I Am A Student In The Master Of Divinity Program At...

I am a student in the Master of Divinity program at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, anticipating graduation in May 2017. The Master of Divinity program has broadened my whole understanding of the Church and God, and has established a desire to further explore theology in the academy. Therefore, I am applying to the Master of Theological Studies program, with a desire to focus on Theology and Ethics. I am seeking admission into this program to further my growth as a scholar and researcher of theology in the context of western media. Studying theology and social ethics at Garett-Evangelical has broadened my understanding of ethics relative to theology. The most important thing that I have learned is how to think critically while†¦show more content†¦This further developed my interest in critically reflecting on these films while engaging theology and moral ethics. Since I come from a traditional culture myself where the films are reflective of the Pakistani culture, depicting values, norms, religious and societal rituals, use of poetry, friendship, love, and community, I became more interested in learning what makes the American film industry so influential even to the people in the seminary and how it spoke to the theologians. Since languages are different throughout the world, but not the literature, this made me dig deeper into learning how ethics shapes the literature of the films that are opaquely theological in nature. Perceptions about values can be different based on the differences of cultures, and the styles of writing can be different, but I am interested in learning why and how the cinema at large impacts its viewers differently, asking the question â€Å"Does film reflect a convenient archetype for novel community situations – a sort of â€Å"default ethical behavior† that the community follows but adapts as necessary for new situations?† Having spent four years at Garrett- Evangelical, I have been introduced to different kinds of theologies. My theological education has broadened my whole concept about understanding theology. It has resonated with me at different times forShow MoreRelatedCultural Reflection : Cultural Continued Reflection1073 Words   |  5 Pagesmean? I was born and raised in Pakistan and moved to the U.S. in August 2013, for my Master of Divinity program at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, IL. I was born into a Pakistani (Punjabi) Christian Anglican family, which makes me a Gentile. This is because my ancestral background is not connected, directly or indirectly with Abraham or King David, but with the Aryans who once inhabited the sub-continent as cannibals and heathen-worshippers of the Sun, Moon, sea and music. I have beenRead MoreI Am A ----Year Old Christian Woman. I Come From Pakistan1256 Words   |  6 PagesI am a ----year old Christian woman. I come from Pakistan and am currently working on my Master of Divinity program at Garrett- Evangelical Theological Seminary, Evanston, IL. I am looking forward to graduating on May 12, 2017. I am a United Methodist and a certified Candidate for Ordained Ministry. I am on the elder track. Last year, I also became a certified lay minister and was recommended for Local Pastor’s License; however, I did not receive any appointment. Serving God and God’s people hadRead MoreThe Most Formative Experience Of My Christian Life1828 Words   |  8 PagesConference of the UMC    i.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Most Formative Experience of My Christian Life: I grew up in Pakistan with a diverse culture around me. Before moving to the U.S., the city I grew up in was a blend of people who lived there because of their jobs, education and business purposes. I learned that poverty, marginalization and violence, neither had a religion nor selects people of a specific faith to attack them. This made me devote myself to the church and its programs to serve all children of

Hiroshima and Nagasaki Atomic Bombings - 1200 Words

Only three atomic bombs have been dropped in history. Little boy, was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. Fat man was dropped on Japans capital, Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. And finally, Trinity was the code name for a test bomb which was a replica of Fat man. It was dropped on July 16, 1945 in New Mexico. A fourth bomb, named thin man, was proposed and scientists worked on it until it was aborted. These bombs were all used for war purposes in World War two. The code name for the making of these bombs was the Manhattan Project. It started formally in 1942. The US led it but was supported by the United Kingdom and Canada. US president Franklin Roosevelt approved of it in late 1941. It was created for fear Germany was making Atomic Bombs. It employed almost 130,000 people including brilliant scientists such as Albert Einstein. There were over 30 sites in the US, UK, and Canada where research and development took place. It costed 2 billion US dollars, now the equivalent of 26 billion in 2014. The Manhattan Project was under the direction of Major General Leslie Groves of the US Army Corps of Engineers from 1942 to 1946. There were two types of bombs created. A gun type fission weapon(little boy) and an implosion type weapon(fat man). There was no warning of the first atomic bomb for Hiroshima. There was however a warning for Nagasaki. Leaflets were dropped all over the cities of Japan warning of a second atomic bomb, just as deadly as the first. KokuraShow MoreRelatedThe Atomic Bombing Of Hiroshima And Nagasaki2142 Words   |  9 PagesThe horrific atom bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan on August 6th and 9th of 1945 brought about several reactions in the United States. Starting with the controversial events leading up to the atomic with the Potsdam Proclamation, many Americans began to wonder whether the total destruction of these two cities were necessary. However, immediate American responses and reactions to the bombs were contrary to what they became later on. Americans slowly stopped being ignorant of what had happenedRead MoreThe Atomic Bombing Of Hiroshima And Nagasaki Essay2146 Words   |  9 PagesThe atomic bombing of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 is the most controversi al military decision in the history of Air Power, and may even be the most controversial decision in history. The first of the bombings happened at Hiroshima, where the B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay dropped Little Boy, an Uranium-based atomic bomb. Structural damage estimates vary, with some sources claiming the blast and fires destroyed about 90% of the city (History.com Staff â€Å"Bombing of Hiroshima andRead MoreThe Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki1656 Words   |  7 PagesDid the atomic bomb have to be used in World War II on Japan? There were multiple reasons why the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were necessary. One of which is to reduce the chance of Allied casualties if the war continued. Another reason was to prohibit the possibility that an Axis country such as Nazi Germany, could create an atomic weapon. A third reason or is whether or not the use of atomic weapons on innocent people was worth the media backlash. A final reason is that the workR ead MoreThe Atomic Bombing Of Hiroshima And Nagasaki Essay867 Words   |  4 Pagesa better picture of the world. In doing research, Steve Sheiken, an historical researcher concluded, â€Å"Of the 76,00 buildings that stood†¦70,000 were completely destroyed in Hiroshima (Sheinkin, 204).† I am here only to inform the effects of the atomic bombing, impacting Japanese lives. These attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki remains one of the most infamous tragedies in history because of the large number of casualties that shattered Japan’s invincibility, leading to the Nuclear Era. Forecast: TheRead MoreThe Atomic Bombing Of Hiroshima And Nagasaki Essay866 Words   |  4 Pagesus to create a better picture of the world. In doing research, Steve Sheiken, a historical researcher concluded, â€Å"Of the 76,00 buildings that stood†¦70,000 were destroyed in Hiroshima (Sheinkin, 204).† I am here only to inform the effects of the atomic bombing, impacting Japanese lives. These attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki remain as one of the most infamous tragedies in history, mainly because of the large number of casualties that shattered Japan’s invincibility, leading to the Nuclear Era. Forecast:Read MoreThe Atomic Bombings Of Hiroshima And Nagasaki3700 Words   |  15 PagesIt has been seventy years since the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the end of the Second World War in the Pacific Theatre. However, the unconditional surrender that was favored by the Allies was only accepted by Japan after the Soviet Union entry into the â€Å"Greater East Asia War† and the nuclear devastation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It is a common myth in the Western world that the nuclear bombs â€Å"Little Boy† and â€Å"Fat Man† caused Japan to surrender and in turn saved the lives of thousandsRead MoreThe Atomic Bombings Of Hiroshima And Nagasaki1702 Words   |  7 Pagesstudents reside in. Naturally, students’ educations tend to focus on events that occurred more locally, or most deeply affected their area; German students learn more about the Holocaust and Japanese students learn more about the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. E ven if a country wanted to teach a completely inclusive account of World War II, the length and complexity of the war would make that impossible within the constraints of traditional education. Further, the education students receiveRead MoreAtomic Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Essay879 Words   |  4 PagesPresident Trumans decision to drop the atomic bomb on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the direct cause for the end of World War II in the Pacific. The United States felt it was necessary to drop the atomic bombs on these two cities or it would suffer more casualties. Not only could the lives of many soldiers have been taken, but possibly the lives of many innocent Americans. The United States will always try to avoid the loss of American civilians at all costs, even if that means takingRead MoreThe Justifications Of The Atomic Bombing Of Hiroshima And Nagasaki1616 Words   |  7 PagesThe justifications of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have been continuously debated since the time of occurrence. The variety of approaches towards the topic often times lead to ambiguous conclusions that leave debaters dumbfounded. Primarily, there are two moral reasonings that analysts of the event utilize: the utilitarian approach and ethical tradition. The utilitarian approach determines the goodness or evil of an action by its consequences (Holt). It has been said that this approachRead MoreAtomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and Science Fiction1626 Words   |  7 PagesFootprint,† he talks about the Japanese movie â€Å"Godzilla,† directed by IshirÃ…  Honda. To Honda, this movie had a serious meaning because it was about the atomic bombings that demolished Nagasaki and Hiroshima. It was made to make the audience understand what the Japanese people went through at a time when no one knew what type of damage resulted from the bombings. Susan Napier suggests that the ideological change in terms of both presentations of d isaster and the attitudes inscribed toward disaster derive

International Partnerships A Delicate Spacewal

Question: Describe that how the government space agencies are partnering with the private companies with an aim to cut the costs for space exploration? Answer: The article torches on how the government space agencies are partnering with the private companies with an aim to cut the costs for space exploration. For such space projects, the article examines Dragon project and Falcon Project highlighting that these projects cost just half of what developed by NASA. Government projects in collaboration with private companies need different ways of project management like stakeholders, intellectual property, stakeholders etc. Next, the article discusses how Chinese and Indian government faced budget failures. It also overviews how NASA is targeting for public-private partnerships because such commercial companies will help government agencies to tap more efficient energy driven approaches to be used in project management methods. Next, the article discusses how the Brazilian space agency has handled the main challenge of project governance. It also describes how the communication process is followed by NASA with private firms. The article also overviews the how the government agencies are minimising the project risks by simply investing in research and development initiatives which will automatically solve the challenges related to travelling. Finally the article concludes by discussing and examining one constant factor across the space projects either in private or public agencies is the safety. Along with the articles discusses the joint ventures between the various countries to gain space accessibility via ISS. Also the article is accompanied by two case studies: one discusses how a Swedish company who has worked with NASA and ESA for space travelling designs is now applying those designs to Swedish enterprises and society. The second case study talks about Nevada-based electronic systems provider and systems integrator certification product contract from NASA as part of its initiative to certify the Dream Chaser for human transportation. References Giancarlo Genta. Will space actually be the final frontier of Humankind. Retrieved from https://www.marssociety.it/PAPER/Genta.pdf Sarah Fister Gale. (2013). The next step in the final frontier. Retrieved from https://www.pmi.org/learning/national-space-agencies-project-risk-management-2651

There Is A Cure Essay Research Paper free essay sample

There Is A Cure Essay, Research Paper There is an epidemic in our state, and it is turning stronger daily. Person is non being allowed to populate her/ his life to the fullest grade because of this disease. Its traits can be found in every metropolis, town, and province across the state. No, this epidemic is non AIDS or malignant neoplastic disease: nevertheless, if left entirely, its long term effects can be merely as damaging. The name of the epidemic is censoring, and last twelvemonth, the figure of censoring instances in the school systems across America reached a new high because certain involvement groups feel they know what is best for pupils to think. The censoring of academic stuffs must be banned because no group has the right to enforce its thoughts of political relations, morality, or faith to a group of pupils who have the right to inform themselves on all topics and to exert their ain sense of ground. We will write a custom essay sample on There Is A Cure Essay Research Paper or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page # 8220 ; The unfairnesss of censoring were in full force at least every bit early as 1644, the twelvemonth English author John Milton wrote his celebrated Areopagitica to support freedom of the imperativeness # 8221 ; ( Tax 154 ) . Last twelvemonth entirely, there were more cases of school censoring than any twelvemonth since 1982 ( Clark 171 ) . The most challenged books cover with the undermentioned topics: sex, feminism, adolescent defiance, AIDS, homosexualism, the negative Afro-american experience, and non-Christian point of views. The overpowering bulk of book expostulations come from parents in the community who have no authorization on what should be censored and what should non be censored ( Clark 54 ) . Deanna Duby, manager of educational policy for the American Way, expects censoring to be on the rise in the hereafter. ( Solin 98 ) . The cardinal intent of schools is to let everyone to hold the chance to larn, Therefore, whenever a school system denies a pupil stuffs because of censoring, that school system is moving against its original intent. School libraries are a distinctively American establishment, invented to see that deficiency of money to purchase books would neer intend that anyone was denied the opportunity to larn. # 8220 ; The American Library Association has long believed that it is the duty of libraries to supply to the public widest scope of stuffs # 8221 ; ( Opp. Views. 141 ) . It is right to expose kids to the failings of our society and promote them to better society. Students should be taught objectively in order for them to do indifferent determinations. That is why it is in the public involvement for publishing houses and bibliothecs to do available the widest diverseness of positions and looks, including those which are irregular or unpopular with the bulk. The school systems do non necessitate to back every thought or presentation in the stuff they make available. It would conflict with the public involvement for them to set up their ain political, moral, or aesthetic positions as a criterion for finding what stuffs should be published or circulated. Educational establishments serve their educational intent by assisting to do available cognition and thoughts required for the growing of the head and the addition of larning. They do non further instruction by enforcing themselves as wise mans for forms of their ain idea. It is incorrect that what one adult male can read should be confined to what another thinks proper. What is obscene to one individual may simply be tiresome to another ( Alpert 66 ) . Therefore, if we were to ban every book that person found obscene, so there would be nil left to read. Censoring violates our cardinal rights and our sense of self-respect. Parents have a right to find what their ain kids read, but non what others read. Students should be allowed to find for themselves whether they agree or disagree with what they see, hear, and read based on values instilled by their households. In society, everyone is guaranteed the right to life, autonomy, and the chase of felicity. In order for these rights to be protected, the authorities devised the First Amendment. The First Amendment perfectly ensures that Congress shall do no jurisprudence esteeming an constitution of faith, or forbiding the free exercising thereof ; or foreshortening the freedom of address, or of the imperativeness, or the right of the people to peacefully assemble ( E.W. 57 ) . The censor is ever speedy to warrant his maps in footings that are protective of society. But the First Amendment, written in footings that are absolute, deprives the State of any power to go through on the value, the properness, or the morality of a peculiar look. Therefore, censoring contradicts the First Amendment. Censorship robs the person of his or her sense of self-respect because censoring, in any signifier, represents a deficiency of trust in the opinion and favoritism of the person ( Opp. Views. 171 ) . Censoring means that a bulk seeks to enforce its criterions on a minority ; hence, an component of coercion is built-in in the thought of censoring. Without sing censored stuff and utilizing it to oppugn what is thought to be true, the true stuff will lose its credibleness, In other words, even if something is wholly true, without oppugning it and seeing the other side of an issue, it will miss the indispensable backup and become idle. Today, there are many marks that our society is in problem. This is nil new. All societies are ever in problem. However, every bit long as the First Amendment is in consequence, every bit long as persons have the chance to analyze all the grounds and to do informed opinions, there is a opportunity that we will happen ways of reforming our jobs. Education is set up to profit the pupil, censoring does non let for this to go on. Baning academic stuffs is showing a greater immorality because it is non leting for pupils to maximise their guaranteed rights. Censoring hinders a pupil # 8217 ; s ability to come on into the hereafter and take duty for his / her actions ; hence, censoring must come to an terminal. If the epidemic of censoring continues to boom in our societym we will lose all opportunities of reforming society, When censoring wins, everybody loses. # 8220 ; Burn, Baby, Burn. # 8221 ; Entertainment Weekly 6 Mar. 1992: 54 Clark, Charles. # 8220 ; School Censorship. # 8221 ; The CQ Researcher Feb 1993: 147-156 Hollis, Alpert. Censoring: For and Against. New York: Hary, 1992. # 8220 ; Is School and Library Censorship Justified? # 8221 ; Opposing Point of views Jan. 1985: 137-174. Solin, Sabrina. # 8220 ; Don # 8217 ; t Read This. # 8221 ; Seventeen September 1994:98 Taz, Meredith. # 8220 ; Keep Censors Out of School Libraries. # 8221 ; Parents Magazine April 1995: 171.

102 Intro to Rhetorical Analysis Professor Ramos Blog

102 Intro to Rhetorical Analysis Intro to Rhetorical Analysis Reflection Reflect on the writing process for your first essay. Answer these questions: What did you do well in your essay? What are the strengths and weaknesses of your essay? Where did you struggle, if at all? Intro to Rhetorical Analysis A rhetorical analysis of a text examines a text  rhetorically. The meaning of the word  text  depends on how creative you want to get. A text can be a book, article, consumer product, movie, advertisement, or commercial, to name a few. For this assignment you will pick a text, define, describe, and analyze the rhetorical context and/or argument the text is making. All texts have an author or authors and are created with a purpose. A rhetorical analysis helps us to understand the purpose it was created for and what it is saying or arguing. Consider the ethos, pathos, and logos of the text. What appeals are being used in the text you are analyzing? Ethos – appeals to character. Pathos – emotional appeals. Logos – appeals to reason and evidence. What to look at for  a Rhetorical Analysis Consider the topic. Consider the audiences of the text. Consider the author. Consider the medium and design. Examine the language. Consider the occasion. Be specific when referring to your text. Have the text in front of you if you can. Then you can reference specifics and avoid generalizations. A Checklist for Analyzing Images (Especially Advertisements) on page 145 of our textbook is very thorough and helpful for analyzing images. Requirements 1200+ words in length 3 to 5 credible sources Image of text or the advertisement itself as featured image Clear thesis and introduction Use of ethos, pathos, and logos Well-supported claims Specific references and details from  the text A conclusion tying together your analysis Remember, this is a formal assignment, make sure you are using appropriate tone and diction!  Talk about the text, not what you think about the text! Let’s look at a speech and then we will do a rhetorical analysis. Martin Luther King Jr. I Have a Dream Speech https://youtu.be/3vDWWy4CMhE In small groups, figure out how he is using Ethos, Logos, and Pathos in his speech. How is he appealing to each? Ethos: Appeals to Ethics, Credibility or Character. Ethics, ethical, trustworthiness or reputation, style/tone. The credibility of the speaker persuades. Pathos: Appeals to Emotion. Emotional or imaginative impact, stories, values. Uses emotional response to persuade an audience. Logos: Appeals to logic. Persuade by reason and evidence. Visuals and I Have a Dream Speech The now famous speech â€Å"I have a Dream† by Dr. Martin Luther King was aided by visuals when it was delivered. He is at the Washington Monument, speaking to hundreds of thousands, smiling and waving. Behind him is the Lincoln Memorial. In this Aug. 28, 1963, black-and-white file photo Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, addresses marchers during his â€Å"I Have a Dream† speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. The 45th anniversary of the iconic leader’s most memorable speech coincides with the day when another African-American leader, Barack Obama, is scheduled to makes a historic speech of his own, accepting the Democratic Party’s nomination for president of the United States Aug. 28, 2008, in Denver, Colo. (AP Photo/File) This image shows him speaking with people and some police behind him. The image you choose to use will add meaning to your text. Be careful which images you choose. What does it say if we use his mug shot from one of the many protests he was arrested at? Or this one. Have you ever seen this image of Dr. King? Or this one? Time’s Man of the Year 1964 The image your choose can help your audience understand your argument.

Like Used in Idioms and Expressions

'Like' Used in Idioms and Expressions The following English idioms and expressions use the word like. Each idiom or expression has a definition and two example sentences to help ​your  understanding of these common idiomatic expressions with like. Eat like a horse Definition: usually eat a lot of food Tom eats like a horse! Make sure to grill three hamburgers for him.He doesnt usually eat like a horse. Eat like a bird Definition: usually eat very little food She eats like a bird, so dont make too much for dinner.He weighs 250 pounds even though he eats like a bird. Feel like a million Definition: feel very good and happy Im feeling like a million today. I just got a new job!After his promotion, he felt like a million. Fit like a glove Definition: clothes or apparel that fit perfectly My new shoes fit like a glove.Her jeans fit like a glove after she went on a diet. Go like clockwork Definition: to happen very smoothly, without problems The presentation went like clockwork.Her plans went like clockwork and she was able to join the company. Know someone or something like the back of ones hand Definition: know in every detail, understand completely She knows me like the back of her hand.I know this project like the back of my hand. Like a bat out of hell Definition: very fast, quickly He left the room like a bat out of hell.They drove off like a bat out of hell. Like a bump on a log Definition: not moving Dont sit there like a bump on a log!She sits around all day like a bump on a log. Like a fish out of water Definition: completely out of place, not belonging at all He looks like a fish out of water on the football field.The boss felt like a fish out of water in San Francisco. Like a sitting duck Definition: be very exposed to something He felt like a sitting duck and moved to cover his position.Your investments have left you like a sitting duck in this market. Out like a light Definition: fall asleep quickly He went out like a light.I hit the pillow and was out like a light. Read someone like a book Definition: understand the other persons motivation for doing something She can read me like a book.I know you dont mean that. I can read you like a book. Sell like hotcakes Definition: sell very well, very quickly The book sold like hotcakes.The iPhone initially sold like hotcakes. Sleep like a log Definition: sleep very deeply I was tired and slept like a log.She went home and slept like a log. Spread like wildfire Definition: an idea that gets known very quickly His solution to the problem spread like wildfire.Her opinions spread like wildfire. Watch someone like a hawk Definition: keep a very close eye on someone, watch very carefully Dont make any mistakes because Im watching you like a hawk.She watches her son like a hawk whenever he goes outside to play.

Costa Rican Coffee Industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Costa Rican Coffee Industry - Essay Example Costa Coffee refers to a British Multinational coffeehouse in United Kingdom, a subsidiary of Whitbread PLC. It forms the second largest coffeehouse chain worldwide after Starbucks. The Italian brothers; Bruno and Sergio Costa started the coffeehouse in 1971 as a wholesale supplier of roasted coffee to specialist and caterers in Italian shops. Currently, the business operates 1375 restaurants in UK and 2500 vending facilities, in Costa Coffee, as well as 800 overseas outlets. The Costa Coffee outlets can be found in airports, Tesco stores, bookstores, hospitals and in motorway services. Some subunits can be found in railway stations as well as in the airport throughout UK. Most of the branches within airports, hospitals and cinema halls are owned by either corporate franchise or individuals. Some outlets can also be found outside the business parks, often, among most leading companies and food retailers. The Costa Express created by coffee chain from the self-service coffee bars anti cipates rebranding Coffee Nation Machine to see the expansion to 3000 locations. The Coffee Nation operates in motorway services and within the Tesco stores. The company aims to target hospitals, transport interchanges and universities. The company’s roaster is in UK and is operated by three master roasters from Italy. The retail stores sell Mocha Italia coffee; six parts Arabica and four parts Robusta and use Gennaro Pelliccia as the coffee taster. The company sponsors awards such as Costa Book Awards that began in 2006.... Most of the branches within airports, hospitals and cinema halls are owned by either corporate franchise or individuals. Some outlets can also be found outside the business parks, often, among most leading companies and food retailers. The Costa Express created by coffee chain from the self-service coffee bars anticipates rebranding Coffee Nation Machine to see the expansion to 3000 locations. The Coffee Nation operates in motorway services and within the Tesco stores. The company aims to target hospitals, transport interchanges and universities. The company’s roaster is in UK and is operated by three master roasters from Italy. The retail stores sell Mocha Italia coffee; six parts Arabica and four parts Robusta and use Gennaro Pelliccia as the coffee taster. The company sponsors awards such as Costa Book Awards that began in 2006 (Allegra Strategies, 2009). Some of the controversies surrounding the Costa Coffee include the opening of Bristol outlet in 2011 without appropriate planning permission leading to planning appeals against any enforcement action in 2012. The company also faced opposition from residents who restricted them from opening up an outlet in Totnes making the company withdraw. Despite of opposition from resident and protests against opening up of the outlets, Costa Coffee managed to open some coffee shop, such as in Southwold, after getting the planning permission on the appeal. The Costa coffee possesses four characteristics. First is the miscela where the coffee is made from the unique blend called Mocha Italia. The other characteristic is grind, macinatura where each Costa cup contains freshly ground beans with appropriate consistency that ensures perfect aroma and flavours. The Mazzer comprises of Ferrari

Terrorist Group Hezbollah Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Terrorist Group Hezbollah - Essay Example Western terrorists are not motivated by religion and hardly ever have a wish to become martyrs. Hence, escape is the main concern to them. They use remote bombs, snipers or Improvised explosive devices (IED’s), which permits them to be far-off from the place of the crime. With the expansion of religious fundamentalist terror campaigns, the nature of terrorist targets has revolutionized (Burgan, 2010). The Hezbollah is also a terrorist group that opposes the Christian religion. Raids, which result in a great number of civilian causalities or deaths, are the main agenda of the Hezbollah terrorist group. These attacks have been witnessed in the Middle East for some time now with a lengthy custom of suicide bombings of crowded civilian places such as night clubs and bars. Secondly, in the Hezbollah group, terrorist survival is not a serious worry, but for other groups, death is not a pleasing outcome as the terrorists keenly seek to avoid death during their attacks. This suggests that targets that were earlier thought to be protected from attack are currently at risk. The possibility of the Hezbollah terrorist group fruitfully reaching their target, if the groups own survival is not a concern, is much, much greater. In reality, preventing a suicide bomber of the Hezbollah group from causing deaths, apart from his or her death, is virtually not possible. Potential Targets of Terrorist Attacks Examples of strong targets would incorporate military bases, high ranking politicians, and heads of state plus political organizations. A weak target is one which has modest or no military security or guard and hence is a straightforward alternative for a terrorist raid. This takes account of commercial shopping centers, bus terminals, and leisure areas like football grounds and sports stadiums. All airports as from 9/11 fall into this class. Even though they are more protected since the 9/11 attacks, they still have many access points and a whopping numbers of visitors. All of the access points are a potential doorway for terrorists. It is also vital to think about the potential media coverage a raid on a target would

Conformed Dimension Essay Example for Free

Conformed Dimension Essay Conformed dimensions are a crucial component of the successful dimensional design. With the right dimension design and content, it is possible to compare facts from different fact tables, both within a subject area and across the enterprise. They can do more than enable drilling across; they serve as the focus for planning enterprise analytic capability. Dimensional design is usually implemented in parts. Regardless of the style, it is impractical to organize a single project that will encompass the entire enterprise. A realistic project scope is achieved by subdividing the enterprise into subject areas and areas into projects. At a logical level, when a series of stars share a set of common dimensions, the dimensions are referred to as conformed dimensions. Identical dimensions ensure conformance, but can take several other forms as well. Fact tables and conformed dimensions can be planned and documented in matrix format and serve as the blueprint for incremental implementation. Dimensions tables can conform in several ways. Shared dimensions, degenerate dimension and conformed rollups are three ways. A fourth style of conformance is less commonly accepted; it allows for overlapping dimensions. Tables that can conform when the dimension attributes of one are a subset of another are known up as a rollup dimension and a base dimension. They will not share a common surrogate key, but the common attributes must possess the same structure and consent. Degenerate dimensions can serve as the basis for conformance. The corresponding columns should consistent in the structure and content. But it is not required that every fact table share the same set of instance combinations, as to do would force violation od sparsity. Overlapping dimensions can also conform. Some designers prefer to avoid this situation, since it requires that multiple processes load equivalent dimensions columns in the same way. Conformed dimensions are the key to enterprise scope, serving as the infrastructure that integrates subject areas. This means that the dimensional design, including a conformance plan must be conducted as a strategic, upfront process. The conforming dimensions are best illustrated through matrices since the number of criss-crossing relationships can easily clutter a table diagram. The matrices can describe conformance within a data mart or across the data marts. They are a central feature of dimensional data warehouse architecture, produced as part of strategic design effort. It allows individual implementation to proceed individually, ensuring they will fit together as each comes online. In a Corporate Information Factory, information is extracted from the enterprise data warehouse and organized for departmental use in data marts. Because the data marts of the Corporate Information Factory draw their information from an integrated repository, the challenges of maintaining conformance are reduced, at least from the perspective of the dimensional modelers. The burden of bringing together disparate source is still present, nut it falls to the designers of the enterprise data warehouse. Designers of the dimensional data marts need only concern themselves with a single view of information: that provide by the enterprise data warehouse. Conformance is still a necessity with the data mart and conformance across data marts can help avoid the need for additional data marts to cross subject areas. Stand-alone data mart lacks an enterprise context. They do not conform and the associated risk can partially mitigated by planning for conformance of a few key dimensions. The stand-alone data may exhibit conformance internally, it is likely to be incompatible with other data marts. Stand- alone data marts may be retrofitted to work with existing conformed dimensions, but this process is not trivial.

Faith and Reason in the Enlightenment Essay -- The Enlightenment in Eu

In a time when faith and hard labor kept the majority of society alive, the introduction of reason by the Enlightenment was initially perceived as a threat. People had focused on their faiths and grasped the traditions and rituals of their dogmas. The Enlightenment introduced the possibility of faith and reason coinciding and cooperating to form a more civilized and equal society to replace the Old Regime, and the changes lasted far after the period of the Enlightenment. Leading up to the Enlightenment Prior to the Enlightenment, England and France instituted Old Regime societies in which three distinct classes of people embraced religion as the foundation of their lives. Each caste had a different lifestyle, with the clergy enjoying the upper class, the nobility in the position of influence, and the vast majority of the people trapped in the hardship of the Third Estate. The clergy was different in the Protestant Church than in the Catholic Church because the Catholics had only to obey the Pope while the Protestant Church was run by the monarch. None of the clergy paid many royal taxes, but still owned much of the land. Since the clergy was a high class, it was beneficial for some of the offspring of the nobility to join the clergy in order to receive higher status. The nobility as a whole controlled much money and power while maintaining constant struggle with the crown over governmental power. The Third Estate worked to live and had no freedom except for their religious beliefs. They believed that they were at the mercy of the land and of an overpowering Creator. The Old Regime was characterized in large part by conflicts between countries and within countries over religious matters. It w... ...ove their minds. European society that was once stuck in the Old Regime lifestyle grew in many facets with the introduction of reason and enlightenment. Although initially reluctant, the societies of the Old Regime embraced the thoughts of the Enlightenment, the conflict between faith and reason began to subside as people learned that they could practice both. References 1 Donald Kagan. The Western Heritage Brief Edition:Volume II Since 1648. (Upper Saddle River: Pretence Hall, 1999), 313. 2 Kagan 298 3 Perry Rogers. Aspects of Western Civilization: Problems and Sources in History 3rd ed. (Upper Saddle River: Pretence Hall, 1997), 12. 4 Rogers, 15. 5 Kagan, 317. 6 Peter Gay. Age of Enlightenment. (New York: Time Life Books, 1966), 32. 7 Kagan, 402. 8 Kagan, 329. 9 Gay, 56. 10 Gay, 54. 11 Rogers, 102.

Funeral home visit

Fullerton college students had a privilege to visit Mennonite Memorial Park and Mortuary. When we arrived the park, its beautiful scenery amazed us. The weather was a little chilly and windy. Since there was a scheduled funeral service on the day that we visited, we were escorted to the reception hall where we had a chance to meet the manager. The manager thoroughly went over proper procedures needed to prepare embalming and funerals.Among all the things that we newly learned from this visit, most interesting thing was how the embalming process works. They utilize special chemicals to look the deceased as natural as possible. I thought embalming was a very meaningful work since It is the last time that a family will physically see the deceased and it helps a family create last memories about the deceased. I agreed when the manager said their Job is not to be emotionally involved with a family but to help them figure out the directions ND plans about next steps after a loved on passes away.I cannot imagine how challenging it can be for staff members in Mennonite Memorial Park and Mortuary to deal with families on a daily basis who have loss or about to have loss. I felt that being passionate and dedicated to compassionately embracing families in the community is one of the most important aspects to be part of the mortuary. It was a very meaningful visit and helped me think about how to deal with and death and dying from the lens of a family who had lost a loved one.

Error Correction Model

Introduction Exchange rates play a vital role in a county's level of trade, which is critical to every free market economies in the world. Besides, exchange rates are source of profit in forex market. For this reasons they are among the most watched, analyzed and governmentally manipulated economic measures. Therefore, it would be interesting to explore the factors of exchange rate volatility. This paper examines possible relationship between EUR/AMD and GBP/AMD exchange rates. For analyzing relationship between these two currencies we apply to co-integration and error correction model.The first part of this paper consists of literature review of the main concepts. Here we discussed autoregressive time series, covariance stationary series, mean reversion, random walks, Dickey-Fuller statistic for a unit root test. * The second part of the project contains analysis and interpretation of co-integration and error correction model between EUR/AMD and GBP/AMD exchange rates. Considering t he fact, that behavior of these two currencies has been changed during the crisis, we separately discuss three time series periods: * 1999 2013 * 1999 to 2008 * 2008 to 2013. ——————————–Autoregressive time series A key feature of the log-linear model’s depiction of time series and a key feature of the time series in general is that current-period values are related to previous period values. For example current exchange rate of USD/EUR is related to its exchange rate in the previous period. An autoregressive model (AR) is a time series regressed on its own past values, which represents this relationship effectively. When we use this model, we can drop the normal notation of Y as the dependent variable and X as the independent variable, because we no longer have that distinction to make.Here we simply use Xt. For instance, below we use a first order autoregression for the variable Xt. Xt=b0+b1*Xt-1+? t Covariance stationary series To conduct valid statistical inference we must make a key assumption in time series analysis: We must assume that the time series we are modeling is Covariance Stationary. The basic idea is that a time series is covariance stationary, if its mean and variance do not change over time. A covariance stationary series must satisfy three principal requirements. Expected value of the time series must be constant and finite in all periods. * Variance should be constant and finite. * The covariance of the time series with itself for a fixed number of periods in the past or future must be constant and finite. So, we can summarize if the plot shows the same mean and variance through time without any significant seasonality, then the time series is covariance stationary. What happens if a time series is not covariance stationary but we use auto regression model? The estimation results will have no economic meaning.For a non-covariance- stationary time series, est imating the regression with the help of AR model will yield spurious results. Mean Reversion We say that time series shows mean reversion if it tends to fall when its level is above its mean and rise when its level is below its mean. If a time series are currently at its mean reverting level, then the model predicts, that the value of the time series will be the same in the next period Xt+1=Xt. For an auto regressive model, the equality Xt+1 = Xt implies the level Xt = b0 + b1 * Xt or Xt = b0 / (1 – b1)So the auto regression model predicts that time series will stay the same if its current value is b0/(1 – b1), increase if its current value is below b0 / (1 – b1), and decrease if its current value is above b0 / (1 – b1). Random Walks A random walk is a time series in which the value of the series in one period is the value of the series in the previous period plus an unpredictable error. Xt = Xt-1 + ? t, E(? t)=0, E(? t2) = ? 2, E(? t, ? s) = 0 if t? s Th is equation means that the time series Xt is in every period equal to its value in the previous period plus an error term, ? , that has constant variance and is uncorrelated with the error term in previous periods. Note, that this equation is a special case of auto correlation model with b0=0 and b1=1. The expected value of ? t is zero. Unfortunately, we cannot use the regression methods on a time series that is random walk. To see why, recall that if Xt is at its mean reverting level, than Xt = b0/ (1 – b1). As, in a random walk b0=0 and b1=1, so b0/ (1 – b1) = 0/0. So, a random walk has an undefined mean reverting level. However, we can attempt to convert the data to a covariance stationary time series.We create a new time series, Yt, where each period is equal to the difference between Xt and Xt-1. This transformation is called first-differencing. Yt= Xt – Xt-1 = ? t, E (? t) = 0, E (? t2) = ? 2, E (? t, ? s) = 0 for t? s The first-differenced variable, Yt, i s a covariance stationary. First note, that Yt=? t model is an auto regressive model with b0 = 0 and b1 = 0. Mean-reverting level for first differenced model is b0/ (1 – b1) = 0/1 = 0. Therefore, a first differenced random walk has a mean reverting level of 0. Note also the variance of Yt in each period is Var(? ) = ? 2. Because the variance and the mean of Yt are constant and finite in each period, Yt is a covariance stationary time series and we can model it using linear regression. Dickey-Fuller Test for a Unit Root If the lag coefficient in AR model is equal to 1, the time series has a unit root: It is a random walk and is not covariance stationary. By definition all random walks, with or without drift term have unit roots. If we believed that a time series Xt was a random walk with drift, it would be tempting to estimate the parameters of the AR model Xt = b0 + b1 * Xt -1 + ? using linear regression and conduct a t-test of the hypothesis that b1=1. Unfortunately, if b1=1 , then xt is not covariance stationary and the t-value of the estimated coefficient b1 does not actually follow the t distribution, consequently t-test would be invalid. Dickey and Fuller developed a regression based unit root test based on a transformed version of the AR model Xt = b0 + b1 * Xt -1 + ? t. Subtracting xt-1 from both sides of the AR model produces xt- xt-1=b0+(b1-1)xt-1+ ? t or xt-xt-1 = b0 + g1xt-1+ ? t, E(? ) = 0 where gt = (b1-1). If b1 = 1, then g1 = 0 and thus a test of g1 = 0 is a test of b1 = 1. If there is a unit root in the AR model, then g1 will be 0 in a regression where the dependent variable is the first difference of the time series and the independent variable is the first lag of the time series. The null hypothesis of the Dickey-Fuller test is H0: g1 =0 that is, that the time series has a unit root and is non stationary and the alternative hypothesis is Ha: G1 ; 0, that the time series does not have a unit root and is stationary.To conduct the test, on e calculates a t- statistic in the conventional manner for g(hat)1 but instead of using conventional critical values for a t- test, one uses a revised set of values computed by Dickey and Fuller; the revised set of critical values are larger in absolute value than the conventional critical values. A number of software packages incorporate Dickey- Fuller tests. REGRESSIONS WITH MORE THAN ONE TIME SERIES Up to now, we have discussed time-series models only for one time series. In practice regression analysis with more than one time-series is more common.If any time series in a linear regression contains a unit root, ordinary least square estimates of regression test statistics may be invalid. To determine whether we can use linear regression to model more than one time series, let us start with a single independent variable; that is, there are two time series, one corresponding to the dependent variable and one corresponding to the independent variable. We will then extend our discuss ion to multiple independent variables. We first use a unit root test, such as the Dickey-Fuller test, for each of the two time series to determine whether either of them has a unit root.There are several possible scenarios related to the outcome of these test. One possible scenario is that we find neither of time series has a unit root. Then we can safely use linear regression to test the relations between the two time series. A second possible scenario is that we reject the hypothesis of a unit root for the independent variable but fail to reject the hypothesis of a root unit for the independent variable. In this case, the error term in the regression would not be covariance stationary.Therefore, one or more of the following linear regression assumptions would be violated; 1) that the expected value of the error term is 0. 2 that the variance of the error term is constant for all observations and 3) that the error term is uncorrected across observations. Consequently, the estimated regressions coefficients and standard errors would be inconsistent. The regression coefficient might appear significant, but those results would be spurious. Thus we should not use linear regression to analyze the relation between the two time series in this scenario.A third possible scenario is the reverse of the second scenario: We reject the hypothesis of a unit root for the dependent variable but fail to reject the hypothesis of a unit root for the independent variable. In the case also, like the second scenario, the error term in the regression would not be covariance stationary, and we cannot use linear regression to analyze the relation between the two time series. The next possibility is that both time series have a unit root. In this case, we need to establish where the two time series are co-integrated before we can rely on regression analysis.Two time series are co-integrated if a long time financial or economic relationship exists between them such that they don’ t diverge from each other without bound in the long run. For example, two time series are co-integrated if they share a common trend. In the fourth scenario, both time series have a unit root but are not co-integrated. In this scenario, as in the second and third scenario above, the error term in the linear regression will not be covariance stationary, some regressions assumptions will be violated, the regression coefficients and standard errors will not be consistent, and we cannot use them for the hypothesis tests.Consequently, linear regression of one variable on the other would be meaningless. Finally, the fifth possible scenario is that both time series have unit root, but they are co-integrated in this case, the error term in the linear regression of one term series on the other will be covariance stationary. Accordingly, the regression coefficients and standard errors will be consistent, and we can use them for the hypothesis test. However we should be very cautious in interp reting the results of regression with co-integrated variables.The co-integrated regression estimates long term relation between the two series but may not be the best model of the short term relation between the two series. Now let us look at how we can test for co-integration between two time series that each have a unit root as in the last two scenarios above. Engle and Granger suggest this test: if yt and xt are both time series with a unit root, we should do the following: 1) Estimate the regression yt = b0 + b1xt + ? t 2) Test whether the error term from the regression in Step 1 has a unit root coefficients of the regression, we can’t use standard critical values for the Dickey – Fuller test.Because the residuals are based on the estimated coefficients of the regression, we cannot use the standard critical values for the Dickey- Fuller test. Instead, we must use the critical values computed by Engle and Granger, which take into account the effect of the uncertaint y about the regression parameters on the distribution of the Dickey- Fuller test. 3) If the (Engle – Granger) Dickey- Fuller test fails to reject the null hypothesis that the error term has a unit root, then we conclude that the error term in the regression is not covariance stationary.Therefore, the two time series are not co-integrated. In this case any regression relation between the two series is spurious. 4) If the (Engle- Granger) Dickey- Fuller test rejects the null hypothesis that the error term has a unit root, then we conclude that the error term in the regression is covariance stationary. Therefore, the two time series are co-integrated. The parameters and standard errors from linear regression will be consistent and will let us test hypotheses about the long – term relation between the two series. .If we cannot reject the null hypothesis of a unit root in the error term of the regression, we cannot reject the null hypothesis of no co-integration. In this sc enario, the error term in the multiple regressions will not be covariance stationary, so we cannot use multiple regression to analyze the relationship among the time series. Long-run Relationship For our analysis we use EUR/AMD and GBP/AMD exchange rates with respect to AMD from 1999 to 2013 with monthly bases. After estimating the normality of these time series we found out that the normality has rejected.We got right skewness result and to correct them we used log values of exchange rates. Studying the trade between Armenia and Europe or Great Britain we found out that there is almost no trade relationship between them. Besides we assume, that Armenian Central Bank keeps floating rate of AMD. Taking into consideration these two factors the impact of AMD is negligible to have an essential influence on EUR/GBP rate. That is why we assume that the next models we will build show the relation between EUR and GBP. Graph 1 represents movement of EUR/AMD ; GBP/AMD since 1999 to 2013.From it we can assume that these two currencies have strong long run relationship until Global Financial Crisis. As a result of shock in 2008 the previous relationship has been changed. However, it seems to be long term co-movement between the currencies. To accept or reject our conclusions we examine exchange rates until now including Global Financial Crisis, without crisis and after crisis. Co-integration of period from 1999 to 2013 To be considered as co-integrated the two variables should be non-stationary. So the first step in our model is to check the stationarity of variables by using Augmented Dickey-Fuller Unit Root Test.EViews has three options to test unit-root: * Intercept only * Trend and Intercept * None From the first graph it is visible, that the sample average of EUR/AMD time series is greater than 0, which means that we have an intercept and it should be included in unit-root test. Although, series goes up and down, data is not evolving around the trend, we do not have increasing or decreasing pattern. Besides, we can separately try each of the components and include trend and intercept, if they are significant. In the case of EUR/AMD the appropriate decision is only intercept. Table 1. 1Table 1. We see it from the Table 1. 1, where Augmented Dickey-Fuller test shows p-value of 0. 1809 and as we have decided to use 5% significance level, Null Hypothesis cannot be rejected, which means there is a unit root. So, EUR/AMD exchange rate time-series is non-stationary. The same step should be applied with GBP/AMD exchange rates. We have estimated it and found out, that Augmented Dickey-Fuller test p-value is 0. 3724, which gives us the same results, as in the previous one: the variable has unit root. Since, the two variables are non-stationary, we can build the regression model yt = b0 + 1xt + ? t (Model 1. 1) and use et residuals from this model. So, the second step is to check stationarity for these residuals. Here we should use Eagle Granger 5% critic al value instead of Augmented Dickey Fuller one, which is equal to -3. 34. Comparing this with Augmented Dickey-Fuller t-Statistic -1. 8273. Here minus signs should be ignored. So, comparing two values, we cannot reject Null Hypothesis, which means residuals have unit-root, they are non-stationary. This outcome is not desirable, which means the two variables are not co-integrated.Co-integration till crisis period (1999-2008) Referring back to graph 1, we assume that in 1999-2013 time series two variables are not co-integrated because of shock related to financial crisis. That is why it will be rational first to exclude data from 2008 to 2013 and then again check co-integration between two variables. Here the same steps should be applied as in checking co-integration for time series from 1999 to 2013. For time series from 1999 to 2008, for EUR/AMD exchange rate, Augmented Dickey-Fuller test p-value is 0. 068. From the p-value it is clear that we cannot reject Null Hypothesis, which m eans it has a unit root. Having unit root means EUR/AMD exchange rate time-series is non-stationary. Now we should test stationarity of GBP/AMD exchange rates. The Augmented Dickey-Fuller test p-value is 0. 2556, which means the variable is non-stationary. Since, the two variables are non-stationary, we should build the regression model and using residuals check stationarity. Table 2. 1 In the table above Augmented Dickey Fuller t-test is 3. 57 and so greater than Eagle-Granger 5% significance level critical value 3. 34. That is why we can reject Null Hypothesis and accept Alternative Hypothesis, which means that residuals in regression model has no unit root. Consequently, they are stationary and we can conclude, that EUR/AMD and GBP/AMD time series are co-integrated: have long run relationship. As the variables such as EUR/AMD and GBP/AMD are co-integrated, we can run the error correction model (ECM) as below D(yt) = b2 + b3*D(xt) + b4*Ut-1 +V (Model 1. 2) * D(yt) and D(xt) are fi rst differenced variables b2 is the intercept * b3 is the short run coefficient * V white noise error term * Ut-1 is the one period lag residual of ? t . Ut-1 is also known as equilibrium error term of one period lag. This Ut-1 is an error correction term that guides the variables of the system to restore back to equilibrium. In other words, it corrects this equilibrium. The sign before b4 or the sign of error correction term should be negative after estimation. The coefficient b4 tells as at what rate it corrects the previous period disequilibrium of the system.When b4 is significant and contains negative sign, it validates that there exists a long run equilibrium relationship among variables. After estimating Model 1. 2, short run coefficient value b3 has been 1. 03 and was found significant. And b4, the coefficient of error term has been 5. 06 percent meaning that system corrects its previous dis-equilibrium at a speed of 5. 06% monthly. Moreover, the sign of b4 is negative and s ignificant indicating that validity of long run equilibrium relationship between EUR and GBP.Co-integration during crises period (2008-2013) Now is the time to check stationarity of variables in the period after crisis by the same way as we did above. From the ADF test it is clear that the two variables are non-stationary, after which we can construct ADF ; Eagle Granger test for residuals. However, because of ADF t-statistic is smaller, than Eagle Granger critical value, we could not reject that the residuals have unit-root. So, they are non-stationary and co-integration does not exist between the two currencies.

Definition and Examples of Preterit(e) Verbs

Definition and Examples of Preterit(e) Verbs In traditional grammar, the preterit(e)  is the simple past tense of the verb, such as walked or said.  In English, the preterit(e) is typically formed by adding the suffix -ed or -t to the base form of a verb. This form is sometimes referred to as the dental preterit(e). The term is usually spelled preterit in American English, preterite in British English. Examples ofPreterit(e) Verbs They  jumped and laughed and  pointed at the solemn guards.(Terry Goodkind, Temple of the Winds, 1997)I removed the crucible from the wire stand and  poured the  silver. Some of the metal ran into the mold, some of it spilled over the outside, and some of it adhered to the crucible.(John Adair,  The Navajo and Pueblo Silversmiths, 1944)We  climbed  the mountain sides, and  clambered  among sagebrush, rocks and snow.(Mark Twain,  Roughing It, 1872)Ben snatched the squash from her, sprinted across the living room, tripped over a toy hed left there and  spilt the  entire contents of the glass over the sofa.(Sarah Morgan,  The Christmas Marriage Rescue, 2015)I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti.  Ã‚  (Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs, 1991)  During many of the group sessions, the women and I painted, glued, cut, pasted, talked, listened, ate, drank, laughed, cried, and engaged in collaborative processes of ref lection and action.​(Alice McIntyre, Women in Belfast: How Violence Shapes Identity. Praeger Publishers, 2004) Backshifting Tense [Another] use of the preterite shows up in indirect reported speech. Notice the contrast between has and had in this pair. [37i] Kim has blue eyes. [original utterance: present tense][37ii] I told Stacy that Kim had blue eyes. [indirect report: preterite] If I say [i] to Stacy, I can use [ii] as an indirect report to tell you what I said to Stacy. Im repeating the content of what I said to Stacy, but not the exact wording. My utterance to Stacy contained the present tense form has, but my report of it contains preterite had. Nonetheless, my report is entirely accurate. This kind of change in tense is referred to as backshift. The most obvious cases of backshift are with verbs of reporting that are in the preterite, like told or said. (Rodney Huddleston and Geoffrey K. Pullum, A Students Introduction to English Grammar. Cambridge University Press, 2006) The Preterite and the Present-Perfect - [W]ith most verbs the difference between the form of the present perfect and the form of the preterite is slight in present-day English, especially in informal speech, which explains why in a long-term perspective the distinction may eventually be lost. . . . Reference to distinct past time without any obvious kind of anchoring has emerged as an area where usage is far from settled in present-day English. The selection of the preterite in such cases appears to be on the increase . . ..(Johan Elsness, The Perfect and the Preterite in Contemporary and Earlier English. Mouton de Gruyter, 1997)- [T]he systematic marking of perfect aspect in LModE [Late Modern English] has partially relieved the simple Preterite of its burden of indicating past time. Since perfectivity implies the completion of an event prior to the actual time of utterance, a Present Perfect form carries an automatic implication of pastness. The actual point of completion in past time may be very close, as in (18), or vaguely more distant, as in (19). (18) Ive just eaten my dinner.(19) John Keegan has written a history of war. . . . [T]he growing acceptability of the vague degree of pastness in sentences such as (19) indicates that LModE may be starting on the road that led the Perfect to replace the Simple Past in a number of Romance languages. (Jacek Fisiak, Language History and Linguistic Modelling. Mouton de Gruyter, 1997) EtymologyFrom the Latin, to go by Pronunciation: PRET-er-it Also Known As: simple-past tense Alternate Spellings: preterite

View Message LinkedIns New Frustrating Email Functionality

View Message LinkedIns New Frustrating Email Functionality Today I opened up my inbox and saw I had a message from a LinkedIn contact. â€Å"Maybe he’s interested in my services!† I thought. Of course, I couldn’t tell what he had written, because all the subject line said was, â€Å"John sent you a new message.† And all the body of the email had was a line saying â€Å"You have 1 new message† – along with John’s head shot and partial headline. I had to click â€Å"View Message† to find out what the heck this guy wanted to talk about. I was already angry by the time I clicked â€Å"View Message† to be brought to the LinkedIn website. And when I got there, I discovered that his message said †¦ ready for this? †¦. â€Å"Thanks.† Yep, I had wished John a happy birthday and he was thanking me. That was it. If I had been able to see this message in my email inbox, all would be well. I could have deleted it and someday gotten around to replying to John with a thumbs up – or not. But as of about a month ago, LinkedIn is forcing us to go to their website to read our mail. Strangely, I haven’t found anyone talking about this on the interwebs. Am I the only person who doesn’t like this change? I mean, I don’t usually write rants in my weekly blog, but this new messaging functionality is not working for me. Here’s What I Don’t Like: I have to click on a message and go to LinkedIn without knowing whether I want to read the message. It’s often a waste of time. Flagging messages for follow-up has become less integrated. I can flag the message in my inbox, but when I want to follow up, I need to go to the LinkedIn platform to remind myself what the conversation was. LinkedIn seems to be pushing people to subscribe to LinkedIn Premium in order to have their messages seen. The thing is, if someone sends me an inMail, I can view the entire message. So I’m encouraged to send inMails, which are only available through LinkedIn Premium, instead of sending regular messages which can’t be read from people’s inboxes. I find myself not wanting to click, not wanting to go to LinkedIn. Since it’s my job, I do it. But what about the people receiving my messages? Will they open them? I’m afraid fewer and fewer of my non-inMail communications will be read as people get tired of blindly clicking on â€Å"View Message.† LinkedIn didn’t send any notification that I know of to their subscribers letting us know about this change. For a while after the Microsoft merger, communications from LinkedIn seemed to have gotten better. They were announcing changes before they happened! Recently, however, there have been no announcements, no notifications. I don’t like being in the dark, especially as someone whose job it is to advise people about changes in the LinkedIn platform. Take Action Am I alone here? Anyone else who is peeved by this change? Or has the collective LinkedIn community thrown its hands up in the air on this one? In the past, when enough people have complained about a change, LinkedIn has reverted back to the preferred functionality. Perhaps we can change the way our emails are appearing? If you’re behind me, please let LinkedIn (and others) know! Here’s How to Send Feedback to LinkedIn To send your feedback to LinkedIn, visit LinkedIn Help at https://www.linkedin.com/help/linkedin/solve/feedback and suggest they improve this feature. You could write something like this: Area of Feedback: Message Notifications Your Question: LinkedIn, please change the message notifications back to the way they were. I would like to see full messages from my connections in my email inbox again. I dont want to have to click through to my LinkedIn account to view their message. Thank you! Share on Social Media If you want to share this article via social media, you might like to use the following: What are your thoughts on LinkedIns new empty message notifications in your mailbox? I personally dont want to log in to see my messages. LinkedIn, #changeitback! #linkedinhelp #linkedinfail @LinkedInHelp @LinkedIn  https://goo.gl/wHzDHn If you want to see more LinkedIn tips and information like this right in your inbox, sign up for my LinkedIn Professional Writing e-list. And if youre ever interested in working with me on your LinkedIn profile or other strategies, check out my  20-minute live LinkedIn profile review. Its a great place to start!

Analyst Management Summary Report of Vodafone UK Essay

Analyst Management Summary Report of Vodafone UK - Essay Example Such a thorough assessment and comparative study with one of its peers, namely France Telecom-Orange, would enable one to recommend whether or not to make an investment of ?1Million in the stocks of Vodafone. Company Profile Vodafone is a global telecommunication company, operating in above 30 nations across the world and with more than 404 million customers (Vodafone, 2012). The company is listed in the London Stock Exchange and has 49,180.6 million shares outstanding (Bloomberg, 2012). ... Additionally, the company had been continuously giving out dividends to its shareholders since the last four years. Financial Ratio Analysis The liquidity position of an organization can be evaluated with the assistance of its current ratio and quick ratio. These ratios establish the organization’s capacity to meet its short-term liabilities. The current ratio can be determined as the ratio of the current assets to the current liabilities of the company, while the quick ratio is computed by dividing the quick assets by the current liabilities. It should be noted that the quick asset of an organization cosist of its cash, receivables and short term marketable investments (Brigham & Ehrhardt, 2010). The liquidity ratios of Vodafone are as follows: Year Mar-11 Mar-12 Current Ratio 0.63 0.83 Quick Ratio 0.61 0.81 The analysis of a company’s capability to generate cost-effective sales by means of its resources can be assessed by means of its profitability ratios. These ratio s include the gross profit margin, the net profit margin as well as the returns on equity and assets of the company. The gross profit margin of a firm is the ratio of its gross profit to revenue, while net profit margin is the ratio of net profit to revenue. Then again, the return on equity (ROE) of a company is the value of net income as a percentage of total shareholders’ equity while the return on asset is the value of net income as a percentage of its total assets (Brigham & Ehrhardt, 2010). The profitability ratios of Vodafone are as follows: Year Mar-11 Mar-12 Gross Profit Margin 32.84% 32.04% Net Profit Margin 17.37% 14.99% Return on Equity 9.10% 9.04% Return on Asset 5.27% 4.98% The solvency position of a company can be determined by means of

European Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

European Law - Essay Example there are The European Committee, The European Court of justice, The European Court of Accounts, The Economic and Social Committee, The Committee of the regions, The European Ombudsman, The European Bank of Investments and The European Central Bank as the institution the EU (Dumitru). The European Parliament is the apex body of the European Union. It represents the citizens of its 27-member countries who are European Union citizens by virtue of their respective country’s membership in the Union. The Parliament members are directly elected by their countries’ people to safeguard their interests in the E.U. Every E.U. citizen is entitled to vote from any E.U. member state they live. Thus every E.U. citizen has right to contest in the election for the E.U.Parliament held once in five years. Thus, the Parliament represents the democratic aspirations of its people through as many as 736 elected members from 27 Member States. Each Member State has a defined number of members to represent and there are seven political parties called political groups transcending the identities of individual member countries besides independently elected members (non-attached) without allegiance to any of the political groups. The Parliament’s General Secretariat is in Luxembourg. While its plenary sessions are held in Strasbourg, Committee meetings take place in Brussels. Parliament is vested with the power for enactment of European legislation. As the laws are passed by the elected members of the Member States, they lend legitimacy to the enactments and become binding on the Member States. As the European Council also has legislative power, the Parliament passes legislation through co-decision with the council. In some subjects, the Council alone can enact but with the consultation of the Parliament. In certain matters of admitting countries as members, Parliament’s assent s required. Second, it supervises the E.U institutions’ functioning. Its supervision over the E.U.

Critical Resource Review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Critical Resource Review - Essay Example (McGrath, 2006, p. 8) Though bullying has been detected in all levels of the educational system, it is widespread in middle school, as pointed out in three studies. There is, then, this marked increase in the incidence of bullying as students graduate from elementary and move on to middle school. (Monitor Online website, 1999) In general, schools can do more to address student bullying within its campus by fostering organizational trust. The more the students trust their teachers to be concerned with their safety and well-being, the less prone they become to being victimized by bullies. The conclusion of a study contends that trust in the faculty has its way of serving as protection for the students against the assaults of bullies, whether verbal or physical. (Smith & Birney, 2005, p. 480) Other than working on the students’ trust in the school faculty, the school can implement some other forms of intervention to address bullying amongst them. Examples of such interventions include curriculum-based strategies to increase the level of awareness of the students regarding bullying as a possible barrier against their overall development. Thus, video films can be shown, theatre plays can be staged and open forums can be held to encourage students to be open about bullying as a threat that would have to be tackled by the faculty and the students together. (Smith & Sharp, 1994, p. 24) These collective actions of the school teachers against bullying must be established as a program that would be continually advocated for the welfare of the students. Schools must send out the messages that they will fight the occurrence of all sorts of bullying activities not just for a time but perpetually (Olweus, 1993, p. 77). Meanwhile, the bully whose behavior has gone unchecked is generally set to grow up as an antisocial person who has no adequate capability for empathy with others and who, therefore, turns out to be selfishly intolerant of

Female Leaders And Transformational Leadership Management Essay

Female Leaders And Transformational Leadership Management Essay As the number of females in management level increase in recent years, their leadership style and the subordinates behavior are worth investigated. Among all leadership styles, most female leaders choose transformational leadership. As stated by Powell (2004), when female leaders use transformational leadership style, they will be evaluated more favorably than male leaders. The reason behind is that transformational leadership is more associated with the feminine than masculine gender stereotype. The women transformational leaders also develop different behavior in trust and lead to different team effectiveness and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Transformational leadership The concept of transformational leadership was first introduced by Burns (1978)Â  [ii]Â  stating that transformational leadership is a process which leaders and followers help each other to advance to a higher level of morale and motivation. Bass (1985)Â  [iii]Â  further developed Burnss concept that transformational leadership entailed establishing oneself as a role model by gaining followers trust and confidence. Transformational leaders state future goals, develop plans to achieve those goals, and innovate, even when their organization is generally successful. Transformational leaders are idealized that they are a moral example of working towards the benefit of the team, organization and community. Bass (1985) theorized that transformational leadership comprises four dimensions: individualized consideration, intellectual stimulation, inspirational motivation and idealized influence. Individualized consideration is the leaders role towards the followers and concerns their needs. The leader gives support and empathy to followers so as to motivate them to accomplish the tasks. Intellectual stimulation is about the leaders attitude towards creativity and risks. Transformational leaders are willing to take risks and encourage followers to think independently and creatively. They think that the unexpected situations are the opportunity to learn. Inspiration motivation concerns the extents of leaders motivate the followers by giving them a clear vision to follow. When the followers understand the vision, they are willing to pay more effort in completing tasks and consequently bring benefits to the team and company. Idealized influence is that leaders provide a role exemplar to followe rs demonstrating their ability and ethics to gain respect and trust of them. The four dimensions of transformational leadership are widely used in measuring transformational leadership. This leadership style concerns to influence followers to work better and eventually lead to intrinsic motivation towards the tasks. As this kind of leadership is always perceived as effective, it is becoming popular in the business industry as well as government. Female Leaders and transformational leadership It was obvious that women were not favor in filling high-level leadership position. Gary Yukl (2010)Â  [iv]Â  suggested that this phenomenon was due to the gender-based discrimination about men were more qualified than women for leadership roles and involves three main assumptions. These assumptions were about traits and skills required for effective leadership in organizations, about instinctive differences between men and women, and about the appropriate behavior for men and women. These hindered women from holding important and high-level leadership position in early years. However, the portion of women in executive level is increasing in recent years. Cookburn (1991)Â  [v]Â  suggested that stereotypes of women include kindness, compassion, nurturing and sharing lead to a higher concern for women regarding interpersonal relationship and consensus building. These unique characteristics bring women to high-level positions in company. And also due to these special attributes, women are more likely to choose transformational leadership style. Women are always strong at showing the individualized consideration to followers. As they concern the interrelationship between people, they will undoubtedly show their support and empathy to the subordinates for the benefit of themselves and the whole team. The evidence is given by Eagly Johannessen-Schmidt (2002)Â  [vi]Â  that women were rated higher than men in most aspects of transformational leadership. As a result, women using transformational leadership style are perceived easier to bring to the success of teams. Trust Trust between leader and subordinate is a key element of a team success. Rousseau, Sitkin, Burt, Camerer (1998)Â  [vii]Â  defined trust as a psychological state comprising the intention to accept the vulnerability based upon positive expectations of the intentions or behavior of another. Trust is important in some perspectives like reduction of harmful conflict and promotion of effective responses to crisis (Rousseau et al. 1998). For a company, it is crucial for employees trust in the leader in explaining the visions and motivates employees to support the organization (Howarth, Rafferty, 2009)Â  [viii]Â  . Moreover, some studies (Sandy, Uma 1994; Perry, Mankin, 2004)Â  [ix]Â  xindicated that the gender of leaders and subordinates is an important factor in perceived behavior. Therefore, understanding the trusting behavior of subordinates to a women leader can help on the better development of team and company. Trust and gender The difference between women and men in interdependence is that women are more relationally interdependent while men are more collectively interdependent (Gabriel Gardner, 1999)Â  [xi]Â  . The article states that women place more emphasis on relationships and interpersonal connections, while men are more likely to emphasize more depersonalized group memberships and the importance of group identity. This can attribute to the nature and way of bringing up of women. Women are always by nature more sociable. They are more removed and protected than are men from many of the unpleasant aspects of human nature (Wrightsman, 1974)Â  [xii]Â  . They are brought up with more concern about care and built up good relationship with others. This socialization process trains women to assume the best or to think well of people. So, as a result, women consider the relationship with people more than men do. In some studies (Schwieren and Sutter, 2004Â  [xiii]Â  ; Slonim, 2004Â  [xiv]Â  ), the difference of trusting behavior between men and women is not significant. In a trust game by Eckel and Wilson (2004)Â  [xv]Â  , the result indicated that women trust less than men. But this is limited for the decisions made during the game. In normal condition, the gender has no effects on trust. Nevertheless, it can be deduced that women will trust the individuals with good relationship. They think that the one they rely on will act for the best of them. However, Maddux and Brewer (2005)Â  [xvi]Â  stated that although women may have actually trusted the relationship target more than men, they are less likely to make risky decision. That is, from the decision point of view, women will not take the risk and rather choose a safe option. This is not related to the matter of trust. Trust and transformational leadership The basic theory of transformational leadership posits trust as a central feature of the relationship that leaders have with their followers, and assume that it is through the followers trust in their leader (Bennis Nanus, 1985)Â  [xvii]Â  . This behavior of trust motivates the followers to perform better and beyond the expectations. In recent meta-analysis on trust and leadership, Dirks Ferrin (2002)Â  [xviii]Â  reported that the transformational leadership is a strongly predictive of trust. The evidences are given by other researchers (Bennis et al. 1985; Butler, Cantrell, Flick, 1999Â  [xix]Â  ; Conger, Kanungo, Menon, 2000Â  [xx]Â  ). Back to the four dimensions of transformational leadership, the researchers (Bennis et al. 1985; Butler et al. 1999; Conger et al. 2000) found that they all enhance trust between leaders and subordinates. Individualized consideration concerns about communication between leader and subordinates, understanding of needs and capabilities and developing subordinates strengths, which can demonstrate the care of leader about them. As a consequence, trust will build between both parties. Intellectual stimulation reinforces the leaders commitment to the development of the subordinates as well as the team, hence trust is built. Leader motivates and focuses subordinates efforts on tasks and goal, which is considered as inspirational motivation, can increase the trust level of both sides. Finally, idealized influence of leader shows the integrity and competence. Subordinates rely on the behaviors of leader and determine whether their leader is trustworthy. So, in general, transformational leader s are always perceived as trustworthy and easy to gain trust from subordinates. Impact of trust and women transformational leaders on team effectiveness Trust in the leader is associated with the effort employees put into work (Dirks, Ferrin. 2002)Â  [xxi]Â  . The more effort employees put into work can be regarded as higher effectiveness of the leader. Gomez Rosen (2001)Â  [xxii]Â  reported that team members trust in their leader would be positively associated with the perceptions of leaders effectiveness. Therefore, the higher degree of trust on the leader, the better effectiveness them team will be. Women as leaders are always perceived as less effective than men (Eagly, Karau, Makhijani, 1995)Â  [xxiii]Â  . Eagly et al. (1995) found that male managers were more effective than women managers in positions that required strong task skills, while women managers were more effective in positions that required strong interpersonal skills. This finding is consistent with the previous statement of Wrightman (1974) that women are strong at and concern relationship with people. It can be predicted that for a position that required strong interpersonal skills and a female transformational leader has good relationship with subordinates, the trusting behavior will enhance the team effectiveness.

Essay --

Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome â€Å"Progeria† or â€Å"HGPS† is a rare and fatal genetic condition characterized by an appearance of accelerated aging in children. This disease affects approximately 1 in 4-8 million newborns with an estimated 200-250 children living with Progeria worldwide. It affects both sexes equally and all races. Children who are born with Progeria may not exhibit symptoms until the first year of life often characterized by; growth failure, loss of body fat and hair, aged-looking skin and stiffness of joints. As children get older some of the many conditions they suffer from are osteoporosis, generalized atherosclerosis, cardiovascular disease and stroke. Many to all children affected by Progeria die of atherosclerosis at an average age of thirteen (Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 2012) ( The Progeria Handbook; A Guide for Families and Health Care Providers of Children with Progeria, Chapter 3, 2010.) A student with Progeria would qualify as an OHI under IDEA because they would have limited strength due to their small stature and bone afflictions. Vitality and/or alertness would also be affected because many students don’t have enough stamina for a full school day without rests. Students are also at a greater risk for heart complications and other health emergencies that may need proper monitoring throughout the school day by a caretaker. All of these and many more issues are due to their chronic health problems which adversely affect the pupil’s educational performance (Parent Information Network, 2008) (Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 2012) ( The Progeria Handbook; A Guide for Families and Health Care Providers of Children with Progeria, Chapter 3, 2010) ( The Progeria Handbook; A Guide for Families and Health Care Pr... ...gns of stroke, heart failure, or what to do in the case of a seizure. This information will be invaluable in the case of an emergency. In addition, students with Progeria may be on many medications, the school nurse as well as other staff need be aware of this and their possible side effects. All of this and much of the information above need to be included in the child’s IHCP. Although this disease is rare it’s not impossible to be faced with a child whom is afflicted; with proper parent and staff communications the child can have a positive and accomplished schooling experience ("Ihcp - individualized," ) ("Individual health care," ) ( The Progeria Handbook; A Guide for Families and Health Care Providers of Children with Progeria, Chapter 3, 2010) ( The Progeria Handbook; A Guide for Families and Health Care Providers of Children with Progeria, Chapter 16, 2010.)

Nature of Financial Management

Chapter 3 – NATURE OF FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT What is finance Finance can be defined as he art and science of managing money. Virtually all individuals and organizations earn or raise money and spend or invest money. Finance is concerned with the process, institutions, markets and instruments involved in the transfer of money among individuals, business and governments. Nature of Financial Management Financial Management as an academic discipline has undergone fundamental changes as regard its scope and coverage.In the earlier years, it was treated synonymously with the raising of funds. In the later years, its broader scope, included in addition to procurement of funds, efficient use of resources. Scope of Financial Management Financial is broadly concerned with the acquisition and use of funds by a business firm. The important tasks of financial management, as related to the above, may be categorized as follows: – A. Financial Analysis, Planning and Control †¢ Analy sis of financial condition and preference †¢ Profit Planning †¢ Financial forecasting †¢ Financial Control B.Investing †¢ Management of current assets (cash, marketable securities, receivables and inventories) †¢ Capital Budgeting (identification, selection and implementation of capital projects) †¢ Managing of mergers, reorganizations and divestments C. Financing †¢ Identification of sources of finance and determination of financing mix †¢ Cultivating sources of funds and raising funds †¢ Allocation of profits between dividends and retained earnings Important Topics in Financial Management Table 1. 1 Balance Sheet and Topics in Financial Management Share CapitalEquityCapital Structure and Cost of Capital Preference Reserves and Surplus Debentures Unsecured Loan Current Liabilities & ProvisionsWorking Capital Trade CreditorsFinancing Policy Provisions Fixed Assets (Net)Capital Budgeting Gross Block Less Depreciation InvestmentSecurity Ana lysis Current Assets, Loans and Advances Cash and bank balancesCash Management ReceivablesReceivables Management InventoriesInventory Policy Loans and Advances Miscellaneous Expenditure and Losses Table 1. 2 Income statement and Topics in Financial Management Net SalesRevenue risk Cost of goods SoldMaterials and stocks Wages and Salaries Other Manufacturing Expenses Gross ProfitGross profit margin Operating Expenses Selling and Administration Expenses DepreciationDepreciation Policy Operating Profit Non operating surplus / deficit Earnings before interest and taxBusiness risk InterestFinancial risk Profit before tax TaxTax planning Profit after taxReturn on equity DividendsDividend policy Retained Earnings Goals / Objectives of Financial Management- Traditional Approach – It has been traditionally been argued that the objective of a company is to earn profit.This means that the finance manager has to make decision in a manner that the profit is maximised. Each alternative, th erefore, is to be seen as to whether or not it gives maximum profit. Profit maximization objective gives rise to a number of problems as below: – i) Profit maximization concept should be considered in relation to risks involved. There is a direct relationship between risk and profit. Many risky propositions yield high profit. Higher the risk, higher is the possibility of profits. If profit maximization is the only goal, then risk factor is altogether ignored. i) Profit maximization, as an objective does not take into account time pattern of return. Proposal A may give a higher amount of profits compared to proposal B, yet if the returns begin to flow say 10 years later, proposal B may be preferred which may have lower overall profits but the returns flow is more early and quick. iii) Profit maximization, as an objective is too narrow. It fails to take into account the social considerations as also the obligations to various interests of workers, consumers, society as well as ethical trade practices.Further, most business leaders believe that adoption of ethical standards strengthen their competitive positions. iv) Profits do not necessarily result in cash flows available to the stockholder. Owners receive cash flow in the form of either cash dividends paid to them or proceeds from selling their shares for a higher price than paid initially. Modern Approach – The alternative to profit maximization is wealth maximization. This is also known as Value maximization or Net Present Worth maximization. Value is represented by the market price of the company’s equity shares.Prices in the share market at a given point of time, are the result of many factors like general economic outlook, particular outlook if the companies under consideration, technical factors and even mass psychology. However taken on a long-term basis, the share market prices of a company’s shares do reflect the value, which the various parties put on a company. Normally, the value is a function of two factors (i) The likely rate of earnings per share of a company (EPS) and (ii) The capitalization rateEPS are calculated by dividing the periods total earnings available for the firm’s common shares by the number of shares of common shares outstanding. The likely rate of earnings per share (EPS) depends on the assessment as to how profitably a company is going to operate in the future. The capitalisation rate reflects the liking of the investors for a company. If the company earns a higher rate of earning per share through risky operations or risky financing pattern, the investors will not look upon its shares with favour. To that extent, the market value of the shares of such a company will be low.If a company invests its fund in risky ventures, the investors will put in their money if they get higher return as compared to that from a low risk share. The market value of a firm is a function of the earning per share and the capitalisation rate. S uppose the Earning per share are expected to be Rs. 7 for a share, and the capitalisation rate expected by the shareholder is 20 per cent, the market value of the share is likely to be 7 7 x 100 —— = ———- = Rs. 5 20% 20 This is so because at this price, the investors have an earning of 20%, something they expect from a company with this degree of risk. The important issues relating to maximizing share prices are Economic Value Added (EVA) and the focus on stakeholders. Economic Value Added (EVA) is a popular measure used by many firms to determine whether an investment – proposed or existing – contribute positively to the owner’s wealth. EVA is calculated by subtracting, the cost of funds used to finance or investment from its after-tax-operations profits.Investments with positive EVA increase shareholder value as those with negative EVA reduce shareholders value. For example, the EVA of an investment with after tax operation s profits of Rs. 510,000 and associated financing costs of Rs. 475,000 would be Rs. 35,000 (i. e. Rs. 410,000 – 375,000) Because this EVA is positive, the investment is expected to increase owner wealth and is therefore acceptable. What about Stakeholders? Stakeholders are group such as employees, customers, suppliers, creditors, owners and others who have a direct economic link to the firm.A firm with a stakeholder focus consciously avoids actions that would prove detrimental to stakeholders. The goal is not to maximize stakeholder well being but to preserve it. It is expected to provide long run benefit to shareholders by maintaining positive stakeholder relationships. Such relationship should minimize stakeholder turnover, conflicts and litigation. Clearly, the firm can better achieve its goal of shareholder wealth maximization by maintaining cooperation with other stakeholders rather than having conflict with them. The Role of ethics – Ethics is standards of conduc t or moral judgment.Today the business community in general and the financial community in particular are developing and enforcing ethical standards, purpose being to motivate business and market participants to adhere to both the letter and the spirit of laws and regulations concerned with business and professional practice. An effective ethics program is believed to enhance corporate value. An ethics program can reduce potential litigation and judgment costs, maintain a positive corporate image, and build shareholders confidence, and gain the loyalty, commitment and respect of the firms stakeholders.Such actions, by maintaining and enhancing cash flow and reducing perceived risk, can positively affect the firm’s share prices. Ethical behaviour is therefore viewed as necessary for achieving the firm’s goal of owner wealth maximization. Place of Finance function in the organization structure: – The finance function is almost the same in most enterprises. The det ails may differ but the important features are universal in nature. The finance function occupies such a major place that it cannot be the sole responsibility of the executive.The important aspects of the finance function have to be carried on by the top management i. e. the Managing Director and the Board of Directors. It is the Board of Directors, which makes all the material final decisions involving finance. Financial management in many ways is an integral part of the jobs of managers who are involved in planning, allocation of resources and control. The responsibilities for financial management are disposed throughout the organization. For example: †¢ The engineer, who proposes a new plant, shapes the investment policy of the firm. The marketing analyst provides inputs in the process of forecasting and planning. †¢ The purchase manager influences the level of investment in inventories. †¢ The sales manager has a say in the determination of receivable policy. â₠¬ ¢ Departmental managers, in general, are important links in the financial control system of the firm. The chief financial officer (CFO) is basically to assist the top management. He has an important role to contribute to good decision making on issues, which involve all the functional areas of the business. He must clearly bring out financial implications of all decisions and make them understood.CFO (his designation vary from company to company) works directly under the President or the Managing Director of the company. Besides routine work he keeps the Board of Directors informed about all the phases of business activity, including economic, social and political developments affecting the business behaviour. He also furnishes information about the financial status of the company by reviewing from time to time. The CFO may have different officers under him to carry out his functions. Broadly, the functions are divided into two parts. (i) Treasury function (ii) Control functionTre asury function (headed by financial manager) is commonly responsible for handling financial activities, such as financial planning and fund raising, making capital expenditures decisions, managing cash, managing credit activities, managing the pension fund and managing foreign exchange. The control function (headed by Chief Accountant / Financial Controller) typically handles the accounting activities such as corporate accounting, tax management, financial accounting and cost accounting. The treasurer’s focus tends to be more external, the controllers focus more internal: – BOARD OF DIRECTORSManaging Director/President V. P ProductionV. P FinanceV. P Sales Treasurer Controller Credit Cash Banking PortfolioCorporate Taxes Internal Budgeting Management Management Relation ManagementGeneral Audit Accounting & Cost Accounting Fig 1. 1 Organization chart of finance function Relationship of field of finance with economics – The field of finance is closely related to e conomics. Financial managers must understand the economic framework and be alert to the consequences of varying levels of economic activity and changes in economic policy.They must be able to use economic theories as guidance for efficient business operation. Examples include supply-demand analysis, profit-maximizing strategies, and price theory. The primary economic principle used in managerial function is marginal analysis, the principle that financial decisions should be made and actions taken only when the added benefits exceed the added costs. Nearly all-financial decisions ultimately come down to an assessment of their marginal benefits and marginal costs. Relationship to Accounting – The firm’s finance (treasurer) and accounting (controller) activities are closely related and generally overlap.Normally managerial finance and accounting are not often easily distinguishable. In small firms the Controller often carries out the finance function and in large firms ma ny accountants are also involved in various finance activities. There are two basic differences between finance and accounting: – i) Emphasis on cash flows: – The accountant’s primary function is to develop and report data for measuring the performance of the firm, assuming its financial position and paying taxes using certain standardized and generally accepted principles. The accountant prepares financial statements based on accrual basis.The financial manager places primary emphasis on cash flows, the inflow and outflow of cash. ii) Relating to decision-making: – Accountants devote most of their operation to the collection and presentation of financial data. The primary activities of the financial manager in addition to ongoing involvement in financial analysis and planning are making investment decisions and making financing decisions. Investment decisions determine both the mix and the type of assets held by the firm. Financing decisions determine bo th the mix and the type of financing used by the firm.However the decisions are actually made on the basis of cash flow effects on the overall value of the firm. Interface with other Functions – Finance is defined as the lifeblood of an organization. It is a common thread, which binds all the organizational functions as each function when carried out creates financial implications. The interface between finance and other functions can be described as follows: – Manufacturing Finance – i) Manufacturing function necessitates a large investment. Productive use of resources ensures a cost advantage for the firm. i) Optimum investment in inventories improves profit margin. iii) Many parameters of the production cost having effect on production cost are possible to control through internal management thus improving profits. iv) Important production decisions like make or buy can be taken only after financial implications have been considered. Marketing Finance  œ i) Many aspects of marketing management have financial implications e. g. hold inventories to provide off the shelf service to customers and thus increase sales; extension of credit facility to customers to increase sales. i) Marketing strategies to increase sales have additional cost impact, which needs to be weighed carefully against incremental revenue. Personnel Finance – In the global competitive scenario business firms are moving to leaner and flat organizations. Investments in Human Resource Development are also bound to increase. Restructuring of remuneration structure, voluntary retirement schemes, sweat equity etc. have become major financial decisions in the area of human resource management. Strategic Planning – Finance –Finance function is an important tool in the hands of management for strategic planning and control on two counts – i) The decision variables when converted into monetary terms are easier to grasp. ii) Finance function has s trong inter-linkages with other functions. Controlling other functions through finance route is possible. Methods and Tools of Financial Management – i) In the area of Financing – Funds are procured from long-term sources as well as short-term sources. Long-term funds may be made available by owners, i. e. hareholders, lenders through issue of debentures / bonds, from financial institutions, banks and public at large. Short-term funds may be procured from commercial banks, suppliers of goods, public deposits etc. The finance manager has to decide on optimum capital structure with a view to maximize shareholder’s wealth. Financial leverage or trading on equity is an important method by which return to shareholders can be increased. ii) For evaluating capital expenditure (investment) decisions, a finance manager uses various methods such as average rate of return, payback, internal rate of return, net present value and profitability index. ii) In the area of worki ng capital management there are various methods for efficient utilization of current resources at the disposal of the firm, thus increasing profitability. The centralized method of cash management is considered a better method of managing liquid resources of the firm. iv) In the area of dividend decision, a firm is faced with the problem of declaring dividend or postponing dividend declaration, a problem of internal financing. There are tools to tackle such situation. v) For the evaluation of a firm’s performance there are different methods.For example, ratio analysis is a popular technique to evaluate different aspects of a firm. vi) The main concern of the finance manager is to provide adequate funds from the best possible source, at the right time and the minimum cost and to ensure that the funds so acquired are put to best possible use through various methods / techniques are used to determine that funds have been procured from the best possible available services and the funds have been used in the best possible way: Funds flow and cash flow statements and projected financial statements help a lot in this regard.The changing role of Financial Management in India – Modern Financial Management has come a long way from the traditional corporate finance. The finance Manager is working in a challenging environment, which changes continuously. As the economy is opening up and global resources are being tapped, the opportunities available to finance manager have no limits. At the same time one must understand the risk in the decisions. Financial management is passing through an area of experimentation and excitement, as a large part of the finance activities carried out today were not heard a few years ago.A few instances are enumerated below: – i) Interest rates have been deregulated, further interest rates are fluctuating, and minimum cost of capital necessitates anticipating interest rate movements. ii) Rupee has become freely convertible in current account. iii) Optimum debt equity mix is possible. The firms have to take advantage of the financial leverage to increase the shareholders wealth. However financial leverage entails financial risk. Hence a correct trade off between risk and improved rate of return to shareholders is a challenging task. v) With free pricing of issues, the optimum price of new issue is a challenging task, as overpricing results in under subscription and loss of investor confidence whereas under pricing leads to unwarranted increase in number of shares and also reduction of earnings per share. v) Maintaining share prices is crucial. In the liberalized scenario the capital markets is the important avenue of funds for business. The dividend and bonus policies framed, has a direct bearing on the share prices. i) Ensuring management control is vital especially in the light of foreign participation in equity (which is backed by huge resources) making the firm an easy takeover target. Existing ma nagements may loose control in the eventuality of being unable to take up the share entitlements. Financial strategies to prevent this are vital to the present management. Forms of Business Organization – The three most common forms of business organization are the sole proprietorship, the partnership and the company.Other specialized forms of business organizations also exist. Sole proprietorship are the most In terms of total receipts and net profits corporate form of business dominate. Sole Proprietorship – A sole proprietorship is a business owned by one person who runs for his own profit. Majority of the business firms are sole proprietorships. The typical sole proprietorship is a small business e. g. bakeshop, personal trainer or plumber. The majority of sole proprietorship is found in the wholesale, retail, service and construction industries.Typically, the proprietor along with few employees runs the business. He raises capital from personal resources or by bor rowing and is responsible for all business decisions. The sole proprietor has unlimited liability, towards creditors not restricted to the amount originally invested. The key strengths and weaknesses of sole proprietorship are given in table 1. 3. Partnership – A partnership firm is a business run by two or more persons for profit.Partnership accounts for the next majority of business and they are typically larger than sole proprietorship. Finance, legal and real estate firms often have large number of partners. Most partnerships are established by a written contract known as ‘Deed of Partnership’. In partnership, all partners have unlimited liability for all the debts of the partnership. In India, partnership is governed by the Partnership Act, 1932. Strengths and weaknesses or partnerships are summarized in Table 1. 3. Company Form –A company form of business is a legal entity, separated from the owners, with perpetual succession. Just like an individual , the company can sue and be sued, make and be party to contracts and acquire property in its own name. The company form of organization is the dominant form of business organization in terms of receipts and profits. Although, corporations are involved in all types of business, manufacturing corporation account for the largest portion of corporate business receipts and net profits.The key strengths and weaknesses of corporate form are summarized in Table 1. 3. The owners of the company are its shareholders, whose ownership is evidenced by either common shares or preference shares. Shareholders get a return by receiving dividends i. e. periodic distribution of earnings or gains through increase in share price. Owner’s liability is limited to the amount paid on their shares. Shareholder elects the Board of Directors through vote.The Board of Directors has the ultimate authority in running the organization including making the general policy. The President or Chief Executive Off ice (CEO) is responsible for managing day to day operations and carrying out the policies established by the Board. The CEO is required to report periodically to the firm’s board of directors. The corporate form of business are subject to strict control by Regulatory Agencies including Companies Ac, 1956, SEBI, etc. Table I – Strengths and weaknesses of the common forms of business organizations Sole Proprietorship |Partnership |Company | | | | | |Strengths | | | | | | | |Owners receive all profits and incurs all losses |Can raise more funds than the sole proprietorship |Owners liability is limited to the extent paid on | | |their shares | |Low organizational costs |Borrowing powers enhanced by more owners | | | | |Can achieve large size via sale of shares | | |More available manpower and managerial skill | | |Income is included and taxed on owners personal tax | |Ownership (share) is readily transferable | |return |Income included and mixed on individual partnerâ€⠄¢s tax | | | |return |Long life of the firm | |Independence | | | | | |Can have professional managers | |Secrecy | | | | | |Has better access to financing | |Ease of dissolution | | | | | |Receives some tax advantage | | | | | | | | | |Weaknesses – |Owners have unlimited liability and may have to cover | | | |debts of other partners |Taxes generally higher, because corporate income is | |Owner has unlimited liability towards debt of the firm| |taxed and dividends paid to owners are also taxed. | |Partnership is dissolved when partner dies |(the latter has been exempted at the hands of the | |Limited fund raising power limits growth | |shareholders in India) | | |Difficult to liquidate or transfer partnership | | |Proprietor must be jack-of-all trades | |More expensive to organize than other forms of | | | |business | |Difficult to give employees long-run career | | | |opportunities | |Subject to greater control by regulating authorities | | | | | |Lacks continuity when pro prietor dies or unable to | |Lacks secrecy since the shareholders must receive | |operate | |financial reports at periodic intervals | | | | | Limited Liability Partnership A limited liability partnership (LLP) is a partnership in which some or all partners (depending on the jurisdiction) have limited liability.It therefore exhibits elements of partnerships and corporations. In an LLP, one partner is not responsible or liable for another partner's misconduct or negligence. This is an important difference from that of an unlimited partnership. In an LLP, some partners have a form of limited liability similar to that of the shareholders of a corporation. In some countries, an LLP must also have at least one â€Å"general partner† with unlimited liability. Unlike corporate shareholders, the partners have the right to manage the business directly. In contrast, corporate shareholders have to elect a board of directors under the laws of various state charters.The board organizes it self (also under the laws of the various state charters) and hires corporate officers who then have as â€Å"corporate† individuals the legal responsibility to manage the corporation in the corporation's best interest. An LLP also contains a different level of tax liability from that of a corporation. Limited liability partnerships are distinct from limited partnerships in some countries, which may allow all LLP partners to have limited liability, while a limited partnership may require at least one unlimited partner and allow others to assume the role of a passive and limited liability investor. As a result, in these countries, the LLP is more suited for businesses where all investors wish to take an active role in management. There is considerable confusion between LLPs as constituted in the U. S. nd that introduced in the UK in 2001 and adopted elsewhere  Ã¢â‚¬â€ see below  Ã¢â‚¬â€ since the UK LLP is, despite the name, specifically legislated as a Corporate body rat her than a Partnership. India The Limited Liability Partnership Act 2008 was published in the official Gazette of India on January 9, 2009 and has been notified with effect from 31 March 2009. However, the Act, has been notified with limited sections only. The rules have been notified in the official gazette on April 1, 2009. The first LLP was incorporated in the first week of April 2009. 1. In India, for all purposes of taxation, an LLP is treated like any other partnership firm. 2. be limited to their agreed contribution in the LLP. 3.Further, no partner would be liable on account of the independent or unauthorized actions of other partners, thus allowing individual partners to be shielded from joint liability created by another partner's wrongful business decisions or misconduct. 4. LLP shall be a body corporate and a legal entity separate from its partners. It will have perpetual succession. Indian Partnership Act, 1932 shall not be applicable to LLPs and there shall not be any upper limit on number of partners in an LLP unlike an ordinary partnership firm where the maximum number of partners can not exceed 20, LLP Act makes a mandatory statement where one of the partner to the LLP should be an Indian. 5. Provisions have been made for corporate actions like mergers, amalgamations etc. 6.While enabling provisions in respect of winding up and dissolutions of LLPs have been made, detailed provisions in this regard would be provided by way of rules under the Act. 7. The Act also provides for conversion of existing partnership firm, private limited company and unlisted public company into a LLP by registering the same with the Registrar of Companies (ROC) 8. Nothing Contained in the Partnership Act 1932 shall effect an LLP. 9. The Registrar of Companies (Roc) shall register and control LLPs also. 10. The governance of LLPs shall be in electronic mode based on the successful model of the present Ministry of Corporate Affairs Portal. Chapter Assignments – 1. What are the tasks of Financial Management? 2. Discuss the salient features of the traditional approach to Corporation Finance. 3.Discuss the distinctive features of modern approach to Corporation Finance. 4. What is the normative goal of financial management? 5. â€Å"Financial Management is an integral part of the jobs of all managers. Hence it cannot be entrusted to a staff Department†. Discuss. 6. Discuss some of the problems the financial managers in a developing country like India have to grapple with. 7. Draw a typical organization chart highlighting the finance function of a company. 8. Which of the following functions should be the responsibility of a Finance Manager? i) Maintaining the books of account. ii) Negotiating loans with banks iii) Preparation of cost statements iv) Conducting of internal audit v) Analysis of new projects i) Ensuring that enough cash is available at all the branches and factories of the company. vii) Assisting the management in taking a decision regarding the quantum of dividend. viii) Negotiating under-writing agreements in case of new issues ix) Preparing the financial statements. x) Deciding about change in the policies regarding recruitment. xi) Decision on administrative practices. xii) Change in marketing and advertising techniques routine. 9. Which of the following statements are true? i) It is the job of the finance manager to approve all payments. ii) The finance manager has to keep a proper balance in the procurement and use of funds. iii) Acquisition of fixed assets is of no concern to the finance manager. v) It is always advisable to distribute the total amount of profit as dividend. v) Since it is crucial that all sections of the business have adequate cash, it is a good policy to give each sections of the business double the amount of cash that they normally require so that they can meet even emergencies. vi) Debentures and loans from financial institutions are very important sources of long-term fund s. vii) It is better if no credits are given to the customers since this would mean that no amounts are tied up in sundry creditors. viii) In a period of rising prices, it is better to stock as much as raw material as possible, irrespective of the cost of procuring funds. x) A proper capitalization ensures that there is a balance between long-term funds and short-term funds and also proper ratios are maintained between the various sources of funds. 10. Which of the following statements do you agree? i) Financial management is essential only in private sector enterprise. ii) Only capitalists have to bother about money. The bureaucrat is to administer and not manage funds. iii) The public administrators in our country must be given a basic understanding of essentials of finance. iv) A state owned Transport Company must immediately deposit in the bank all its takings. v) â€Å"Financial Management is counting pennies. We do not believe in such miserly attitude†. vi) â€Å"Finan ce function is important as any other function in an organization†.