Heart Essay Research Paper Heart of Darkness free essay sample

Heart Essay, Research Paper Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad, is in actuality two narratives. One, is the narrative of Charlie Marlow # 8217 ; s trip from Europe to the barbarian Africa and back place to Europe once more. The 2nd is the narrative of a struggle between the director of an tusk company and Kurtz, an tusk agent. These two narratives make the secret plan and together unite the subject of the novel. The chief character in this novel is Charlie Marlow, a 32-year-old mariner, on his first fresh water ocean trip up the Congo River. Conrad uses Marlow as a storyteller so that he can come in the narrative in able to state it from his ain point of position. Marlow is disgusted by the director # 8217 ; s senseless inhuman treatment toward the inkinesss. Throughout the book he longs to run into Kurtz, the tusk agent. In the class of the journey he turns off from the white people, because of their ferociousness, and turns toward the jungle which was dark and symbolized truth, he eventually welcomes and appreciates the black people. We will write a custom essay sample on Heart Essay Research Paper Heart of Darkness or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page He begins to link with Kurtz long before they meet till they form a symbolic integrity. Marlow and Kurtz are the light and dark psyches of one individual. Kurtz besides came to the Congo for good workss. He wanted to turn ivory station into beacon visible radiations to offer a better manner of life to the indigens. Kurtz was a poet, author, creative person, musician, politician, ivory pimp, and main agent of the tusk company # 8217 ; s Inner Station at Stanley Falls. Kurtz is besides a stealer, liquidator, plunderer, and even allows himself to be worshiped as a God. Marlow does non see Kurtz till he # 8217 ; s vomit, and really physically ill that it shows, Marlow says that his caput is so barefaced that it resembles â€Å"an animated image of decease carved out of old ivory.† Kurtz is the violent Satan whom Marlow describes at the beginning of the narrative. The director, based on the existent individual Camille Delcommune, is the scoundrel of the secret plan. He is either straight or indirectly blamed for all the upset, inhuman treatment, and neglect that curses the Stationss. Marlow believes that the director arranged to bust up the steamboat in order to detain aid to Kurtz, he besides prevents studs from coming to mend the steamboat. The director # 8217 ; s inhuman treatment is shown when a immature black male child is beaten for a fire that burned a caducous full of rubbish ; the male child was likely guiltless. In this novel, black and white have the usual intension of immorality and good. White people have the black psyche, and the black people have the white psyches. The jungle symbolizes truth and world. Grass is besides used a batch to demo work forces # 8217 ; s immoralities and goodness, merely like grass it comes and goes, sometimes in Bunches other times barely. Conrad wrote this novel to demo a adult male # 8217 ; s hunt for self-knowledge. The book ended with a prevarication, which was an avowal of the truth, so possibly Conrad # 8217 ; s chief end is the find of the dual facets of truth ; black truth and white truth, both present in every psyche. Marlow on the other manus, struggles to seek the truth ; he wants to hear Kurtz # 8217 ; s voice which symbolizes his inner-truth. Marlow in the terminal finds his dark ego in Kurtz. The black people are the truth and world ; they have the white psyches, while the white people have the black psyche. Every psyche has a dark truth and a light truth, and a adult male # 8217 ; s inhumaneness to another adult male is that adult male # 8217 ; s greatest wickedness.

Thelma and Louise Essays

Thelma and Louise Essays Thelma and Louise Paper Thelma and Louise Paper t is widely debated as to whether Thelma and Louise is a feminist film or not. Either way the film is unconventional, a road movie thats main characters are female. But as the narrative is not closed to interpretation, the ideological tensions are not worked out conclusively so there is room for argument. I will refer to two articles which hold opposing viewpoints. 1 Dargis claims that Thelma and Louise challenges the ideology of a genre by rewrit[ing] the road movie while Carlson argues that for [Thelma and Louise] feminism never happened. Carlson claims that the only difference between this and any other road movie is that women are plunked down in the lead rolls. In the act of attempting to achieve the desired freedom which is a key part of the narrative, the women have to behave like men. It would be considered a feminist movie if they could free themselves from men without having to become that which they are trying to escape from. Symbols throughout the movie are used to suggest this transition from feminine to masculine. For example, as Thelma is packing she delicately packs a very feminine gun, handling it with great care and even disgust, trying to touch it as little as possible. It shows her fear of manly objects and perhaps of having to defend herself. When later she saves Louise from the police officer who stops them for speeding, the gun is exchanged for a larger, manlier weapon. This could symbolise a woman becoming empowered. Dargis suggests it is used as a symbolic castration. Yet not only does the man loose his phallic symbol, but Thelma gains one. This could suggest there is a need to become like men to earn any freedom. There are many parallels to the male dominated road movie. Loud music, fast car, and almost never ending road and they are often shown in a extreme long shot, dwarfed by the scenery of the desert. This is often how men in road movies are portrayed, as if they are part of or becoming part of the landscape, or perhaps the landscape becoming a character. Yet I dont find this technique significant enough to claim that the characters are becoming men, as it is only a reference. The use of extreme long shots could also be interpreted as making the fugitives look small and vulnerable, although this isnt usually the case in the typical road movie. The vehicle as in many road movies almost becomes anthropomorphic. In one shot before they first meet the truck driver, the camera has a close up on the front car as its driving past the camera, then dollies down the side then tracks and pauses at the rear of the car to show its brand thunderbird. It may be a coincidence that a bird is slang for a woman. The car then drives off the screen. In this shot the idealism of the car is captured, sleek, stylish and fast. It embodies the freedom of the road. I find these parallels dont lead the viewer to consider the characters to be manly, although it creates an offbeat feeling as we expect that such characters should be men. Dargis argues that the narrative of Thelma and Louise is not just about a film in which women take the role of men in a road movie, but that it is custom-fitting [the road movie] to female specifications. Although the characters throughout the movie become less feminine in the way they act and dress, their intentions are not ideologically male. Instead of seeking wealth and power, they seek only freedom and pleasure, according to Dargis. Only when male characters try to force their will over these women do they retaliate to take the power back from the men, as happens when they lock the police man in his trunk, or by shooting the rapist. The narrative works out ideological tensions in power relations. Theres a struggle over who gains the power. The men want the power over women and they have it in the beginning of the film, and women want to have power over themselves, which they try to achieve. This shows that the women arent just plunked down in the starring roles as Carlson claimed. It involves the breakdown of typical film ideology, in which everyone has their place, and a womans place is submissive to men. We can see Louise beginning to turn away from men as she is packing her bags at the beginning, she calls her lover and receives an answering machine message. This causes her to turn his photograph face down. Although we can not see who the photograph is of, the connection is made by the expression on Louises face as she flips it over. This also suggests that this male character, as well as all other male characters will play a back seat in the rest of the film. Dargis contrasts this with other lead females from other movies who learn from men where Thelma and Louise look to each other to survive. Yet I would disagree with this point, as the men still have a large degree of control over the women throughout the film. The motivation for running from the law was fear of a male dominated justice system, and an incident involving a male rapist. Louise doesnt have the funds to make it to Mexico, so she relies on her lover to wire her the money.

Israel Settlements and the Issue of Palestinian Restitution Essay

Israel Settlements and the Issue of Palestinian Restitution - Essay Example The rest of the area would have been linked to Transjordan but for smaller part that would have stayed under the control of the British. One of these parts would have been the city of Jerusalem. Another tenet of the recommendation called for removal of the entire Arab population in the Jewish area. This removal would be forcible if it had come to that. Looking ahead to forging a larger area of out this small offering, the Zionist leaders okayed the proposed state, while the Arabs immediately rejected it. Although two other plans for partition were take into consideration, eventually it all came to naught. Perhaps nothing involved in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict is so controversial and difficult to achieve consensus on as restitution of land to the Palestinians. The question of Palestinian land restitution goes back to the moment it was decided to establish a Jewish state in Israel. That decision was in turn prompted by World War II. This claim to land has been made by the Palestinian Authority in the name of all those who were displaced from their homeland amidst the settlement of the nation of Israel in 1948 and the resulting wars that have marked the area ever since. Following WWI, even more Jews moved to Palestine and the rise of Hitler and his persecution policy upped the ante even more. Hitler alone cannot bear the full brunt of the problem, however. Many point to the restrictive British immigration policy has playing a major role in the development of the current day problem. In addition, one aspect of that policy was also found to be thoroughly unacceptable by the Arabs, t hat of partitioning. The immigration issue was further highlighted by when the World Zionist Congress demanded that one million Jews be admitted to Palestine after WWII. Obviously, this shook the Arab country to their very core. The formation of the Arab League of Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Jordan was overseen by Great Britain with a benevolent eye. It was the hope of England and other European countries that pan-Arabism could lead to a coordinated policy that would have a settling effect on the region. In February of 1947, the British took the problem of Palestine to the UN, resulting in the UN Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP). The result was exactly what was feared: recommendation of a country partitioned between Jews and Palestinians (Kimberling & Medal 146). The response of Great Britain was to swiftly get out of the region before it jeopardized its position among the Arab nations or got caught up in turmoil that was clearly on the horizon. That turmoil was expressed through acts of terrorism from both Israelis and Palestinians. Finally, Great Britain did withdraw, on the very day that Israel achieved its independence, May 14, 1948. The newly independent nation of Israel was recognized by the United States sixteen minutes after its foundation, and then quickly afterward by the USSR. Almost immediately, Israel was set upon by Egyptian armies. Meanwhile, Jordan and Iraq forces supported Palestinian Arabs in the territory in their calls for land reclamation. During this Israeli battle to retain its independence, on December 11, 1948, the United Nations addressed the refugee issue in Resolution 194, stating that "refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their

John Cleese & Creativity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

John Cleese & Creativity - Essay Example Prostitution has its supporters and opponents. Supporters say that it should be legalized as a form of legitimate sexual work, while opponents argue that it must be continuously criminalized because it demeans women and is connected to other illegal activities. I want a different solution that is one-of-a-kind, in that, it helps existing and potential sex workers find another form of meaningful related work. To ponder on diverse solutions to ending prostitution that can satisfy proponents and opponents of prostitution, I followed Cleese’s five creativity factors a couple of days ago, wherein first, I chose a space for my pondering session. Cleese asserts that people â€Å"can’t become playful, and therefore creative, if [they’re] under [their] usual pressures,† so it is important to seal oneself off in a quiet place with no distractions. I went to a secluded portion of a nearby park when the weather was quite nice and I turned off my cellphone too. At the same time, I informed my friends and family who always send messages (online and offline) that I would go off the grid for three hours, so I would not respond to them. I would have wanted someone to go with me to expand the creativity circle, as Cleese suggested, but unfortunately, the people I wanted to invite were unavailable. The second factor of creativity is time. I gave my pondering session an hour and a half and up to two hours, as Cleese recommended. Cleese said that we need an â€Å"oasis of quiet† for a specific period of time to unleash our natural creativity. During this time, I did some brainstorming by writing down possible original solutions to prostitution without being hampered by ethical, legal, and other potential boundaries to my creativity. It did not matter if the solutions were unscrupulous or silly or impractical. I just wrote down everything that I can think of that can convince prostitutes/sex workers

When I came to the USA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

When I came to the USA - Essay Example Without a doubt, it was a challenge for me as I had to assimilate. As a kid growing up in my home country, I was an average kids who loved to play sports and tried hard in school. However when my parents decided to come to America, the transition was without a doubt difficult. I had to adapt to a new language, new customs, and a whole new culture. Yet, I never gave up I came from an environment where things were conservative. When my brother and I arrived to the U.S.A we were very tired. Our journey was so long and in midst of coming to USA, we did not even have a last proper meal. You can imagine the anxiety, sadness and yet excitement in our hearts. It was a chaotic moment where I had mixed notions. Finally, we landed in the airport as the flight was really long. I could not sleep in the airplane because of the loud humming noise of the engine. Additionally, I was too anxious to land to America, which added to my anxiety. Finally, we landed and got a taxi to a nearby town where we would settle. The neighborhood was close to our school, as that was our main priority. After we reached the new town, we decided to settle in a hotel.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     We were looking for a place to stay for almost 3 hours, I was really tired that my feet were trembling and I could not stand up anymore. Finally, we found a room in a hotel, but we werent comfortable. The hotel was terrible because there was a distinct smell. We knew it was not a top hotel due to our budget constraints. Also, it was really dark that we could not see the end of the lobby. A few minutes after looking around, we decided to take the room my brother asked," do you want to stay to night in this hotel? "And I said, "I do not feel comfortable." As soon as I finished my sentence, my brother understood what I was feeling and at once canceled the reservation. We continued looking for a room and we found one, that better than the first one. We took that room for a couple days. At that time, we also were

ERP Comparison of Developed and Emerging Markets

ERP Comparison of Developed and Emerging Markets Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 Research Topic The investment dilemma hits when individuals earn more than their consumption needs. Considering the fast rising inflation globally, saving the surplus earnings for future consumption is not sufficient anymore. Hence, making an investment such that the surplus earnings grow or even multiply over time is almost imperative. Such an investment can be made in many ways for instance commodities, stocks, bonds, pension funds, real estate etc. This study is concerned with individuals investment in stocks. When an individual invests, he/she expects a certain rate of return in the future from the investment which should ideally compensate future consumption needs, future increase in inflation and uncertainty of return if any. Therefore, investments with higher returns are preferred. A number of studies find evidence of stocks giving higher return than government bonds, although the relative uncertainty of return from stocks being much higher than from bonds (Dimson et al, 2002; Ibbotson Senquefield, 1976). Consequently, the more uncertain the future return gets, the riskier it is to invest. Hence, when an individual invests in stocks, he/she expects added compensation for added risk which leads to the concept of Equity Risk Premium (ERP). ERP is the surplus return from stocks/equities over the return from nearly risk-free (here on mentioned as risk-free) asset such as government bonds.It is the premium that individuals demand for bearing the additional risk in equity investments (Reill y Brown, 1999). ERP is calculated using equation-1. Stock returns can be the returns from a benchmark index (market returns) such as FTSE 100 and the returns from risk-free asset (risk-free returns) can be those from UK gilts. (Reilly Brown, 1999) ERP is an important consideration from an investors point of view for building and analysing a domestic equity portfolio or an entire equity market especially for an investor looking to diversify globally (here on mentioned as global investor). Therefore, it is a widely researched topic, however yet the existing literature is inadequate, considering there are numerous debates and puzzles pertaining to various aspects of ERP. Hence, looking at its significance in theoretical practical finance, ERP is chosen as the central topic to be researched in this study. 1.2 Research Background Individuals (retail investors) use ERP to forecast the expected growth of their equity portfolios over long-term and for portfolio allocation decisions. Corporations (here on mentioned as organisations) need ERP as an input to determine the cost of equity i.e. the annual expected rate of return from investment in stocks and for capital budgeting decisions. Overall, ERP is a significant factor in most risk-return models of corporate finance and investment management. Hence, estimating future ERP and identifying possible reasons for the results found, is an important financial and economic research topic for academia and practitioners alike. Although historical data is most popularly used to estimate future ERP, there exist financial, economic asset pricing models developed over the years which predict an implied ERP based on companies, macroeconomic equity market data. Evidence from the relevant literature suggests that every ERP estimation method has a distinct set of assumptions a nd underlying ideas therefore exuding both merits and demerits when compared to another estimation method. Rapid economic growth of emerging countries has been apparent especially because of industrialisation. Consequently the performance of emerging equity markets has been remarkable in the past decade. The big 4 i.e. Brazil, Russia, India China (BRIC) alone, accounted for more than 50% of the world GDP in 2006 (RICS, 2008). Due to saturation in developed countries and growing avenues for investment in those emerging, the ERP of emerging markets has risen due to growing investor confidence. Although perceived social, economic political risks are equally high, financial systems have strengthened and macro-economic conditions have improved drastically for most emerging countries. Barry et al (1997) argues that investing in emerging markets is more than just profitable, considering the risk-return trade-off. Hence, gauging the future of emerging equity markets has become a vital research topic for economists, finance professionals and global investors alike. In a discussion of emerging markets, India cannot be left out. Post liberalisation (i.e. post 1991) India is definitely the secondmost preferred emerging economy by global investors after China. Although Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows have been average compared to other emerging countries, Foreign Institutional Investment (FII) flows increased almost 10 times, from United States Dollar (USD) 739million in 2002 to a record USD 7.59billion in 2003. CALPERS, the worlds biggest pension fund with a base of USD 165billion has recently included India in their list of countries for investment (BSE India, 2008). The noteworthy rise to the position of the sixth largest emerging equity market with a total market capitalisation of USD 818billion and 8% p.a. average economic growth (CIA Fact-book, 2008) over past decade accentuates the importance of Indias ERP estimation and analysis. 1.3 Research Gap, Objective Questions Most of the research on ERP has focussed on developed markets clearly because of their sound history and stable fundamentals. Within limited research conducted on ERP in emerging markets, Salomons Grootveld (2003) demonstrate the evident differences in ERPs of developed and emerging markets and claim that global business cycle influences these differences. Claessens (1995) argues through his empirical research that investment in emerging markets can be fruitful in long-term considering that high ERP compensates for high risk. Although these and similar related researches vaguely guide investors wanting to explore emerging markets, there lacks a clear evidence of the possible risks attached and whether those risks can be tackled to earn complete benefit of the high ERP. Bernartzi Thaler (1995) and Campbell Cochrane (1999) claim that the reason for increase in investors interest in U.S. markets was the high ERP it offered. Hence if the same rule is applied to emerging markets then i nvestments should be made without any prior estimation of possible risks, especially considering the success of U.S. markets. However it is not the case, as investors are still sceptical about getting confirmed high returns from emerging markets. Therefore, the precise reasons for the difference in ERPs of developed and emerging markets have not been clearly identified as yet, hence constituting the first research gap. There exists considerable evidence on how political, social and especially macroeconomic factors affect the equity market returns of developed countries, especially U.S. (Chen et al, 1986). Considering the limited work done on ERP of emerging markets on the whole, negligible contribution has been made to analysing ERP in India with respect to its growing economy, Mehra (2006) being the most notable, hence constituting the second research gap. Considering the importance of ERP it is interesting to note that in-spite of there being many ways to calculate ERP; there exists no consensus on the best approach. Financial market analysis is performed based on historical data and the ERP measured from past performance of equity markets is most commonly used as an estimate of future ERP. For instance Ibbotson Sinquefield (1976) exemplified first accurate calculations of annual rate of return on equity investments in U.S. and ERP. Since then, Siegel (1992) Dimson et al (2002) are two of the most notable researches on ERP estimations using the historical method. However, there exist models developed for instance by Fama French (2002) and Arnott Bernstein (2002) that determine future ERP entirely based on forward-looking information through estimation of future investors markets expectations. This variation of approaches to ERP estimation has only widened the range of results and complicated the unresolved debate, hence constitut ing the third research gap. The 3 research gaps identified above lead to the overall Research Objective of this study, which is: Comparative analysis of ERP in the leading developed emerging markets; determine the macroeconomic influence on ERP and examine the ERP estimation methods; all from a global investors point of view. It is not realistically possible to fill the research gaps entirely through this study considering time, knowledge and relevant experience constraints. However, this study aims to fulfil the above objective through the accomplishment of satisfying solutions to the following 3 Research Questions: After estimating future ex-post ERP in the chosen sample index of developed and emerging markets, what is the impact of risk responsible for the differences found through the comparison of their risk-return trade-off? What effect do the country specific macroeconomic factors have on the ERP in India, if any? After estimating future ex-ante ERP in India using a supply-side method and comparing it with the estimated ex-post ERP, what is the most suitable method for global investors, if at all, and why? Research Contribution As this study is predominantly aimed at analysing the ERP of leading emerging markets and particularly India, it is hoped that this study contributes to simplify the decision making of global investors regarding their equity investments in emerging markets India. Furthermore, it is hoped that this study provides guidance to the global investors regarding the macroeconomic situation in India and its influence on the ERP, for sound portfolio management. Moreover, it is hoped that this study adds a small brick to the large edifice of ERP analysis/measurement/estimation on the whole. Finally, if this study motivates the eminent researchers and consequently triggers some ground breaking academic scholarship regarding the ERP of emerging markets, then the worthiness of this study will be truly identified. 1.4 Research Structure The following is the chronology and brief content of the chapters in this study here on: Chapter 2: Literature Review: This chapter aims to explain the historical development of ERP through empirical researches and relevant theoretical background. Furthermore, it examines important research literature on ERP estimation methods and emerging equity markets. Chapter 3: Overview of Research Methodology: This chapter aims to briefly explain the chosen research methodology for this study and justify its appropriateness. It also describes the chosen data collection method and clarifies how the data will be collected used for achieving the research objective. Chapter 4: Data Analysis, Findings Interpretative Analysis: This chapter aims to identify the collected data, explain the data analysis technique/model/method in detail, analyse the data that is collected by using the chosen methods models; and finally, interpret, examine evaluate the results/findings from the analysis to identify justifiable solutions to the research questions. The chapter is divided into 3 parts, each part pertaining to each research question and the procedure is conducted separately for each. Chapter 5: Discussion Conclusion: This chapter aims to summarise the results from chapter 4, recapitulate the entire paper and testifies the level of fulfilment of the research objective. Also, it plausibly links the past literature results from this study to check the level of accomplishment in filling the research gap and to identify the need for future study. Chapter 2: Literature Review 2.1 Chapter Introduction ERP is a vital numerical figure in practical modern finance as it is considered by financial analysts, business managers and economists for the purpose of decision-making; perhaps best testified by Welch (2000, p.501) wherein he calls ERP the single most important number in financial economics. Consequently, it is and has been one of the most fascinating topics for academic scholarship leading to vast amount of literature. This Chapter discusses the various significant perspectives about ERP generated from the literature. The literature reviewed in this chapter is primarily related to the research questions that this paper aims to answer; having said that, other theoretical developments and empirical researches in the field of portfolio management and corporate finance that are significantly relevant to the research topic, are also discussed. Broadly speaking, the content matter in this chapter is organised in chronological order beginning from the earliest. Here on this chapter is divided into 5 sections. The historical advancements in productive assessment of the relationship between equity risk and return resulting from empirical researches which lead to the conceptualisation of ERP is discussed in section-2. The next section-3 highlights the important theoretical developments which laid the foundation for the large edifice of researches on investment management. Section-4 focuses on the models/methods that were formulated based on the theories, with an aim to calculate expected returns and measure estimate ERP. It also looks at the important contemporary researches in the field of ERP with a brief backdrop of macroeconomic factors. The following section-5 highlights the important literature with respect to the ERP Puzzle. It discusses the significant attempts by researchers to solve the puzzle. The next section-6 follows which briefly looks at the important literature on emerging equity markets overall. Finally, section-7 summarises the entire discussion. 2.2 Historical Conceptualisation of ERP The apt risk-return trade-off sought by investors worldwide augmented the importance of ERP evaluation and forecasting. Consequently, vast theoretical empirical research under various objectives has been conducted till date since the early 20thcentury on measuring, estimating and analysing ERP, most of which has concentrated on the developed markets, especially U.S. Furthermore, eminent financial economists have been engaged in empirical analysis of past investment results to gauge future investment strategies. In the late 19th and early 20thcenturies, most economists did not endorse the importance of risk in evaluating and justifying excess returns. The conception of the fact that incremental profit on equity investments is a result of the higher risk attached, was a gradual process. For instance, Clark (1892), professor at university of Columbia, claims that investments in some organisations give higher returns than risk-free rate some other organisations because those organisations have an advantage of monopoly in the market. Furthermore, modernisation and development in technology lead to comparatively higher competitive advantage which in turn gives excess returns. However, renowned author of the book Risk, Uncertainty and Profit, Knight (1921), does not endorse Clarks view but instead criticises him for inadequately exploring the association of risk and return in the models used in his economic research. Knight analyses the importance of risk in equity investments through past performance of U.S. markets and aimed at relating it to the concept of profit in the basic economic theory. He argues that any kind of risk deserves a premium (i.e. excess returns), even if the risk is unquantifiable (which he later termed as uncertainty), although, he could not suggest any solid and foolproof way of measuring the premium that he justified. As a cumulative result, the debate on equity risk and the attached premium flared up which necessitated ground breaking empirical researches based on historical data of past performance. Hence, many scholars developed stock price indices in early 20thcentury in order to measure long-term investment performance and estimate future returns; For instance, Mitchell (1910, 1916), Persons (1916, 1919), Cole Frickey (1928) in the U.S. and Smith Horne (1934) and Bowley et al (1931) in the U.K. However, Hautcoeur et al (2005) in their analyses of early stock market indices; argue that the main motive in development of these indices was forgotten in no time and instead they were used to gauge the influence of macroeconomic cycles on equity markets and as an easier way to estimate macroeconomic fluctuations. The popular index of 30 stocks developed by Charles Dow was never aimed at estimating future long-term returns but instead to measure daily returns on the market. Consequently, the relevance of the returns from risk-free assets like government bonds to comparatively risky equity returns was tested. The difference in their rate magnitude of returns solidified the so far debated idea of returns being a compensation of the risk attached to the investments made. Smith (1924) advocates through empirical research and later through his book that; equities give higher returns than bonds because they carry higher risk. He collected historical data on stock prices, dividends and corporate bonds from the stock exchanges at Boston and New York spanning 1866-1923. Furthermore, he divided this period into 4 sub-periods to recognise the economic development. After creating separate portfolios for each asset class (10 securities in each portfolio), he measured cash income and capital gains from both. Equity investments give higher appreciation and returns than bonds in the long-term in-spite of economic changes in the sub-periods, was his conclusion. Further in his book, he suggested a mechanical way of calculating ERP by paying out the equivalent amount of bond returns from the total equity returns and re-investing the remaining in the same equity portfolio. In this way, the relative growth rate of the equity portfolio is the ERP over the bond portfolio. Smiths estimation and method of ERP calculation attracted many retail investors towards the equity markets in 1920s. Later, Smiths attempt to assess equity investment returns over bonds; was improvised by Cowles (1938). He collected historical data on most of the stocks of NYSE instead of only 10 for the period 1872-1937 and notably created the first nearly-accurate index of total returns from common stock investments. Furthermore, he suggested of re-investing the dividend yields into the equity portfolio to save from measuring cash returns and value appreciation separately, the way Smith did. However, he made no concluding remarks such as equity investments can be more profitable than bonds, unlike Smith. By then, although the idea of an ERP was making financial economic sense, a solid way of estimating future ERP could not be developed yet; the two main reasons being the unavailability of adequate historical equity market data and the ignorance about the possibility of a forward looking method. However later, John Williams (1938) wrote the first book that defined; modelled and estimated forward looking ERP. Although he estimated future ERP in U.S. using Dividend Discount Model (DDM), he argued that ERP estimates based on Historical Method are equally precise. He believed that the most suitable way to calculate the riskiness of a security is by appending a premium to the risk. Later, he also became the first researcher to numerically estimate a forward looking ERP for U.S. By then, the concept of ERP had been clearly understood and its importance had been recognised. Nearing late 1940s economists and researchers had realised the importance of risk and conceptualised ERP as an essential ingredient to calculate future returns on equity investments. Moreover, enough historical data of U.S. equity markets was also available for past performance analyses and empirical researches. Even so, there was no method/measure that could quantify future risk and returns for any given portfolio of investments, as most experts and investors believed in calculating risk-return trade-off individually for equities and other securities. However, that did not serve the purpose of optimal risk-return trade-off as far as entire portfolio of investments was concerned, until 1952 when crucial theoretical developments began. 2.3 Theoretical Developments This section summarises the important theoretical developments which built models to quantify future risk and returns of equities and related vital researches in portfolio investment management and corporate finance, with a backdrop of their implications on ERP. The 4 most important theories/models reviewed in this section are Portfolio Theory, Capital Market Theory, Capital Asset Pricing Model and Arbitrage Pricing Theory. 2.3.1 Markowitzs Portfolio Theory Harry Markowitz (1952) introduced the Portfolio Theory or now what is called the Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT). It provides a formalised method to diversify the portfolio of all investments (not just equity) with an aim to achieve highest possible returns for lowest possible risk. MPT records expected returns, volatility or risk (standard deviation) for each investment and correlation of one investment to another to create the best combination. Therefore, risk is minimised while maintaining the expected returns, if investments are diversified based on the risk of each individual investment. However, Markowitz (1952) assumed that investors are naturally risk averse, i.e. they tend to choose the investment with highest returns for a given level of risk and refrain from investing if risk is higher than acceptable/favourable levels. Hence, by applying MPT, investors can choose less risky and highly risky investments at the same time in such a way that cumulative expected returns are unharmed and optimised. The risk appetite, although, of each investor differs from the other. Therefore, based on the above assumption, Markowitz (1952) believed that depending on the risk appetite, every investor aims at attaining highest possible returns for the level of risk that he/she is ready to bear. In other words, aims to build an Efficient Portfolio. Consequently, all the portfolios, ranging from high-risk to low-risk, which give optimal returns lie on the Efficient Frontier, as termed by Markowitz. Although Markowitzs MPT is still followed by many experts and investors, it also faces criticism on its unreal assumptions. MPTs assumption of volatility with figures of standard deviation or variance of an investment as its risk measurement may not always be true, especially for equities. It speaks about only a single period when actually volatility changes over time. Therefore, even if a portfolio is efficient today, it may be not be the same tomorrow. For instance, in an economic crisis or equity market crash, there is a high possibility of correlation of two assets in an efficient portfolio increasing than average. Malkiel Xu (1997) empirically prove that volatility of stocks increases with an increase in institutional ownership in the organisations. Similarly Campbell (2000) shows results of increased volatility with reduction in number of conglomerates as organisations started to narrow their focus. Lofthouse (2001) criticises MPT on the fact that it bases its calculation of expected returns, volatility and correlation on past historical figures which is inadequate especially when the aim is to build the most efficient portfolio possible. Furthermore, Bernstein (2002) notes that; MPT assumes that there is a possibility that some investments absolutely do not correlate with any of the other investments which is untrue, as each investment at some point in time correlates with one or the other investment in the portfolio. Hence, although MPT model enables investors to optimally gauge the future risk to gain highest possible returns, it is based on idealistic, theoretically decorative and practically unreal assumptions. 2.3.2 Capital Market Theory After MPT was developed, many researchers worked on the most important missing link in MPT, the inclusion of risk-free asset with zero volatility, zero correlation with risky assets and certain future returns. Tobin (1958) was the first to extend Markowitzs Portfolio Theory by introducing risk-free asset to the Efficient Portfolio. Later, Sharpe (1964), Lintner (1965) and Mossin (1966) contributed to his idea as they independently worked on similar theories. The final development is known as Capital Market Theory (CMT). It is important to note that CMT shares 3 assumptions with those made by Markowitz (1952) for MPT, as follows: Investors are always risk averse Investors decisions are solely based on expected returns and their volatility There exist no transaction costs and taxes However following are the new assumptions that CMT makes as extracted from Lofthouse (2001): All the investors have the exact same time-horizon for their investments Borrowing and lending at the risk-free rate is not restricted All the investors have the exact same expectations for correlation, risk and returns CMT states that the volatility for Efficient Portfolios that include risk-free asset; is actually the linear equivalent of volatility (risk) for the portfolios before risk-free asset inclusion. Hence these combined Efficient Portfolios lie on the straight line graph of risk and return, joining the risky and risk-free assets. This way, the optimal combined portfolio i.e. point-M in Figure.2.2, is identified at the tangency point formed by the ray starting from point-F in Figure.2.2 i.e. expected return of risk-free asset and the Efficient Frontier. It is optimal because it gives the highest possible returns for any level of risk. Therefore, it is known as Market Portfolio as it has all risky assets and the ray is known as Capital Market Line (CML). CMT advocates that all the investors should aim to build their portfolios on CML depending on their risk appetite. They could invest in risk-free asset by lending or borrow at risk-free rate to invest in Market Portfolio. Either way their p ortfolios will earn more returns than other portfolios (blue spots in Figure.2.2) on or off the Efficient Frontier, for any given risk (Brealey et al, 2007). Therefore, under the CMT the expected returns of the equity portfolio are calculated by determining the slope of CML which is the change in return for a given change in risk and intercept which is return of risk-free asset (See Equation-2). The risk is measured by the standard deviation (Lofthouse, 2001). The development of CMT was ground-breaking in the field of investment management. It clarified the effect of including risk-free asset in an equity portfolio. It formed the first equation made of ERP, risk and returns, all together. In Equation-2, change in return is market return less the risk-free return which is actually the ERP. However, this estimation of ERP is an empirical deduction (calculated from slope of CML), as early development of CMT by Tobin (1958) was just an extension of MPT. Until it was theoretically formalised by Sharpe (1964), Lintner (1965) and Mossin (1966) independently, which then led to the gradual development of the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM). Hence, the CAPM is usually referenced as SLMs CAPM for Sharpes, Lintners and Mossins equal and vital contributions. 2.3.3 Capital Asset Pricing Model The CAPM is undoubtedly the most widely known model to calculate expected returns. It is a sophisticated improvisation of CMT, which in-turn is an extension of MPT and therefore builds on the relationship/trade-off between risk and returns. It is primarily based on the universal classification of risk into 2 broad categories namely: Systematic: Risk that affects almost all assets equally Unsystematic or Specific: Risk that affects only individual asset or asset class (Sharpe, 1964) The CAPM is developed through the conception of Security Market Line (SML) (See Figure.2.3) which is a ray similar to CML originating from the return of risk-free asset. However, the big difference being that SML represents the linear relationship between risk and return from individual assets and/or inefficient portfolios in respect to market portfolio, unlike CML which only represents efficient portfolios. The risk that is measured is only systematic as it is un-diversifiable and hence rewarded, unlike unsystematic risk. The standardised measure of this systematic risk is called Beta which is covariance of an asset or portfolio with market portfolio divided by variance of market portfolio. Market portfolio has Beta equal to 1. Asset with Beta higher than 1, is riskier than market portfolio and hence higher return is expected. Assets with Beta lower than 1, are less risky with lower return. The expected returns are calculated by adding return on risk-free asset to the product of ERP and systematic market risk borne by the stock (See Equation-3) (Sharpe, 1964), (Lofthouse, 2001). However, the value of Beta for individual stocks of portfolios is not known. It needs to be estimated and is hence subject to errors. Understanding the mechanics and application of the CAPM is imperative to the study of ERP, as the slope of SML i.e. linear relationship between risk (Beta) and return, equals the difference between market returns and risk-free returns which is ERP. The application of the CAPM is extremely vital in the context of ERP measurement methods as it uses ERP as an input to calculate the expected returns on a stock. The empirical studies and relevant literature related to the CAPM and its applicability in ERP estimation methods are discussed in section 2.4.3. 2.3.4 Arbitrage Pricing Theory As seen before, MPT and CMT both assess only the cumulative risk of individual assets and market risk respectively, while calculating expected future returns. Ross (1976) proposed the Arbitrage pricing Theory (APT) based on the perception that the risk of assets and their future returns vary in accordance with the risks affecting the overall economic situation. Ross believed that unsystematic risks can be curbed/nullified through diversification as suggested by MPT CAPM and hence will not affect expected returns. But systematic risks having influence on all assets cannot be diversified and hence can cause fluctuation in the expected returns. Although he did not suggest any particular factors that can trigger the systematic risk, empirical results of Burmeister et al (1997) implied the following 5 factors: Inflation Business cycle Investor confidence Time horizon Market timing APT states that; the sensitivity of assets to the unanticipated instability in the above factors varies due to which one of them can get mispriced therefore creating an arbitrage opportunity. Consequently, by selling the highly-priced asset to buy the low-priced asset, the investor can ensure profit and nearly-perfect pricing of both assets. This arbitrage can be termed as the Risk Premium for that particular factor. However, this profit is expected and not guaranteed unlike usual arbitrage gains. Like MPT and CMT, APT also has some underlying assumptions as follows: No transaction costs Short selling i.e. selling assets that are not owned, is allowed Enough assets to diversify unsystematic risks (Ross, 1976) APT has faced many criticisms on its applicability in calcul

Robert Browning :: essays research papers

My Last Duchess, by Robert Browning, is an example of a dramatic monologue. A dramatic monologue is a kind of narrative poem in which one character speaks to one or more listeners whose replies are not given in the poem. The Duke is speaking to an envoy about his fisrt wife who is apparently dead. From what he is telling him, one can conclude that he is arrogant, domineering, and very insecure about his relationship. The Duke of Ferrara was a very arrogant man. He did not seem to care about the happiness of his wife, only his own. He did not like the fact that she found happiness in other places beside himself, as if he should be the only life in her life. He could not understand how she could rank his nine thousand year old name with more simpler things such as her white mule that she rode on the terrace, an act of kindness from an "officious fool" and the "drooping of the daylight in the west." His wife, no doubt, had no idea he felt that way but he could not discuss it with her, blaming it on the fact that he had no skill in speech. He let the problem persist until he no longer could stand it and finally "gave commands" that in one way or another caused her death. Another problem that he had was that he was too domineering. This is evident in the fact that he went to the extreme and killed his wife just because she did not conform to his image of a perfect wife. He wanted things to be his way regardless of how she felt. He now talks about his last duchess as if she were simply a thing painted in a picture to be admired. Other evidence that supports the idea of him being domineering is shown when he told his envoy that no one but him could touch the curtain that covered the picture. It is almost as if he has marked his territory and if anyone crosses the line they would be "dealt with" accordingly. Lastly, on the way down to meet his company he proudly points out his bronze sculpture of Neptune taming a sea horse. This is probably the embodiment of his whole mentality. He wanted to tame his wives into perfect women. Insecurity is something that we all feel at one point or another in our relationships.

Business-to-Business Messages Essay

Communication is the process; through which sender conveys their messages to receiver. The communication can be in form of words, gestures, voice intonations and other symbols or signs. The communication process cannot be possible without any medium. In the communication process senders and receivers both are the parties involved. Apart from this communication process also needs the technology, tools and Channels. All the element of the communication process should be in the proper sequence for effective and appropriate communication Process. If any part of communication process is distorted or broken, the sender and receiver will not have a common understanding of the message (Daft, 2004). The communication model includes some element in this sequence such as an environment of communication, a sender, message, technology (Channels), noises (the psychological, social and structural barriers), a receiver and the feedback of receiver. The communication model has the channel through which the message is transmitted. There are two types of the channels: verbal and non-verbal. Verbal communication refers to the oral or written means transmitting meaning through words. Non-verbal communication doesn’t use words and involves gestures. In current time, there are many technological channels for communication such as electronic mail, intranets, instant messaging, fax, telephone and other forms of computer mediated communication channels (Mcshane, VonGlinow & Sharma, 2006). Business to business communication process includes the communication between two business entities, in which the one business entity perform the role of a sender and other one perform the role of a receiver. In other words, Business to Business Communication describes the communication between businesses such as between a manufacturer and a whole seller or between a whole seller and a retailer. All other element of Business to Business communication process is dependent on the environment and the purpose of the communication. Business to Business communication process would effective. If the environment of Business to Business is appropriate and propose of communication is also strong and effective (Guffey & Almonte, 2009). Business to Business Messages Business to Business communication process is an internal process to develop relationship with the other business organizations, vendors, suppliers etc. In this competitive landscape, the Business to Business communication process is necessary for customer loyalty to protect against the competitor, employee motivation, brand protection or creation the awareness among the customer (Business-to-Business Communication, n. d. ). Business to Business Message of William Brother Corporation  The William Brother Corporation is an American company. The company is known for its quality metal doors. The company recently launched the new products lightweight gypsum ceiling access panel, portable fire extinguisher stands, roof hatches and floor hatches. The company communicates with their whole sellers and retailer to create the awareness about the product features, quality and the price. The company also informs about policies, terms and promotional strategizes of the new products. Subsequent to the discussion of the company’s message now, I will analyze the message as follows: Purpose: The purpose of this message of the company is to create the awareness about the new launched products of the company between the whole sellers and retailers. The company provides the all technical information about the new product. Sender: Here, the sender is the company management team. Receiver: Here, receivers are the whole sellers and retailer of the company. Environment: The environment of this communication process is the internal and external environment. Technology: In this messaging, the technology used is written communication, oral communication and internet technology. Noise: In this message, noise can be formed by the traffic of internet and other website, which can directly affect the delivery of message. In addition to this, as it is a written and oral message, the noise factors can be lack of apprehension of language and information by the whole sellers and retailers (Mcshane, VonGlinow & Sharma, 2006). Feedback: The Feedback of the whole sellers and retailers is that they understand about the new product features and they agree on the company policies and terms. They will help the company for promotion of the new launched product. The method of the technology used is the appropriate of the company. The oral and written communication would create the easy understanding about the product and the internet is best way to convey the message of the company. The message should the appropriate, because the message provides the all information about the product and the company goal. Business to Business Message of KFC Corporation KFC Corporation based in Louisville, Kentucky, is the world’s most popular chicken restaurant chain. There are many stores of KFC that operate in the world. For managing the all stores of company, the company communicates with their different store’s management team through the messaging by the email and internet technology (KFC Corporation, 2010). In this message of the company, they had communicated, that company makes the some quality standards and policies for their food, which should maintain by the all stores of the company. These policies and the quality standards help to maintain the trust among the customers. Subsequent to the discussion of the company’s message now I will analyze the message as follows: Purpose: Here, the purpose of this message of the company is to create awareness about the policies and quality standards and should maintain these quality standard to the management of the stores which are situated in all over the world. Sender: The sender is the company management. Receiver: The receiver is the stores management of the company. Environment: Here, the environment of this employed communication process is external environment. Technology: In message, the technology used is written communication and the internet technology by the company. Noise: In the messaging, noise can be formed as the message failure through the internet. In the written message the noise can be formed as the lack of apprehension of language by the management of company stores (Mcshane, VonGlinow & Sharma, 2006). Feedback: The feedback of the receiver is that they will be maintain the quality standard of the food product and adopt the company policies. The company used technology, the written communication and the internet technology to create the awareness about their policies and the quality standards among their stores management. This would very effective for the company. Business to Business Message of Honda Motor Company Honda Motor Company is one of the largest automobile companies in the world. There has the big product line of the company in the world market. Honda Civic car is one of the popular products of the company. In the recently there has a technical problem generated in the Honda civic cars fuel pump. For the solution of this problem the company takes some actions. The company has sent the message to their authorized dealers to solve this problem by approaching the customers, who has the Honda civic (Honda Motor Corporation, 2010). Subsequent to the discussion of the company’s message now we will analyze the message as follows: Purpose: Here the purpose of the message of company is to create awareness among the dealers about the product problem and to solve that technical problem of the customer’s product. Sender: The Sender is the technical department of the company. Receiver: The authorized dealers of the company. Environment: Here the environment of the communication is the external environment. Technology: The Company communicates with the written messages and the internet technology. Noise: In the messaging, noise can be formed as the message failure through internet and noise can formed as written message delay. Feedback: The feedback from the dealer was that they will solve this problem of the product as soon as. The technology of the message is the good. Both the medium of the message is the efficient and reach at the right time. Message purpose is the appropriate and easily understandable by the dealers.

Pokka Corp

February 1957 Established Nikka Lemon Co. , Ltd. for the production and distribution of lemon beverages. October 1963 Built Nagoya factory in Kitanagoya-city, Aichi Prefecture. April 1966 Changed corporate name to Pokka Lemon Co. , Ltd. May 1972 Commenced production and distribution of canned coffee, POKKA COFFEE. November 1973 Developed and promoted vending machines, separate machines for hot and cold drinks. January 1977 Established Pokka Corporation (Singapore) Ltd. September 1980 Commenced production of canned soup to enter soup business March 1982 Changed corporate name to Pokka Corporation. December 1984 Built central laboratory and Nagoya distribution center in Kitanagoya-city, Aichi prefecture. June 1985 Listed on Second Section of Nagoya Stock Exchange (NSE). July 1987 Listed on Second Section of Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) February 1988 Built Toyota factory, far-infrared roasting factory for coffee, in Nishinakayama-cho, Toyota-city, Aichi Prefecture. April 1988 Listed on First Sections of TSE and NSE. February 1991 Built Gunma factory and distribution center in Isesaki-city, Gunma Prefecture. September 1993 Pokka Corporation(Singapore)Ltd. established Pokka Ace(M)Sdn. Bhd. October 1994 Established Pokka Create Co. Ltd. to start managing coffee shops and restaurants February 1996 Succeeded in developing de-oxygenating method; released first canned coffee produced using the method. December 1996 Acquired Foremost Blue Seal Ltd. in Okinawa December 2005 Implemented MBO and de-listed from TSE and NSE,to achieve further growth of the company and increase its corporate va lue. January 2008 Formed a capital and business alliance with Meiji Seika Kaisha, Ltd. September 2009 Formed a capital and business alliance with Sapporo Holdings Ltd. ——————————————————————————–

Uncouth, Unkempt, and Unwieldy

Uncouth, Unkempt, and Unwieldy Uncouth, Unkempt, and Unwieldy Uncouth, Unkempt, and Unwieldy By Maeve Maddox Most negative English adjectives that begin with un- have a familiar antonym. For example: unhappy / happy unlucky / lucky unsuspecting / suspecting ungenerous / generous This post is about three adjectives whose positive forms are rarely used in modern English. uncouth: Awkward and uncultured. Examples of current usage of uncouth: The Malawi government has branded  pop  star Madonna an uncouth bully who exaggerates her charitable work in the country. After considering the likes of refined English actors such as Cary Grant and David Niven, the producers cast Sean Connery as Bond in the film. Fleming was appalled at the selection of the uncouth, 31-year-old Scottish actor, considering him to be the antithesis of his character.   The adjective couth (â€Å"known, familiar†) was very common in Old English. One spoke of â€Å"couth lands† and â€Å"couth customs† meaning â€Å"known lands† and â€Å"familiar customs.† The word couth came to mean cultured, genteel. Nowadays, when speakers use the word couth, it is with the latter meaning, but with self-consciously humorous intent. The second of these two examples of current usage of couth transforms the adjective into a noun: Well, orcs arent human, and I would suppose that they arent as  couth  as humans are. Im reminded that junior high  boys  are  not  known for their  couth. unkempt: uncombed (of hair, wool, etc.); neglected, not cared for, untrimmed. Here are examples of modern usage of unkempt: How can they let [NCIS character Deek] on camera with that  unkempt  mop? The role as a loudmouth  unkempt  woman easily was her finest personal performance to date. Criminals are attracted to  neighborhoods  that appear dirty or  unkempt. In Old English, kempt was a past form of cemban, â€Å"to comb.† In modern English, kempt is occasionally used humorously to mean combed or neat, as in the following examples: Ive had more  kempt looking  pros  change  the oil in my Maserati. [The apartment] is occasionally a little  messy but  not unkempt. Semi-kempt? His plaid shirt was half-untucked, and his usually kempt  comb-over was flying wildly into the air. unwieldy: Difficult to control, guide, move, manipulate, etc., by virtue of size, shape, or weight. In modern usage, the adjective unwieldy is applied to things, like tools or weapons, but originally, it referred to people. A â€Å"wieldy person† was nimble and had the agility to handle a weapon with skill. Although wieldy doesn’t make much of a showing in COCA or the Ngram Viewer, it is used in serious contexts. Wieldy is a brand name for a line of camera accessories, and the word is at home in discussions of tools and software: Is the handle attached separately or is the whole slicer and handle cast together as one piece?  It’s all one piece, and extremely wieldy. The great thing about the SKS was it could drop people at distance but you could also get up close and do well, partly because of the high fire-rate but also because it feels extremely wieldy.   Yes, I know – it’s hard to imagine anything bigger than 10 inches to be considered wieldy enough for practical use. Of the three supposed antonyms of uncouth, unkempt, and unwieldy, couth continues to be a word that provokes amusement, wieldy sounds like a â€Å"real† word, and- judging by this example I found in a blog about wedding planning, kempt may be slipping back into serious usage: You should make sure that your facial hair is neat and  kempt. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Yours faithfully or Yours sincerely?20 Pairs of One-Word and Two-Word FormsShore It Up

Applying Problem Solving Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Applying Problem Solving - Essay Example There are many methods, which can be used to find a perfect solution to any specific problem. Two of the most widely used methods are persuasive thinking and scientific thinking. In this paper, I will show how I made use of these methods to solve some problems, which occurred in my life. After I got my graduation degree from a university, I decided to do job to earn some money and get professional experience. I applied in a number of companies for the job but did not succeed to get a suitable job in accordance with my educational qualifications. Some companies called me for interviews. Wherever I went for the interviews, the selection committee members required some professional experience, which I did not have at that time. In my home city, I applied in almost every renowned company but did not succeed in finding a good job. After almost six months of job search, I found a job in a marketing firm located far away from my living place. I was recruited in the department of outdoor sales and my salary was very less as compared to my educational qualifications. The salary was so less that it was very hard for me to save any money for my family. I was not satisfied with that job. I did that job for almost a year when I decided to go abroad in order to find a better employment. My parents did not support my decision of moving abroad and insisted me to remain in my home country and continue my job search. In the problem, which I discussed above, I made use of persuasive thinking to convince my parents. I had two main reasons of going abroad for employment. One reason was to find a better employment while the second reason was the huge difference between the economy levels of my home country and the country where I was planning to go for employment. My parents were not supporting my decision initially as they insisted me not to go abroad. I told them that it would be wastage of my precious time

SmartTool Inc Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

SmartTool Inc - Essay Example Doug has been taking high risks in business especially in bagging orders that cannot be delivered readily using the core competencies of the organization. Such orders would either require structured R&D mechanisms, or else uncontrolled costs in trial & errors. The findings of Elwood pertaining to a loss of $190000 on seven projects pertaining to 3D dies present the objective evidence against this conclusion. Also, the company took the route to ISO 9000 certification while the processes in a mess and were not automated. In this scenario, the certification doesn’t qualify the organization to have an efficient QMS system. Overall, Doug is competent to start a business and run it till enough cash is generated but his money management skills were not adequate. From the gravy stamping job, SmartTools achieved financial flexibility which means there was surplus cash for self-funding of the working capital. Doug could have made the company debt free but instead preferred to expand int o areas that were lesser known to SmartTools thus increasing risk of uncertainty in order processing.Doug was technology savvy person and he wanted to expand the technology horizon and competency of the organization. He did not value the value of self-reliance thus ensuring operating profitability. Moreover, he was poor in handling working capitals efficiently for the growth of the organization. He kept on realizing more and more working capital loans from the Bank and losing profits and cash in the backend. He along with Janet tried to cover up the slumping profitability by inducing the accounting discrepancies detailed below and in this process risked the wealth of the shareholders as well as serious legal issues that could have put both Doug and Eb behind bars. Accounting Issues Operationally, Doug and Eb didn’t manage the accounting system properly. Given the requirements of section 404 of Sarbanes Oxley, spreadsheets with macros cannot