*: my granny will be thrilled.*p 41* Also in the quotation, almost unrecognizable in the film. I like the almost, we see that he still wants to be remained as a public figure. His love for acting and plays are all-transparent in the book. He consistently refers back to the plays he has done and read. He often expresses strong opinions about the plays and the acting business: but I cant help feeling an actor should be made of sterner stuff. Than their ill report while you live. *p 19* Something like this quotation is not in character for him because he has been very conscious of making statements about other social issues. When he does make them, he does so indirectly that they could be interpreted in several different ways. These all imply that this old man desperately wants to act once more. Moreover, he finds another way to remain in the acting business and in the public eye: The difficulty is the chore of learning I used to be reasonably reliable and fairly quick, and diminishing physical vitality, both of which would choke any creativity effort. So I am happy to scribble instead. As we are reading his scribbles, we are seeing the other part of him; the inner Alec Guinness. He again impersonates and creates a new character as he writes. What he writes is about what he does and what  he does identifies who he is. His actions are committed to his words. Also his writing is performance in a sense that he is presenting himself in the book. He seems to be very conscious of expressing his opinions and views on sensitive issues like gender, class system, and racial matters as though hes overly awared of his audience. He was conscious of us, when writing this book. It was not his usual diary anymore. This mans diary described as, a small, strictly private almost, illegible series of daily jottings, has been published as My Name Escapes Me, being fuller, quirkier and more haphazard and, to my regret, unavoidably self revealing. *p 1* He could, in fact, write it in whatever way he wanted. .uf90c21f2a9f7fc3a94e8db71e70b933c , .uf90c21f2a9f7fc3a94e8db71e70b933c .postImageUrl , .uf90c21f2a9f7fc3a94e8db71e70b933c .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uf90c21f2a9f7fc3a94e8db71e70b933c , .uf90c21f2a9f7fc3a94e8db71e70b933c:hover , .uf90c21f2a9f7fc3a94e8db71e70b933c:visited , .uf90c21f2a9f7fc3a94e8db71e70b933c:active { border:0!important; } .uf90c21f2a9f7fc3a94e8db71e70b933c .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uf90c21f2a9f7fc3a94e8db71e70b933c { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .uf90c21f2a9f7fc3a94e8db71e70b933c:active , .uf90c21f2a9f7fc3a94e8db71e70b933c:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uf90c21f2a9f7fc3a94e8db71e70b933c .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uf90c21f2a9f7fc3a94e8db71e70b933c .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uf90c21f2a9f7fc3a94e8db71e70b933c .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uf90c21f2a9f7fc3a94e8db71e70b933c .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .uf90c21f2a9f7fc3a94e8db71e70b933c:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uf90c21f2a9f7fc3a94e8db71e70b933c .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uf90c21f2a9f7fc3a94e8db71e70b933c .uf90c21f2a9f7fc3a94e8db71e70b933c-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uf90c21f2a9f7fc3a94e8db71e70b933c:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: PRO-GAY MARRIAGE IN AMERICA EssayMaybe it is not himself that he is portraying. After all, he is an actor. However he declares that it is his two years he is writing about, I have been unable to disguise my phobias, irritations, prejudices though the latter are often short lived and my childishness and frivolity. and when the show is over, or the days shoot, and he is once more Alec: the show is over and he is once more Alec Guinness in this diary. The show that previous other world where life has meaning, form and resolution, events perched accord or written rule. The title, My Name Escapes Me, may be implying that his name, Alec Guinness, which the public remember it as when it has disguised itself with a new identity, is not here in the book with the real Alec Guinness. He is presenting himself out side the film in normal life. Perhaps, he now wants us to remember him without the images of his well-known name and face, appearing on the screen. Perhaps, that is the reason that he is documenting himself as in realistically at his retirement stage. However, in the same way that he has always disguised himself in different personas to us, this again is a new Guinness to us, bringing out curiosities. His familiar name also created mystique around the book; there is little insight created by the title. Alec uses his title, his new name effectively reach out for publicity. He refers records of peoples deaths as obituaries, a formal announcement or report of a persons death, often giving details of their life and work; I had hoped to complete this d iary with no further obituaries but that was not to be. Sometimes, somehow, I must try to write something about Peter. This quotation gives insight about his character. He seems to want to write more personally on the topic of his death. However, his official documentation remains impersonal. He admits that this diary is formal official document. Again, his identity is immortalized in the words he writes, in the same sense that his previous identities in the films have been immortalized on the screen. My mind ruminating on Tuesdays rehearsalwhat seemed O.K. at the time. It doesnt get immortalized on film

Thursday, November 28, 2019

Jean Renoir’s film ‘A Day in the Country’ and Guy de Maupassant’s story ‘A Country Excursion’ A comparative analysis in the context of Dudley Andrews’ three adaptation strategies Essay Example

Jean Renoir’s film ‘A Day in the Country’ and Guy de Maupassant’s story ‘A Country Excursion’: A comparative analysis in the context of Dudley Andrews’ three adaptation strategies Essay Introduction: A Day in the Country is one of Renoir’s early forays into narrative story telling. One can see the tentativeness of a filmmaker finding his feet in the new medium which was only a few years past the silent films era. A characteristic of the fledgling days of cinema was its seeking of ideas and stories from classic literature and theatre. In the context of French cinema, works of such iconic writers as Victor Hugo, Emile Zola and Alexander Dumas were heavily drawn upon. Guy de Maupassant’s short story A Country Excursion is one among many instances of early cinema embracing literature. But there are numerous challenges in adapting a work of art to a radically different medium. Theatre and cinema can be said to share some affinity in terms of principles of mise-en-scene, accepted rules of screen-play, shared exploration of genres, etc. But literature to film is a big leap and film theorist Dudley Andrew identifies three basic types of adaptation – borrowing, intersecting and transforming sources. In the case of A Day in the Country to varying degrees all the three types are at play. We will write a custom essay sample on Jean Renoir’s film ‘A Day in the Country’ and Guy de Maupassant’s story ‘A Country Excursion’: A comparative analysis in the context of Dudley Andrews’ three adaptation strategies specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Jean Renoir’s film ‘A Day in the Country’ and Guy de Maupassant’s story ‘A Country Excursion’: A comparative analysis in the context of Dudley Andrews’ three adaptation strategies specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Jean Renoir’s film ‘A Day in the Country’ and Guy de Maupassant’s story ‘A Country Excursion’: A comparative analysis in the context of Dudley Andrews’ three adaptation strategies specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Borrowing: The film is said to be borrowed from the short story to the extent that there is divergence in their details pertaining to characterization, geographic description, projection of individual motive, etc. In borrowing, â€Å"the artist employs, more or less extensively, the material, idea, or form of an earlier, generally successful text†¦the adaptation hopes to win an audience by the prestige of its borrowed title or subject†¦at the same time it seeks to gain a certain respectability, if not aesthetic value, as a dividend in the transaction†. (Andrew, p.422) Renoir’s work satisfies some of these criteria better than others. Certainly the literary work is the very basis for the project of the film. Moreover, Maupassant was a household name in early twentieth century France, and thus brings a degree of prestige to the project at hand. But the particular short story, A Country Excursion, does not have the same name recollection as its author does. Renoirâ€⠄¢s enterprise does succeed in fulfill the twin key criteria of bringing respectability and aesthetic value to the transaction. The cinema produced is no injustice to the artistic standards of its source. The additional provisions afforded by the new medium add more vibrancy and color to the source text. So the idea of the film can certainly be said to have been borrowed, though with certain qualifications. Intersection: This form of adaptation is found to be the weakest in A Day in the Country. Intersection is the most infidel methods of transmuting words to film due to its limited objective. The goal of the filmmaker is less constrained, for he/she is not concerned with the entire written work but only one idea/feature within it. The task then is to experiment and find out what ‘cinema’ as a medium can ‘do’ to the original. At its heart is creative curiosity and experimentation on the part of the director. Renowned French film critic Andre Bazin has expressed intersection through the metaphor of light. Andrews paraphrases Bazin thus, â€Å"here the original artwork can be likened to a crystal chandelier whose formal beauty is a product of its intricate but fully artificial arrangement of parts while the cinema would be a crude flashlight intersecting not for its own shape or the quality of its light but for what it makes appear in this or that dark corner† (Andrews, p.423) Seen in light of this definition, A Day in the Country is the cinematic intersection of the literary work, for it brings to the table unique cinematic qualities of expression. This is most evident in passages in the film where dialogue takes backseat to visual setting, camera angles, dramatic pauses, shot montages, etc. Renoir’s application of intersection succeeds because â€Å"it produces an experience of the original modulated by the peculiar beam of the cinema.† (Andrews, p.423) Transformation: Under this framework of analysis the keywords are ‘fidelity’ and ‘essence’. To study transformation is to measure the extent to which the original text is retained in the film. Andrew identifies two broad classes – those that conform to the ‘letter’ of the source and the rest that are attuned to capturing the ‘spirit’ of the original. The â€Å"letter would appear to be within the reach of cinema for it can be emulated in mechanical fashion. It includes aspects of fiction generally elaborated in any film script providing the fiction’s context, and the basic narrational aspects that determine the point of view of the narrator (tense, degree of participation, and knowledge of the storyteller, etc†¦the skeleton of the original can, more or less thoroughly, become the skeleton of a film.† (Andrew, p.423) Evaluated in the light of this understanding of transformation, A Day in the Country is a work of very-high fidelity. Various aspects of the audio-visual narrative, including the characters and their inter-relation, the geographical, sociological, and cultural information, etc adheres to the Maupassant text. Even when evaluated for the transformed work’s capturing of the ‘essence’ of the original, the film in question answers affirmatively. The story, in essence, is one of chance romantic opportunity that eventually turns out to be a nostalgic memory for Henri and Henriette. This is the central feeling that the reader of the short story as well as the viewer of the film carry with them afterwards. It can be claimed that Renoir’s faithful replication of various socio-cultural details mentioned in the original is not for its own sake but in order to encapsulate the ‘spirit’ or ‘essence’ of its source. Works Cited: Dudley Andrew, Adaptation, From Concepts in Film Theory, retrieved from on 23rd October 2013 Guy de Maupassant, A Country Excursion, retrieved from on 23rd October 2013 A Day in the Country (Partie de Campagne) 1936, accessed from on 23rd October 2013

Sunday, November 24, 2019

The eNotes Blog Man Booker Prize ShortlistAnnounced

Man Booker Prize ShortlistAnnounced One of the most coveted accolades in the literary world is to be shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.   As 1996 winner Graham Swift commented, Prizes dont make writers and writers dont write to win prizes, but in the near-glut of literary awards now on offer, the Booker remains special. Its the one which, if were completely honest, we most covet. The $50,000 is quite nice as well. Not only do authors look forward to the prize, but so too do booksellers. Following the announcements of the lists and the eventual winner, sales historically increase exponentially. The prize is awarded yearly to the best novel written in the English language.   The longlist, comprised of   thirteen novels, was announced on July 27. That longlist was pared down to a six novels on September 7. The eventual winner will be revealed on October 12. This years contenders are: Peter Carey Parrot and Olivier in America (Faber and Faber) Emma Donoghue Room (Picador Pan Macmillan) Damon Galgut In a Strange Room (Atlantic Books Grove Atlantic) Howard Jacobson The Finkler Question (Bloomsbury) Andrea Levy The Long Song (Headline Review Headline Publishing Group) Tom McCarthy C (Jonathan Cape Random House) Man Booker also offers Reading Group Guides for all of the books in contention, including the works on the longlist.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Education study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Education study - Essay Example Politicians have long been involved in this practice. A good example would be Mitt Romney, a man widely criticized for supporting a policy that calls for English only while simultaneously running commercials in Spanish dialect. This paper will provide insights on the controversies that surround political influence in languages. It explains why these controversies are still relevant. Afar from symbolism, promotion of any language in favor of others can be termed as fundamentally political. This American example forms a strong point of reference to such political language controversies. It would be to some extent right to say that the U.S is probably the home to countless bilingual speaking persons than any other nation on the globe. Culture diversity and linguistics has been extensive for more than two centuries owed to the fact that immigrants settled here from all walks and carried along their language, values and culture. However, regardless of the multiplicity of languages here, there are no limitations to the importance accorded to the common language. There has been a dominant, the colonizers’, language that has advanced to a variety referred to as a Standard American English’s emergence that incorporates native words and conjures its unique spelling and accent (Crawford 145). Those we call the founding fathers made it deliberate to leave designation in the United States of English as an official language mostly probably because it might not have occurred to them given that decision making was actively avoided in an attempt to accord respect to the national diversities. However, this idea has always been considered hostile to interdependence and interests of respective states brooding a tolerant attitude to be favorable. It was not until the 1980s that the anti-minority politics demanded its protection whilst restricting other languages. Political arenas had not taken up the language issues from the

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Latin Christendom Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Latin Christendom - Essay Example It was natural that a sense of rivalry between Latin Empire and Greek Empire should develop very readily. And still more readily did the rivalry of Greek-speaking Christianity and the newer Latin-speaking version develop† says Wells (1922, p.45). His rule was the time when State had the utmost supremacy and after his death, State power receded to the background and papacy became more important during years of Latin Christendom. It was a Latin speaking world and the States resented the enormous power wielded by the Church. By then, the Romans have become Christians and they could not abide with the papal power. Christianity started with the high principles of brotherhood and tolerance, but with the high individuality cherished by Romans, Church found it necessary to have effective control. â€Å"†¦ Christianity did cherish the principle of toleration and abandoned it only reluctantly as the need of maintaining social, and even political cohesion among Romans made centralization and authority unavoidable,† Pickman (1937, p.17\). On the other hand Byzantine Empire was the Greek speaking Roman Empire and under emperors like Constantine, it was a raw political power. Even though the emperors were totally in control, this did not rule out acute rivalry and existence of contenders to power. Rebelling against the state or defying it would have brought severe punishment. People were well protected, but had very few individual liberties. Rulers like Justinian were more focussed on empire expansion and control. Emperors did not look at the religious authority for succession, approval and guidance in ruling. No doubt the Christian power was ascending, but it did not control the political power. Byzantine rulers never accepted the superiority of the Church. The Emperor remained supreme and every other authority was defied. Byzantine were more autocratic than the States that

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Woman in Yoruba Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Woman in Yoruba - Research Paper Example This art included the use of wood, clay, stone, ivory, bronze, copper, and brass as material for these visual art works. Provenance in African arts is often hard to prove. This is the same case in Yoruba art where the artist is not clearly identified as the author of that art work. Concepts of authenticity in African art is different by virtue of the African concept of ownership; the owner of that art work is the person who ordered or commissioned an art work and not the artist himself. This is further compounded by the fairly recent commodification of African art (Stokes, 1999: 10). Many art objects were sold and re-sold to different private individuals and museums as result. It is not surprising that quite often, real authorship is lost and very hard to trace indeed. Hints in public knowledge of the real author of an art work may impinge on the owner in terms of prestige, power, and success in the public persona arena (ibid.). This is why most of Yoruba art hardly reflects on the real authorship but rather emphasizes the ownership of it. One aspect of Yoruba art that is very prominent is the use of art works in religious worship. A number of Yoruba art works reflect the ritualistic traditions among the people and an art work shown as an example here is good symbolism of the central role of religion (see Fig. 1). Women in Yoruba society occupy an important role. Although most scholarly literature points to a male-dominated society, this is not the case as validated by their works of art. The women in Yoruba have acquired divine authority as shown in the arts (Abiodun, 1989:2). It is a significant deviation from the common misconceptions of male dominance. The women as depicted in Yoruba art are almost always calm, dignified, and possessed of divine powers. In Yoruba art, women are accorded as powerful but also as subordinates (Olajubu, 2003:105). The essence of most Yoruba art is to

Friday, November 15, 2019

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.

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

china :: essays research papers

THE CHANGING POLITICAL-MILITARY ENVIRONMENT: SOUTH ASIA The security environment in South Asia has remained relatively un-settled since the Indian and Pakistani nuclear tests of May 1998. The Indian government’s efforts to publicly emphasize the challenges China posed in the weeks leading up to those tests—after more than a decade of mostly sotto voce complaints—served to rupture the or-dinarily glacial process of normalizing Sino-Indian relations. This process always possessed a certain fragility in that the gradually de-creasing tensions along the Sino-Indian border did not automatically translate into increased trust between Beijing and New Delhi. Even as both sides sought to derive tactical advantages from the confi-dence- building measures they had negotiated since 1993—for ex-ample, the drawdown of forces along the utterly inhospitable LAC in the Himalayas—each ended up pursuing larger grand strategies that effectively undercut the other’s interests. Beijing, for example, per-sisted in covertly assisting the nuclear and missile programs of India’s local competitor, Pakistan, while New Delhi sought in re-sponse to develop an intermediate-range ballistic missile whose comparative utility lay primarily in targeting China. The repeated identification of China as a threat to Indian interests by both Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders and other influential Indian elites in the first half of 1998 not only underscored the fragile nature of the Sino-Indian rapprochement but also ruptured the carefully maintained faà §ade of improving relations between the two coun-204 The United States and Asia tries.1 When this public finger pointing ultimately gave way to India’s resumption of nuclear testing on May 11, 1998 (an event ac-companied by the Indian prime minister’s explicit claim that those tests were driven by the hostile actions of India’s northern neighbor over the years), security competition in South Asia—which usually appears, at least in popular perceptions, as merely a bilateral affair between India and Pakistan—finally revealed itself as the â€Å"regional strategic triangle†2 it has always been. This appendix analyzes Indian and Pakistani attitudes toward China in the context of the triangular security competition in South Asia. Taking the 1998 nuclear tests as its point of departure, it assesses how China figures in the grand strategies of the two principal states in the Indian subcontinent and identifies the principal regional geopolitical contingencies for which the United States should pre-pare over the next decade. Finally, it briefly analyzes the kinds of opportunities the region offers to the USAF as it engages, even as it prepares to hedge against, a rising China. NUCLEAR TESTING AND THE TRIANGULAR SECURITY COMPETITION IN SOUTH ASIA Impact of the Nuclear Tests on Sino-Indian Relations Although Pakistan was directly affected by the Indian nuclear tests, these tests engaged Chinese security interests as well. To begin with, India’s decision to resume testing made manifest New Delhi’s re-sentment

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Effect of Presidential Elections on Businesses and Business Leaders

As the saying goes, â€Å"the only thing that is constant in life is change†. If we are not sure of anything, we should be sure of the fact that the outcome of the upcoming presidential election will bring about a change to the American economy. This impact will definitely spread across all sectors of the economy including U. S. businesses and business leaders. The question, however, is what the impacts foreseeable are? I would like to say that the impacts would be dependent on the presidential candidate that wins the election. If we are to go by what they have already highlighted as their plan if elected, Barack Obama winning the election might not be good news for U. S businesses and business leaders alike. In his campaign, he made it clear that his administration would offer tax cut to middleclass families and would definitely increase the tax of CEOs and corporations. If we are to judge from this, we might as well say that while this would be good news to the average American, it is the CEOs and the U. S. businesses who would bare the weight of the tax plan. Apart from this, Obama says he would hold corporations responsible for pensions and work conditions. This might be a back breaker for U. S businesses and business leaders on the whole. On the other hand, if it the election ends with Senator John McCain emerging victorious, then corporations and Business leader should be ready for a favourable tenure. Apart from the fact that Senator McCain promises to cut corporate tax, he claims that his administration would be on the side of U. S businesses and not in their way. He promised to cut corporate tax in order to maintain employment of workers in these corporations and he seems not to be concerned about U. S businesses using their resources to expand in other regions like Senator Obama. If we are judge from this, I think that U. S businesses and business leaders would flourish and expand if He assumes office. Summarily, the crux of the whole thing is that Senator Obama economic plan would favor the middleclass workers while it could be at the detriment of U. S businesses and business leaders. On the other hand, Senator John McCain’s economic plan seems favourable to U. S businesses and business leaders as he sees them as pivotal to keeping the jobs of Americans.

Friday, November 8, 2019

Must-Reads on Every 12th Grade Reading List

Must-Reads on Every 12th Grade Reading List This is a sampling of the titles that often appear on high-school reading lists for 12th-grade students, and are often discussed in greater depth in college literature courses. The books on this list are important introductions to world literature. (And on a more practical and humorous note, you might also want to read these 5 Books You Should Read Before College).   The Odyssey, Homer This epic Greek poem, believed to have originated in  the oral storytelling tradition, is one of the foundations of Western literature. It focuses on the trials of the hero Odysseus, who tries to journey home to Ithaca after the Trojan War. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy The story of Anna Karenina and her ultimately tragic love affair with Count Vronsky was inspired by an episode in which Leo Tolstoy arrived at a railway station shortly after a young woman had committed suicide. She had been the mistress of a neighboring landowner, and the incident stuck in his mind, ultimately serving as the inspiration for a classic story of star-crossed lovers. The Seagull, Anton Chekhov The Seagull by Anton Chekhov is a slice-of-life drama set in the Russian countryside at the end of the 19th century. The cast of characters is dissatisfied with their lives. Some desire love. Some desire success. Some desire artistic genius. No one, however, ever seems to attain happiness. Some critics view  The Seagull  as a tragic play about eternally unhappy people. Others see it as a humorous albeit bitter satire, poking fun at human folly. Candide,  Voltaire Voltaire offers his satirical view of society and nobility in Candide. The novel was published in 1759, and it is often considered the authors most important work, representative of The Enlightenment. A simple-minded young man, Candide is convinced his world is the best of all worlds, but a trip around the world opens his eyes about what he believes to be true. Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky This novel explores the moral implications of murder, told through the story of Raskolnikov, who decides to murder and rob a pawn broker in St. Petersburg. He reasons the crime is justified.  Crime and Punishment is also a social commentary on the effects of poverty. Cry, the Beloved Country, Alan Paton This novel set in South Africa just before apartheid became institutionalized is a social commentary on the racial inequities and its causes, offering perspectives both from whites and blacks. Beloved, Toni Morrison This Pulitzer Prize-winning novel is the story of the lingering psychological effects of slavery told through the eyes of escaped slave Sethe, who killed her two-year-old daughter rather than allow the child to be recaptured. A mysterious woman known only as Beloved appears to Sethe years later, and Sethe believes her to be the reincarnation of her dead child. An example of magical realism, Beloved explores the bonds between a mother and her children, even in the face of unspeakable evil. Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe Achebes 1958 post-colonial novel tells the story of the Ibo tribe in Nigeria, before and after the British colonized the country. Protagonist Okonkwo is a proud and angry man whose fate is closely tied to the changes that colonialism and Christianity bring to his village. Things Fall Apart, whose title is taken from the William Yeats poem The Second Coming, is one of the first African novels to receive universal critical acclaim. Frankenstein, Mary Shelley Considered one of the first works of science fiction, Mary Shelleys master work is more than just a story of a terrifying monster, but a Gothic novel that tells the tale of a scientist who tries to play God, and then refuses to take responsibility for his creation, leading to tragedy. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte The coming-of-age story of one of the most remarkable female protagonists in Western literature, Charlotte Brontes heroine was one of the first in English literature to serve as first-person narrator of her own life story. Jane finds love with the enigmatic Rochester, but on her own terms, and only after he has proven himself worthy of her.

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Brave essays

Brave essays It has been said that Muhammad is the "Seal of the Prophets," meaning that he was the last. However, our world has recently been graced by another prophet in Aldous Huxley. Huxley's prophetic vision is unmistakable in his science-fiction novel, Brave New World, in which he delivers a valuable message: control advancements in technology before they control us. Huxley supports this message with a strong example of a society that is so overrun by technology that the human race has lost their individuality, freedom, and ultimately their identity as human beings. In this "Brave New World," artificially-born humans are genetically engineered, divided into castes, molded into machines through hypnopaedia, and controlled by the drug Soma. The new world appears to be a perfect utopia on the surfacethere is no disease, no warfare, and no sadness. However, the humans have sacrificed thought, feelings, free will, and everything which makes one human to achieve this state. Through Brave New World , Huxley teaches us that these sacrifices are far too great and will eventually occur if humans continue to misuse technology in the future. Huxley's warning in Brave New World carries so much weight because of the truthful predictions he includes in the novel. Despite being written in 1932, Huxley predicts genetic engineering, test-tube babies, cloning, a loss of meaning in sexual relationships, and drug abuse. All of these predictions were far beyond his time, and all have either come true or are on the brink of occurrence. The most significant of these is his presentiment that production, not childbirth, will be the process in which humans are brought into this world. Just as Huxley predicted, scientists can now produce humans outside of the womb, and soon the cloning of human beings will be feasible. The concept of producing humans without parents is the foundation of the "Brave New World" that Huxley urges us to avoid. In Brave New World, Huxley's...

Sunday, November 3, 2019

High Yield Junk Bonds Business Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

High Yield Junk Bonds Business - Research Paper Example The corporate bonds with good or highly favorable rating grades are classified as â€Å"investment-grade bonds† while those with low ratings are called â€Å"low-grade† or â€Å"speculative† bonds or by their less formal term, â€Å"junk bonds† (Becketti, 1990). In other words, based on Becketti (1990), junk bonds, low-grade bonds, and speculative bonds are synonyms. According to Becketti (1990), a bond may be classified as a junk bond for three reasons. First, the outlook for the company may be highly unfavorable. Second, the issuing company for the bonds may have large or significant debts. Finally or third, is that the company’s legal claim on another firm’s assets which is in default or has serious risks of default may be behind the legal claims of other companies. However, Taggart pointed out that despite their low-investment grade status, junk bonds are nevertheless classified as â€Å"high yield bonds† by â€Å"those wishing to avoid pejorative connotations.† It is very important to state, however, that although junk bonds experience more default, they also tend to have higher returns. More recent data are not immediately available. However, for 1974-1985, the default on junk bonds stood at 1.53% compared to 0.09% for all bonds. The 1.53% may be high compared to 0.09% but certainly 1.53% seems low enough. Further, various reports also suggest that annual return for junk bonds was 12.4% compared to 9.7% for all long-term government bonds. (Taggart, 1987, p. 12). In the 1990s, many economic observers have attributed the country’s economic ills to junk bonds (Becketti, 1990, p. 46). Many observers believed that junk bonds and economic ills simultaneously emerged in the 1980s (Becketti, 1990). However, on the observation, th e appropriate interpretation is that the market for junk bonds actually became only popular in the 1970s and 1980s but they have been in the US economy for some time (Becketti, 1990). In 1977, new issues of junk bonds in the United States were close to zero but they steadily climbed up to around US$33 billion in 1986 and to around US$30 billion in 1989 (Becketti, 1990). Becketti (1990, p. 48) argued that despite their size in the US economy for close to two decades, â€Å"junk bonds are too small a part of the debt market to account for the growth in corporate debt.† Further, Becketti (1990, p. 48) also argued that although junk bonds are riskier than investment-grade bonds, they are â€Å"less risky than equities.† Becketti (1990, p. 48) also clarified that â€Å"junk bond returns lie between those of investment-grade bonds and equities.† In addition, â€Å"junk bonds are more liquid than bank loans and private placements but less liquid than equities† ( Becketti, 1990, p. 48). Junk bonds can also provide investors â€Å"more control over corporate management† than investment-grade bonds but less control than many financial instruments like equities (Becketti, 1990, p. 48). If one examines the descriptions of Becketti (1990), it should be easy to conclude that junk bonds aren’t too bad after all. Based on the literature that will be examined by this work on the nature of junk bonds and issues related to the acquisition of junk bonds, there is a genuine case for investing in junk bonds as well as improving the situation of the junk bonds market. Junk bonds are risky investments but they can be part of one’s investment strategy for increased wealth. Further, contrary to the view that our

Friday, November 1, 2019

Supply Chain Class--Company analysis Case Study

Supply Chain Class--Company analysis - Case Study Example For the last 25 years, many companies have been negatively affected by the failure of their supply chain an aspect that has caused some of these companies to be acquired by their competitors at very low prices. Other failed companies have resulted to loss of a lot of investor’s funds thus resulting to their closure and court litigation as the investors seek for compensation. This paper will discuss common mistakes that are done by the company leading to supply chain disasters. One of the key mistakes that companies make is failure to do an extensive research on the suitability of the technology in improving their supply chains. For example, in its effort to improve production, Foxmeyer failed to research on how effective the new ERP system and the highly automated DC would be. Despite the efforts by the consultant to notify the company management that some areas of the new technology were not properly functioning, no step was taken. That ignorance has also greatly contributed to the supply chain disasters. Lack of undertaking feasibility studies that involves the evaluation of the benefits and costs associated with the supply chains is also a mistake that led to their failure. It is vital to note that before any company invests in new technology or a supply chain, it is essential to calculate the returns that are expected. For example, despite being an experienced manager, Robert Smith, the General Motors CEO failed to evaluate the performance of the robot technology leading to a supply chain problem that entailed loss of billion dollars in the investment (Supply Chain Digest, 2009). Lack of adequate market research is also another mistake that companies have made. Market research is crucial since it allows a company to initiate system that will provide products that will meet ready market. However, some companies such as Webvan, an online grocer invested in automated warehouses that reduced the company capital to a great extent yet the market demand for its products was very low. The same case applied to Cisco. On its part, Cisco, failed to initiate an inventory visibility study as well as adoption of poor market research leading to piles of products that were not demanded in the market. As a result, Cisco wrote down its inventory while the stock decreased by 50%. The company has yet to recover. During the planning stages of the management, most of the companies that faced the supply chain disasters did not skilled man power to undertake the task. As result, the managements were not aware of the repercussion of either adopting new system or even entering new markets. For instance, in its effort to move its production facility from Manila to low costs countries in 1994, Aris Isotoner resulted to reduction of costs by 50% while the Isotoner unit was sold to Totes. A mistake of poor estimation of the number of products and the delivery time is also a major cause of the supply chain disasters. For example, in 1999 Toys R Us.com compan y failed to realize that its system was not able to produce and deliver thousands of orders to its customers. This created a negative public image even though the company outsourced the supply to the Amazon.com. One of the companies that experienced a notable supply chain disaster was Apple Incorporation. Despite being a market leader in the production and selling of personal computers in 1990s, the company was faced with an issue that made it lose huge market share. In 1995,

Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Personality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Personality - Essay Example â€Å"The Naked Face† demonstrates that personality and physical appearance directly influence each other through their two-way feedback system. Paul Ekman, a psychologist from San Francisco, studied human facial expressions with Wallace Friesen. They contacted Silvan Tomkins, another professor of Psychology at Princeton and Rutger. Ekman showed Tomkins close-up pictures of two tribes, the peace-loving South Fore and the hostile and homosexuality-practicing Kukukuku (Gladwell 3). Tomkins correctly interpreted the personalities of these two tribes, when he said that the South Fore were â€Å"a sweet, gentle people, very indulgent, very peaceful," while the Kukukuku were â€Å"violent, and there is lots of evidence to suggest homosexuality† (Gladwell 3). ... These researchers also studied medical textbooks that identified facial muscles, and they determined the specific muscular movements that the face can produce. They recognized forty-three movements and labeled them as â€Å"action units or A.U.† (Gladwell 3). After that, they wrote the Facial Action Coding System, or FACS, which included all A.U. and the rules for â€Å"reading† them. Their study emphasizes that it is possible to know who people are from their faces only. Their research reveals another perplexing finding: people's expressions also affect their body. When people consciously project happiness, their bodies also show signs of happiness: â€Å"In the facial-feedback system, an expression you do not even know that you have can create an emotion you did not choose to feel† (Gladwell 5). Friesen and Ekman implicate that appearance can also influence people's emotions, and perhaps their personalities too. â€Å"The Story of My Body† disagrees with â€Å"The Naked Face,† because it believes that physical appearance can impact personality, only when people allow it to. Cofer says that as a child, she was quite bony and small compared to American or white counterparts. As a result, her peers called her â€Å"Skinny Bones† and â€Å"The Shrimp.† Even when people taunted her, however, she remained emotionally strong, because she focused on her academic skills instead. She decided to be a â€Å"brain† and not an athlete. Still, how people saw her also shaped her personality. For instance, when Cofer had chicken pox, she scratched them and had permanent scars all over her face. A nurse told her that her scars would â€Å"always† seem to other people that â€Å"a mad cat had plunged its claws deep into [her] skin.† This remark made her feel inferior and she

Monday, October 28, 2019

Logical Argument Essay Example for Free

Logical Argument Essay Overall paper thesis: The Freemason sub-culture appeals to potential members with a combination of logical aspects, emotional appeal, and aspects of overall credibility. Members are generally drawn to the group because of one of these three, but they all combine to create the compelling sub-culture. Logical Argument The logical appeal of the Freemason society is broad and often times, overriding. The first logical aspect that members are drawn to is a common group of people who share the same core beliefs. By being a member of the Freemason sub-culture, people are instantly attached to a support group of individuals who will be going through similar circumstances. This type of camaraderie is a primal human need and is one of the main logical selling points for the society. Another logical aspect which has broad appeal to members is the fact that the Freemasonry is often a leader in charity and community service. This is a compelling factor both because it is a good thing to do and also because it is something that reflects well on the individual members of the sub-culture. Men within the group understand that their efforts within the community will be looked upon with veneration and in many cases, these acts can help them gain power and influence outside the Freemasonry. One often overlooked logical appeal of the Freemasonry is the simple fact that it gives men something to do with their time. As men get older, they sometimes lose touch with their friends and with the things that they used to do earlier in life. Men can become entangled in their work, so it is good to have a place that they can go in order to get away from that. In fact, it is something of a brotherhood that men can rely upon in the best of times and the worst of times.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Frank McCourts Angelas Ashes Essay -- Essays Papers

Frank McCourts Angelas Ashes Frank McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes is a powerful and emotional memoir of his life from childhood through early adulthood. This book is a wonderfully inspired piece of work that emotionally attaches the reader through McCourt’s life experiences. Its effectiveness is primarily due to McCourt’s evolving ‘innocent-eye’ narrative technique. He allows the reader to experience his own life in a changeable form. Through this unique story telling technique, the reader is able to watch Frank grow and evolve. Between the ages of four, eleven and fourteen changes in his writing can be easily identified. It is evident that the written text, McCourt’s thoughts, and the resultant relationship with the reader evolve and become more complex during this part of his life. When describing his experiences at the age of four, McCourt's writing style is very much like a story told from a child’s perspective. He uses simple dialogue and a ‘tell it like it is’ approach: â€Å"We’re on the seesaw. Up, down, updown. Malachy goes up. I get off. Malachy goes down. Seesaw hits ground† (19). At this point, he demonstrated a basic, staccato-like sentence structure. McCourt presents information as if heard and interpreted by a child. On page38 Mrs. Leibowitz, a kind neighbour who lives in the same building as the McCourt family, says, â€Å"Nice Chewish name, have apiece of cake, eh? Why they give you a Chewish name, eh?† The reader knows that the word Jewish is spelled as it is heard and that this is typical of child interpretations. Just as simple dialogue is used throughout the book, so are simple pattern thoughts. Children have a tangible stream of consciousness and often have a tendency to change subject matter quickly throughout a conversation: â€Å"They have their tea†¦uncle Pa Keating, who is my uncle because he’s married to my aunt Aggie, picks up Eugene† (87). The reader already knows from previous information that Pa Keating is the children’s uncle. Just as children often incorporate needless information into a conversation, McCourt does the same in his writing. The reader acquires an image that a real conversation is taking place. Frank McCourt also shows the reader, through examples such as on page 16, that his thoughts as a child are quite simple. He tries to describe the anger he feels by stating â€Å"a blackness comes over me.† Because of his age, he... ...scriptive and has an involved sentence structure characteristic of a mature writer. His thoughts and his feelings are deeply profound. The relationship with the reader has changed extremely and is quite noticeable. In the beginning and parts of the middle of this book, the reader is ‘shown’, not described, a scenario where the result is often left to be interpreted. This is not so at the end of his memoir. Frank McCourt, instead of using a ‘show and tell’ narrative method, which applies in the beginning, is in a didactic mode where he explains everything in detail and there is nothing left for the reader to interpret. To conclude, there is an evolved Frank evidently noticed from the start through to the end. As Frank McCourt grows and develops into an adult, so too does his writing. The written text, thoughts and the relationship with the reader indeed evolves and becomes more complex as Frank matures. Examples taken from the ages of four, eleven and fourteen show these noticeable differences. Through an evolving ‘innocent-eye’ narrative technique McCourt is able to establish a powerful emotion connection with the reader. Bibliography: Frank McCourt. Angela's Ashes

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Walmart Company

Walmart Financial Analysis Prepared for Becca Leland BIJSN 5600, Accounting Theory and Practice Fall 1, 2013 Webster University 1 November 2013 Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. operates approximately 11,047 retail units under 69 banners in 27 countries. It has three segments: The Wal-Mart Stores, The Sam's Club, and International. The Wal-Mart Stores segment includes 4,759 Discount Stores, Supercenters, and Neighborhood Markets in the United States, as well as Walmart. om. It offers apparel for women, girls, men, boys, and infants; domestics, fabrics, and notions; stationery and books; shoes; housewares; hardware; electronics; ome furnishings; small appliances; automotive accessories; horticulture and accessories; sporting goods; toys; pet food and accessories; cameras and supplies; health and beauty aids; pharmaceuticals; Jewelry; and optical, as well as photo processing services.The Neighborhood Markets include dry grocery, meat, produce, deli, bakery, dairy, frozen foods, pharmaceuticals, ph oto processing, health and beauty aids, household chemicals, paper goods, general merchandise, and pet supplies departments. The Sam's Club segment includes 624 stores and comprises the warehouse membership clubs in the United States and samsclub. om. It offers hard-goods, soft-goods, software, electronics, Jewelry, sporting goods, toys, tires, stationery and books, institutional-size grocery items, and selected private labels.The International segment operates 6,288 various retail formats in countries to include Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Mexico, Puerto Rico, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. This segment operated 261 Canadian Wal-Mart stores and SAM's Clubs, 11 units in Argentina, 150 units in Brazil, 88 units in Germany, 16 units in South Korea, 697 units in Mexico, 54 units in Puerto Rico, and 292 units in the United Kingdom, as well as 48 units in China under Joint venture agreements. The company was incorporated in 1969 and is based in Bentonville, Arkansas. Walmar t employs 2. 2 million associates/employees around the world to include 1. million in the United States alone. Although there are many opportunities, numerous employment opportunities exist in the Accounting arena. Walmart has Finance and Accounting departments impacting business and communities in all 27 countries, under 69 different banners and in every corner of the business, from Enterprise Risk Management to Sustainability. For instance, Global Shared Services aggregates and streamlines much of the financial and payroll services for Sam's Club and Walmart in North America, while Global Internal Audit helps ensure each store operates in the most cost-efficient way.These are Just a few of the many groups within Accounting & Finance, each responsible for vital services that impact the entire company. Projects range from determining the financial impact of mergers and acquisitions to estimating the effect on business when a hurricane hits. Every decision is driven by the mission to save people money and help them live better. The responsibility xtends beyond retail and corporate officials make decisions in partnership with each other.Accounting & Finance is composed of these departments: Accounting, Corporate Corporate Tax (International & Domestic) Treasury & Investor Relations Finance and Planning Walmart U. S. , Walmart. com International Finance Sam's Finance Corporate Strategy Global Shared Services Balance Sheet Assets: Cash and Cash Equivalents – Pertain to liquid assets found on the balance sheet. In essence, cash equivalents can be converted into cash and include commercial paper, treasury bill, money market holdings and short term government bonds. Walmart reported nearly $7. billion in cash and cash equivalents for fiscal year ending January 31, 2013. Of the $7. 8 billion, surprisingly, $5. 2 billion were held outside of the United States in support of foreign operations. All non-cash transactions due from various banks amounted to $1. 3 bil lion. Additionally, Walmart had $715 million in restricted cash in addition to another $876 million of cash that remains abroad and may not be easily transferred to the United States because of local laws. Short Term Investments – Walmart did not report any Short term investments and have not or the previous three years.Receivables – Money that others owe the company. Account receivables are the amounts that a company has a right to collect because it sold goods or services on credit to a customer. Walmart had a variety of receivables for year ending January 31 , 2013 that included insurance companies resulting from pharmacy sales, bank transfers that took in excess of seven days to process, suppliers for marketing or incentive programs and real estate transactions. Its net receivables amounted to nearly $6. 8 billion that included $1. 2 billion from consumer credit roducts alone.Just to name a few, Walmart has the Walmart in-store credit card, Walmart Discover, Sam's Club in-store credit card and the Sam's Club Discover card. Internal Controls – designed to help an organization accomplish specific goals and mostly importantly, in laymen's terms, â€Å"keep everyone honest † . Walmart used t criteria set forth by â€Å"COSO† Internal Control Integrated Framework. This framework primarily evaluates the achievements of objectives in the effectiveness and efficiency of operations, reliability of financial reporting and compliance with laws and regulations.For the year ending January 31, 2013, Walmart's financial reporting was audited by Ernst and Young LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm. Sarbanes-Oxley Act – In July 2002, a corporate reform bill was passed into United States Federal law by the U. S. Senate and the U. S. House of Representatives. This legislation introduced new and amended ethical standards regarding financial practice and corporate governance for all publicly traded U. S. companies, as well as for management and accounting organizations. U. S. Senator Paul Sarbanes and U.S. Representative Michael G. Oxley spearheaded the Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act. Just three years, after the bill was passed, in September 2005, a former CEO from Wal- Mart de Mexico sent an email to a high ranking Walmart lawyer that referenced how Wal-Mart de Mexico had bribed foreign officials to expedite permits in an effort to win market control in Mexico. This opened up a formal internal investigation by Walmart that found documentation implicating that the Wal-Mart de Mexico executives knew about the bribes and took measures to conceal them as well.The case was later dismissed. In August 2012, SOX violations resurfaced with Walmart. This time, two U. S. congressmen claimed that they received internal documentation that outlined possible illegal activities that involved tax evasion and money laundering in Mexico. Their concerns were expressed in a letter to Michael Duke, the chief executive at W al-Mart. Inventory Valuation – Walmart values inventories at the lower of cost or market as determined primarily by the retail method of accounting, using the last-in, first-out, â€Å"LIFO†, method for all of the Walmart U.S. segments. Walmart international is valued by the retail method of accounting as well but by using the first-in, first-out, â€Å"FIFO†, method. In contrast, Sam's Club uses the weighted- average cost using the LIFO method. Total Current Assets for year ending January 31, 2013 were $59. 9 billion. Long Term Investments – Walmart did not report any long term investments and have not for the previous three years. Property, Plant and Equipment – A large portion of Walmart's assets come from the property, plant and equipment section of the balance sheet.In fact, of the $203 billion in total assets, property, plant and equipment makes up Just over $116 billion which includes $25 billion in land, $90 billion in buildings and improve ments, $40 billion in fixtures and quipment, $2 billion in transportation equipment, $5. 9 billion in construction in process and $5. 9 billion in property under capital leases for an approximate property and equipment gross of $171 billion. Walmart uses straight-line depreciation and major improvements were capitalized as leasehold improvements were depreciated over the shorter of the estimated useful life.Accumulated depreciation and amortization was $55 billion dollars which resulted in a property and equipment net of $116. 6 billion. Intangible Assets / Accumulated Amortization – Walmart did not report any and have not for the previous three years. Goodwill – An account that can be found in the assets portion of a company's balance sheet. Goodwill can often arise when one company is purchased by another company. Walmart's goodwill is as a result of the acquisition of 147 Netto stores from Dansk Supermarket in the United Kingdom and to the acquisition ot a 5 % owner ship in Massmart, a retailer based in South Africa.Goodwill for this period was $20 billion. Balance Sheet – Liabilities and Equity: Accounts Payable – money owed by a business to its suppliers shown as a liability on a company's balance sheet. At year ending January 31, 2013, Walmart owed Just over 59 billion to its suppliers that are to be paid compared to $56 billion the previous year. Short current long term debt – this includes the long term debt that must be paid within 12 months. Walmart recorded Just over $12 billion. Total Current Liabilities – Year ending January 31, 2013 = $71. billion Long Term Debt – Financial obligations that last more than one year. Walmart recorded around $41 billion. This accounts for loans that Walmart has with several financial institutions. Deferred Long Term Liability Charges – a collection of future obligations on the balance sheet. These sometimes include employee related expenses such as retirement pl ans, 401 k plans and workman's compensation plans is which Walmart currently has Just over $7. 6 billion. Minority Interest – This represents the amount of stock that is not owned by Walmart.Currently, Just over $5 billion is not owned by Walmart. Common Stock – Walmart primarily issues common stock that represents ownership in the corporation. Currently, there is neither preferred or treasury stock, however for year ending January 31, 2013, there $332 million of stock was outstanding. Current Market Value of Stock – The current market value of Walmart's stock is currently $74. 79. Through the last 12 months, the trend has been from $67. 37 – $79. 96 which is primarily because of fluctuating sales/wages.Walmart's stock value has continued to grow over the last 12 months that can be easily contributed to its ability to remain a constant force in the market by providing lower prices, creating Jobs with competitive wages and clearly out-distancing itself fro m its closest competitor. Dividends – As noted below, Walmart last paid a dividend on September 3, 2013 with the next pay out date of January 2, 2014. Record Date Payable Date March 12, 2013 May 10, 2013 August 9, 2013 December 6, 2013 April 1, 2013 June 3, 2013 September 3, 2013 January 2, 2014 The last dividend paid for year ending January 31, 2013 was paid on December 27, 2012 at $0. 975 per share for a total of $1 1. 3 billion. Income Statement Comparison – Walmart's income improved from fiscal year 2012 to fiscal year 2013. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. was been able to grow revenues from $447. 08 USD to $469. 28 USD. Most impressively, the company has been able to reduce the percentage of sales devoted to selling, general and administrative costs from 19. 8% to 18. 94%. This was a driver that led to a bottom line growth from $1 5. 7B USD to $17. 0B USD.Extraordinary gains/losses – Perhaps the most important factor that caused Walmart to increase its profits from 20 12 to 2013 was its Non-recurring events. In 2012 alone, Walmart discontinued operations which caused them a loss in excess of $67 million. To its surprise, there was not a lost in year ending January 31, 2013. According to the Management Discussion and Analysis, the present situation it is very much essential that industries need to compare themselves witn the past ears. Analysis of performance ensures the industry get an idea as where they are lagging behind and the short falls which has to be rectified.Walmart has to make progress in improving their performances in the future in order to withstand in the market so that they can compete with the upcoming competitions in the future. Additionally, it has to mainly concentrate to increase the profit rather than increasing the volume of business, so they have to increase their sales and satisfy their customer to withstand in the market. In an attempt to analyze the financial position f the Walmart, it has been revealed that though the turnover of the company increased however the profitability of the company has not increased correspondingly.Overall financial position of the company is satisfactory but however in the long run the company has to take measures to increase its working results in order to keep stay well above its competitors. Financial Statement Analysis: Solvency: Debt to Equity Ratio The company has improved its strength by increasing the working funds. The company should explore the possibility of reducing the operating expenses to increase its profit. Walmart should also take urgent steps to reduce the debtors so as to increase its working capital position.The company should also take steps to reduce the current liabilities and the overall liabilities position. Profitability: It should take steps to increase its working capital base. The company should take steps to make use of the surplus funds in a profitable manner. Efforts must be put in increasing net profit. It is necessary to take steps in improving the growth rating. Competition – Perhaps Walmart's greatest competitor is target. However, Walmart ontinues to prove itself as the world's leading retailer. In comparison to Target, its market cap was at $243. 8 billion while target was at $40. 04 billion. Additionally, Walmart dominated Target in revenue as well. Walmart's revenue was $473billion while Target earned Just $73. 48 billion which generated a net income of $17. 09 billion for Walmart and $2. 71 billion for Target. In conclusion, Walmart continues to be the leading retailer in the industry. It clearly out-distances its closest competitor, however, in order to remain that force, it need to reduce its liabilities. It currently wes suppliers $59 billion. This needs to be reduced significantly.https://finance.yahoo.com/https://www.stock-analysis-on.net/NYSE/Company/Wal-Mart-Stores-Inchttps://www.stock-analysis-on.net/NYSE/Company/Wal-Mart-Stores-Inc/Ratios/Profitabilityhttps://www.stock-analysis-on.net/NYSE /Company/Wal-Mart-Stores-Inc/Ratios/Liquidityhttps://s2.q4cdn.com/056532643/files/doc_financials/2013/Annual/2013-annual-report-for-walmart-stores-inc_130221024708579502.pdfhttp://c46b2bcc0db5865f5a76-91c2ff8eba65983a1c33d367b8503d02.r78.cf2.rackcdn.com/93/a7/ff21a9764702bb5bc8271faacfeb/2012-annual-report-for-walmart-stores-inc_130221023846998881.pdf

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Baking Informative

Claudia R Fernandez Informative Speech. Brent Campbell Title: Baking Specific Purpose: To inform audience that although baking requires skill, it can be done easily. Also want to inform audience of the main ingredients that are utilized in every baked good, as well as healthy and low fat alternatives for baking. 1. Introduction: A. Attention Material: I am going to be speaking about my personal interest with baking, when and why it started and developed. B. Tie to the Audience: Speaking about the most common ways of baking, and how I started doing that, then escalated it to the point of making my own recipes.C. Creditability Material: I have bakes for birthday parties, baby showers, get togethers, and almost every holiday you can think of. D. Preview: I will be sharing with you how to bake the easy way, the basics of baking ( Main Ingredients) which allow you to bake endless pastries, and how to bake healthy, and low in fat. 2. Body: A. Baking does require a lot of skill and patience . However companies have made it very easy for people to bake by just using a couple ingredients through the product essay writer no plagiarism of boxed/ pre packaged mixes.These companies include: * Duncan Hines * Betty Crocker * Pillsbury * Market Pantry * Great Value, along with various other generic name brands. To name a few, some pre- mixed packages include: * Cake Mix * Cookie Mix * Muffin Mix * Quick Bread * Corn Bread * Biscuits * Brownies B. When it comes to baking, the possibilities are endless, once you become familiar with the general basic ingredients needed for all baking. The basic main ingredients include: * Flour * Sugar * Eggs * Milk/Cream or Water * Oil/Shortening/Butter * Eggs And whichever flavor/extract you want to use. (Ex. Vanilla, Chocolate, Mint, Coffee, Almond etc. ) C. Not all baking has to be unhealthy, or fattening. In general baking does include a large fat content. However, there are many healthy/ low fat ingredients that can be substituted. Here is a list of healthy and/or low fat ingredients that you can utilize as substitutions. Instead of: Healthy Alternative: 1. Butter, Lard, Oil, Shortening Coconut Oil, Applesauce, Mashed Avocado 2.Milk, Cream Skim Milk, Almond Milk, Greek Yogurt 3. Eggs Egg Whites, Applesauce 4. Sugar Natural Vanilla Cane, Raw Brown Sugar 3. Conclusion A Final Review: So today I shared with you some useful information when it comes to baking: 1. I informed you of some products available to you that allow you to bake in an easy way. 2. I informed you of the main ingredients utilized when baking 3.I explained how baking can also be healthy, and low in fat. Tie back to the audience: Pictures of my Baking, and Demonstration: How To Create Your Own Custom Shape Cake. Works Cited: Food Timeline, About Cake Mixes. ( Online ) Available. http://www. foodtimeline. org/foodcakes. html Interview with Jessica Leung, April 4th 2013. Substitute Applesauce for Eggs When Baking for Healthier, Allergy-Free Cakes and Muff ins ( Online ) Available. http://lifehacker. com/5846387/substitute-applesauce-for-eggs-when-baking-for-healthier-allergy+free-cakes-and-muffins

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Les Brown-You Deserve Essays

Les Brown-You Deserve Essays Les Brown-You Deserve Paper Les Brown-You Deserve Paper I’m going to start off by saying I’m a huge fan of Mr Brown. I believe he is a great motivator with a dynamic personality. Years ago, Mr Brown was the keynote speaker at one of my family reunions. His speech, although tailored to family, was mainly about the power we have as individuals to achieve personal greatness. I’m not the only one who left that reunion feeling better about myself and my family as awhole. When we watched the speech in class, I was pleasantly surprised. I’ve heard of the You Deserve seminar but had never heard it myself, so I was excited to be able to watch it in class. I was not disappointed at all. This speech basically talked about the fact that we deserve greatness and how we can achieve it. Mr Brown talks about how we are in fact our own worst enemies when it comes to achieving our goals. There is nothing anyone can say to or about you, positive or negative, that will change who you are unless you let it. As a young man who grew up misdiagnosed as educably mentally retarded and held back in school not once but twice, I’m sure Les Brown wasn’t the most confident student. But, while everyone else had given up on him, Mr Brown met a man who let him know that the label given to him didn’t define him. With that knowledge, Mr Brown has become a success who uses his successes to create success in others. The speech reached me in ways that may not have reached others. I find that I am always my worst enemy when it comes to reaching my goals. It’s not a lack of confidence but a penchant of making excuses and not going all the way in trying to achieve my goals. It’s almost like become afraid of my actual potential. After watching this seminar, I now see that as long as I remain in this mindset, I’m never going to be all the way happy. I don’t like having that â€Å"what if† feeling, and unless I do something about it, that’s the way stuff is going to be. I will once again say that Mr Brown is a magnificent motivator, but the truth of the matter is once you see this program, and apply what you’ve learned, your life will change by leaps and bounds. But, you have to actually put in the work to do so. Otherwise, you could have the knowledge and do nothing about it. What a waste that would be.

Monday, October 21, 2019

Free Essays on Antitrust Legislation

The reasons that antitrust legislation was introduced was to eradicate the amount of large companies who were becoming monopolistic. Economies of scale define a monopoly as a firm who can either increase or decrease its price by 5%. During this time industry was progressing at a rapid rate and the size of companies was also increasing at a rapid rate. The work of English philosopher Herbert Spencer inspired many businessmen with his book being known as the businessman’s bible. He advocated free competition, justified ceaseless exploitation and justified ruthlessness as a means of achieving progress. Spencer’s work became the rationale for commercial thought and practices from the Civil War to the New Deal. Spencer who applied Darwin’s concept of natural selection believed that as in nature, where only the fittest survive by adapting themselves to the environment, the same was happening in industrial society in the middle 19th century where a similar situat ion in the form of industrial competition which allowed the elite to evolve. Following the Civil War there was a major expansion in industry and in the late 19th century the booming US economy entered a period of rapid consolidation. Due to new innovations in the steel industry by Andrew Carnegie and electrical energy by Thomas Edison the American industry was being revolutionised. In the 1880’s there was a slump in the national economy and large manufacturing companies reacted by lowering prices, which caused price wars. The companies were also setting up â€Å"Trusts† in order that all firms of a certain industry were brought together. The railroads were the single most important economic interest in the country. In 1890 railroad revenue exceeded $1,000 million and in 1897 its combined value was $10,635 million, which to put in perspective was eight times greater than the national debt. The railroads were fiercely competing against each other using al... Free Essays on Antitrust Legislation Free Essays on Antitrust Legislation The reasons that antitrust legislation was introduced was to eradicate the amount of large companies who were becoming monopolistic. Economies of scale define a monopoly as a firm who can either increase or decrease its price by 5%. During this time industry was progressing at a rapid rate and the size of companies was also increasing at a rapid rate. The work of English philosopher Herbert Spencer inspired many businessmen with his book being known as the businessman’s bible. He advocated free competition, justified ceaseless exploitation and justified ruthlessness as a means of achieving progress. Spencer’s work became the rationale for commercial thought and practices from the Civil War to the New Deal. Spencer who applied Darwin’s concept of natural selection believed that as in nature, where only the fittest survive by adapting themselves to the environment, the same was happening in industrial society in the middle 19th century where a similar situat ion in the form of industrial competition which allowed the elite to evolve. Following the Civil War there was a major expansion in industry and in the late 19th century the booming US economy entered a period of rapid consolidation. Due to new innovations in the steel industry by Andrew Carnegie and electrical energy by Thomas Edison the American industry was being revolutionised. In the 1880’s there was a slump in the national economy and large manufacturing companies reacted by lowering prices, which caused price wars. The companies were also setting up â€Å"Trusts† in order that all firms of a certain industry were brought together. The railroads were the single most important economic interest in the country. In 1890 railroad revenue exceeded $1,000 million and in 1897 its combined value was $10,635 million, which to put in perspective was eight times greater than the national debt. The railroads were fiercely competing against each other using al...