Intermediate Accounting 14th Chapter 5

Questions 1. The balance sheet provides information about the nature and amounts of investments in enterprise resources, obligations to enterprise creditors, and the owners’ equity in net enterprise resources. That information not only complements information about the components of income, but also contributes to financial reporting by providing a basis for (1) computing rates of return, (2) evaluating the capital structure of the enterprise, and (3) assessing the liquidity and financial flexibility of the enterprise. 2. Solvency refers to the ability of an enterprise to pay its debts as they mature.For example, when a company carries a high level of long-term debt relative to assets, it has lower solvency. Information on long-term obligations, such as long-term debt and notes payable, in comparison to total assets can be used to assess resources that will be needed to meet these fixed obligations (such as interest and principal payments). 3. Financial flexibility is the abil ity of an enterprise to take effective actions to alter the amounts and timing of cash flows so it can respond to unexpected needs and opportunities.An enterprise with a high degree of financial flexibility is better able to survive bad times, to recover from unexpected setbacks, and to take advantage of profitable and unexpected investment opportunities. Generally, the greater the financial flexibility, the lower the risk of enterprise failure. 4. Some situations in which estimates affect amounts reported in the balance sheet include: (a)allowance for doubtful accounts. (b)depreciable lives and estimated salvage values for plant and equipment. (c)warranty returns. d)determining the amount of revenues that should be recorded as unearned. 5. An increase in inventories increases current assets, which is in the numerator of the current ratio. Therefore, inventory increases will increase the current ratio. In general, an increase in the current ratio indicates a company has better liqui dity, since there are more current assets relative to current liabilities. 6. Liquidity describes the amount of time that is expected to elapse until an asset is converted into cash or until a liability has to be paid.The ranking of the assets given in order of liquidity is: (1) (d) Short-term investments. (2) (e) Accounts receivable. (3) (b) Inventory. (4) (c) Buildings. (5) (a) Goodwill. 7. The major limitations of the balance sheet are: (a)The values stated are generally historical and not at fair value. (b)Estimates have to be used in many instances, such as in the determination of collectibility of receivables or finding the approximate useful life of long-term tangible and intangible assets. c)Many items, even though they have financial value to the business, presently are not recorded. One example is the value of a company’s human resources. 8. Some items of value to technology companies such as Intel or IBM are the value of research and development (new products that are being developed but which are not yet marketable), the value of the â€Å"intellectual capital† of its workforce (the ability of the companies’ employees to come up with new ideas and products in the fast changing technology industry), and the value of the company reputation or name brand (e. . , the â€Å"Intel Inside† logo). In most cases, the reasons why the value of these items are not recorded in the balance sheet concern the lack of faithful representation of the estimates of the future cash flows that will be generated by these â€Å"assets† (for all three types) and the ability to control the use of the asset (in the case of employees). Being able to reliably measure the expected future benefits and to control the use of an item are essential elements of the definition of an asset, according to the Conceptual Framework. 9.Classification in financial statements helps users by grouping items with similar characteristics and separating items with different characteristics. Current assets are expected to be converted to cash within one year or one operating cycle, whichever is longer—property, plant and equipment will provide cash inflows over a longer period of time. Thus, separating long-term assets from current assets facilitates computation of useful ratios such as the current ratio. 10. Separate amounts should be reported for accounts receivable and notes receivable.The amounts should be reported gross, and an amount for the allowance for doubtful accounts should be deducted. The amount and nature of any nontrade receivables, and any amounts designated or pledged as collateral, should be clearly identified. 11. No. Available-for-sale securities should be reported as a current asset only if management expects to convert them into cash as needed within one year or the operating cycle, whichever is longer. If available-for-sale securities are not held with this expectation, they should be reported as long-term inves tments. 2. The relationship between current assets and current liabilities is that current liabilities are those obligations that are reasonably expected to be liquidated either through the use of current assets or the creation of other current liabilities. 13. The total selling price of the season tickets is $20,000,000 (10,000 X $2,000). Of this amount, $8,000,000 has been earned by 12/31/12 (16/40 X $20,000,000). The remaining $12,000,000 should be reported as unearned revenue, a current liability in the 12/31/12 balance sheet (24/40 X $20,000,000). 14.Working capital is the excess of total current assets over total current liabilities. This excess is sometimes called net working capital. Working capital represents the net amount of a company’s relatively liquid resources. That is, it is the liquidity buffer available to meet the financial demands of the operating cycle. 15. (a)Shareholders’ Equity. â€Å"Treasury stock (at cost). † (b)Current Assets. Include d in â€Å"Cash. † (c)Investments. â€Å"Land held as an investment. † (d)Investments. â€Å"Sinking fund. † (e)Long-term debt (adjunct account to bonds payable). Unamortized premium on bonds payable. † (f)Intangible Assets. â€Å"Copyrights. † (g)Investments. â€Å"Employees’ pension fund,† with subcaptions of â€Å"Cash† and â€Å"Securities† if desired. (Assumes that the company still owns these assets. ) (h)Shareholders’ Equity. â€Å"Premium on capital stock† or â€Å"Additional paid-in capital. † (i)Investments. Nature of investments should be given together with parenthetical information as follows: â€Å"pledged to secure loans payable to banks. † 16. (a)Allowance for doubtful accounts receivable should be deducted from accounts receivable in current assets. b)Merchandise held on consignment should not appear on the consignee’s balance sheet except possibly as a note to the finan cial statements. (c)Advances received on sales contract are normally a current liability and should be shown as such in the balance sheet. (d)Cash surrender value of life insurance should be shown as a long-term investment. (e)Land should be reported in property, plant, and equipment unless held for investment. (f)Merchandise out on consignment should be shown among current assets under the heading of inventories. (g)Franchises should be itemized in a section for intangible assets. h)Accumulated depreciation of plant and equipment should be deducted from the plant and equipment accounts. (i)Materials in transit should not be shown on the balance sheet of the buyer, if purchased f. o. b. destination. 17. (a)Trade accounts receivable should be stated at their estimated amount collectible, often referred to as net realizable value. The method most generally followed is to deduct from the total accounts receivable the amount of the allowance for doubtful accounts. (b)Land is generally s tated in the balance sheet at cost. (c)Inventories are generally stated at the lower of cost or market. d)Trading securities (consisting of common stock of other companies) are stated at fair value. (e)Prepaid expenses should be stated at cost less the amount apportioned to and written off over the previous accounting periods. 18. Assets are defined as probable future economic benefits obtained or controlled by a particular entity as a result of past transactions or events. If a building is leased under a capital lease, the future economic benefits of using the building are controlled by the lessee (tenant) as the result of a past event (the signing of a lease agreement). 19. Battle is incorrect.Retained earnings is a source of assets, but is not an asset itself. For example, even though the funds obtained from issuing a note payable are invested in the business, the note payable is not reported as an asset. It is a source of assets, but it is reported as a liability because the com pany has an obligation to repay the note in the future. Similarly, even though the earnings are invested in the business, retained earnings is not reported as an asset. It is reported as part of shareholders’ equity because it is, in effect, an investment by owners which increases the ownership interest in the assets of an entity. 20.The notes should appear as long-term liabilities with full disclosure as to their terms. Each year, as the profit is determined, notes of an amount equal to two-thirds of the year’s profits should be transferred from the long-term liabilities to current liabilities until all of the notes have been liquidated. 21. The purpose of a statement of cash flows is to provide relevant information about the cash receipts and cash payments of an enterprise during a period. It differs from the balance sheet and the income statement in that it reports the sources and uses of cash by operating, investing, and financing activity classifications.While the income statement and the balance sheet are accrual basis statements, the statement of cash flows is a cash basis statement—noncash items are omitted. 22. The difference between these two amounts may be due to increases in current assets (e. g. , an increase in accounts receivable from a sale on account would result in an increase in revenue and net income but have no effect yet on cash). Similarly a cash payment that results in a decrease in an existing current liability (e. g. , accounts payable would decrease cash provided by operations without affecting net income). 3. The difference between these two amounts could be due to noncash charges that appear in the income statement. Examples of noncash charges are depreciation, depletion, and amortization of intangibles. Expenses recorded but unpaid (e. g. , increase in accounts payable) and collection of previously recorded sales on credit (i. e. , now decreasing accounts receivable) also would cause cash provided by operating activities to exceed net income. 24. Operating activities involve the cash effects of transactions that enter into the determination of net income.Investing activities include making and collecting loans and acquiring and disposing of debt and equity instruments; property, plant, and equipment and intangibles. Financing activities involve liability and owners’ equity items and include obtaining capital from owners and providing them with a return on (dividends) and a return of their investment and borrowing money from creditors and repaying the amounts borrowed. 25. (a)Net income is adjusted downward by deducting $5,000 from $90,000 and reporting cash provided by operating activities as $85,000. (b)The issuance of the preferred stock is a financing activity.The issuance is reported as follows: Cash flows from financing activities Issuance of preferred stock| $1,150,000| (c)| Net income is adjusted as follows:| | | Cash flows from operating activities| | | Net income| $90,000 | | Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:| | | Depreciation expense| 14,000| | Premium amortization| (5,000)| | Net cash provided by operating activities| $99,000| (d)The increase of $20,000 reflects an investing activity. The increase in Land is reported as follows: Cash flows from investing activities:Investment in Land| $(20,000)| 26. The company appears to have good liquidity and reasonable financial flexibility. Its current cash debt coverage ratio is 1. 20, which indicates that it can pay off its current liabilities in a given year from its operation. In addition its cash debt coverage ratio is also good at . 80 which indicates it can pay off approximately 80% of its debt out of current operations 27. Free cash flow = $860,000 – $75,000 – $30,000 = $755,000. 28. Free cash flow is net cash provided by operating activities less capital expenditures and dividends.The purpose of free cash flow analysis is to determine the a mount of discretionary cash flow a company has for purchasing additional investments, retiring its debt, purchasing treasury stock, or simply adding to its liquidity and financial flexibility. 29. Some of the techniques of disclosure for the balance sheet are: (a)Parenthetical explanations. (b)Notes to the financial statements. (c)Cross references and contra items. (d)Supporting schedules. 30. A note entitled â€Å"Summary of Significant Accounting Policies† would indicate the basic accounting principles used by that enterprise.This note should be very useful from a comparative standpoint, since it should be easy to determine whether the company uses the same accounting policies as other companies in the same industry. 31. General debt obligations, lease contracts, pension arrangements and stock option plans are four items for which disclosure is mandatory in the financial statements. The reason for disclosing these contractual situations is that these commitments are of a lo ng-term nature, are often significant in amount, and are very important to the company’s well-being. 32.The profession has recommended that the use of the word â€Å"surplus† be discontinued in balance sheet presentations of owners’ equity. This term has a connotation outside accounting that is quite different from its meaning in the accounts or in the balance sheet. The use of the terms capital surplus, paid-in surplus, and earned surplus is confusing to the non-accountant and leads to misinterpretation. Brief Exercise 1. Current assets| | | Cash| | $ 30,000| Accounts receivable| $110,000| | Less: Allowance for doubtful accounts| 8,000| 102,000| Inventory| | 290,000| Prepaid insurance| | 9,500| Total current assets| | $431,500|Exercise (a)If the investment in preferred stock is readily marketable and held primarily for sale in the near term to generate income on short-term price differences, then the account should appear as a current asset and be included with trading investments. If, on the other hand, the preferred stock is not a trading security, it should be classified as available-for-sale. Available for sale securities are classified as current or non-current depending upon the circumstances. (b)If the company accounts for the treasury stock on the cost basis, the account should properly be shown as a reduction of total shareholders’ equity. c)Shareholders’ equity. (d)Current liability. (e)Property, plant, and equipment (as a deduction). (f)If an asset in process of construction is being constructed for another party, it is properly classified as an inventory account in the current asset section. This account will be shown net of any billings on the contract. On the other hand, if the asset is being constructed for the use of this particular company, it should be classified as a separate item in the property, plant, and equipment section. (g)Current asset. (h)Current liability. (i)Retained earnings. j)Current asset. ( k)Current liability. 4. GULISTAN INC. | Balance Sheet| December 31, 20XX| Assets| Current assets| | | | Cash| $XXX| | | Less: Cash restricted for plant expansion| XXX| $XXX| | Accounts receivable| XXX| | | Less: Allowance for doubtful accounts| XXX| XXX| | Notes receivable| | XXX| | Receivables—officers| | XXX| | Inventories| | | | Finished goods| XXX| | | Work in process| XXX| | | Raw materials| XXX| XXX| | Total current assets| | | $XXX| | | | | Long-term investments| | | | Preferred stock investments| | XXX| | Land held for future plant site| | XXX| |Cash restricted for plant expansion| | XXX| | Total long-term investments| | | XXX| | | | | Property, plant, and equipment| | | | Buildings| | XXX| | Less: Accum. depreciation— buildings| | XXX| XXX| | | | | Intangible assets| | | | Copyrights| | | XXX| Total assets| | | $XXX| Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity| Current liabilities| | | | | Salaries and wages payable| | $XXX| | | Notes payable, short-term| | XX X| | | Unearned subscriptions revenue| | XXX| | | Unearned rent revenue| | XXX| | | Total current liabilities| | | | $XXX| | | | | | Long-term debt| | | | |Bonds payable, due in four years| | | $XXX| | Less: Discount on bonds payable| | | (XXX)| XXX| Total liabilities| | | | XXX| | | | | | Stockholders’ equity| | | | | Capital stock:| | | | | Common stock| | XXX| | | Additional paid-in capital:| | | | | Paid in capital in excess of par—common stock| | XXX| | | Total paid-in capital| | | XXX| | Retained earnings| | | XXX| | Total paid-in capital and retained earnings| | | XXX| | Less: Treasury stock, at cost| | | (XXX)| | Total stockholders’ equity| | | | XXX| Total liabilities and stockholders’ quity| | | | $XXX| 7. Current assets| | | | Cash| | $ 92,000*| | Less: Cash restricted for plant expansion| | 50,000| $ 42,000| Equity investments (fair value) (cost, $31,000)| | | 29,000| Accounts receivable (of which $50,000 is pledged as collateral on a bank loa n)| | 161,000| | Less: Allowance for doubtful accounts| | 12,000| 149,000| Interest receivable [($40,000 X 6%) X 8/12]| | | 1,600| Inventory (lower-of-cost (determined using LIFO)-or-market)| | | | Finished goods| | 52,000| | Work-in-process| | 34,000| |Raw materials| | 187,000| 273,000| Total current assets| | | $494,600| 8. a. Dividends payable of $1,900,000 will be reported as a current liability [(1,000,000 – 50,000) X $2. 00] b. Bonds payable of $25,000,000 and interest payable of $2,500,000 ($100,000,000 X 10% X 3/12) will be reported as a current liability. Bonds payable of $75,000,000 will be reported as a long-term liability. c. Customer advances of $17,000,000 will be reported as a current liability ($12,000,000 + $30,000,000 – $25,000,000). 12. VIVALDI CORPORATION| Balance Sheet| December 31, 2012|Assets| Current assets| | | | Cash| | $197,000| | Debt investments| | 153,000| | Accounts receivable| $435,000| | | Less: Allowance for doubtfulaccounts| 25,000| 4 10,000| | Inventory| | 597,000| | Total current assets| | | $1,357,000| | | | | Long-term investments| | | | Debt investments| | 299,000| | Equity investments| | 277,000| | Total long-term investments| | | 576,000| | | | | Property, plant, and equipment| | | | Land| | 260,000| | Buildings| 1,040,000| | | Less: Accum. depreciation| 352,000| 688,000| | Equipment| 600,000| | | Less: Accum. epreciation| 60,000| 540,000| | Total property, plant, and equipment| | | 1,488,000| | | | | Intangible assets| | | | Franchises| | 160,000| | Patents| | 195,000| | Total intangible assets| | | 355,000| Total assets| | | $3,776,000| Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity| Current liabilities| | | | Accounts payable| | $ 455,000| | Notes payable (short-term)| | 90,000| | Dividends payable| | 136,000| | Accrued liabilities| | 96,000| | Total current liabilities| | | $ 777,000| | | | | Long-term debt| | | | Bonds payable| | 1,000,000| |Notes payable (long-term)| | 900,000| | Total long-term liabili ties| | | 1,900,000| Total liabilities| | | 2,677,000| | | | | Stockholders’ equity| | | | Paid-in capital| | | | Common stock ($5 par)| $1,000,000| | | Paid-in capital in excess of par| 80,000| 1,080,000| | Retained earnings*| | 210,000| | Total paid-in capital and retained earnings| | 1,290,000| | Less: Treasury stock| | 191,000| | Total stockholders’ equity| | | 1,099,000| Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity| | | $3,776,000| | | Sales| | $7,900,000| Investment revenue| | 63,000| Extraordinary gain| | 80,000| Cost of goods sold| | (4,800,000)| Selling expenses| | (2,000,000)| Administrative expenses| | (900,000)| Interest expense| | (211,000)| Net income| | $ 132,000| | | | Beginning retained earnings| | $ 78,000| Net income| | 132,000| Ending retained earnings| | $ 210,000| Or ending retained earnings can be computed as follows: Total stockholders’ equity| | $1,099,000| Add:Treasury stock| | 191,000| Less: Paid-in capital| | 1,080,000| Ending re tained earnings| | $ 210,000|

Promotion Mix Tools

promotion mix tools The promotion ( Promotional Mix ) is one out of four basic instruments of marketing that has the purpose to inform about other instruments of marketing mix and to contribute to sales increase on the long term. The promotional mixis always serving to specific goal. These goals can be public informing, demand increasing, product differentiation, and product value increasing or sales stabilizing. Usually the promotion is targeting more than one goal.Promotion is the process of communication between the company that sells the product and the potential customer, with the purpose of influencing the attitudes and behavior. There are specific promotional tool that are supporting chosen promotional goal. The promotional mix represents a combination of different promotional tools. The basic elements of promotional mix are Advertising, Public Relationship, Personal Sales and Sales Promotion. Advertising is communication with current and potential customers and consumers, don e through paid mass media. The channels of communication can be TV, radio, Internet, billboards, etc. * Public Relationship ( PR ) is communication toward public, but is turned more to reputation and image of the company, than to it's products. The PR activity can be a press conference, TV interview with company representative,   press article about donation of the company to charity or about latest environmental project. Personal Sales is a way of promotion activity where sales representative is directly contacting the customer. This person-to-person contact has the goal of direct promotion of the product and conclusion of sales. * Sales Promotion represents a set of different promotional activities that has the goal of animating customers for purchasing. This can be value offer ( discount ), quantity offer ( 2+1 ), prize drawings, merchandising, direct contact by animators in retail outlet, etc.

The Beguines: The Brave, Religious Women of the Middle Ages

Women were expected to be two things in the Middles Ages, they either live under the charge of a husband in the household or dedicated herself to the Church in a convent as a nun. However, something unfamiliar happened in the late 12th century in parts of Europe, especially the Lowlands, Germany and Italy.Women who were called â€Å"beguines† gained prominence as they questioned those stereotyped concepts of being women and lived outside of those boundaries. During the Middle Ages, women who entered Beguinages (Beguine houses or convents) were not bound by permanent vows, in contrast to women who entered convents.It would seem that these women responded spontaneously to the work of the Holy Spirit to live a simple communal life of prayer, to care for the poor, the sick, lepers and orphaned, to teach, make lace, garden and anything else which enables them to be economically free in their respective communities. They also read and taught the Scriptures in the vernacular. The beg uines had a very special devotion to the Eucharist and to the Passion of Christ. The beguines were ordinary women who were in a certain world, but not really part of it.They are pious women whose devotional ardor often surpassed that of cloistered nuns. Like them, they dedicated their lives to God in a disciplined lifestyle, but unlike them they did not professed religious vows. In sum, it was the lifestyle of the early beguines, a lifestyle founded on intense spirituality, which differentiated them on the one hand from other laywomen and on the other from nuns. Women could enter beguinages having already been married and they could leave the beguinages to marry. Some women even entered the beguinages with children.Various debates exist with regards to their origins, but around 1150, groups of women, eventually called beguines, began living together for the purposes of economic self-sufficiency and a religious vocation. The attitudes of the clerics towards blossoming beguine movemen t were ambivalent at first. They deemed that these were groups of religious women who were dedicated to chastity and charity, which could not be condemned in any way. The fact that they existed and existed without men, except for priests and confessors to lead them, was suspect to the ecclesiastical hierarchy.For this and many other reasons, many beguines came to be known as heretics and were brutally persecuted. Though they were never an approved religious order, at one point they were granted special privileges and exemptions customary for approved orders. The Church, however, did not approve of their lack permanent vows. Women were not supposed to have that much freedom. What is particularly interesting about the Beguines was that, unlike most of those considered heretics, most of them considered themselves orthodox, but still beguines.Some strongly identified themselves as such and while in court testified to that effect, demonstrating self-identification with the group. Yet, th e group was diverse and is hard to define. This diversity was due in part to the geographical distribution as well as to the individual autonomy of each community. However, the beguines’ great devotion to the Eucharist emphasized the real presence of the incarnated Lord. At the height of the beguine movement the Feast of Corpus Christi was decreed by Pope Urban IV in 1264, and there is no doubt that the Eucharistic piety of the beguines attributed to the keeping of this feast.Indeed, the beguines wanted to imitate their Lord and to live as the Spirit inspired them. The first beguines were not subject to a rule of life, neither did the beguine have to make a life-time commitment. She was free to leave or to marry. Such a way of life was very attractive to the devout woman, and it is not surprising that their numbers grew swiftly. It was a welcome alternative to the cloister or marriage, although for women to live without the protection of the convent or a husband was quite rev olutionary in the early medieval period.Undoubtedly, the beguines had become an important fragment not only in the history of women’s movement, but also the development of the Catholic faith. Origins of the Beguines Two important movements in the 12th century had their impact on those who became known as beguines. The Cistercian monk, Bernard of Clairvaux (1090- 1153), especially from his writings on The Song of Songs emphasized the importance of a personal relationship between the soul and the Lord. He allegorized this relationship as being similar to that of the bride and the heavenly Bridegroom.This union between the beloved and the lover was a foundation upon which the feminist mystics, including beguines, developed an intimate spirituality with their Lord. Of course the receiving of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament was the outward act of this union. Closely associated with this nuptial image of Bernard was the â€Å"reasonable mystic† and â€Å"learned lover† of his friend, William of St. Thierry (1085-1148), who happened to live in Liege, the birthplace of the beguine movement.He appealed to the soul to know God in perfect love, which also appealed to these mystics (McNichols, 2002). Another factor contributing to the birth of the beguine movement was the vita apostolica, which St. Francis of Assisi had preached by returning to the ideals that our Lord had preached to His disciples: poverty, simplicity and a burning desire to preach the Gospel. The acceptance of this Franciscan preaching and mendicant order in 1215, even though no new orders were supposed to be have founded, gave inspiration to like-minded souls (McNichols, 2002).In the early twelfth century a new order, Premonstratensains, was founded in Liege by Norbert of Xanten who allowed religious women to be â€Å"attached† and to do charity work in the world. However his successor reversed this role and all nuns were expelled from the order by the end of the century. In a way, these sisters were the forerunners of the beguines (McNichols, 2002). In addition, when the church structures were becoming increasingly inaccessible to women in the 13th century; where convents were overcrowded and entrance dowries were expensive; women's orders were scarce and subject to male oversight.At this time in Liege and Antwerp, on the peripheries of urban centers, self-supporting communities of women began to appear. They lived by the work of their hands, often caring for the poor, the sick and the dying, and carried on regular devotional practices. They sought â€Å"an unstructured, nonhierarchical spiritual life that was both active (in the sense of ministering to the needs of others) and contemplative (in the sense that meditation and visionary experience were highly valued and developed)† (Petroff 1994, p. 51-52). This was the seed of what would become the beguinages.More elaborately, Walter Simons explained in the preface to Cities of Ladies Beguine Co mmunities in the Medieval Low Countries, 1200-1565 (2001) that the most widely held scholarly opinions about the origins of the beguines both have their source in medieval materials. James of Vitry's second Sermon to Virgins, written sometime between 1229 and 1240, provides Joseph Greven with his argument that the beguines were â€Å"nuns manquees, women who became beguines because they could not be nuns† (p. x). Similarly a statement on the origins of the beguines made by a clerical committee who visited the beguinage of St.Elizabeth of Ghent in 1328 became the basis for Karl Bucher's argument that the beguine movement was the result of a â€Å"surplus of women† in the urban areas of the Southern Low Countries and other parts of northern Europe. As Simons summarized that the two materials of James of Vitry and the bishop's men at Ghent agreed on several points: they argued that large numbers of young women of the best families, in their desire to live chastely, attemp ted to join a nunnery, but that many of them could not find a convent that would accept them: there were simply too many candidates.The Ghent report added that women could not afford the entrance gift, the dos, required in most monasteries – an obstacle to their entry that James tactfully omitted. It further differed from James in its assessment of the primary motive that drove women to the convent: it was the inability to conclude a suitable marriage that prompted these women to the monastic life; when the latter proved impossible, they joined the beguinage (p. xi).Seen from the perspective of the committee at Ghent, particularly as reread by Bucher and others, the beguines were driven primarily by economic and social forces and beguinages were â€Å"thus just female versions of guild organizations† (p. xi). Grundmann, as Simon noted, was the first to write about a â€Å"religious movement by women† (â€Å"religisen Frauenbewegung†) and to understand the specifically religious motivations behind the beguine life style, particularly their emphasis on poverty and labor in the pursuit of the apostolic life.Grundmann goes on, however, to describe in detail the complex negotiations between the papal curia, the mendicant orders, and the women's religious communities whereby the mendicants were eventually persuaded-sometimes pressured-into taking over the â€Å"care of souls† and often institutional responsibility for women's houses (Grundmann's most detailed examples of this process involve communities that became Dominican convents).Implicit within the narrative of Religious Movements in the Middle Ages, then, lies the argument that orderly communities of beguines desired and ultimately succeeded in becoming more traditional convents, most often within the mendicant orders. Beguines were forced to give up ideals of individual poverty and self-support and to possess sufficient corporately owned property to maintain a community of enclosed nuns.Hence ecclesial concerns for women's chastity and religious propriety required that women's religious ideals be transformed. As Grundmann argues, the result is the spiritualization of poverty within the writings of the thirteenth-century beguines and their heirs among both male and female Dominican authors. Without directly contesting Grundmann's arguments, which for the most part pertain to Germany, Simons presents a significantly new picture of the development of beguine communities in the Southern Low Countries.Simons divides the history of the movement into two periods: the first, from 1190-1230, saw the emergence of laywomen living alone or together in â€Å"loose communities without institutional attachments† (p. 36). The primary sources pertaining to this period are eleven hagiographies devoted to individual holy women involved with the movement from 1190-1250. Often written shortly after their death and in each case by male clerics or monks interested in promoting cults around the holy women, none of these women were ever canonized nor did they all maintain the beguine lifestyle.In fact, as Simons points out, hagiographers from the period and region seemed particularly interested in women who moved from the beguinal milieu into more traditional forms of monastic life (p. 92). Groups of women outside convents, like the beguines, had to steer a narrow course in order to avoid â€Å"the shoals of anticlericalism and heresy that always threatened the spiritual creativity of women† (McNamara 1990, p. 237). The success and spread of the beguine movement would suggest it did answer a need felt among women for an independent expression of their own religious creativity.It is also important to note that beguines fall under the more general designation of mulieres religiosae (religious women), an umbrella term which included nuns, recluses, and virgins living at home or in small groups. The appearance of the mulieres religiosae, who f lourished in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, was a major religious development, possibly connected with factors like the Crusades, priestly celibacy and harsh physical labor, which resulted in women outnumbering men in Western Europe.Religious motives, however, were perhaps even more important than socio-economic ones (DeGanck 1991, p. 2-3). Development of the Beguine Movement Scholars trace the development of the beguine movement through several stages, beginning with individual women (beguinae singulariter in saeculo manentes) living in towns but observing the evangelical principles as well as they could. These individuals eventually came together in the beguinages (congregationes beguinarum disciplinatarum) that are the main focus of this chapter.Later, some of the communities took the form of cloistered communities (beguinae clausae); finally, some communities were reconstituted as autonomous parishes (Little 1978, p. 130). Around 1230, these loose communities of widows, v irgins, and chaste wives began to acquire property, to draw up regulations governing the life of the group, and to present â€Å"themselves to the outside world as religious institutions, either in the form of small ‘convents,' or as larger architectural complexes segregated in some manner from the surrounding urban community, the so-called court beguinages† (Simons 2001, p.36). Simons therefore convincingly demonstrates that up to and through the Catholic Reformation the beguine movement in the Southern Low Countries remains a lay urban movement characterized by the preponderance of women from a range of social classes who participated within it (p. 91-117). In addition, Simons provides invaluable information about the beguines' work in the textile industry (p. 85-87), with the sick and dying (76-80), and-perhaps most importantly for the study of spirituality-in teaching (p.80-85). Grundmann's early argument for the centrality of the beguines' lay status to the develop ment of vernacular religious literature here finds crucial support. Not only did the beguines themselves read and write in the vernacular, but they were also engaged in the education of girls and women who then in turn constituted an audience for vernacular religious writing. The development of the beguinages demonstrated an outgrowth of the lay religious awakening of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.It also reflected the social background of the era. Although much more positive than simply a stand against clerical mediocrity and Western feudalism, the growth of the beguinages did, nevertheless, provide alternatives to both. The beguinages represented a new way of giving religious significance to women's ordinary lives (Bynum 1987, p. 17). It was characteristic of the beguinage to combine the vita contemplativa and appropriate devotional exercises with the practical solution of daily problems.The beguines customarily engaged in weaving, spinning, carding, charitable activity, se wing, and the education of children. So religious impetus and economic factors were intertwined in a beguine's life (McDonnell 1954, p. 146). Theologically, medieval women were faced with contradictory doctrines which placed them either on a pedestal or in a bottomless pit: the virgin or the temptress. In the Christian view of sacred history, the greatest source of blessing for humanity after Christ was his mother, Mary; the greatest source of grief was also a woman Eve, the mother of us all.Clearly, Christian tradition saw women as both the greatest and the weakest (Power 1962, p. 401-403). Thus, the beguines were bound to change these by shaping their own religious experience in lay communities, where female charisms served as alternative to the male emphasis on the power of office, the beguines paralleled other women who were emerging from the feudal system and becoming economically independent through small crafts, shops, and businesses in new towns (Bynum 1987, p. 22).Also, it has been suggested that the strength of the beguines lay in their unique combination of traditional spirituality with their freedom from the restrictions of the cloister, a combination which allowed them to experiment and break new ground. Beguines adopted a chaste way of life and dressed simply, but they were not separated from the world, nor were they bound to any ecclesiastical authority. To wit, The beguine movement differed substantially from all earlier important movements within the western church.

Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 6

Strategy - Essay Example Waterstones’ current market position faces huge challenges from various external and internal elements. Indeed, the way it responds to the adverse market conditions becomes the key enabling factor of the firm to gain competitive advantage. The recent changes in trading environment with increasing popularity of e-commerce and online shopping, Waterstones needs to evolve and compete on new dimensions. Advent of computers and internet has considerably widened the area of business. While it has provided the firms with huge opportunities worldwide, the new cyber platform has also made it hugely competitive. The companies must evolve and develop strategic initiatives to compete on unique capabilities that meet the challenges of time. Waterstones has already introduced online shopping and provide online customers with huge choice of books. At the same time, its various outlets across the globe have facilitating environment that encourages reading. Porter (1996) believes that leadership initiatives are major facilitators that help sustain a firm’s success through hard times. Through strong leadership, Waterstones was quick to embrace technology and make its online presence. The technology has helped it to expand its customer base across wider geographical areas and at the same time, facilitated easier access to books to its customers. Strategic action plans need to be dynamic to encompass micro and macro environment changes to maintain competitive advantage (Montgomery, 2008). They not only encourage speed and flexibility but also ensure that customers’ requirements are met timely and efficiently through evolving process of developing effective linkages. Indeed, on an average, Waterstones bookshops keeps a minimum of 30,000 individual books and help the customer to get his/her preferred product through online search and ensure availability of the same within defined time limit. This is key element of the firm’s value proposition that has enabled it to

To undertake a literature review, chemical, biological, radiological Essay

To undertake a literature review, chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear terrorism threat (CBRN threat), according to th - Essay Example Like a big, soft jelly-fish it floats into our shell hole and lolls there obscenely All quiet on the Western Front† – Erich Maria Remarque Background With the advent of technological boom and availability of new resources, threats to the British army and other alliance are persistently growing. It is evident that the Al Qaida and correlated terrorist groups have uttered a stern attention in using CBRN. The events of chlorine gas attacks in Iraq have clearly indicated the potential seriousness of the threats. There is always a likelihood of asymmetric attack by terrorists utilizing chemical, biological or radiological weapons has become a reality. The augmentation in mass casualty terrorism and the mounting responsiveness that know-how is progressively more facilitating private performer to have admittance to extremely treacherous Chemical, Biological, Radioactive and Nuclear (CBRN) material has contemplated the issue of CBRN terrorism progressively more important policy question. This developing menace must be considered as a serious issue as it directs our awareness, vigilance, preparation, education and guidance strategies. It is imperative to understand how to deal with the complex risk due to the ambiguity connected with the menace (The Medical NBC Information Server). With the present scenario the successful execution and management necessitates synchronized efforts among stakeholders to influence possessions and proficiency to accomplish synergies in administrating the CRBN Threat. Protection necessitate a multi-dimensional approach. Abstract It is essential to recognize the growing need of awareness towards highly precarious Chemical, Biological, Radioactive and Nuclear (CRBN). It has emerged as a vital policy question. The issue encompass multiple factors and cognitive association between these factors is crucial to understand the preconditions of CBRN terrorism. Lack of appropriate database relating all the factors associated with CBRN ter rorism is the need of time. Aim of the Literature Review: The basic aim of the literature review is to recognize contemporary and budding concerns, strategies and approaches in meeting the requirement for CBRN issue, strategies devised to meet the medical associations and management, execution of the planning, security and challenges that are being imposed in front of Armies by chemical, biological, radiation and nuclear terrorism. Strategies must be devised to deal with the management of CBRN causalities. The review of literature is also essential to enunciate the need for training for developing equipped hands to fight with the causalities. All these factors reflect upon the economic burden on the nation's economic conditions. Research Questions: i. What is most likely of the terrorists using CBRN in near future? ii. What is the most likely agent that may be used by the terrorists to attack British Army? iii. What kind of training and Equipments are required to deal with CBRN atta cks? Keywords: CBRN- Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear, CW- Chemical Weapons, BTWC- Biological and Toxin Weapons, Incapacitating Agents, Nerve Agents, Contamination and decontamination, Detection and Identification, Weaponisation. Methodology: All the above mentioned key words were used to perform literature survey between January 2000 to April 2009. Introduction: War in any sense brings disaster for life. Human beings are being gifted with the

Comparing and contrasting poems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Comparing and contrasting poems - Essay Example On the other hand, Claude McKay was born in another century, in 1890. He was a Jamaican who immigrated to America at the age of twenty three. Claude McKay is famous for his more of a renegade style that talks about liberation and equality for the oppressed minorities of America. While Morales’ poem instigates your mind to realize and acknowledge the ethnic and racial diversity in America, McKay’s poem truly brings forth the Harlem Renaissance where he embraces and denounces America at the same time. Hence, both poems are similar because of the immigrant blood both poets possess, yet different in the way they deal with this. The form of â€Å"Child of the Americas† and â€Å"America† by Morales and McKay respectively, differs. â€Å"Child of the Americas† has a very ambiguous form that also depicts the confusion of the poet. The first stanza is composed of eight lines while the following two are of six lines each. The poem ends with a single, sure line that comes after a couplet. â€Å"America,† on the other hand, is written in the format of a sonnet with three quatrains and a concluding couplet. Both poets although squabbling with the entity that is America, are proud of who they are. Their American identity as a colored person is something they cherish and acknowledge. While Morales speaks â€Å"English with passion,† McKay loves â€Å"this cultured hell.† McKay opines that although life in America is tough especially when one has to face segregation on the basis of race, he still loves this country because it makes him grow tough and resilient. And although it is a huge country compared to his smallness or the minority of his race, but still it makes him strong enough to be a rebel and stand up to its oppression. Morales and McKay are similar in their poetic expression: Morales has used the impersonation technique to symbolize different ethnicities as an American whereas Claude McKay has personified America as almost equivalent to a

Prison system in the united states Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Prison system in the united states - Term Paper Example It is often believed in America that the prison and criminal justice systems promote economic and social inequalities and it has an unequal and unfair effect on poor, the American minorities and less privileged class of the society. It has adverse effects on not only the prisoners but also on the families and the closed ones. The groups and people who are influential, wealthy and resourceful control the whole criminal justice and control mechanism, as they are in a position to exercise greater influence through the legal process hence suppressing the poor. One of the face of injustice in the system is that it is believed that the prisons are used to lock up those individuals of the society who have been involved in the most serious offences and are a threat and disgrace to the society, which is proved wrong by the revelation of the fact that American prison system incarcerates the drug users who usually belongs to lower class and the upper lower class of the society- It sees crime as an act of lower class only. Usually, the American blacks (minorities) are involved in criminal activities due to their racial discrimination in America, hence they are the ones most incarcerated. The prisons and jails in America are usually situated in the urban locality which makes the prisoners and staffs feel isolated from the people and make it difficult for the families and the closed ones to meet the prisoner. It does not only affect the people involved in the system but also affects their families.... Usually, the American blacks (minorities) are involved in criminal activities due to their racial discrimination in America, hence they are the ones most incarcerated. The prisons and jails in America are usually situated in the urban locality which makes the prisoners and staffs feel isolated from the people and make it difficult for the families and the closed ones to meet the prisoner. It does not only affect the people involved in the system but also affect their families. (Lynch, Micheal, J. 2007; Blakely, Curtis, R. 2005) Previously the inmates were given freedom to access the judiciary to defend their cases which was in accordance to the constitution and was an ethical practice. The Civil Rights Act allowed the inmates regardless of race and gender to file a suit against any mistreatment, violence, medical ignorance or any such unethical practice. With the passage of time the system developed more flaws and attempts were made to weaken this Act. It is considered that unsuccess ful lawsuits are costly and are an additional expense which lead to reconsideration whether access to the court should be granted freely to all inmates or not resulting into reduced chances of inmates to defend their cases and approach courts which was their only way to hold prison operators legally accountable against any mistreatment. (Blakely, Curtis, R. 2005; American Assembly.1973) The legal system in America has gone through many changes over time mostly influenced and affected by scholarly work and studies on human behavior and psychology. It is widely believed that there is a positive correlation between the deterrence of crime and severance of punishment. The severe the punishment the

Language Arts Unit Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Language Arts Unit Plan - Essay Example The lesson plans will have an Objective, Materials, Procedure, and Assessment. The lessons are all connected through using the same story but in different learning aspects and skills. Behavioral Objective-- The student will use their oral language to improve vocabulary by reading a short story and will write down on a sheet of paper any new words that they do not know. For example, croaker-sack, kindling, scowling, sycamore tree are some of the possible new words. The students will begin to use the dictionary to look up the meaning of the new words after they try to figure out the meanings from the story. This activity will be done after the first reading of the story. The students will also read this story silently. Procedure— Students will sit in one group or in small groups and read the story to each other taking turns in reading each paragraph. The teacher will take short notes when students may have trouble with certain words. Assessment—The teacher can ask the student to write down the word or words that the students may stumble with when reading and then practice saying the word or words by sounding them out. The teacher then can ask the student to give the meaning of the unknown word by reviewing the story context. Behavioral Objective— Student will use the story to learn the concept of making compound words. The student will read through the story and write down all the compound words on a sheet of paper. The students will learn what makes a compound word. They will also learn that a compound word is made of two separate words that could stand apart. Procedure— Students will read through the story and when they come to a compound word they will them write it down on their papers. The teacher can then ask them what two words make the one compound word that they found. Assessment-- To check for understanding the teacher can ask the student to read the story and when the student comes to a compound word he

Management Functions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Management Functions - Assignment Example It has refocused on offering low prices for their products, improved the mix of merchandise sold, and provided friendlier and quick customer service. The secret to this was the organization culture introduced by the company that encourages teamwork. Teams in the company get together to discuss performance and to help each other with the goals of improving performance (Barnaro, 2005). Staffing Staffing deals with managing the structure of the organization that ensures putting the right man on the right job. â€Å"Staffing involves managing the structures of the organization through doing proper selection, appraisals and personnel development to fill roles designed in the organization’s structure.† (George & Jerry, 1999, p.74). staffing includes manpower planning, recruitment and selection, training and development,compensation,performance appraisal and promotions and transfers.walmart ensures that it recruits employees who have the right qualifications for the positions that they hold.walmart also encourages diversity at the workplace by employing staff from different cultural backgrounds and minority groups. The company has Latinos, African-Americans, Asians and people with disability.walmart have over 1000 employees in their retail outlets in the U.S market. Controlling Controlling is the measurement of goals that have been accomplished against the set standards and correction of deviations that have occurred if any, to ensure organizational goals are achieved. Controlling is done to ensure that everything confirms to standards and having an effective system of control that can help in predicting deviations before they occur. controlling involves steps which include establishment of standard performance, measurement of actual performance,... This essay discusses the field of management, that is a process that involves several steps which starts with scanning the environment to analyze external threats facing the organization. This could be economic conditions, customers or competitors. Planning considers available and prospective physical and human resources in the organization in order to get effective contribution, coordination and perfect adjustment. in ensuring that they achieve their goal of developing cost structures that would enable the organization offer low prices,wal-mart strategies on replenishing their inventory using cross docking logistics technique. With this technique products are got from suppliers to wal-mart warehouses, they are then shipped to store in the shortest time period possible. The researcher mentions that Troy argues that Wal-Mart has concentrated on developing and advancing a highly structured supply chain management to enhance their competitive advantage in the market. These functions of planning,staffing,controlling,organizing and directing helps in achieving group goals, ensures optimum utilization of resources and reduces costs through minimum input by proper planning and using minimum input and getting maximum output. In conclusion, it could be stated that they help in establishing a sound organization, establishing equilibrium and they are essentials’ for prosperity of society, in that efficient management leads to better economic production which increases the welfare of the people.

Multicultural Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Multicultural Management - Essay Example The combination of work force demographics in the work place has been as result of increased globalization in business which has placed the management of cultural and background differences one of the leading agenda in modern times in many corporate organization. This has been due to increased heterogeneity in gender, race, ethnicity, and nationality due to mix up of people. (Vonslid, 2006) To the organization, this has an advantage of better and quicker decision making, higher creativity and innovation in the work, remarkable success in marketing in foreign communities and countries and also equal distribution of economic opportunities. However, if not well handled, it can lead to increased cost due to high turnover rates, conflicts due to interpersonal differences, and breakdown in communications. The hospitality industry is one of the industries that have a high mixture of people both in customers and in the work force. The diversity in the hospitality industry has been one of the challenges facing many firms in the industry since their survival is based on the quality of services that is offered to the customers. Diversity in the industry is also important due to the diverse customers that it serves. Hence a diverse workforce in the industry will help to serve diverse customers who are served in the industry. Managing this diverse workforce in the industry is poses a challenge in the industry's human resource department. This paper will explore the strategies that can be used by the human resource department in the industry to successfully handle the diverse work force. Multicultural workforce in the hospitality industry The hospitality industry is one of the growing industry industries in the world. Increased globalization and increased outsourcing of businesses has been one of the driving forces in the growth of the industry. The industry has been growing at a rate of 12 percent in the most countries in the world. Due to the increased growth of the industry, there has been increased movement of people from different parts of the world who have been seeking employment in the industry. This has led to increased diversity within the work place with more and more people mingling. This diversity has been posing various challenges to human resource management department in most firms as enhancing the diversity of the work force to work as a system has become difficult and challenging. The work of the human resource department is to ensure the all workers are treated as equals regardless of their background. As a result, there have been efforts by the human resource department to come up with various strategies that are earmarked to streamline the operations of the diversity to enhance the working of the firms as a system. The hospitality industry like others can be grouped into three categories as far as cultural diversity is concerned. The first category can be termed as monolithic organizations which are characterized

The House of God by Samuel Shem Essay Example for Free

The House of God by Samuel Shem Essay The House of God, by Samuel Shem is a satirical novel that represents the lives of young interns interning at a hospital nicknamed â€Å"The House of God.† The came from the top of their medical school class to the bottom of the hospital staff to serve a year performing distasteful work, experiencing poor working conditions, and losing close contact with family and friends. But only the Fat Man, the all-knowing resident, could sustain them in their struggle to survive, to stay sane, and to be doctors. It is a four hundred and thirty-two page novel illustrated with numerous medical references and college level diction. The book fits well with the current AP English literature curriculum because it is known to be the Catch-22 of medical professions and offers the same themes and character conflicts found in other suggested readings. The House of God is a must read for all students enrolled in AP English. It expresses irony, humor, conflict, character development and many themes. The novel allows students to read a book similar to Catch-22 without having to deal with another war novel, like A Farewell to Arms. It captures interest through a chronological flashback, unlike Catch-22, where the order of events is unclear. It also offers students an insight of the cruelties and realities of the medical profession that parallel the military profession. In the end the reader learns the effects of oppression, fatigue, and the psychological development of each intern. These understanding will further enhance a students knowledge of theme and conflict. However, introducing the novel to the curriculum has some disadvantage. It is constructed with vulgar language through the last page. The language is especially explicit during the numerous sexual intercourses between the interns and nurses. Students should be mature enough to get past the crudeness but some teachers and students may not be open to the vivid voice and scenes. Also many of the characters are stock characters and confusion arises about whether or not they are important to the central plot. Lastly, some students will not be familiar with the medical references of diseases and symptoms stated throughout the novel. Nevertheless, this is only a minor disadvantage since some terms are  explained as doctors ridicule the interns knowledge. Despite the disadvantages, the novel fits well within the curriculum. It has offers a difficult reading level that challenges students reading, a strong use of literary techniques, and a psychological understanding of dynamic characters. It is the same length as Catch- 22 but it is easier to understand and expresses a clearer message on the realties and psychological tolls of a profession.

The Drug Problem Essay Example for Free

The Drug Problem Essay Drugs have been a consistent problem of the society. For a long time, the drug problem has been regarded as a criminal problem. Treating it as a criminal problem has only resulted in criminalization and I believe that accepting the drug problem as a social problem could prove more beneficial to the society primarily because there is nothing wrong with merely using or possessing these drugs. The laws of man are based on ethical standards and there is nothing unethical with the possession and the use of the drug. Drugs have only gained its negative image because of negative propaganda. Also, legalizing drugs would come with a load of benefits. According to Benson Roe, professor emeritus and chair of the Cardiothoracic Surgery at the University of California, illegal drugs have not been proven to have any long-term negative effects on the health of people. He narrated an incident when he was removing heart valves from some infected intravenous drug users and getting curious about the effects of the drugs on the users, he went to consult the San Francisco coroner only to discover that the only deaths caused by drugs is through infection contracted through unsafe intravenous injections and very rare cases of overdose (Roe). Roe indicated that no reliable and objective evidence points to drugs as more harmful than any of the substances that are not outlawed. It is often understood that society should keep its citizens away from drugs but the reason for this is unclear (Roe). If no evidence points to drugs being harmful, I strongly believe that there is no reason for drugs to be banned from the society. Also, drugs have never been proven to cause violent behavior. This aspect of the drugs may be blamed on the media since media entities often include the phrase â€Å"drug-related† to a crime even as no direct evidence points to the as the motivating factor for the crime. Merely the presence of drugs in a crime scenario is enough for irresponsible media practitioners to blame it (Jackson, 1998) since sensationalism sells. Often, the crime is motivated by another external factor. The media is unknowingly contributing to the negative drug propaganda (Jackson, 1998). Many politicians also play as advocates of the drug laws just for the sake of forwarding their political campaigns (Jackson, 1998). Anti-drug campaigns always make use of vague and emotive statements to get the support it needs from the public (Russel, 1999). One book entitled Hugs not Drugs: A Drug Abuse Prevention Manual published in the Philippines starts off with a story of how a bright and studious teenage girl got hooked with drugs. The girl later dropped out from school and had relationships with men that took advantage of her. Many anti-drug campaigners make use of such stories to say that drugs are bad. I however believe that these stories are not proof of drugs being bad. In the case of this girl, her actions might have been motivated by something else. She may have problems with her family or may have been sexually abused which is why she resorted to using drugs at a very young age. The book also indicates that crime experts have already established a link between drug use and juvenile and violent crimes. The source of the information was however not cited making it questionable. The book also does not have a clear reference page. This kind of practice is never accepted in the academic world and is evidence of a black propaganda. Drug laws have not been helpful to the society; rather, it is the best ally of the drug pushers (Jackson, 1998). Drugs prices would not be so high if drugs were legal. Legalizing drugs would come with price and quality regulations. The price of drugs would be cheaper when regulated and the already minimal cases of death caused by infected injections and rare cases of overdose would also more likely be eliminated if drugs are to be regulated since the purity of the drugs would be assured. Also, information on proper dosage levels would be made available to the public. Additionally, the government would get additional revenue from the taxed drug trade (Roe). One country has tried legalizing drugs to regulate it. This country is Holland. They treat drugs as a social problem rather than as a criminal problem. Great Britain which implements stricter drug laws have higher crime rates of robbery, burglary, shoplifting and theft from cars compared to Holland. Having drugs legalized in Holland has generally brought crime rate down (Rose, 2002). Drugs are not evil. There is nothing wrong with possessing or using drugs. It is also not a harmful substance unlike what many people and so-called intellectuals call it. Legalizing drugs would work wonders and Holland is a living proof of it. The already minimal number of deaths caused by drugs would be reduced even more. Crime will also decrease as drugs become more affordable. Clearly, there is nothing unethical about the use and possession of drugs. Even as some people under the influence of drugs show violent behaviour, it is not a direct result of the drug. Other factors affect the behavior of a person. Ethical concepts are not used as the basis of drug laws and a law which is not based on ethical principles is not a good law. References Roe, Benson MD. Why We Should Legalize Drugs. Retrieved August 24, 2008, from http://www. druglibrary.org/schaffer/Misc/roe1. htm Osorio, Susan. (1997). Hugs Not Drugs: A Drug Abuse Prevention Manual. Manila Mail Publication Philippines. Jackson, Ted. 3 December 1998. Why are drugs illegal. Retrieved August 24, 2008, from http://www. a1b2c3. com/drugs/law01. htm Rose, David. 24 February 2002. Two Countries Took the Drug Test. Who Passed?. The Guardian. Retrieved August 24, 2008, from http://www. guardian. co. uk/uk/2002/feb/24/drugsandalcohol. Davidrose Russel, Ken. 1999 July-August. Propaganda The War On Drugs. New Dawn Magazine. Retrieved August 24, 2008, from ttp://www. mapinc. org/drugnews/v99/n711/a10. html

The Impact Of Competition Policy Business Essay

The Impact Of Competition Policy Business Essay These days, different businesses are involved in different kind of activities, so different kinds of people are involved in starting those businesses initially. Mainly, there are three types of organizations that need to be considered here. These are Public Sector Organization Private Sector Organizations Voluntary Sector Organizations The main purpose of public sector organizations is to provide all the essential public services and to use the resources of a country for the best benefit of its community. Private sector organizations are owned and run by private individuals who may take the form of sole traders, partnerships, companies and franchises. Main objective or purpose of private sector business organizations is to make profit, increase their market share, and maximize the sales and to trigger continuous growth. On the other hand, voluntary groups are not owned or governed by individual people however some individuals will take the responsibility for ensuring that organization is on track of its purpose and is doing what it is set up to do. Main purpose of these types of organizations is to try to help particular type of people and such type of organizations must achieve a breakeven for survival. As far as my case study is concerned, Anglo American has an economic purpose of making profits, social purpose to provide returns to the society and environmental purpose to minimize the bad effects on the environment. Different Stake holders As we talking about the stakeholders of Anglo Americans, first comes employees. Employees of Anglo Americans enjoys respect and employee empowerment from company they are trained in way to perform their duties positively in the best interest of the company. Company with different kind of incentives and benefits motivate employees for better performance as a research and development company of medicine. As far as communities are concerned Anglo American makes a valuable contribution to the society and community. Such as compliance with the law and regulatory framework plus compliance with the ethical standards and fulfilling the human rights by providing jobs to the economy. Suppliers are one of the most important stakeholders of every business organizations as the bargaining power of suppliers can create problems for business. So for the smooth working of every company strong and long lasting relationship between suppliers and business organizations plays a Vitol role. Anglo American s has a diverse supply chain management which fulfils the health and safety and quality standards of the organization. Responsibilities and strategies Anglo Americans identifies its stakeholders and contact with all stakeholders who have a legitimate interest in the projects. Talking about communities as a stake holder of the organisation, the strategy of Anglo American is talking to the local communities in aligning their aspiration needs. Anglo American aims that where they operate proper benefits should be taken from their presences. It benefits to the communities as stakeholder of the organization results in socio economic development, as it provides employment opportunities to the local community which helps in the development and progress of peoples life style. It works in Sustainable environment concern about the health and environmental issues which cause problem to the community as well as environment. Anglo American believes on safe working process which ensures sustainability. Talking about shareholders, Anglo American fulfils the responsibilities of shareholders through well defined channels. For example by securing the ir interest and investments by showing them the progress and development of company through regular dialogs and fulfils the statutory requirements. This progress is communicated to the shareholders and investors through a range of reporting documents such as annual reports and accounts and report on sustainability. Talking about government as a stakeholder, it interacts with government in a legal and regulatory framework of country. The organization fulfils its responsibility by paying tax to the government and by giving the entrepreneur opportunities and helping the government in achieving revenue transparency. Task 3: The impact of competition policy and other regulatory mechanisms on the activities of Anglo American The competition policy in the UK economy is currently based on the Competition Act 1998, Enterprise Bill 2002, Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and the Competition Commission (CC) as well as other regulatory mechanisms including the Companies Act 2006, the regional policy, industrial policy, enterprise strategy, training and skills policy and so on (Sloman and Stucliffe, 2003). The impact of UKs competition policy on Anglo American, for example, would be: To restrict it from monopoly formation; American wont be able to set up its own prices and have to go with the market price of the products. Make managers more efficient and effective Since competition will be high, managers will have to come up with more innovative solutions to achieve an edge; give improved quality at low costs; Since, Anglo American is involved in mining work used by different economies; it has to keep costs low while maintaining quality. increase consumer choice, in short, augment the consumer and shareholders interests (Fernando, 2011) Different Market Structures and determination of Pricing and Output Market Structures with Pricing and Output determinants How market structures determine the pricing and output decisions of businesses The market structures and the pricing and output decisions are illustrated in the diagram below (Sloman and Stucliffe 2003): Demand Supply Curve http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7a/Supply-and-demand.svg/240px-Supply-and-demand.svg.png Market prices are determined according to the shift in demand or supply. If the demand shifts to the right, a higher price and higher quantity is set, this is the new market equilibrium price. Moreover, pricing decision also depends on market structure. For instance, firms undergoing perfect competition have to set the market determined prices and are known as price takers. While firms operating in monopolist environment have this differentiation advantage and it makes them capable of setting their own prices. Such firms usually target the niche market. The way in which market forces shape organizational responses Majority of the decision making of organizations depends on the market forces including: Demand and Supply of the product: The key point that answers the questions of what, how and for whom to produce depends on the demand and supply in the market; leads to allocation of scare resources in a profitable manner (Lowson, 2002). For example, if Cadbury has to decide which type of chocolate to produce, it will look for the product where demand is high and divert majority resources in producing that particular chocolate. Elasticity of demand and supply: Pricing and output decisions are also affected by the responsiveness of the quantity of demand of the product to changes in price, known as the elasticity of demand and the responsiveness of the supply as well (Lowson, 2002). For example, an organisation providing bus travel services might tend to charge higher prices at the peak time of the demand for buses, as people will consume the service to get to their destinations, no matter what the price is. In case of supply, if the cost of oil increases which causes their total cost of one unit to rise, they may reduce their production. Economies of scale: A phenomenon where increase in output lowers costs therefore, giving firms the incentive to produce more as it would consequently lead to higher profits (Sloman and Stucliffe, 2003). Consumer expectations and actions: Promptness in foreseeing and reacting to consumer demands will always be a significant element of competitive advantage for firms and cannot be ignored when making major decisions (Chang, 2005). For example, the Apple Company might determine the expectations of its consumers and innovate a product accordingly. The short run and long run phenomenon: The short run period is where at least one factor of production is fixed; whereas in the long run all can vary, thus affects the decision making or response of firms, for example what machinery to use. (Sloman and Stucliffe, 2003). Employee skills/technology/processes: As globalization has taken, it is imperative that every firm takes advantage of it to achieve competitive advantage in the market and attain its strategic goals. For example, businesses can do this by providing employees with the latest skills and knowledge that would allow them to perform their job effectively and efficiently as well as streamline all the processes/activities of the organisation by using improved technology and methods (Dessler, 2007). How the business and cultural environments shape the behaviour of an organization A business operates within an environment where both are inter-reliant and constantly interact with one another. The factors determining the business environment are shown below (Fernando, 2011): Factors forming the business environment Economic: For example, if a new economic policy is set, the firm must adjust the functioning of their organization accordingly; Technological: if new technology replaces the existing one, the firm must consider streamlining their processes in order to benefit the organization; Legal: if a legal policy comes into existence, the firm must analyze how to comply with the new policy; or using processes, activities or technology. Environmental: Trend has been set towards having business operations that are environmentally friendly as required by the government, in order to assist in the controlling of global warming and being socially responsible. Therefore, it is believed to be the duty of businesses to amend its behavior in line with the environment in order to run successfully (Fernando, 2011). Social/Cultural: The cultural environment on the other hand refers to the influence on the behavior of the organization by the cultural factors of the environment it operates in, which are beyond the control of the organization. The way culture may impact a business is asserted below (Trehan and Trehan, 2010): What type of product to produce, its price, packaging, promotion and place Consumers preferences, beliefs, attitudes, values would affect the product development for example, McDonalds does not serve beef in India. The attitude towards work or the internal culture of the organisation for example, the attitude of employees towards a diverse organisational environment. The labour workforce division at the organisation, for example whether both men and women should be employed or should majority of men be working and other decisions related to recruitment. The ethical guidelines to follow in every process of the business. The element of communication and dialect so there is effective communication of the organisation within, as well as outside the organisation with customers, suppliers and so on. Task 4: 4.1 The significance of international trade to UK business organizations The UK is positioned as the fourth most open economy in the world. The importance of international trade to businesses operating in UK including the mining Industry (Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, 2011): Technological improvements lowering communication and transportation costs; innovation of business products and services. Helps these businesses to build larger networks in terms of customers, suppliers, shareholders, employees and other stakeholders. Transfer of capital at low costs therefore consequently leading to growth opportunities, better and streamlined processes and activities Transfer of intellectual assets; ideas; skills; tacit knowledge Employment creation; improved training processes; better and improved skills, knowledge and behaviour of employees Increase in investment enticement; growth of investment; greater shareholders Increases competition, making it products better and more consistent with the competition; offer better value and choice of products International trade gives an opportunity for the organizations to expand and outsource their businesses, reaching a wider market as well as lowering costs. Moreover, UK products/services are now exported to many other countries increasing their overall revenue. 4.2 The impact of global factors on UK business organizations The global factors impacting UK businesses and the way they will impact them is explained below (Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, 2011): The economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) are being seen to grow rapidly. This could be seen as a threat to the businesses operating in UK as competition for them would get tough or it could be seen in positive light as being viewed by the UK government currently, where it intends on building strong ties with these countries. Globalization and global growth will provide these businesses with better market opportunities to develop and expand and building on export markets as well. US regulatory environment and litigation risks however, may cause businesses to be affected negatively. Potential synergies may develop between UK businesses and businesses of other countries. Mergers and acquisitions may take place giving organizations an opportunity to have sustainable business growth and target a wider market. Can take advantage of the opportunities provided by the World trade Organisation (WTO). The UK government is also functioning to persuade the EU to implement a more tactical, organized and continuous move towards lobbying on market entrance and business issues, particularly through the High Level Economic and Trade Dialogue established in 2008. Much scope to develop by exporting to Commonwealth countries. Capitalize on opportunities present in developing economies by outsourcing businesses and hiring labour. The impact of policies of the European Union on UK business organizations The various policies undertaken by the European Union (EU) and their impact on UK businesses are as follows (Sloman and Stucliffe, 2003): The Climate Change Act which has set target for the UK of reducing carbon emissions. To help meet this target, the EU introduced various policies. This would impact the business organisations in terms of their productivity or in terms of the kind of machines they use. Moreover, non compliance with these policies may also impact the businesses in a negative way such as building on an unfavourable image of the business. Regional Policy of the EU which endows with grants to firms in destitute regions thus, helping such businesses to improve in terms of sales, profits, activities and so on. Monopoly and restrictive practice policy putting restrictions on those businesses that are operating in more than one state for example Tesco. Adjustment of tax rates causing considerable differences in VAT taxes among member states. Thus, for example, Sainsburys will have to charge different VAT rates in different states. Social Policy requiring businesses to implement specific health and safety, employment, equal opportunity policies in their organisations and non compliance may cause the business to suffer. Other policies may include exchange rate policies; policies to comply with the legal framework of UK businesses and policies of meeting certain standards for long-term operations.

Comparing two war poems written by Wilfred Owen: Dulce et decorum Est E

Comparing two war poems written by Wilfred Owen: Dulce et decorum Est and Anthem for Doomed Youth. In this essay I will be comparing two war poems written by Wilfred Owen: ‘Dulce et decorum Est’ and ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’. By comparing the two I will be able to distinguish the fact that Wilfred Owen is very anti-propaganda and why he feels so strongly about this. The two poems have many similarities but also a fair amount of differences, which I will be discussing in this essay. The two poems have a strongly anti war message and in both the victims of war are the young men who’s lives are wasted. ‘Dulce et decorum Est’ uses the description of a gas attack to show how horrific the reality of war is. Owen describes the victim with, ‘The white eyes writhing in his face†¦the blood†¦gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs.’ The physical horror of this helps to shape his message. It is addressed to the propaganda poet Jessie Pope and tells her that it is a lie to say that it is sweet and honorable to die for one’s country. A similar message in ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’ describes the slaughtered young men who ‘die as cattle’. Owen expresses his anger in a set of contrasts between a real funeral and the lack of a funeral for these young men. For example, instead of a service with a choir, they only have ‘the shrill demented choirs of wailing shells’. As you would expect, the tone and mood of both poems is deeply serious as Owen has a strong message in both of them. However, they are different. ‘Dulce et decorum Est’ expresses a great deal of horror and anger. The horror is set aside for the terrible pain and terror of the gas attack, not only for the victim but also for the poet. He writes, ‘In a... ...ack, making a strong message to contradict the vague, Latin phrase about how sweet it is to die for your country. In ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’ Owen develops a singe image, the idea of the funeral ceremony for the dead. The first line asks about the ‘passing bells’ and the rest of the octave describes the various sounds of war, which are substituted for the funeral bells. This includes the ‘monstrous anger of guns’, the rattling of the riffles and the wailing of the shells. The sestet begins by asking where are the candles for the funeral service but goes on to tell us that ‘holy glimmers of goodbyes’ in the eyes of the boy soldiers will have to instead. The funeral cloth placed over the coffin is replaced by ‘the pallor of girls brows’. Instead of flowers, they have ‘the tenderness of patient minds’. All the images are based on the original comparison.

Teaching Philosophy :: Education Teaching Teachers Essays

Teaching Philosophy After examining all of the different teaching philosophies, I have chosen to side with Rousseau's theory. A theory which I find to be very complete and practical enough to apply to modern day students. Rousseau's theory had three ideas throughout his writings that he used to prove his theory: the nature of students, the purpose of education, and what education should look like (curriculum, methods, disciplines). I will also look at an area in which Rousseau stayed relatively neutral in, that is the nature of knowledge. The Nature of Students: According to Rousseau's thoughts, the environment determines whether a student is good or evil. I totally agree with Rousseau's statement that the environment determines whether kids are good or evil. It has been proven through longitudinal studies that identical twins, which have the same genetic abilities and talents, can be affected by differing environments, either negatively or positively depending upon the individual situation. Rousseau also felt that most students have about the same intelligence. This statement by Rousseau to me is a moto that all teachers must have in order to succeed. All students have the same intelligence; it falls largely onto the teacher to find the way to help the student reach his or her potential for intelligence. Rousseau also mentioned that students should learn from experience and that students are exceptional imitators. I feel that as a teacher one must provide many different learning experiences to learn from. Most importantly, a teacher, by setting a good example can and will greatly influence a student's behavior and overall performance. The purpose of Education: The purpose of education according to Rousseau is to create good people who can live in a free society. Rousseau felt that the following characteristics make a good citizen: self-sufficient, respectful, caring, modest, healthy, etc) so that they will become just what Rousseau wanted, good citizens who are able to live in a free society. What Education should look like: As far as curriculum goes, Rousseau thought that you should teach only what a child wants to know and things that can be learned through experience. To me personally curriculum is indeed very important. I will be teaching K-12 PE/Health, thus the students ages will differ according to the level I am teaching.

The Future Never Just Happened, It Was Created :: Teaching Philosophy Education Essays

The Future Never Just Happened, It Was Created My philosophy on education is that it is important to instill values and knowledge into our children at an early age to ensure a great future for them as well as enhancing their contributions to society. Will and Ariel Durant famous for several quotations on life and civilization summed up how important education is for the future of our children and society. "We have to help children take advantage of education so they can have the best future possible for themselves and the rest of society." I have a strong belief that education is the key to a prosperous happy future for our children and the future leaders of tomorrow's society. Being a teacher, what a wonderful way of ensuring a child has every opportunity to reach their dreams and create a wonderful future for themselves. The future can be ten minutes from now or thirteen years from kindergarten to a graduating senior. I hope I can make a difference in the children I am privileged to have in my classroom. I feel it is my moral responsibility to ensure each child entrusted to me a chance to create his or her future with the knowledge of education. I hope to be a motivator of creative thinking and good decision-making. I want the children I teach to be able to leave my classroom feeling confident and sure that they have acquired the skill to be independent thinkers. Knowing each child has a unique quality to contribute wonderful ideas and the confidence to share them with their classmates with a feeling of accomplishment. Starting with elementary students and instilling this quality will give them better opportunities as they grow. I want to be this t eacher, the teacher who inspires them to plant a seed to grow into success. Froebel referred to kindergarten as "a children's garden", this is exactly the way I feel. As a teacher, I hope to have a nurturing garden no matter of the grade level. Children deserve to feel safe, secure, and have confidence in the teacher. I would expect nothing less of myself. I have often imagined what type of classroom I will have. I envision a welcoming, warm atmosphere with bulletin boards decorated for the season at hand. Children making snowflakes, autumn leaves, colorful eggs or bright stars for a warm summer's night.

Sociology: Definition, Origin and Dilemmas

In society, every concept requires a clear definition in order to develop an understanding of how the various coexisting areas function to produce efficiency. Sociology in its essence explains these concepts as it involves the individuals that work conjointly to ensure those societal systems’ functions are executed smoothly. According to the department of Sociology of Cornell University: â€Å"Sociology is the study of social life, social change, and the social causes and consequences of human behaviour (University, 2008, prg. ). † However, what makes sociology differ from other social sciences is its analysis of individual behaviours as they interact within different contexts classified as systems such as political systems, economic systems and family systems (University, 2008). These three systems are identified as the make-up of the Belizean society. The Political system represents the different constituencies of the country, the government and its branches of author ity, and political parties. The Belizean economy is formed by the various produce, commerce, internal and external exportation of products and services as well as the various income sources of the country. The last system identified as the family system is a mixture of various forms but the most common within the Belizean context are single-parent families amongst the nuclear and extended families that do exist but in smaller numbers. The ranges of systems qualified for sociological study include, but are not limited to, intimate families, mobs, cults, and sports (University, 2008). Like the individuals and systems it studies, sociology also has a source of origin and an explanation for its existence and functions. Sociology in its term was developed by in the year 1838 by a French Philosopher identified as August Comte who believed strongly that social issues could be studied with the use of science. In his belief, though strange to others at the time, he believed it was possible to discover and analyse the laws of social life just as is done with the laws of science and factual evidence of theories. Of this concept, link between science and society, he then developed what we refer to as positivism to sociology which would give sociologists the qualifications to become societal guides. (Crossman, 2013). An indeed sociologists have become guides to the everyday worldly functions of social life as each social activity has a designated sociologists. Areas guided have been classified to be those of religion, politics, law, economics, rural life and industry among many others (Unknown, 2007). Aside from being developed by the â€Å"Father of Sociology†, August Comte, there were also other factors that presented great encouragement toward the concept of Sociology. Such contributors were all identified as socially changing occurrences of the twentieth century. Among those contributors were the political revolutions that occurred in Europe, the Industrial Revolution which introduced automation, Capitalism, Socialism, and not to mention the emerging religions and developing municipalities. These occurrences in their own way changed the lives of individuals. Thus the reason why these instances influenced the development of Sociology was because of their contribution to social change (Crossman, 2013) . Sociology, as mentioned before, studies how individuals interact within various social systems. Whenever interaction and human behaviour is combined difficulties and ethical dilemmas are prone to arise. The Hawthorne effect is said to be a difficulty for Sociologists in executing sociological research because when humans are aware that they are being observed they often exhibit false pretences to fit the roles they believe they should fulfil. Another difficulty would be the complexity of social issues, as opposed to scientific phenomena, because most of these are not easily measurable. A plausible difficulty could be that people in power, people independent of societal norms, and people who are publicly visible may want to keep their activities in obscurity and unknown by others. Ethical dilemmas may also be problems for Sociologists. Two major ethical dilemmas that may be problematic are violating individuals’ right to their privacy and experimentation using inexperienced, obedient, gullible individuals. Finlay). With all the information presented sociology can be defined in condense statements. Therefore, Sociology is the study of individual social behaviour and how individuals interact within social context such as political, family and economic systems. Sociology was developed by French philosopher August Comte but was greatly influenced by the grave social changes that occurred during its era of development. T o conclude, its social nature lightens the way for difficulties and ethical dilemmas in the execution of research on relative issues.

The challenge of food scarcity

Our world today is facing an extreme increase of food shortage and that happened when the food produce is not enough that can automatically threaten and shake the lives of millions of people, food scarcity could also be due to the rapidly rising human population that as a matter of fact Just had doubled over the year.Furthermore, the fact that we don't have any idea on what maximum number of people the world will continue to support and feed, that lead us to questioning if there is enough food for everyone in the future and a solution to end hunger and other problems that comes along with.Moreover, there are still many different reasons or factors of why people are starving in the different areas over the world, the lack of economic Justice and rising population are Just merely two examples out of them all and made people struggle to get enough food to eat. On the other hand, Majority of the globe's population especially the youth tends to Just ignore the issue of hunger, or are simp ly blindsided by events as today's economic crisis. We seem and tends to be a creatures f crisis.Rather than accepting the possibility that serious problems are Just over the horizon and is happening, we choose to look for any hope of positive information to ease our fears, but the fact is that hunger is a big problem in the world today and It is equally important that people should inform and get their selves involve on the issue about food scarcity so that they will know who are the ones truly suffering and the serious damage it does to those people.And also for them to avoid on wasting food, because all the extra food can't be Just given out to the needy and hungry entries, but if it could the government still don't have enough transportation and the money to send all those extra food to the suffering people. Every one of us must take food scarcity seriously because the solution for solving hunger and scarcity calls for the cooperation of everybody. Furthermore, As an Internation al student it is essential that we include world food hunger in our studies for it is directly interconnected on global politics and issues.For in International studies we educate ourselves and participates on programs of Globalization and development. Also, we must not only study but to also get ourselves involve in helping how to eradicate world hunger by helping in our own little ways those people and communities who are struggling with such problems that are cause by food shortage, for them to be able to develop ways to sustain their way of life, is the main goal of an International studies student. Remember Great things comes from small beginnings.To answer the questions why people are continuing to starve to death, we need to know first about the history of food production; how it contributes on the food we produce, goes the process of food production prohibit or even more promotes hunger? Second, we need to understand that the image that we get from the media can be very misl eading and sometimes not the truth and tends to show only a portion of what was really happening, so we must explore and research to be informed in the current reality so that we can come up and make better solutions.On the other hand, even if hunger is inevitable, we know, beyond any shadow of doubt, that there is a remedy for our world's situation and the earth can and able to feed its inhabitants. And there are many ways on how we can do it, like giving and improving aid and providing equipment and materials to the poor and underdeveloped countries needed for their agriculture, for these countries especially on the Global south, have the land and water to grow but they lack the knowledge, money and technology to make their resources fruitful.By also slowing the increasing of oil prices and usage of bio fuel so that the food price escalation can be somehow prevented because when the costs of essential foods rise, it can then dramatically affect those people who are lying on food p rices because bio fuels hurt the developing countries the most.Furthermore, the Government should promote and implement alternatives which don't disrupt the food supplies and if possible the Government should also increase the incomes of the poor instead so that they can buy their food, this is much better than keeping incomes and prices low. The solutions to the present crisis mention above can help eradicate food shortage and hunger and save the world at the same time, humanity must confront all the issues which can no longer be ignore because globally the effects will spread.